renderit wrote:Do you have a list and idiot could follow? I would just buy the Mojo kit and throw all the stuff I don't use from it in my tool box. I mean what could it cost? Like maybe 1-200 more? Worth it to me for the sound.
Point A:
Get a good soldering station and learn how to solder perfectly before building an amp. If you do not have good soldering technique your amp won't sound good or maybe even not work.
Find an old junk black and white TV or tube radio and practice soldering
on that first. People throw these things out, so they can be had for free, or next to nothing. Check your local dump. I recently got a 1948 Hallicrafters TV for free! It was going to the dump. Of course it did'nt work, but replacing all the capacitors in the set brought it back to life. The set has a 7" picture tube!
Book: "Ready Set Go" by Kevin O'connor covers all the basics. $24.00 at www.londonpower.com Or try your local Library.
Going back and looking up some info on that amp. The caps on the board>> .022uf caps used in the amp are the NOS green CDE caps. The .1uf are the Yellow CDE caps.
The presence control used a newer type cap .1uf yellow generic brand.
The amp does have an adjustable bias trim pot. And uses 10uf Mallory caps, instead of the 8uf.
The PI cathode used a 470ohm carbon film 1 watt resistor.
And the power section for the 4.7k used a 2 watt metal oxide.
Not that any of this matters,i'm sure it would be fine using similar things.
The tone slope resistor was 39K. . tone caps 250pf, .1uf and .022. The PI tail is a 10K.
You could probably use Sprague 6ps caps and it would be fine also.
stuben wrote:Point A:
Get a good soldering station and learn how to solder perfectly before building an amp. If you do not have good soldering technique your amp won't sound good or maybe even not work.
Find an old junk black and white TV or tube radio and practice soldering
on that first. People throw these things out, so they can be had for free, or next to nothing. Check your local dump. I recently got a 1948 Hallicrafters TV for free! It was going to the dump. Of course it did'nt work, but replacing all the capacitors in the set brought it back to life. The set has a 7" picture tube!
Book: "Ready Set Go" by Kevin O'connor covers all the basics. $24.00 at www.londonpower.com Or try your local Library.
I got a pretty decent Haako and can solder pretty good. I am not quite up to being able to alter the tiny boards without lifting traces all the time, but I can and have done it. I'll check out that book, I just got told there are 3 other amp books in my mailbox.
Richie wrote:Going back and looking up some info on that amp. The caps on the board>> .022uf caps used in the amp are the NOS green CDE caps. The .1uf are the Yellow CDE caps.
The presence control used a newer type cap .1uf yellow generic brand.
The amp does have an adjustable bias trim pot. And uses 10uf Mallory caps, instead of the 8uf.
The PI cathode used a 470ohm carbon film 1 watt resistor.
And the power section for the 4.7k used a 2 watt metal oxide.
Not that any of this matters,i'm sure it would be fine using similar things.
The tone slope resistor was 39K. . tone caps 250pf, .1uf and .022. The PI tail is a 10K.
You could probably use Sprague 6ps caps and it would be fine also.
Pretty sure the amp used the TAD 6L6s.
Now all I gotta do is get the plan and see if I can make what you said make sense to me. Thanks for the info, where are the best places to find the old NOS stuff and carbon film stuff?
Carbon film you can buy about anywhere, The carbon comp you can find from different places. Also note they were all measured and made sure of the values. The NOS have longer leads than the ones made today.
I also used some NOS switchcraft RCA jacks for the speaker hookups. They seem to be better quality than the newer made stuff.
Here is a pic of the CDE green caps, and they pop up much cheaper than that on ebay. I used 600v ones. But 400v ones should be fine. And again, other caps should be fine or work and sound good also..
Sorry I'm getting in late on the OP. I've been building, rebuilding, hacking and swearing at amps for the last 25 years. It puts me in a position to rephrase your question a little differently: do you want this amp and want to build it yourself or do you want to build amps and start with this one? It makes a difference.
If you want that amp, I'd go with the posters who recommended a kit -- although you can build a creditable version using a bill-of-materials from different vendors if you want to upgrade components. A point of clarification though; The YouTube video said 5F6. I'd bet American money that should be the much more famous 5F6-A (1958-60 Bassman). Ask questions. My personal favorite is the 5E6, FWIW.
If you want to make amps and get to this one, I'd also go with a number of posters that maybe you start with a Deluxe and work up. This isn't a particularly complex circuit, though. With all the right parts and chassis holes already drilled, you can get through it.
Either rout will depend on process. You need the same tools, minimum test equipment, safety precautions (trust me -- these gizmos can send you flying across the room) and protocols for what you do when. There is plenty on that track here and other sites. Bone up.
Originally I did want to build the 5F6-A only. The more I have been pawing around on this site and some others I think I am going to start out lower on the scale and may even start with a Champ. I really think I want to build period as in everything.
I am delayed somewhat by the fact I just bought a Fender EC Twinolux. I am also going to purchase an At Mars Specialist. The Specialist just sounds fantastic and I really want to know everything about it. The Twinolux is IMHO the best new amp Fender has made in years. I want to figure out the tremolo because it is the best in the way it works that I have ever heard (and I didn't like them at all until recently) and I want to figure out the power attenuation scheme they are using on it.
Combine the tremolo with a beautiful SOUNDING one from a Victoria Silver Sonic, the attenuation from the Twinolux, and the pure mojo from the Specialist and I would have my perfect amp.
Then I want the 4-10 Bassman plain and mixed with the above.
Oh, and though I didn't tell you; I used to build speaker cabinets and I want to get back into that.
I would think think that if you used to build speaker cabinets, you would very probably like to build your own cabs for these amps. If it is at all a reasonable feat for you to do your own cabs, it really exponentially increases the satisfaction with your finished amp knowing that you did so much of it yourself.
I share my amps a lot with friends, and people seem to be really impressed with the fact that I built them myself. Some of the cabs were built by my dad because he has a nice wood shop that I can not always get to myself for every project. Interestingly enough, when people are looking at my amps, and impressed with them being home-made, I get the feeling that they are mostly thinking about the cab since they have no idea of the electronics involved. (Not that I do it to impress other people.) Having cabs built by my dad is special in it's own way, but if I had an amp with a major part built by neither of us, it would feel like a waste of possible satisfaction or specialness... then you can also personalize even some tiny little details about it.
Then I'd go with the Bassman build to start. It is very well documented. A kit might be a good way to go. Being a tinkerer, I might get stock metal components but do a little extra shopping for signal resistors and caps. Those are the cheapest parts but there is a difference between a 47 cent resistor and a 14 cent resistor.
My Bassman is the 1956 variety but I made it as a head and 4X10 cab rather than a combo because I have another head that also likes 4 10's. That particular circuit was almost identical for every 6L6 Fender of the era (Pro 1X15, Super 2X10, Bandmaster 3X10, Bassman 4X10 and Twin 2X12). The 4X10 is my favorite but it only edges out the 1X15 (P15N) by a nose. Unless you want a single-carry amp, you might give some thought to an up-and-down arrangement. If you do, be sure to get a multi-tap output transformer. I wired the 4X10 for 8 ohms so I never needed a 2 ohm tap but 4's and 8's are very handy. FWIW sh
Yep, my 2 favorite cabs are a 4-10 and a 2-12 4ohm mismatch by Matchless. I always liked 4-10's and several peeps on a guitar site have talked me into trying a 1-15 particularly for Strat types. I have a great interest in making all sorts of weird combos to try like a 2-10/1-15 open back combo, etc. I was considering just going to all head types, but I still eventually want a 4-10 Bassman combo. That one I just have to have.
This is the schematic for the tweed Bandmaster. I believe Pete Townsend played one on Who's Next. Clapton played and endorsed the reissue Low-Power Twin 2X12 not very long ago. Except for a few resistors and caps this is identical to all of the non-tremolo 6L6 Fender amps from the mid-50's.
The phase inverter -- the circuit that splits the signal between the two power tubes -- is the generation before the one in the amp you are considering (and pretty much every amp since) although the Princeton Reverb has always used the cathodyne. It only uses one half of one preamp tube. It doesn't generate much gain and isn't as efficient as the later one either but it has a tone all its own. The tone controls are also very different than the Treble, Middle, Bass stack we are all used to.
You won't have any problem finding videos for the RI 57 Bandmaster or any of the original mid-late tweeds on YouTube. That list would include the Super Amp, Pro Amp, Bassman, Twin -- anything that starts with 5E*. I like 10's with this circuit better than 12's but the 15 also works well. I'm not overfond of them generally but I make an exception here.
Some people say the mojo for the in-between tier versions comes from the wimpy output transformer. They blow easily. I've always used 4-bolt Bassman iron for mine so maybe I'm missing some of the purity but it probably makes up for it in low-end.
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