totally blown away today!!!

[Rattler66]

today for the first time I ran my RT66 clone through my airbrake, set at bedroom level, treble and bass around 2 o'clock, volume about 10 and my BYOC clean boost about 1-2 o'clock. this thing roared like i've never heard it. power chords, open chords just barked with such a crunch and clarity. poor airbrake finally felt warm. then just switch to neck pickup turned down to about 7 and smooth cleans. all this through a veteran 30 1x12. i gotta try this through a 4x12. if it weren't for the volume needed, i'd do away with all my OD pedals, but this beast is too loud. anyway i didn't realize it could do that, and everything wasn't maxed out.

[M Fowler]

My RT 66 Clone has nice bass response and clarity and when pushed gets a sweet grind through a 212 openback with Celestion G12H/Vin30 dual. I don't use the AB with this amp though.

No UL taps and the trannies are JTM45 replacements. We probably talked about these two amps before but I don't remember if we did. Tell me about what you used to make your RT66.

[Rattler66]

Hey M. Fowler

Yeah, I'm using a ceriatone jtm45 chassis, Heyboer 375-0-375 PT and a Heyboer JTM45 RS OT 6.6kUL. My Tubes are JJ KT66's, Old Mullard EF86 and Winged C Svetlana 12ax7, NOS Sylvania 5U4.

I used the 5U4 to knock down B+, i overspec'd the tranny. I'll be putting the GZ34 back in with a 30volt zener.

[M Fowler]

I used a Hammond 16 x 8 x 2 which fits into a Dr Z head cabinet nicely.

The PT is Mojo 350-0-350 JTM45
The OT is Mojo 3k4 2,4,8,16 JTM45

KT66 and 12AX7 are GT. Not sure what the brand of the EF86 is.

Here is some recent shots.

[Rattler66]

cool, where'd you get the cab, i'll try to post pics with my cell phone

[M Fowler]

The doc had a blow out of blemished cabs so I order a bunch without the Z emblem but they said oh we'll add those on for free? So I have taken them off the rest but for some reason I forgot this one on. I do plan to remove it. I have a bunch of Z emblems now and they don't fit on my guitar head stock so can't use them there.

Maybe Zenith builders could use some.

[Rattler66]

good deal, i'm going to see if i can post some pics and sound clips. probably either later tonite or by tomorrow

[Analog Assassin]

Let me ask you a question about the airbrake.
When you play clean, do you find it thins out the bass or distorts the bass?
My Weber MiniMASS tends to thin out the bass and makes the bass distort some, whereas if I bypass the unit, it sounds solid and tight.
Wondering if all attenuators do this, or if it was just mine.
I know most people use attenuators for distortion but I want to use it to get my fender amp in the sweet spot for dynamic clean playing.

[M Fowler]

Analog,

I really don't care to use my AB but can't say that is takes anything away from my sound. The BOM is in the TW file section and its so cheap to make your own. You really should build one. Perhaps some AB users will pipe up here and help me out

[Rattler66]

Let me ask you a question about the airbrake.
When you play clean, do you find it thins out the bass or distorts the bass?
My Weber MiniMASS tends to thin out the bass and makes the bass distort some, whereas if I bypass the unit, it sounds solid and tight.
Wondering if all attenuators do this, or if it was just mine.
I know most people use attenuators for distortion but I want to use it to get my fender amp in the sweet spot for dynamic clean playing.

I honestly don't hear a difference. If there is it's minimal. I find the amp to be just as powerful, either way. This is how i hear it but YMMV. I think it works great, even down at bedroom level, with alot of attenuation

[Analog Assassin]

The more I think of it, the more I believe that the MASS motor is causing the bass distortion the more I turn it down. I think that the speaker coil is distorting.

I've got a Mouser parts list for a diy airbrake, it's going to be run on a Super Reverb which has a 2 ohm output, so instead of 25 ohm resistors, I went to 10 ohm 100 watt resistors. It should bring it close enough.

[Rattler66]

let us know the results