My Rocket build!

[pureoldsound]

Thought I share my view on the Rocket amp. It is a very nice clean amp, with a nce breakup when pushed. Very nice bottom end and top. The cut works like a charm....I have a quad of Sgt OD EL84s NOS tubes and GZ34 and NOS GE 12AX7s...That makes a heck of combo...Now to load my 1x12 Reason cab with a 50w Celestion Gold....FWIW I've been using this Rocket build through some Pre-rolas green 102 003 cones and sounds delightful....

Anyway enough rambling back to building amps...enjoy!!!!

[pureoldsound]

one more pic with the cab...

[UR12]

Carlos

Outstanding job on that amp! I know you have been waiting a long time to get her done. Can't wait to hear the report on the next custom Rocket build.

[pureoldsound]

Thanks for the kind words Dana....I am all up for the custom Rocket, if it turns out to be as good as the Bi-polar I'll be one happy camper

[gregarious]

Very nice work all round - real eye candy!

What type of cap are the .047's?

Any clipage on the horizon?

[pureoldsound]

Thanks greg, caps are Panasonic, I'll try to record some clips tomorrow

[Fischerman]

Looks great! Those Panasonics look...authentic. Have you tried the ole AC30 'trick' where you turn the bass/treble to zero and crank it? Then maybe dial in a tiny bit of bass/treble. I just built one and it does the clean great and does the Brad Paisley semi-clean-but-twangy thing great but when you push it too hard with the bass/treble up it gets a bit knarly. But when I turn he bass/treble to zero and crank it it wails (it's about at an AC/DC level of distortion). Curious if that's normal.

[pureoldsound]

yep that is pretty much as how it behaves. But even with the bass and treble at mid way and with the vol about 2 o'clock it doesn't get much heavier than an ALA AC/DC type of distortion....

[pureoldsound]

Looks great! Those Panasonics look...authentic. Have you tried the ole AC30 'trick' where you turn the bass/treble to zero and crank it? Then maybe dial in a tiny bit of bass/treble. I just built one and it does the clean great and does the Brad Paisley semi-clean-but-twangy thing great but when you push it too hard with the bass/treble up it gets a bit knarly. But when I turn he bass/treble to zero and crank it it wails (it's about at an AC/DC level of distortion). Curious if that's normal.

Where in FL are you? I am in the Orlando area

[drhulsey]

Thought I share my view on the Rocket amp...

Very Nice It looks just like a real rocket, except Ken put the 50R and cap on the opposite side of the power tubes.
Congratulations

[pureoldsound]

Thought I share my view on the Rocket amp...

Very Nice It looks just like a real rocket, except Ken put the 50R cap and resistor on the opposite side of the power tubes.
Congratulations

Thanks, and you are right .....when it came to decide where to put the cap and the resistor I thought of mounting it next to the EL84, but the holes on the chassis where a regular power board should go were there so I used them. I doubt there will be any change in sound placing it next to the EL84. I am doing a custom Rocket so on this one (due to space) I might have to place it next to the EL84...Other wise I would place it in the power section....

[drhulsey]

... I doubt there will be any change in sound placing it next to the EL84...

From your description, it doesn't sound the placement hurt you any. Duplicating the sound is more important, IMHO, than making an exact replica. It sounds like you'll get a chance to do an A/B comparison

[RJ Guitars]

Carlos,

Nice job.... as you may know I am quite fond of all iterations of the Rocket. I assume by the front panel that it is a Ceriatone kit?

I have also ordered the Russian tubes from the Tube Sgt. so I pleased with your report. I also have a stock set of matched JJ's for comparison.

Did you use the Heyboer Transformers? I am especially curious about the output Tranny, is it a Heyboer?

Nice build, I look forward to hearing your clips.

rj

[Fischerman]

Where in FL are you? I am in the Orlando area

I'm just up 417 in Oviedo!

[UR12]

Carlos,

Nice job.... as you may know I am quite fond of all iterations of the Rocket. I assume by the front panel that it is a Ceriatone kit?

I have also ordered the Russian tubes from the Tube Sgt. so I pleased with your report. I also have a stock set of matched JJ's for comparison.

Did you use the Heyboer Transformers? I am especially curious about the output Tranny, is it a Heyboer?

Nice build, I look forward to hearing your clips.

rj

I'm not Carlos but I can tell you that what you see is not a "Kit". The chassis is a Ceriatone Liverpool chassis with the extra hole knocked out for the recto but that's it. The faceplate was done by B&P Laser here in the US. The OT was a special design 4.2k made by Heyboer. While this amp is not a dead on clone it is the closest thing to date to a clone of a real Rocket that I have personally seen. The only change being the location of the cathode resistor and bypass cap. Carlos sourced all of the parts himself. This was his second build ( His first build is sitting under his Rocket in the picture) and he is already building amps that make it look like he has been doing it for years.