Starting Express

[ampmike]

Hey Guys,My parts are coming today from RJ ,Great guy,.My guestion is on the pics the wires are bent on 90 degree angles and dont seem like they move.How do you get wire to bend and hold its position that way,Is heat used.? Thanks MJC

[paulster]

Solid core wire and a pair of pliers to hold the wire at the point you want to bend it.

[M Fowler]

Use crafters pliers they are smooth and do not make marks on the wire. Also in the jewelry making section where I hang out Just kidding is the round needle nose pliers great for making loops in the bare wire for wrapping around turrets.

Mark

[paulster]

Absolutely. You'll only use toothed pliers once, after you see the mess they make of the insulation!

[Cliff Schecht]

I use a mixture of both. After I bend a wire with smooth pliers and put in the U for wrapping the exposed lead around a turret, I use a set of toothed pliers to grab the wire end, wrap it once or twice and pull it very snug. The end of the wire gets nicked a bit but you'll end up cutting off the excess anyways.

[Structo]

You know, I do agree that turret board is probably better mechanically than an eyelet board simply because you are wrapping the component lead around the turret making a good mechanical joint before soldering it.

On an eyelet board I stuff the component lead through the hole then flatten the lead on the back.
Not as good of a bond for sure.
But, I haven't built an amp yet where I didn't change a handful of parts trying to zero in on the tone so on the eyelet board it usually becomes just the lead in the hole with solder around it......

I would prefer a turret board but an eyelet board is easier to tweak.

[paulster]

I would prefer a turret board but an eyelet board is easier to tweak.

I actually think the opposite! I find that when I bend my component leads and (solid core) wires over the back of the board before soldering and cutting that they can be a nightmare to remove from an eyelet if I want to tweak. I could probably get away without soldering with the way I lock them in!

At least with a turret the components are just dropped in the top of the turret unless you've decided to side-wrap, which I think makes for easier tweaking.

I'll stick with my eyelets though...

[ampgeek]

I use an arsenal of hemostats, ribbed and smooth, for the tight work (not that I am a Picasso by any stretch of the imagination). Hey...at least it gives me a reasonable explanation for the burn marks at the tips!

I recently picked up a set of stainless dental tools (sharp and flat pick ends at various angles and configurations) and found them to be very handy as well.

Solid core is the key as others have mentioned. It never ceases to amaze me how solid everything feels once an amp is all wired up with it.

+1 on RJ! Very knowledgable, pleasant and accomodating.

Have fun!
Dave O.

[Jana]

"Hey...at least it gives me a reasonable explanation for the burn marks at the tips!"

For some odd reason I know what you are really talking about!

[M Fowler]

I just rotate my wood chopsticks from my favorite Chinese resturant after I eat of course.

[Big Jim]

Hey Ampmike,
I just opened up my shipment from rj! Super nice guy, great to deal with.
Good luck on your build. I plan on going kind of slow. Savor the build if you will. Sometimes I use the radius on the back side (smooth side) of the plier jaws to shape wire and component leads. By the way, which trannies did you buy? I went with the Pacifics. Jim

[Richie]

one thing to remember, if your using wire that the insulation melts quick,try not to make a bend,a bend will make it melt even faster.
If possible keep the wire straight,make the solder connection,then bend the wire in place. This is usually on the end close to where your going to solder,where the heat will be. I know they make heat sinks etc ..but you can get by without using something like that.

[geetarpicker]

one thing to remember, if your using wire that the insulation melts quick,try not to make a bend,a bend will make it melt even faster.
If possible keep the wire straight,make the solder connection,then bend the wire in place. This is usually on the end close to where your going to solder,where the heat will be. I know they make heat sinks etc ..but you can get by without using something like that.

Great tip for everyone! I learned that one the hard way...

[ampmike]

Hey Big Jim,RJ is the best,My stuff looks GREAT!!,I did go with the Pacifics and Imm going to go real slow too.Do we need to get like a aluminum cover later to seal up the chassis?That one pic shows like cork on the thing.I might be wrong or looked at the picture wrong.Anyway I was real happy with RJ,I even got the box run down to the basement before my wife saw it.Where are you going to start? Thanx Mike

[M Fowler]

Ampmike you can make a bottom plate from local hardware store aluminum and we were using stick on cork to help with vibration, that is available in the kitchen area of the stores like Lowe's it used for lining drawers.

Have fun with that build and ask questions.