NOS John Mayer Sig / Wonderland 100W

[talbany]

Yeah I realize you posted it bc that amp was custom made for Mayer. Thanks for the link to the schematic!

-Dan

Hey Dan You want to make sure those NTE's are not Metal Oxides. I had a friend order some of the newer NTE's and they were Oxides when he tried to exchange them for the regular WH' types they said they don't make them anymore.

Just a heads up

Tony

[mojotom]

was there ever a clear decision about the 1M -68k voltage divider? as there seem to be more pictures than were available when I built mine i wonder if there's a clearer shot of that 'node'. At the time I spoke to jelle and he said that the values of this node posted on Taylors layout didn't make a lot of sense as it cut so much gain, making the master volume unnecessary.


I good friend of mine played one of the 25 JM original amps his friend owned, he'd paid £25,000 that's about $35,000 for it. When he AB against my JM/SSS he preferred mine ironically mine is slightly different with 510vDC on the plates and higher pre amp voltages like the SSS and a different voltage divider for a little more gain. Maybe that made the difference he preferred.






M

Hello Marcus !

I’ve seen some pictures over the years of various iteration of that amp and always spotted that combo (1M/68k). Those amps being 100W do have some volume available but not as much as an ODS for sure, or a 45W BF Fender.
If you look at SSS #004 especially (but also 13 and others SSS) you will notice the filters are part of an attenuation network, along the lines of the JM.
Also the JM uses high value PS resistors and that will remove some punch and attack compare to a lower value like a Super Reverb or an SSS (and then voltages on preamp tubes are lowered too). And a Cut control.
I do like a bit more than 68k myself but then Reverb level compare to the clean is lowered too.

[norburybrook]

was there ever a clear decision about the 1M -68k voltage divider? as there seem to be more pictures than were available when I built mine i wonder if there's a clearer shot of that 'node'. At the time I spoke to jelle and he said that the values of this node posted on Taylors layout didn't make a lot of sense as it cut so much gain, making the master volume unnecessary.


I good friend of mine played one of the 25 JM original amps his friend owned, he'd paid £25,000 that's about $35,000 for it. When he AB against my JM/SSS he preferred mine ironically mine is slightly different with 510vDC on the plates and higher pre amp voltages like the SSS and a different voltage divider for a little more gain. Maybe that made the difference he preferred.






M

Hello Marcus !

I’ve seen some pictures over the years of various iteration of that amp and always spotted that combo (1M/68k). Those amps being 100W do have some volume available but not as much as an ODS for sure, or a 45W BF Fender.
If you look at SSS #004 especially (but also 13 and others SSS) you will notice the filters are part of an attenuation network, along the lines of the JM.
Also the JM uses high value PS resistors and that will remove some punch and attack compare to a lower value like a Super Reverb or an SSS (and then voltages on preamp tubes are lowered too). And a Cut control.
I do like a bit more than 68k myself but then Reverb level compare to the clean is lowered too.

Tom thanks, yes I have mine on a pot at the rear of the amp now with marks for the stock 68K and my preferred 150k values , I can also max out if I want to OD the next stage

I suppose John is a pedal user so can hit his amps with a stronger signal thereby making this a non issue.

p.s. thinking about it it would be a great amp for the fet boost ...that's got me thinking..........



M

[rccolgan]

I have not bought these NTE's yet however C&C is a few towns over from me so maybe I'll take a look! They stock the other two rock parts like the JB brand .047uf lnfb caps on v1. Pretty cool electronics shop. Last of its kind!

[timrobertson100]

I did order some ... I think one is actually metal oxide that Mouser has mis-categorized? Can't remember the brand off hand, maybe Yageo?

I received metal oxide for both Yageo and KoaSpeer from Mouser recently and notified them. Details in this thread

[talbany]

I have not bought these NTE's yet however C&C is a few towns over from me so maybe I'll take a look! They stock the other two rock parts like the JB brand .047uf lnfb caps on v1. Pretty cool electronics shop. Last of its kind!

Hey Ryan Thanks that would be great! Keep us /me posted

Yeah I realize you posted it bc that amp was custom made for Mayer. Thanks for the link to the schematic!

T

[jfs322]

Here is an amp that actually went to John (notice the measurements of all the caps) and the choice of Metal film caps (NTE's) over the Carbons in the others.This was no doubt a voicing john preferred. It would be nice to see the rest of this amp to get John's complete preferred parts list.

I've spoken to TR extensively about part choice, and actually, they used of NTEs over the Dralorics in that amp you posted (a Custom Reverb Sig. built for John, I believe in 2005-ish, built before his Sig amps), and it was not a voicing choice. Rather, it was simply a matter of chronology. I was told TR did not acquire their stash of Dralorics until shortly after that amp was built, and they used NTEs in that amp because NTEs where what they were using at the time. It was not a voicing decision; they simply used what they had at the time. I believe they acquired their Dralorics around 2006. Bill really preferred Dralorics over the NTEs when they acquired them (he claims they're a bit brighter), and so TR started phasing the Dralorics to replace the NTEs on most of their amps post-2006 ish. Their stash of Dralorics has dwindled due to using them heavily for more than a decade, so current TR amps use most KOA Speer new production, occasionally a Draloric or two in key spots if the builders have them lying around. Mayer's personal Sig amps (built in 2007) use almost entirely the Draloric CFs and NOS Sprague 6PS orange drops for caps.

[Colossal]

Hi Dan,

How are you getting along with that long decay reverb? I think Guy used a medium decay tank in his JM build.

[dbharris]

Here is an amp that actually went to John (notice the measurements of all the caps) and the choice of Metal film caps (NTE's) over the Carbons in the others.This was no doubt a voicing john preferred. It would be nice to see the rest of this amp to get John's complete preferred parts list.

I've spoken to TR extensively about part choice, and actually, they used of NTEs over the Dralorics in that amp you posted (a Custom Reverb Sig. built for John, I believe in 2005-ish, built before his Sig amps), and it was not a voicing choice. Rather, it was simply a matter of chronology. I was told TR did not acquire their stash of Dralorics until shortly after that amp was built, and they used NTEs in that amp because NTEs where what they were using at the time. It was not a voicing decision; they simply used what they had at the time. I believe they acquired their Dralorics around 2006. Bill really preferred Dralorics over the NTEs when they acquired them (he claims they're a bit brighter), and so TR started phasing the Dralorics to replace the NTEs on most of their amps post-2006 ish. Their stash of Dralorics has dwindled due to using them heavily for more than a decade, so current TR amps use most KOA Speer new production, occasionally a Draloric or two in key spots if the builders have them lying around. Mayer's personal Sig amps (built in 2007) use almost entirely the Draloric CFs and NOS Sprague 6PS orange drops for caps.

That's great info, thanks for sharing!

-Dan

[dbharris]

Hi Dan,

How are you getting along with that long decay reverb? I think Guy used a medium decay tank in his JM build.

Not sure yet. I got delayed a bit in finishing the build. I hope to wire the rest of the heaters tonight and then run startup procedure Saturday morning. I'm planning to form the caps and bring voltage up slow. Even if all goes well it'll take a while.

But I'll let you know on the tank.

-Dan

[Guy77]

Hi Dan,

How are you getting along with that long decay reverb? I think Guy used a medium decay tank in his JM build.

Not sure yet. I got delayed a bit in finishing the build. I hope to wire the rest of the heaters tonight and then run startup procedure Saturday morning. I'm planning to form the caps and bring voltage up slow. Even if all goes well it'll take a while.

But I'll let you know on the tank.

-Dan

Great looking build Dan!
I have built several of these and tried a short decay and medium decay and long decay tank. I ended up liking the medium decay the most just because I liked how the reverb would not trail on too long. But then to each there own.
I also ended up putting a boost circuit into the ones I built that people really liked.
I took the ground of the Bass pot and Mid pot and placed them on a switch with a 3M resistor. It had the same effect as putting an EP booster pedal in front of the amp, which is my favorite boost for this amp.
I tried a bunch of resistors and the 3M was the winner!

Guy

[dbharris]

Hi Dan,

How are you getting along with that long decay reverb? I think Guy used a medium decay tank in his JM build.

Not sure yet. I got delayed a bit in finishing the build. I hope to wire the rest of the heaters tonight and then run startup procedure Saturday morning. I'm planning to form the caps and bring voltage up slow. Even if all goes well it'll take a while.

But I'll let you know on the tank.

-Dan

Great looking build Dan!
I have built several of these and tried a short decay and medium decay and long decay tank. I ended up liking the medium decay the most just because I liked how the reverb would not trail on too long. But then to each there own.
I also ended up putting a boost circuit into the ones I built that people really liked.
I took the ground of the Bass pot and Mid pot and placed them on a switch with a 3M resistor. It had the same effect as putting an EP booster pedal in front of the amp, which is my favorite boost for this amp.
I tried a bunch of resistors and the 3M was the winner!

Guy

Thanks Guy. That's a cool mod. I'll see how it goes with the 3 spring long tank.

-Dan

[dbharris]

I loaded and wired up the cab. I'll take some better pics of the cabinets when it's all done, they look great. I scored a pair of Marshall label G12-65s with lead cones from the early 80s. I hate breaking in speakers and also like the idea of UK made speakers better than China manufactured. I've heard they sound the same so who knows.

-Dan

[rccolgan]

Here is an amp that actually went to John (notice the measurements of all the caps) and the choice of Metal film caps (NTE's) over the Carbons in the others.This was no doubt a voicing john preferred. It would be nice to see the rest of this amp to get John's complete preferred parts list.

I've spoken to TR extensively about part choice, and actually, they used of NTEs over the Dralorics in that amp you posted (a Custom Reverb Sig. built for John, I believe in 2005-ish, built before his Sig amps), and it was not a voicing choice. Rather, it was simply a matter of chronology. I was told TR did not acquire their stash of Dralorics until shortly after that amp was built, and they used NTEs in that amp because NTEs where what they were using at the time. It was not a voicing decision; they simply used what they had at the time. I believe they acquired their Dralorics around 2006. Bill really preferred Dralorics over the NTEs when they acquired them (he claims they're a bit brighter), and so TR started phasing the Dralorics to replace the NTEs on most of their amps post-2006 ish. Their stash of Dralorics has dwindled due to using them heavily for more than a decade, so current TR amps use most KOA Speer new production, occasionally a Draloric or two in key spots if the builders have them lying around. Mayer's personal Sig amps (built in 2007) use almost entirely the Draloric CFs and NOS Sprague 6PS orange drops for caps.

Great info!

The JM Sig I had the most time with had a silver USA Accutronics 9AB2C1B tank and purple Daytona RCA cables. I can't find any right angle Daytona cables so if anyone here has a source, please do share! I can only find straight connectors and long lengths.

[tylerbaster]

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index ... t-31463587

Are those NTE's resistors made by Vishay?