Wreck style layouts for non-Wreck amps?

[MarkB]

I'm waiting on parts for a 4x6V6 tweed Bassman build, and I'm thinking of using the general Wreck style tube and transformer layout. I was just wondering if anyone else has built an amp like that.

[rfgordon]

Well, I'll add this for y'all's food for thought. I built my TW-inspired amp, played it, and it was great. Monster loud and, well, just not for me. So Friday night I rewired the preamp. Both sides of V1 are parallel with a 1K cathode resistor and a .68 bypass cap. Off V1, thu the stock TW tone stack, and into V2, also wired in parallel with the stock cathode resistor. I kept the 100K plate resistors. I'd not seen any design using a second 12AX7 with both halves in parallel, so I figured, why not? The clean is huge, marvelous, chimy. Crank the gain (I put in a cross-line MV) and it gets to the Rocky Mountain Way kind of crunch. Over all very, very nice tone. Best clean ever.

I reckon part of the genius of the TW is taking the signal straight into the tone stack, vice a coupling cap, then volume, etc. With the tone stack so early in the signal chain the controls have a pretty dramatic effect on tone. I recommend messing about with the TW-style layout. I think I'll use this tone stack and placement in my next design.