Meet Sharlene

[T Wilcox]

Hello all

Just finished my first Express clone, mainly built off the ceriatone layout but all parts were sourced from Mouser, Hoffman and the chassis was purchased blank from another forumite here. Named her Sharlene after my wife. Man this is one loud amp, guess I will have to play her when the family is gone or get some kind of attenuator.
All voltages checked out perfect on this one upon startup and the amp is surprisingly quiet when the volume is down, ( was expecting hiss but its not really that bad )although I haven't gotten the volume above 2-3 on it yet.
Anyways thank you to all who have posted crucial information on this forum.
Still need to get a head cab and woodwork is not for me so will probably have to hit up Amplifiednation on this one.

Thanks

[M Fowler]

Sharlene looks pretty good nice build.

Mark

[T Wilcox]

Thanks Mark I appreciate the compliment.
Hey does anyone use the bright switch on these amps? So far this amp sounds great with my initial tests but may need to label that switch Icepick . Could be the crappy GT tubes I started it up with though.

Todd

[SoundPerf]

Ol yeah...Look Great!!!

So naming them after the wife is the way to get unlimited play and build time??

Seriously, can't wait to hear it. Congrats.

[T Wilcox]

Thanks Chris

Well the naming after my wife to get more playtime was a thought but with this beast even that might not help. I have a 50W Marshall 2550 and a 50watt dumble clone that are both controllable as far as volume goes. This thing has a hair trigger volume knob. It does clean up nice with the guitar vol knob but it is F'ing loud.
Well i will report back when I get more playtime on this thing, hopefully tomorrow after work

Thanks again

Todd

[geetarpicker]

It does depend on the taper of the volume pot, but typically the bright switch will be way too intense at lower volume settings. However it should work very nicely when the volume is at least half way up to maybe 1pm. On my original Express I almost always use the bright switch (500pf) position when the amp is at 1/2 or more, and it actually sounds quite muddy without it. The trick then is to back your guitar down for clean, and up for dirt. I've always found the clean sounds to be much better with the guitar backed off and the amp UP, then the other way around. Remember volume wise when comparing these amps to others think of this as a master volume amp with the master FULLY STUCK on 10. Ken believed a master V was a tone sucker, so he eliminated it. You deal with the volume in other ways, attenuators, lower efficiency speakers, earplugs, etc. Remember it's a stage amp, or a studio amp to be used where you have sound proof rooms and such and can do whatever you need to get the amp in the sweet spot.

IMHO these things are still not as loud as a Marshall 50. That is if you are used to playing a Marshall 50 or similar amp fully dimed. Compared to a dimed 100 watt Marshall these things are much easier to deal with. Yes they are gainy though, and potted pickups are just about a must to fully get the amp into the sweet spot. Proper muting techniques are essential too.

One trick is to source very nice slow taper pots for your guitar, then you can more nicely control "the beast" from the guitar. 250ks are easy to find that work well, 500ks almost require vintage pots because it seems truly smooth audio taper 500k pots are a lost art these days.

A nice attenuator can do wonders. I've had an Airbrake but it wasn't my favorite with the wreck, a bit too tinny and bright though the closely spaced clicks were cool. Lately it's been either a Hotplate 1 or 2 clicks back, or a Phantom can go much lower and still be very workable though they are pricey. The UA attenuator seems to mess with the amp's ability to clean up, though it's ok simply for dirt settings but the amp is then quite limited.

GK

[Lonely Raven]

Why don't you just drill a hole in it and add VVR, GK?





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I'm totally kidding Glen!

[T Wilcox]

@GK Thank you
Yeah so far I haven't gotten my volume past 9 o'clock so that may be why the bright seemed so icepicky to me. First power up was yesterday afternoon and my wife and 2 young boys were home, immediately got the stink eye. hopefully today when i get home from work they will be out for a little while and I can get to know this amp a little better.

Thanks

Todd

[Lonely Raven]

@GK Thank you
Yeah so far I haven't gotten my volume past 9 o'clock so that may be why the bright seemed so icepicky to me. First power up was yesterday afternoon and my wife and 2 young boys were home, immediately got the stink eye. hopefully today when i get home from work they will be out for a little while and I can get to know this amp a little better.

Thanks

Todd

I thought my Express clone mellowed out the more I played it as well. Though Glen's got far more experience than me in regard to real and clone Express

[T Wilcox]

Yeah Im sure I will figure out how to tame the beast. The tubes I tried it with are my new amp test tubes as well which are cheap and old GT's that dont sound good in any amp. I use them just in case there are any issues in a new build, this way I dont ruin good tubes.
Also dont get me wrong I love a loud amp, its just every body else around me that doesn't

Hey anyone here ever used caps like the ones on my pre-amp bd? They are from Mouser site labeled electrolytic, but dont look like any I've ever seen used in amps. They seem to work fine.

Thanks

Todd

[da Geezer]

Hey anyone here ever used caps like the ones on my pre-amp bd? They are from Mouser site labeled electrolytic, but dont look like any I've ever seen used in amps. They seem to work fine.

Thanks

Todd

Looks like it could be a Tantalum cap(?), although they are usually gold or yellow in color....do you have the Mouser #?

[T Wilcox]

This is it at mouser. Even the pic looks like a standard electrolytic!\

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDet ... -138-36229

If you look at the data sheet depending on the cap size you either get the can type or this weird one. It seems to be made of ceramic or something ( not aluminum )

But hey its working

Todd

[Zippy]

I thought my Express clone mellowed out the more I played it as well.

That's a sure sign that your ears are getting worn.

FWIW, one of Glen's "tricks" for taming the highs was chaining a couple of long cables between the guitar and amp to add some capacitance and bleed highs to ground.

It seems like one could also add a cap of a few pFs across the inputs to achieve a similar effect.

[Gibsonman63]

I'd try a few different speakers before I changed too much in the amp. On mine, different cabinets and speaker combinations are like night and day.

Also, you may think differently about the treble after playing with drums and bass. You'll punch right through the mix.

That being said, I tamed mine down a hair with polystyrene caps for the bright switch.

[Cliff Schecht]

I run at minimum 20' of cable to my Express with my Tele. Longer doesn't hurt too much but shorter and things start to get shrill.