Rocket in progress (finished and up and running)

[M Fowler]

I blew that photo up and I am absolutely sure you have it wrong?

[strat_addict]

Follow pin 2 that is going to R6 and pin 3 is going to R5 cathode bias resistor and pin 1 is going under the board to the volume pot right?

Yes, all of those are correct. The blue wires, in the picture, appear to overlap and it looks wrong in the pictures but I've double and triple checked everything that has been said so far and its correct. Again, theres some weird looping and things of the sort that make it look wrong but its correct.

[M Fowler]

Well if everthing is working fine I would go back a shorten up those wires to get rid of long loops which can cause issues (leed dress). The Rocket is the most forgiving of the three Express, Liverpool and Rocket but still it would be a good idea to shorten the leeds.

I'm glad the amp is working for you though

Hey that white/striped wire coming off the three upper filter cap can you route that in front like the others to shorten that puppy up as well not going behind the caps like you have it. Sorry but that one is bugging me. LOL

[M Fowler]

I see that blue wire is tucked underneath the board so it looks like it is going straight to the pot, that fooled me you should correct that too or not its your amp. I just want to help you enjoy your amp by straightening things out.

[strat_addict]

Well if everthing is working fine I would go back a shorten up those wires to get rid of long loops which can cause issues (leed dress). The Rocket is the most forgiving of the three Express, Liverpool and Rocket but still it would be a good idea to shorten the leeds.

I'm glad the amp is working for you though

Thanks, I'll get around to that. But here's some of my general opinions on the amp so far:

The cleans are very good but not the absolute best I've heard. I did put a cheap quad of EL84's in ($20 a set) and the strings on my Strat are totally dead and lifeless, its been that way for about a week or two now. I can feel residue all over I've got a horrible tendancy to kill my strings within about a week. After about 4-5 hours of playing, the string sound dull again

Also, I'm using so-so speakers with it, I'm sure all of that plays a part into the cleans not getting where I want.

I also tried it with active humbuckers, wow. It broke up very early and got a good amount of gain and would feedback with ease.

It not as loud as I thought it would be but its still super loud. The overdriven sound is alot of fun, the speakers I'm using work better for that for sure.

I've also noticed that my guitar sound a bit plunky now, maybe its because I haven't gotten this loud in a while. Its a part of the dead strings, I'm sure of that one.

Its very dynamic, at about 3 o'clock on the volume, I can still get a clean sound without touching my volume knob on my guitar.

I'm sure with a new set of strings, better tubes, and a suitable speaker, this amp will be amazing. For all of things I mentioned that are holding it back, it still sound wonderful for what it is.

Special shout outs to some people:

RJ, he's a great guy to deal with. Even when he is super busy, he still has better customer service that alot of guys I've dealt with in the past.

Fishy, I've been PMing him and hes been a great help also.

And thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my questions. This was my first amp of any kind and its only because of you guys that it actually worked. This definitely won't be my last.

[M Fowler]

Yes once you get your guitar reconditioned, a good quality speaker with openback cab, I use JJ tubes they have good reviews without going into debt.

I recently changed the 220k plate resistor on V1 R4 to 120k which keeps the amp clean and I can then turn the volume way up to get my overdrive.

For a gain boost I have a SPST switch that grounds a 10uf/25v bias cap. This cap is wired parallel to R5 but goes to the spst switch to ground.

[leeuwa]

Nice work you did. I'm started building a TW Liverpool amp for my son. On the back of your pots I don't see ground wire. On a lot of photo's of TW's, and the layout of Ceriatone you see a 'bus bar' ground on the back of the pots. How did you do your grounding around the pots?

Greetings,
Adrie

[strat_addict]

Nice work you did. I'm started building a TW Liverpool amp for my son. On the back of your pots I don't see ground wire. On a lot of photo's of TW's, and the layout of Ceriatone you see a 'bus bar' ground on the back of the pots. How did you do your grounding around the pots?

Greetings,
Adrie

RJ sent me some terminals, it worked well. Especially since these are stainless steel pots.

[RJ Guitars]

Congrats... nice to hear that you have it singing first crack out of the bag. There are a ton of tweaks you can do but I found they mostly added an option but the basic amp really doesn't need improvement. For me with a Strat, the Rocket definitely has the best clean tone.

Thanks for good words, it was really a tough summer to try to keep everything together while the training phase of my new work assignments had me everywhere but home. I appreciate your patience and everyone else's for that matter!

Enjoy that amp, I am waiting for you to mention something like "sparkle" in the context of great sounding clean tone. That is among my favorite parts of this amps attributes.

Clips and photos when you get a chance...

good work!

rj

[strat_addict]

There's one thing that I noticed. The volume completely cuts out when the treble is anywhere form 0 to about 3 'o clock, it starts to get a bit scratching before it cuts out though. Would that be because its bad pot or something? This isn't a huge deal to me considering I never bring it down that low.

[CapnCrunch]

There's one thing that I noticed. The volume completely cuts out when the treble is anywhere form 0 to about 3 'o clock, it starts to get a bit scratching before it cuts out though. Would that be because its bad pot or something? This isn't a huge deal to me considering I never bring it down that low.

That's strange. Could be a bad pot, but triple check your wiring for that pot. It's worth getting sorted out because once you re-string and plug into a cab with alnico Blues or good greenbacks, you will find some amazing tones with the cut all the way up(least cut) and Treble all the way down. In other words cut all the way to the right, and treble all the way to the left. It's like the most awesome Tweed amp you've ever heard only better.....

[strat_addict]

There's one thing that I noticed. The volume completely cuts out when the treble is anywhere form 0 to about 3 'o clock, it starts to get a bit scratching before it cuts out though. Would that be because its bad pot or something? This isn't a huge deal to me considering I never bring it down that low.

That's strange. Could be a bad pot, but triple check your wiring for that pot. It's worth getting sorted out because once you re-string and plug into a cab with alnico Blues or good greenbacks, you will find some amazing tones with the cut all the way up(least cut) and Treble all the way down. In other words cut all the way to the right, and treble all the way to the left. It's like the most awesome Tweed amp you've ever heard only better.....

I checked the wiring and it looks correct, it could be a bad joint or just a bad pot. I also put new strings on my Strat and it helped so much, this amp just really surprises me now. Its got a great lead tone that I've never heard or gotten before. I love it so much now

[M Fowler]

Since you didn't solder to the back of the pots which can cause spots on the carbon it must be a bad pot.

I have had such bad pots lately from PEC, CTS, Bourns, and Alpha so not sure which company to use anymore.

[fishy]

Glad to see you made it to the finish line with your build and it sounds like you like what you hear.

Congrats..