18watt Liverpool build *** IT'S ALIVE!!!! ***

[harryk]

DerStever! I would like to know is your present Liverpool poweramp which you are reffering a straight copy of Marshall 18W with 470kohm grid leaks etc with only exception with Presence control. Regards Harry

[DerStever]

Harry, I don't have a Liverpool yet - I do have some parts to build one - that will be the straight Liverpool - not an 18 watt version - I may split the output tubes or add the Powerscaling Kit to it but I havent decided yet. It will use the stock Liverpool PS.

The 18 Watt I had modified to be a Liverpool is back to being a Marshall Clone with my presence mod to it. It did not have a Liverpool PS when I had converted it in my little experiment - it had the 18 Watt PS which as Dana says rightly doesn't work well with either a Liverpool or Express front end - I did both and it does not sound good. So it is now back to an 18 watt Marshall and sounds great.

[dartanion]

Made big progress today. Finished the boards, stuffed them, wired them, now just waiting to be installed and finish the wiring.

I have had to make a few changes, but they are still within normal Liverpool range. I also have a couple of trick items too. Should be fun to get up and running tomorrow.

I got some cab building to do tomorrow as well as watch my Vikings.

Should be a good day. Even if the Vikes lose. I'm not expecting much.

[UR12]

Made big progress today. Finished the boards, stuffed them, wired them, now just waiting to be installed and finish the wiring.

I have had to make a few changes, but they are still within normal Liverpool range. I also have a couple of trick items too. Should be fun to get up and running tomorrow.

I got some cab building to do tomorrow as well as watch my Vikings.

Should be a good day. Even if the Vikes lose. I'm not expecting much.

Can't wait to hear the report on the amp I know what ya mean about the Vikes. I'm a Packers fan . Best of luck on finishing up the amp but you're on your own with the Vikes

[dartanion]

Hey Dana,

Saw your post. Here's my update:

I have the PT hooked up except for the standby switch. Filaments are wired. Ground buss installed on pots. I have the power supply board installed but not hooked up yet. The main board is done and mostly soldered, I just need to finish adding the wiring for my CF switch, plate supplies, and SE/PP control; then install the board and wire it all up.

I have made some changes to the circuit and some obvious mods, but it should be a nice little screamer!

[dartanion]

Well I was soldering away until 2AM this morning and got a lot done. The only things remaining are wire the input, connect wires from board to pots & switches, speaker jacks, and B+ lines from the power supply board to the main board.

Should have it up and running tonight

[UR12]

Got my fingers crossed form ya. Hope everything goes smoothly and you got great news to report.

[dartanion]

Thanks Dana.

I already see things I am going to change in the subsequent build to this one that I want to change. Mostly chassis layout. I certainly could have made things easier with better placement of certain items.

[harryk]

Hi! I got my Liverpool Lite (2xEL84) to a point where I could test it pretty long at home with decent volumes. I ended up to change 47 pF cap in tone section to 470 pf which improved too high brightness. Then I put a 50 kohm trim pot in series with a 100kohm resistor to find the best combination for a cap and resistor between V1 and V2. After heavy testing I ended to a 133 kohm resitor and 4,7 nF capacitor. Real field tests with this amp will be performed next weekend with my band in our rehearsals. I hope that my experiences are useful to anybody building and testing this kind of amp. Regards Harry

[dartanion]

I got it wired the rest of the way last night, but noticed after I tried firing it up that I forgot to hookup the feedback resistor to the 8 ohm tap.

Also, since it was late and I was tired, I also forgot to check in which position the power and standby switches were on/off. I also forgot the lamp bulb, so when I plugged it in to start taking voltages and check for smoke...I got some smoke. Toasted the first resistor in the PS. That's when I called it a night and will take it up again tonight.

So I am really close, just need to fix these issues and it should be ready to rumble.

[dartanion]

IT LIVES!!!

Ok, I finally fired it up with tubes and she sings. Got a few issues to work out like a little hum and I hooked up the CF switch wrong. SE/PP control works, quiet on the PP side, hum on the SE side. Presence works. Tonestack works. Got crappy startup tubes in it now and couldn't turn it up much tonight.

Maybe tomorrow I will have time to take some photos and clips. Got to let my wife rest. She was rear-ended today on the 101 and her neck and shoulder are in pain. Hopefully she'll be fine tomorrow. She didn't get hit very hard, but it doesn't take much.

I can tell right now that this thing is going to wail I had my attenuator turned way down and the volume barely on (~1.5) and I couldn't crank the guitar volume up without it being quite loud. It also wants to feedback a lot. Should be a fun little tweaker!

[El_Martin]

Congrats on your TW, Dartanion!

Keep us informed about your tweaking.

Ciao
Martin
(Hope your wife is OK?)

[harryk]

Welcome to Liverpool club Dartanion. I hope you like your new baby. I got my Liverpool to a point where I can test it with my band tonight. I have tried it only with single coil pickups but I will also try with humbuckers. Did you test it with singe coilsl or humbuckers and which one you prefer to Liverpool? Regards Harry

[axpro]

Hey Dartanion!!!! HOW DO YOU FIND THE TIME!?!?!?

i think this calls for some soundclips/pics/schematic and layout




So did i read right and you used 18w iron????

Dave

[dartanion]

Thanks guys!

Where did I find the time? It's called sleep deprivation

I tested it briefly late last night with my PRS Custom 24. I barely got to play it at all as it was really late. My wife is out of the house for a few hours, so I can crank her up a bit.

I report back after I get chance to fix the minor issues and play it for a while.

I did build it with 18watt iron. I have a couple of Ceriatone 18watt sets, so that's what I used. The other set will be a 6EZ5 Express!