183 build questions

[professormudd]

I went ahead and replaced all the diodes and my power indicator shined happily. I'm getting exactly 12VDC from the regulator.

Now if I could just get USPS to bring my tubes faster...

[Abe5150]

Hi Matt- what transformers did you use for this build?

[professormudd]

Hi Matt- what transformers did you use for this build?

I have never felt abundantly confident in my choice of transformers for this build. I went with the same transformer combination I did with my 124. Hammond all around.

Power Transformer: Hammond 290FX
Output Transformer: Hammond 1760W
Choke: Hammond 194B
Relay Transformer: Hammond 166F12B (originally wanted to use a 186B12, but it would not fit this chassis)

[professormudd]

Power tubes arrived. Got them installed. Pin 3 of each power tube read 462VDC. I set the bias to 36.0 (approximately 66% based on my math) on the tube that read the highest.

I have not yet plugged a guitar in. I'm waiting for tomorrow for that (sleeping youngling) but there is no immediate hum or oscillation so far.

[Abe5150]

Nice!

[professormudd]

First run with a guitar was a partial success!

The good:

1. All switches worked (PAB, OD, R/J, Mid, Bright, FET).
2. Swept all pots, no bad noises
3. No humming or oscillation so far

The not-good:

1. Clean volume seems kind of low.
2. In overdrive, the OD volume and Master volume can both be at 0, and if the drive is turned up at all, it comes through pretty loud.

[professormudd]

Actually, I would say that in general the amp volume seems low for both OD and clean.

For instance, if I turn all knobs to 12 o'clock I can still have a conversation over it. I would expect this thing to be pretty damn loud.

I believe I have wired the pots all correctly. The relays turn the PAB/OD/FET on and off just fine, so I believe they are wired correctly.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[professormudd]

Actually, I would say that in general the amp volume seems low for both OD and clean.

For instance, if I turn all knobs to 12 o'clock I can still have a conversation over it. I would expect this thing to be pretty damn loud.

I believe I have wired the pots all correctly. The relays turn the PAB/OD/FET on and off just fine, so I believe they are wired correctly.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Aha!

I used a patch cable from the pre-amp send to the power-amp return and the volume issues all resolved and the knobs all started behaving the way I would expect. So I cleaned the switch-jacks and bent them a bit to make sure they contact and voila!

[Abe5150]

How does it sound so far?

[professormudd]

So far so good. A less "sparkly" in general than my 124. I started with a 4x12 of vintage 30s then through a 1x12 Eminence Swamp Thang. The Eminence was better to my ears at low volumes. I still haven't had a chance to turn the master volume up passed 2 (these are nice and LOUD). But, they seem to sound great even with the MV all the way down.

I will record something and post it eventually.

[norburybrook]

So far so good. A less "sparkly" in general than my 124. I started with a 4x12 of vintage 30s then through a 1x12 Eminence Swamp Thang. The Eminence was better to my ears at low volumes. I still haven't had a chance to turn the master volume up passed 2 (these are nice and LOUD). But, they seem to sound great even with the MV all the way down.

I will record something and post it eventually.

Yes #183 was the least bright off all the ODs amp I've built, it was the only ODS I'd use the bright switch on in fact . Very good 'rock' amp though .



M

[jabguit]

The Eminence was better to my ears at low volumes.

The Eminences are better at all volumes, IMO.

[professormudd]

So, I decided to take a minute to try and record a bit of this amp. I have it listed for sale and some people asked me to record a clip, so I felt obligated to make time.

I had just enough time to run a mic, plug in, and play a few twiddles before my toddler caught wind that I was doing something without him. I really wish I had the time to do a proper amp demo, or at least play long enough to get some good recordings, but time is scarce anymore.

I did not plan out any music to play, so I just twiddled out a few random riffs. Please excuse the mediocre playing. I felt obligated to include the clip here for posterity.

Anyway, this is an American HSS strat running straight in to the amp. The amp is plugged into an 8 ohm Eminence Swamp Thang speaker that is mounted in a homemade pine open-back cabinet, recorded by a Shure SM57 into my Focusrite 2i2 interface.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sAK2dwAuLU

[Reeltarded]

Wow. Your clean works better than most. That sounds amazing.

[professormudd]

Wow. Your clean works better than most. That sounds amazing.

Thank you, although I'm pretty sure that strat could make a nice clean tone plugged into a subway PA.