2nd TW-Inspired build finished - Wow!!! + final shots

[kineteks]

I seem to remember an Express build a while back with incredibly neat elevated wiring almost geometrically laid out, does anyone remember that thread and perhaps have a link?

[Rimy]

here is the link:

https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

[kineteks]

Thank you very much..... that's the one.

John

[M Fowler]

Rimy

I twist my filament wires by hand too but they sure don't come out as nice as yours. Also I saved that link you provided as a goal to achieve in my amp building.

Mark

[Rimy]

Mark

i think highway31 is the best of the best when it comes down to clean builds.

Ralph

[kineteks]

I pre-twist wires as Ralph described but use an electric screwdriver on slow speed with a drill chuck stuck in it. I just clamp one end of both wires in a vise, confirm that they're both the same length and stick the other ends in the chuck. Long lengths of wire will wind tighter close to the chuck so I don't go crazy on length. You loose about an inch (25.4 mm ) of wire to the vise/chuck but it comes out looking very neat. Just takes a couple of seconds to do....

[Rimy]

still waiting for my rft el34 to come, but the rest is done.
the faceplate is done by frontpanelexpress.com thanks to francois2000.
did some lead dress and tweaking to my taste.
changed r4 to 82k and the c12 cap at the pi to 100pf.
added as well 8r2/50w and 15r/50w resistors as a power brake with footswitch,
which gives me a 3db lowering of the output power. works very well on 8 and 16 ohm tab. it's like a solo boost.

[Kregg]

That looks fantastic, great job!

[drhulsey]

Very CLASSY amplifier. The snake skin tolex looks great. The see-thru front is a nice touch, and the blue lights are ultra-cool

[Structo]

That does look nice!

How did you etch the front plexi panel?

[Rimy]

thanks for the nice words...

the plexi front is engraved from behind and filled up with white paint so you can clean it easy from the front.
thats a fluorescent plexi with a blue glow.

[Structo]

Sweet!
Did you have the engraving done or did you do it yourself?

Maybe a Dremel type tool?

[Tubetwang]

thanks for the nice words...

the plexi front is engraved from behind and filled up with white paint so you can clean it easy from the front.
thats a fluorescent plexi with a blue glow.

Thanks for the tip!

Excellent!!

[Rimy]

i've had it made by a local company.
i don't think it's a good idea to do it yourself with a dremel tool.
it would't be accurate enough.

[Rimy]

the nos rft el34 arrived today. i had to put them in straight away.
it's just unbelievable how good they sound!
i put another tungsram in v2, and biased them at about 39ma.
this is the perfect combination for me. i've got nos mullard xf3 el34, eh-el34,
sed =c= el34, tt-el34b and all these are (in my opinion) nothing compared to the rft!
maybe the xf3 come a close but they don't have those "jump in your face mid's"
and the eh don't have the warmth and bass i wanted.
anyway i'm going to keep the eh as spare ones in case the rft blows.
it took me a while to figure out the preamp tubes, but in the end i ended up with all nos.
v1/v2 tungsram, v3 valvo/mullard, v4/v5 rft el34. i still don't know what to say...
my wife wanted to give me a major surgery to get the grin back out of my face...