Tube Amp Archive

Is it because that is the only time I refer to them as "valves?" :D I'm in the UK! I was calling them "tubes" for your benefit!! Anyway, I've just finished checking the wiring. Going to do it one more time before I fire her up tomorrow. Quick question: is it OK to use a 2-Amp Slo-blo fuse with the U...

Yep, I just went over there. I know it's a crappy thing to do online but I have asked in both places, really don't want to kill myself over something as sillly as bad PT wiring

Thanks :) I have three questions that I can't seem to answer for myself: 1. I sent a 0v and 6.3v tap to pins 4 and 5 of the rectifier tube respectively, as indicated in the Ceriatone 18w TMB layout, whereas the Trinity layout which I had been following said it should be 3.5v to each of these pins......

Thanks for the tips guys, they are all going in the memory bank :) Yeah I agree, the wood look really bad, but I wanted to get building and try it out as soon as possible! I will sort out something in sheet metal in due course, but for not, it'll hold. I think you are right about the tubing on the t...

That's as far as I have got folks, probably about 90% done. Tomorrow I'm going to go over the layout and compare it with my own circuit, one solder joint at a time and make sure everything is looking good. I don't have a cable yet to plug it into my cabinet (25w Greenback, yummy!) but it is on the w...

After this I installed the valve retainers and shields on the outside of the chassis: [IMG:640:480]http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af154/Monoamine/18w%20Build/DSC02819.jpg[/img] I sealed the nuts and bolts on the inside using clear nail varnish, as this will stop them from vibrating free as I pl...

The next bit I don't remember too well (I was doing it last night at around 4am) but it was quite stressfull. I had decided to be as neat as possible and wanted to wire the rectifier tube and PT so that any wires going in the same direction could be cable tied together. What started as a mess... [IM...

After this I attached the OT to the outside of the chassis. No such problems here [IMG:640:480]http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af154/Monoamine/18w%20Build/DSC02814.jpg[/img] The textbook was used to prop the amp up at different angles to make soldering in tight corners much easier. I would recom...

Ok, now comes the time for the most frustrating and irritating part of my build. Being the stubborn bastard that I am, I ordered my chassis and transformers from different sources. Well, (and I probably deserved this) the Output Transformer (OT) fit just fine, but the Power Transformer's attachment ...

Just a quick word about attaching wires to the turretboard from other sources... On each turret, there is a hole at the top beneath which is a narrowing in the metal. The idea is that wires are either bent to sit in the hole at the top (and are then soldered in place), or wrapped around the wiring a...

The pots were the next things to do. I realised that I wouldn't have enough cloth-covered wire to finish the amp with, and that even if I did, it would also be difficult to wire the front of the amp with it, as it is a much more confined space. I ordered some PVC stranded copper wire and this was id...

After a few hours of stressful and cramped soldering, I relaxed by putting the jacks together. A useful tip I picked up is that you can set them up on the outside of the chassis (the same distance apart) to do this, and it sure makes life easier... [IMG:640:480]http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af...

It was at this point that I realised the turretboard had been put in place too early! I unscrewed it and carefully lifted it so I could access the holes underneath it. Fortunately, the cloth-covered wire proved to be pretty resilient and most of my solder joints betweent the turretboard and tube soc...

So this is what I ended up with: [img:640:480]http://i1003.photobucket.com/albums/af154/Monoamine/18w%20Build/DSC02775.jpg[/img] I'll take this opportunity to make an important observation , which I did not fully appreciate at the time. Amps are built in a series of layers effectively, with wires si...

It is important to cut the wire lengths long enough so you can wrap them comfortably around the socket pins. In fact, make them too long and then trim them back to guarantee a good solder joint. When wiring the preamp tubes, notice that they are wired in series. This means that apart from the first ...