Ruby kit building notes...

[mojo]

I now have 2 tranny/chassis kits on the way from Two Rock. My plan is to build 2 Ruby clones but alter some of the values, component choices and lead dress a bit guided by the Francesca pics to more closely approximate a Wreck. I know there are others who have used the Ruby kit platform here and I thought a thread to compare notes, post component lists, relate good sources, inform of excess available parts for the build, etc. in one place might be of help. DMC, Ampdoc1, and a few others - please chime in. Also, any advice for tube choices or minimal mods that help to calm the high gain hiss these beasts have when cranked?

[mojo]

Sorry, I meant dms, not DMC. Should I Run? (get it? Run DMC? Never mind...)

[dms]

Hi Mojo -

I'd be up for comparing notes, but my my build goal was to duplicate the "Halloween" build from the pictures in our files section. Aside from the wacky wood-grain garolite, I have gotten pretty close. Now the downside - HISS-O-Matic. Not sure if this comes from the lead dress (copied from the photo), or what. Someone commented that the grounding scheme may be to blame, though somehow it seems unlikely that changing grounding will change the hiss. I haven't had it running long enough yet to fiddle with it and see how it responds to tweaks.

K&M used proprietary signal capacitors, and recommended orange drop 418Ps... having seen that Torres sells rebranded 418Ps, I'm wondering if the Ruby caps are not K&M rebranded 418Ps too. K&M suggested I stay away from the 716s and 715s... I used 225Ps which are closest to the 418Ps, and aside from the hiss, I am happy with the tone. I used the same early 1980s Chinese 12ax7as that they did. I used old Winged C Svetlanas... nice! Robert had posted his notes about the OT placement- you have to redrill and move the OT, or the chassis won't fit in the cabinet.

Let me know what you need!

"Run" DMS

[HiGain]

I now have 2 tranny/chassis kits on the way from Two Rock. My plan is to build 2 Ruby clones but alter some of the values, component choices and lead dress a bit guided by the Francesca pics to more closely approximate a Wreck. I know there are others who have used the Ruby kit platform here and I thought a thread to compare notes, post component lists, relate good sources, inform of excess available parts for the build, etc. in one place might be of help.

I still have a lot of my notes and parts list. In the next few days, I'll try to type them out.

Enjoy your kits!

Jake

[mojo]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I had noticed the post about needing to redrill the tranformer holes - thats one of the things that got me thinking it might be good to have a post like this as there might be more tips that would be helpful to all. Just got my Two Rock package today - gotta go open it now!

[Robert]

I liked the Two Rock chassis however it is very tight. I made a mistake on the taper of one of my pots and will have to unwire the entire preamp board just to replace it. Besides the transformer placement, you will need to scrape away the anodizing to get an electrical contact with the chassis.