Which one first?

[martin manning]

OMG! A Dumble amp with turrets? No way.

[sepulchre]

Sooo, eyelets or nothing, eh? Fine, eyelets I've got. I certainly don't want to cross tradition. Plus (I hadn't thought about this) turrets would be tougher to set in formica. I don't know that I'll be using formica but all the same... Maybe that would be a good idea though, considering my limited budget.

Luthierwnc said '... don't do elaborate wraps underneath the component board if you think you might mix and match..' Do you mean between layers?

Anyway, it's apparent that I'll have to do some studying on these designs. But after a couple of single ended jobs and a Marshall-esque 50 watter I am thoroughly hooked. So studying them is no problem.

[sepulchre]

Okay I've been studying the 2nd and 3rd generations a bit and have a couple of questions.

I'm not seeing much in the way of relays. Am I just not seeing them, do these have foot switches for all three panel switches? I'd at least like one for the OD.

I'll try to get the exact parts as specified on the layout as much as I can. Can't afford the Fancy iron but I'll get as good as I can. But in the 3rd gen, is RG59 really required? Not that it's expensive but what a pain to work with! And it's not in the 2nd gen.

I bought a blank chassis and cut it for my last build and I'll do the same for this . . . unless I can get a pre-cut one for a reasonable price. Or are such animals available at all?

Sorry for such noob questions. I really am trying to research this all myself. I'll have to do searching here for prior builds of these guys.

Thanks for the help, info and all.

[bluesfendermanblues]

Okay I've been studying the 2nd and 3rd generations a bit and have a couple of questions.

I'm not seeing much in the way of relays. Am I just not seeing them, do these have foot switches for all three panel switches? I'd at least like one for the OD.

I'll try to get the exact parts as specified on the layout as much as I can. Can't afford the Fancy iron but I'll get as good as I can. But in the 3rd gen, is RG59 really required? Not that it's expensive but what a pain to work with! And it's not in the 2nd gen.

I bought a blank chassis and cut it for my last build and I'll do the same for this . . . unless I can get a pre-cut oen for a reasonable price. Or are such animals available at all?

Sorry for such noob questions. I really am trying to research this all myself. I'll have to do searching here for prior builds of these guys.

Thanks for the help, info and all.

IME it pays off to get as close as possible to the original designs. A lot of the sound stem from tiny details like cable type. I prefer RG174 cable, but in a 3rd gen. I would probably go with RG59 cable.....but in the end it all comes down to the amout of pf in the specific cable.

[Luthierwnc]

My comment about under the board is mostly so you leave enough wire sticking out of the lug on the top so that component changes don't stuff it back down and leave a tenuous solder connection. I leave enough to grab with a pair of needle nose pliers or hemostats while I'm replacing something. You can clip them off later.

Another case would be not bending the components underneath the board and leaving so much wire that you can't pry them back out. That especially applies to ones with long leads that can make it to another lug as a tie point.

This technology wasn't made to make component changes out of sequence (of course, printed circuit boards are much less so). Think out the parts you might want to swap and leave yourself some options.

Get solder wick too. sh

[sepulchre]

Get solder wick too. sh

I don't heat the iron without it!

Okay, I see what you're saying - leave yourself options in the places that might need them. I don't know that I'll ever go high plate but I will leave it as an option, among others.

Thanks!

Bluesfendermanblues - Yeah, I'll probably do the RG59. I'm sure it will be worth the effort. As for the other parts I will do my best to get the exact ones on the layout. I have a BOM that shows sources but I don't think it's specifically for a 2nd or 3rd gen.

One thing I noticed on the 3rd gen layout. There's a preamp out but it looks like where the "in" would be it's blurred out. Surely there is an input. This is an effects loop, is it not? The 2nd gen has an "In" label and a hole but not what looks like a jack. Is there something I should know about them?

[heisthl]

Even if you're the best, most careful solder person you will screw up sometimes. If it happens to be on a tube socket it's much better if there is a tube installed. A plugged up socket is almost impossible to clean up for reliable use unless you have a tube installed. You can solder suck the top side of the socket and then pull out the dummy tube with no detrimental side effects. JMHO

[sepulchre]

I melted the edges on my busted AX7 so I can try it. I won't be putting near as much solder on the pins as I did. In fact, I won't be putting any solder on pins for quite some time, it seems.

But that gives me lots of time for research and stuff. After looking at some of the suggestions here I have decided against a 2nd or 3rd generation. They sound really great but I need a master volume. So maybe something else - 102, 124, I don't know. I'll figure it out.

Thanks guys.

[jelle]

2nd and 3rd gen both have a master volume. They do lack the ratio control for OD, but this can be added without too much trouble. Have fun!

[sepulchre]

See, this hows just how alert I am (not) when looking at these things at 3:30 - 5:00 am. I wrote that note later but had been checking out the plans early the morning before. I'll have another look.... earlier this time.

[sepulchre]

Well I got my chores done so it's back to the drawing board. so to speak. I'm not sure what to do here. Bluesman says:

IMO It depends on the your guitar.

If you mainly play humbucker guitars go for a skyliner, high plate design (like #102 or #183) for the Ford for sounds. Works for Tele's as well.

If you're a singlecoil/strat player go for one of the low plate classic designs (either ODS or SSS) (alternatively a 2nd gen., 3rd gen.)

I think you will have more succes with a humbucker guitar into a lowplate/ classic than with a strat/single coil guitar into a skyliner. However, this is just my experience, (having tried most of the designs, exept the 1st gen).

Then Mr. Hankey says:

If you already have a Fender, you may as well go for a high plate skyliner, to have something different. The impression I get from most members here is that low plate classics have better cleans but that the overdrive is not quite as good. I like these amps mainly for their overdrive channel, so the choice was easy for me.

While I do like a clean sound I'm more often interested in the OD sound. As I said, I have a Strat Deluxe so, single coils (though it's an HSS). So, any opinions?

Also, I see schematics for the 124, both without (1984) and with (1988) a skyliner. Is this what's meant by a classic low plate ODS? Sorry to be a pain but I kind of only have one shot at this and don't want to start gathering the wrong parts.

[rogb]

http://cepedals.com/Dumble-Style-Chassis.html

Chassis from here, my friend.
No silver at the moment, which is what I have, thanks to a TAG member, but the black is superb.

It is a shame there are no jBorders full board sets now, they fit the pre drilled holes perfectly and save so much time and are very well made.

http://www.agbamplifiers.com/

Good luck too. FWIW I built an HRM 50w high plate and sold it to a hard gigging Strat player, he loved it! I put the HRM on a switch and never used it much.

[sepulchre]

Thanks rogb! Shame they don't have the large boards left. Guess I'll have to make mine.

After reading here and there I've seen some options that sound interesting. Can someone tell me what the main difference in tone is between the high and low plate versions, especially in the OD section? I see where some have made low plate clean sections with high plate (non HRM) OD sections. I just wonder how it effects the distortion - More? Less? Smoother?

TIA

[sepulchre]

Okay, after reading this thread:

http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... sc&start=0

and all the threads linked therein I have decided a low plate with classic tone stack & power supply is what I should do. I must say that in the course of considering this I very nearly gave up the idea of building a D style amp. But having heard clips of Strats with standard pups (non-active, no booster, etc.) that sound damn good this will be a worth while effort. So I was directed toward the #124, probably the most documented Dumble ever. I must say the #102 is also tempting so if anyone has a good reason to do that one instead please do not hesitate to voice it. My build will not start until next year so there's still time to consider things. However, I think the #124 should work fine. I may be persuaded to add an onboard Dumblator if there's room. An external one would require another chassis, PT, etc. so if that's how it has to be, well it will have to wait.

Anyway, two factors influenced this decision: 1) my Strat is an American Deluxe so it not only has a humbucker bridge pup but also the S1 switching system that yields a bit more juice. 2) I spoke with the management (wife) who said, "You'll have to find a place to put it." Good enough. Wish me luck.

[sepulchre]

I've been searching and though I've seen reference to an eyelet board template in the Files section I can't seem to locate it. I know Martin made it.

Is there such a template, other than what's on the overall layout document?