Intro and Liverpool Build

[lions den]

More pics on progress from today.

I have a great appreciation for those of you who can build beautiful amps, with straight lines on wires, and no heat marks on adjacent wires, etc.

Having fun no doubt.

Again, let me know if you see anything weird or out of place.
thanks,
sean

[jeff12]

Looks like you have been hard at work. Looking good.

[lions den]

Thanks, I may go ahead and tackle the filter caps tomorrow. There's a small light getting bigger at the end of the tunnel
Sean

[lions den]

I am done with assembly......Now for the REAL fun to begin !
Again, this is my first build so no offense taken on my end if you have suggestions on things to change or double check.

Let me know if anything looks out of place or jumps out in terms of dressing/layout that will cause performance issues.

I appreciate the help of everyone here on the forum. I've read a few posts say that you learn a lot on the first build that helps avoid mistakes on the second. I already have to agree, and that gives the inspiration to build another one

Question: In the assembly guide there is a first turn up process for the Express. Is there anything dramatically different for the Liverpool fire up? For example there are steps in the build guide dealing with bias adjusters which I don't have on the Liverpool. Ok just skip that entire section?

I have a variac and plan to use that to slowly heat things up.

My thought is to slowly apply voltage via the variac and look/smell for anything going wrong. Then check B+ voltages across the board, all without tubes installed, then once voltages check out, install bland tubes and do voltage checks again before moving on to good tubes.

anything else I need to pay close attention to on first power up?
thanks
sean

[lions den]

one more pic.

[jeff12]

This amp is self biased, you don't have to adjust it like an express.(Cathode bias is a whole different animal to adjust plate dissipation of tubes)
From what I can see looks good, Yellow wire on phase inverter looked like could use a little help on right side connection looking at one picture,but looking at last picture the right side lug looks better, should be ok. Sounds like a good plan for first turn on. Make sure you have a load or speaker on it with tubes installed.

[ampmike]

Thats the moment of truth,The moment you light it up.Its a rush!!!Good Luck Bro,Mikey

[lions den]

Thanks Mikey, looking forward to that cabinet....drool.....drool......

sean

[lions den]

thanks Jeff, i'll do another double check on solder joints today.
sean

[lions den]

Is there an existing voltage chart to set expectations during initial turn up? Maybe one without tubes, one with.

I've got the empty one, but looking for any kind of ballpark numbers as I turn up tonight.

I'm using the 250V tap off the PT.
thanks,
sean

[jeff12]

Is there an existing voltage chart to set expectations during initial turn up? Maybe one without tubes, one with.

I've got the empty one, but looking for any kind of ballpark numbers as I turn up tonight.

I'm using the 250V tap off the PT.
thanks,
sean

I found this one.

[lions den]

Jeff, perfect timing as I'm slowly upping the variac now.
Thanks
Sean

[lions den]

The Liverpool lives!!

Thanks everyone for the materials, parts, and input on this build. This is a great forum.

It is quite rewarding to fire up your first build and get a great sound going. Of course I did forget the lead going from v1 pin 2 over to the volume control which made all of the controls on the front useless and gigantic hum out of the speaker

Some quick inspection found my oversight and now everything sounds awesome! Even with bland tubes it sounded great, and now sits with a Telefunken in V1, RCA in V2, and a generic ARS branded 12AX7 in V3.
Also stocked with a quad of Saratov EL84s from RJ.

We'll let it burn in for a while and find the sweet spots. I'll hopefully post some pics after the cab arrives from Mikey, and also some sound clips.

I know it sounds bad to already be thinking about the next build, but I'm sensing a Rocket in the near future. That will round off the existing Express and now Liverpool to complete the collection.

The names Faith (rocket), Hope (Liverpool), and Love (express) are starting to grow on me

Thanks again
Sean

[jeff12]

Great to hear it lives. Almost no better feeling than seeing all your work come to life. Congratulations Rockets are fun too, just added a VVR3 to mine tonight. Sorry I did not see your error when I looked.

[lions den]

Jeff, thanks and no issues on the extra set of eyes. It was actually kind of fun to track down the error and find it.

Hope all is going well with the rocket.
Sean