Newbie wiring questions

[frenster]

I'm kinda new at amp building, and although I've built two tweed clones, I'm still confused as to what wire to use where. I mean, how much is 18AWG stranded going to be different from 20AWG solid? Where do gauge and solid/stranded make a difference? And when does teflon, PVC or cloth covered count? Is there any guide to this kind of stuff?

[tubedogsmith]

I would use 18 gauge teflon stranded for the heaters and I like it for grounds too but don't use it everywhere. PVC 20 gauge single wire is fine for everything else. On circuits boards where I run power supply wiring on the bottom of the board I use teflon wire there as well. Fender used single strand cloth wire for most everything and they did OK with that. Komet uses stranded teflon for most everything I they do fine with that. You need a good set of wire strippers for most teflon wire.

[frenster]

Is 18 gauge stranded or solid PVC ok for the heaters as well? Is the teflon so the the heat from the PT won't melt anything? Would 20 gauge teflon be ok? What would be the difference?

[fp2000]

I've used teflon single core 20 gauge all aroung and worked fine. No noise issues or anything, but like it was indicated before, make sure you get a very good quality wire stripper... mine kept holding the insulation too tight sometimes and it ended up thinning out a portion of the insulation that it was not supposed to be stripped away, so that maybe doubt sometimes and I had to redo it.
Instead, a lot of times, specially for high voltage, I just pull the teflon insulation and cut whatever I want to stip off and then push it back so I have the two ends exposed. It makes it less messy, but it's a pain. Just have to have a lot of patience.
The advantage of using teflon is that it won't burn like regular pvc when you are soldering, other than that I don't see a benefit.
Another thing to be carefull with when using single core wire is not to bend it too much and then try to straighten it up over and over, because you will either weaken it or the piece will just break off. So, when you use the wire stripper make sure you don't cut through the actual conductor, just the insulation.
There is a good source of solid core 20ga teflon wire in CA, I forgot the name of the vendor, somebody please chime in, I think I will need to order some.

[Chad]

There is a good source of solid core 20ga teflon wire in CA, I forgot the name of the vendor, somebody please chime in, I think I will need to order some.

Are you talking about Apexjr. I have yet to order from him yet ,but have heard nothing but good things. So will soon put in an order. Almost forgot the link http://www.apexjr.com/

[Structo]

Red wire sounds better.

[Sonny ReVerb]

Beware of the black wire syndrome!!

[frenster]

Good to know...avoid the black wire, and red sounds better. I knew I could count on you guys.

Structo, I'm in the middle of building a D'lite with the options of 4x6v6 or 2x6v6, as well as the Ironsounds loop and 3 relays. I'll hook in the Deep and Jazz Rock as well, or maybe a Mid switch. What's on yours?

btw, my friend at Matchless sold me a few feet of 18 stranded teflon and 20 stranded teflon, so I think I'm good. A also spoke with Billy Yates and he was very helpful.

[frenster]

I mean, does it matter if I use 18ga or 20ga on the grids? Would I actually hear a difference? I heard from one source that I'll get less flubby bass if I use 20ga on the heaters. Can anyone corroborate that?

[bluesfendermanblues]

Good to know...avoid the black wire, and red sounds better. I knew I could count on you guys.

Structo, I'm in the middle of building a D'lite with the options of 4x6v6 or 2x6v6, as well as the Ironsounds loop and 3 relays. I'll hook in the Deep and Jazz Rock as well, or maybe a Mid switch. What's on yours?

btw, my friend at Matchless sold me a few feet of 18 stranded teflon and 20 stranded teflon, so I think I'm good. A also spoke with Billy Yates and he was very helpful.

Forget the jazz/rock switch - wire it for Rock. I have hard wired my Ceriatone OTS for the rock-setting. The switch is now used as a Strat/Les Paul switch instead. Switching between 47n for strat or 10n for les paul. Check Heisthl's schematics for this feature.

I think the same goes for the same goes for the Deep switch.

The mid boost is nice to have on a relay as well as OD and PAB IMHO

[frenster]

Yeah, I'll wire in the relays like bluesfendermanblues. I like the idea of the strat/lp switch as well.

I still wonder about the wire.

[Structo]

20 ga or even 22 gauge wire is fine for most of the preamp as long as it's rated above 400v.

The heaters draw the most current in the amp so that is where you want the 18 ga but 20 is probably fine there as well.
But you don't want that wire to get hot so you can use 18 for insurance.

I have the Ironsounds FX loop in my amp.
This loop is based off of the Marshall loop almost exactly.

I would like to try the Metro FX loop. It doesn't use an opamp but uses two high voltage FET transistors.
Supposedly it is much more transparent than the Ironsounds.
But it is also $90.

[bluesfendermanblues]

20 ga or even 22 gauge wire is fine for most of the preamp as long as it's rated above 400v.

The heaters draw the most current in the amp so that is where you want the 18 ga but 20 is probably fine there as well.
But you don't want that wire to get hot so you can use 18 for insurance.

I have the Ironsounds FX loop in my amp.
This loop is based off of the Marshall loop almost exactly.

I would like to try the Metro FX loop. It doesn't use an opamp but uses two high voltage FET transistors.
Supposedly it is much more transparent than the Ironsounds.
But it is also $90.

Why not build a Kleinulator - works like a charm and can be build on a small veroboard - quite simple.

[frenster]

Why not build a Kleinulator - works like a charm and can be build on a small veroboard - quite simple.

Linky?

[bluesfendermanblues]

Why not build a Kleinulator - works like a charm and can be build on a small veroboard - quite simple.

Linky?

There Ya go:

http://www.brownnote.net/forum/viewtopi ... 7b22d470ee

Schematic n'all. The Klein schematic even got a paralel/series switch, which is fine if your effects processer is from yesteryear. Enables you to use effects like on a conventional mixer.