Express Build with VVR and ext bias adjustment

[sst4270]

A recently completed build. Off to a player in Canada.

Hope you like it.

Heyboer Transformers and chassis blank from RJ. (www.rjguitars.net)

Steve

[sst4270]

And a few more shots

[Cliff Schecht]

Obvious clone!

Just kidding, it looks frickin great!

[sst4270]

Yeh, I'm definitely not a purist. I simply love the sound of these circuits.
This one had virtually zero hum. A little of that high gain "shhhhhh".
And tons of bottom end.
I used KT77's.

[passfan]

I see you 45'd the edges of your sides. How did you join them? I'm mulling over how to join my cherry in the corners right now.

[M Fowler]

I like your new build looks great.

[M Fowler]

I see you 45'd the edges of your sides. How did you join them? I'm mulling over how to join my cherry in the corners right now.

I used biscuits in my TW cabinets three per corner.

[KellyBass]

Very nice build! I'd be very proud to own that amplifier.

[Randy Magee]

very nice build!

[passfan]

I see you 45'd the edges of your sides. How did you join them? I'm mulling over how to join my cherry in the corners right now.

I used biscuits in my TW cabinets three per corner.

I thought about that. I'm also tempted to dovetail them as well. My Rocket (which I like the best) is in a 2-12 combo right now. The cherry is for the express. What a dilemma.

[Cliff Schecht]

I'm having a guy build me a TW cab using Birch plywood with a Dura Tex coating. He talked me out of the Cherry pretty quickly after I told him I plan on gigging a lot with this amp. I think we all know that while we can try as hard as we want to not ding up our amps, other people just don't have that kind of regard for your stuff. It's only going to cost me $75 with a faceplate so I'm pretty stoked about that.

I'm eventually going to build another Express as well which will be housed in a traditional Cherry cab, but that amp will be more for studio work so that the wood stays nice and ding free.

[sst4270]

Regarding cabinet joints.
I've only ever used mitre joints on my head cabs. I believe that a good 45° degree joint glued well (I use Titebond II) will hold up very well for a very long time with such a small box.
The caveat would be that I would dovetail oily woods such as the hardwoods that come out of S. America and Africa. i.e. Cocobolo, Bacote, Bubinga, etc...

I use finger joints on combos and larger speaker cabs.

There's been a lot of discussion on this subject before. I think "Distortion" uses biscuits as well.

I got into this hobby from building custom pool cues. While there is structurally a huge difference between the two I learned a lot about glue joints from that hobby/business. Stable well seasoned and properly dried wood is very important to ensuring a long lasting joint.

My take on it is this: Original wrecks were rabbet jointed which is structurally not much different than a mitre joint and from recent photos I've seen they seem to be holding up just fine. Biscuits are better used for long joints like table tops IMHO (not for 9~10"). And of course dovetails are incredibly strong and beautiful but wayyy overkill in small box like this.
Also the front panel on my cabs are rabbeted in to increase the overall strength of the cabinet. No cleats. It's much cleaner looking as well I think.

As far as gigging with a wreck... Well for a travelling band I'd put it in a flight case. I've seen photos of Paisley's stage set-up where his Liverpool is in a flight case and the stage crew just removes the front and rear covers of the case. It's surrounded by about 2" of foam on all sides. I've seen photos of Warren Haynes using a simliar set-up. (when he rarely takes one on the road). Just travelling to a lot of local gigs? I'd probably use a gig bag like the kind they make for Marshall heads. I'm curious what other around here use. One guy around here that I made a head for wraps his in a moving quilt.

Finally... With any piece of nice solid wood product I think that, over time, getting small dings and the such in the surface are what gives the wood its patina.

This particular cabinet was made with very hard Curly Ash. I'd accidentally dropped my screw driver on it a few times while building the amp. Didn't leave a mark. I'm hoping to find some more of it.

Thanks so much for the compliments.

Steve

[UR12]

Steve

Great looking amp!! I also built one of my TW cabs out of Ash and was very pleased with the outcome. That stuff is a little on the heavy side compared to Cherry but friggin tough as nails. You could probably drop a bowling ball on it and dent the ball first.

[funkmeblue]

did you use the JJ caps?

[passfan]

Steve have you, or any on here, thought about offsetting the handle to the right to compensate for the weight on one end ? I've been toying around with this but not sure how accepted it would be. I think it would be easier to carry around sitting level and not down on one end. Looking for opinions on this thought , thanks.