New Liverpool - Katana

[klauswilliams]

Recently finished the amp and have now just about finished the cab, minus the feet and final polishing, and thought I'd share. Main box wood is Poplar. Poplar has a middling rep but I actually like the contrast in colors found in some boards. Plus I'm sorta cheap and it's less expensive than most other woods around. Used a light poly on the Poplar which I still need to rub out. The face of the box is Padauk with just a hand polish, no applied sealer or finish. Shiny as a mirror. Probably should have done the whole thing out of it looking back, but I like it as is too.

I had a hard time with the box pictures, in person it's much crisper and reflective, but you get the idea from these. I followed Ron's specs for the box with a few minor changes here and there. Used cork under the chassis and bottom plate mostly because I didn't like the big gap between the faceplate and face. Now the gap is still there, but only visible from perfectly straight ahead.

As you can tell I got most of the parts from Ceriatone minus the tubes/tx and other various pieces. I currently have the 1/2 power switch, but it's mostly useless and I will be replacing it with a LarMar master in a couple days when the parts arrive. Had a bit of RF interference the first time with my band but I didn't have the cab yet, so I'm hopeful the cab with bottom plate will cure it. Otherwise, she rocks. Cuts like a sword....

[RJ Guitars]

Klaus,

That is a nice looking build. I'll be curious if your interference goes away with the bottom plate.

Which transformers did you use?

I also added a half power switch to my first Wreck (a Rocket) and it serves as a subtle difference in flavor but not real reduction in volume. I have found that the airbrake is my own favorite volume volume reducer.

Nice looking cabinet. Poplar is very colorful and unique.

Post up a clip if you can get one.

thanks,

rj

[klauswilliams]

Thanks RJ. The trannies are from you actually. They embarassingly sat in my closet with the rest of the parts for a few months until I had time to work on it. Yeah I found the same thing with the half-power switch - little different sound but no noticeable volume diff. I want something that at least lets me turn it up past 2 in the house (kids, wife, etc) and I've heard great things about the LarMar vol. Also will be trying one in my '72 1959.

We did record our last practice but I haven't actually heard it yet- though the bassist who recorded it says it's the best guitar sound he's heard out of me yet (play various Marshalls, now a JVM). And, when I cranked it up for the first time the drummer was still outside walking out to the space (it's a dedicated building in his back yard). When he got in he said "now THAT sounds like an amp for a rock show - sounds massive and would cut through anything!". I found it best on the low bright setting.

[Cliff Schecht]

You've got the HV decoupling caps REALLY far from the stages, further than Ken ever did. That's a recipe for noise in my book, those caps aren't very effective when they are so far away from the nodes they are meant to decouple.

I also spot a wing-nut down towards the speaker jack. I just want to smack your hands and say NO! Get in there and replace that with a good solder joint+heatshrink.

[klauswilliams]

Thanks for the feedback Cliff. I'll see what I can do with the caps - the layout was mostly determined by the boards and chassis I got, but nevertheless I'm up for trying things in the event they might help.

Nice eye with the nut - however, that was intentional. As I said, I'm removing the 1/2 power switch, and when I do I'll need that wire put back where it was originally. I was just trying to save myself a bit of work ahead of time because I figured I might be reversing it.

[Cliff Schecht]

I've never built or played a Liverpool so I don't know if they have the same instability issues as the Express design does. It's just generally better to keep the bypass caps as close to the stage they are decoupling as possible. It goes against everything I've ever been taught to shove them on the other side of the chassis. I guess we somehow manage to get away with it anyways, perhaps because tubes are somewhat more forgiving than discrete devices when it comes to clean (or not so clean) power.

What you did with the wingnut makes sense too, it's just funny seeing one in a guitar amp .

[klauswilliams]

Thought I'd follow up after getting a chance to play it again after that "naked" first time with the RF interference. I made a few changes in between as follows:

1- added pre-amp tube shields, an aluminum bottom plate, plus the enclosure
2- added a 15k input resistor
3- replaced C2 and C12 with 85 and 512 polystyrene caps
4- tried really hard to shorten and position the wiring properly throughout the amp
5- removed the half-power switch and the wingnuts:)
6- added a LarMar master volume
7- put NOS Tung-Sol and Sylvania pre-amp tubes in it (JJ output)

WOW! What a difference. And not subtle either, a HUGE difference. Now any hint of harshness is totally gone, and I had all knobs at 12:00 and the bright switch full up. Absolute perfect tone, way way way better than before. I'm sure all the changes contributed, but now it sounds a whole lot like Glen's video playing a Liverpool, which is what made me choose to build it in the first place. At least it felt like it which is all that counts. And the RF is gone and the amp totally quiet.

So, with a few tweaks here and there, using a Ceriatone kit as your basis (plus Heyboer tx and the above tweaks) it can indeed sound fantastic. Night and day between the kit originally completed and now. I know the vast majority of guys here already know these things, but for a relative newbie like me or others who may lurk here, it was eye opening how seemingly small things can make all the difference in the world. I am a believer now.

I have some NOS Russians coming for the output tubes too - I'm sure that will improve it even more.

[RJ Guitars]

Great story... would be interesting to sort out what each tweak actually did to make it all work the way it does now. Did you do any interim listening as you made each change?

rj

[fishy]

That really is great news.
Did you take any photos post the changes. Since you have made some changes to lead dress it might be quite educational.

Any issues using the polystyrene caps. I know they do not tolerate heat very well.

Pete

[klauswilliams]

I wish I did get to tweak it in steps. I basically play it at home (which is no judge of tone for me at the required low levels) and then with my band where I get a real gauge. We had a few weeks off so it was some time in between, and I figured I'd take the approach of throwing everything at it and then go from there. Maybe I got lucky but wow it's great now. For under $600 total I'll take it any day of the week. I've been running it through a slanted closed-back 1x12 I made that has a Weber 1230-55 ceramic. I face the cab towards the wall in the corner. I have a '79 Marshall 4x12 with tanbacks that I'd love to try it with (at band rehearsal) but that's some heavy moving there.

Here are some pics. Of course I did the LarMar much neater on my Superlead right after doing this one. Oh well. That works awesome btw. And my disclaimer is that I had no real strategy other than to try and copy what others here have posted in terms of wiring logistics. Just looked around and tried to find what didn't look "right". What would be fantastic for newbies/amateurs like me is a "best practice" list of wiring tips since it's such an important part of these amps. I'm sure there are many areas of improvement in mine and I welcome any comments on it. I get no real hiss so that's not a worry. Some tx hum when I power up but I'm chalking that up to normal noises. Never gets any louder on standby nor with volume or treble adjustments, and it's just a quiet hum.

Polystyrene's are good so far, though they only have about 2-3 hours on them. Very delicate leads on them, I can see how you can melt them easily.

[PlinytheWelder]

I'm a big fan of the polystyrene caps and the Lar-Mar MV... The former sound way better than micas and the latter does away with attenuators and ear bleeding volume for good tone...

Nice work on that amp!

[leeuwa]

Nicely build Liverpool Amp. I'm going (to try) to build a Liverpool amp myself in a couple of weeks.
I have a question about the input and output jacks. In the BOM there is mentioned a Switchcraft 12A in- and output jack. I see on your pictures that you used different ones. Wich one did you use, and where did you get them? Is there a different the ones you used and the ones from Switchcraft?

[klauswilliams]

Thanks for the kind words. Man it sounds great, I highly recommend building one of these models. It would be nice to have a few bells and whistles like an effects loop, reverb, and some channel options, but it sounds so good....

No, tho 3 jacks are all Cliff jacks, the same model. My input jack is rotated 90 degrees, maybe that threw you off.

Good luck!

[leeuwa]

I started this week building my first Liverpool amp for my son. I like the idea of adding the LarMar master volume in the amp.
Do you have any information how to fit in the LarMar master volume in the Liverpool for me (scheme, parts, wiring)? I can't find information about that on this forum. I would really appreciate if you could help me with that.
Thanks in advange, Adrie

[fishy]

Check this post. It pertains to some experiences on an Express build, providing some detail.
There is also some comments regarding implementation in a Liverpool towards the end.

https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... ht=express