Deluxe Reverb Build

[NickC]

Greetings,

Below are some shots of the Deluxe Reverb clone under construction.

Chassis (before board mounted)
[img1728]http://homepage.mac.com/swamptone/Delux ... hassis.jpg[/img]

[img1728]http://homepage.mac.com/swamptone/Delux ... assis2.jpg[/img]

Chassis Top
[img1728]http://homepage.mac.com/swamptone/Delux ... sisTop.jpg[/img]

Almost Done (guts)
[img1728]http://homepage.mac.com/swamptone/DeluxeReverbGuts.jpg[/img]

[img1728]http://homepage.mac.com/swamptone/DeluxeReverbTop.jpg[/img]

I used insulating shoulder washers on the pots and jacks to isolate them from the chassis. Soldered bus wire to the back of the pots and used that as a ground connection point for the preamp circuits.

Used Ruby Gold 16uF 475v filter caps in the power supply. They are small and easy to work with. However, I built the filter cap board to accommodate regular size caps (even with doghouse cover attached) if the Ruby's don't work out.

I changed the 6k8 resistors attached to the bass-pots to 8k2, for a bit more mid-range.

Didn't install a ground switch. Used that hole for a socket to hold an extra fuse.

I had originally intended to wire it so reverb/tremolo would be on both channels (both channels in phase) .... but am having second thoughts. Any opinions on that? Advice and recommendations are appreciated.

I've ordered a Weber ceramic 12" which should arrive today.

Next I'll check, and recheck, all wiring/connections. Then install tubes, set bias, and play-test. Finally I'll install the chassis, Accutronics reverb pan, and speaker in the excellent cabinet purchased from Colossal.

More pictures when it's complete.

[Gibsonman63]

Looking good. Personally, I like to leave the normal channel dry. For a band situation, I like my lead tone to be dry because it cuts through the mix better. I used to use an A/B switch and a Boss DS1 to externally channel switch for solos. These days, I tend to just use the volume control on my guitar and kick off the reverb for solos.

[Drumslinger]

Looking good Nick!

[rfgordon]

You can certainly keep the one channel dry and still keep it in phase, as long as you bring it into the post-reverb mixing stage with the other channel's signal.

[NickC]

You can certainly keep the one channel dry and still keep it in phase, as long as you bring it into the post-reverb mixing stage with the other channel's signal.

I had not considered that. It sounds like the way forward. Very good! Thanks very much!

[C Moore]

I try not to high jack another guys thread....so I apologize, but the gut of your turret board exemplifies my question.
So if I may...
I have rebuilt quite a few AB763 type Fenders, and I never run any wire under the board. It looks like you have all your wires on the top side of the board also. I know it looks less neat, because all wires are seen, but it always seems like a better way to go. I do not like having wires under the board, it CAN make maintenance and trouble shooting very difficult.
What is your guys opinion on wires under the board.? Do you like to do it.?
Thanks

[Alexo]

I try not to high jack another guys thread....so I apologize, but the gut of your turret board exemplifies my question.
So if I may...
I have rebuilt quite a few AB763 type Fenders, and I never run any wire under the board. It looks like you have all your wires on the top side of the board also. I know it looks less neat, because all wires are seen, but it always seems like a better way to go. I do not like having wires under the board, it CAN make maintenance and trouble shooting very difficult.
What is your guys opinion on wires under the board.? Do you like to do it.?
Thanks

Personally, I'd rather just not use a circuit board at all - as few wires as possible, too!

[NickC]

I try not to high jack another guys thread....so I apologize, but the gut of your turret board exemplifies my question.
So if I may...
I have rebuilt quite a few AB763 type Fenders, and I never run any wire under the board. It looks like you have all your wires on the top side of the board also. I know it looks less neat, because all wires are seen, but it always seems like a better way to go. I do not like having wires under the board, it CAN make maintenance and trouble shooting very difficult.
What is your guys opinion on wires under the board.? Do you like to do it.?
Thanks

You are correct, I don't have any "hidden" wires/jumpers soldered underneath the board. There are 1/2" #10 stainless steel standoffs allowing plenty of clearance. I've worked on old Fenders with eyelet boards where connections/cold solder joints underneath wreaked havoc. It's tough to troubleshoot when you can't see all the connections. And those old warped Fender boards don't have enough clearance to slip a dental mirror under.

On this build I wanted everything visible. But I did route/loop some wires under the circuit board to keep them out of the way. I used teflon wire for all those leads, which I understand is less susceptible to stray EMF. But there are no connections soldered on the bottom side of the board.

I still need to apply some cable ties to keep certain wires away from others and generally neaten it up.

[Structo]

Was this a kit amp?

The chassis and face plates look great!

[C Moore]

I try not to high jack another guys thread....so I apologize, but the gut of your turret board exemplifies my question.
So if I may...
I have rebuilt quite a few AB763 type Fenders, and I never run any wire under the board. It looks like you have all your wires on the top side of the board also. I know it looks less neat, because all wires are seen, but it always seems like a better way to go. I do not like having wires under the board, it CAN make maintenance and trouble shooting very difficult.
What is your guys opinion on wires under the board.? Do you like to do it.?
Thanks

You are correct, I don't have any "hidden" wires/jumpers soldered underneath the board. There are 1/2" #10 stainless steel standoffs allowing plenty of clearance. I've worked on old Fenders with eyelet boards where connections/cold solder joints underneath wreaked havoc. It's tough to troubleshoot when you can't see all the connections. And those old warped Fender boards don't have enough clearance to slip a dental mirror under.

On this build I wanted everything visible. But I did route/loop some wires under the circuit board to keep them out of the way. I used teflon wire for all those leads, which I understand is less susceptible to stray EMF. But there are no connections soldered on the bottom side of the board.

I still need to apply some cable ties to keep certain wires away from others and generally neaten it up.

Thanks...nice to know I am not the only one. Like others have said, nice job.
Good Ol' Mallory 150's.
Good Luck

[NickC]

Was this a kit amp?

The chassis and face plates look great!

It was not a kit.

I ordered the chassis and faceplate online from a reputable vendor I've bought from many times. But the shipping label revealed it did not ship from that vendor; instead it came from Mojo. Steel chassis is solid; most holes were pre-drilled. Plates are thick aluminum. I guess they're anodized (not certain about that). I had to get pots and jacks with longer 3/8" bushings, due to the thickness of the face/back-plates. I milled the holes for isolation shoulder washers. The OPT is larger than stock and required drilling to mount it.

PT and OPT were purchased on eBay. But they were shipped directly from Mercury Magnetics. I thought that was curious.

Other parts sourced from a variety of online vendors (Weber, Hoffman, Watts, Mojo, Digikey, Mouser, eBay, etc).

[M Fowler]

Nice build.

I use and like mojo chassis and faceplates high quality.

[Structo]

I'd like to try those Sozo blue caps in a build like that.

[Firestorm]

I try not to high jack another guys thread....so I apologize, but the gut of your turret board exemplifies my question.
So if I may...
I have rebuilt quite a few AB763 type Fenders, and I never run any wire under the board. It looks like you have all your wires on the top side of the board also. I know it looks less neat, because all wires are seen, but it always seems like a better way to go. I do not like having wires under the board, it CAN make maintenance and trouble shooting very difficult.
What is your guys opinion on wires under the board.? Do you like to do it.?
Thanks

There are supposedly a few places where wire under the board makes a stability difference, but I haven't really tried to test that. When I blackface these I do run the wires under for the sake of appearance, but much of the under-the-board routing looks like it was just done to stabilize the leads (a lot of these boards were soldered together in the back of pickup trucks). That routing practice ended along with push-back wire. Spaghetti wire is hard to route that way and if you wind up soldering on top of it, you melt the insulation and short it.

[Phil_S]

I only had to get in trouble one time to conclude that wires above the board are better. Once in a while I run them under, but I connect them on top. I just wrap them around the edge of the board. If you stick them in the hole on the bottom of the turret, you are completely blind and you'll have to either get lucky with a dental mirror or R&R the board.