Weber Trainwreck kit

[big_teee]

I realize this is an old thread, but one on a amp I may build.
I too have been looking at the Java Schematic, and the BF 6G6 .
I was wondering what the pro and con effects of the CF second stage.
I'm not trying to build a TW amp, just a good high gain amp that can be tuned to my Tone.
Also any comments on the way the Master Volume is done on the Java Vs. the Lar/Mar PPIMV?
Thanks in advance.
Terry

BTW: I was going with a 325-0-325 PT, and either a 3.6k, or 4.2k OT.

[bluesky636]

I realize this is an old thread, but one on a amp I may build.
I too have been looking at the Java Schematic, and the BF 6G6 .
I was wondering what the pro and con effects of the CF second stage.
I'm not trying to build a TW amp, just a good high gain amp that can be tuned to my Tone.
Also any comments on the way the Master Volume is done on the Java Vs. the Lar/Mar PPIMV?
Thanks in advance.
Terry

BTW: I was going with a 325-0-325 PT, and either a 3.6k, or 4.2k OT.

I just finished building a JAVA. It was very easy to convert it electrially to an Express if not physically. At the very end I had some stability problems which I asked about here and was given some great advice that solved my issues:

http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21158

I documented the entire build here, with photos:

http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php? ... 79#p945479

Is the JAVA a true clone? No. Is it a good high gain amp? In my opinion, yes. I did not use the cathode follower (it is a low impedance source that drives the tone stack easier with less loss) or the master volume. I also added a 100 pf bright switch and added a switch to remove the cathode bypass cap on V1 for a little less gain instead of using a second, low level input. For some reason, Heyboer power and output trannys were provided although I didn't order them or pay extra for them.

I also built a Weber 5F6A clone kit:

http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=65668

Customer service with both kits was excellent. There were a few minor discrepanies in the kits, all of which were solved quickly (except I could never get the correct front panel for the JAVA, so I made my own). Both kits were a lot of fun to build although not without their frustrations, and I learned a lot. I'm trying to decide which Weber kit I will build next.

[chrisc]

Hi,
I dont post here often, I usually have nothing to add to the conversation because of the incredibly high level of knowledge that is here. But, I do have a good bit of experience with Weber kits and parts, especially their transformers.
My first amp was a Weber 6M45 kit. It was a nice kit to learn on but there were lots of sub standard parts that came with my kit. Everyone knows this already, old news. After that I rolled my own using Webers transformers because they were so cheap.
I built probably 17-20 amps using their transformers. So far I've replaced almost every one of their 15w power transformers. Thats at least 12 amps worth. Ive also replaced 2 40-50w power transformers and as soon as my EDCOR order comes in im doing another one.
Some times the PT would just strait up burn out, that was easy, but other times the amp would have intermittent overheating issues or power dips for years. Some happened right away, some took days or weeks while others took almost a year to develop. It drove me mad trying to figure out what my problem was, I just figured it was something i had done wrong. Who knows how much its cost me in time, frustration and feeling like crap. Im not ruling out the possibility that Im partially to blame, but it sure is interesting that ive NEVER had another brand of transformer flame out.

Just my experience. Maybe you will get lucky

Chris

[Colossal]

ChrisC,

Sorry to hear of your bad experiences, that is a terrible track record for those transformers. But thanks for coming out of the woodwork and posting. Hopefully you've saved others a lot of future headache and swearing.

[chrisc]

I saw this thread the other day and debated posting, but in the end I wish I would have listened to the right person. At the time so many people were singing their praises that i figured I couldnt go wrong. I knew some forums didnt like their products but I knew that had some to do with 18watt stuff. Im a real world user, I have no agenda or axe to bury. I used their products, this is what I got.

In all fairness most of the issues i had are from 1 model of transformer, the PTGP. I liked it because I get all kinds of voltages out of it and it was super cheap. There was one other 15w PT that I had 2 or 3 failures in, but the PTGP was the real bad one.

Chris

[Bob S]

Good info.
Gotta check my trafo stash.
Thanks for posting Chris.

[Hepcat]

Weber's transformer numbers aren't like PTGP now. I assume PTGP is Power Transformer General Purpose but please let me know what they were for. I have used a number of the Weber power transformers and the Weber-sourced Heyboer transformers. No problems whatsoever. I love the Heyboer output transformers. If I get to making more amps,(more than 12/year) I will probably source them directly from Heyboer.