New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Express, Liverpool, Rocket, Dirty Little Monster, etc.

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Tantalus
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Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:16 am
Location: Texas

New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Tantalus »

Hello, good people of the amp garage. I've recently begun a Liverpool build (courtesy of RJ) so I'm here to chronicle the process, for better or worse. First, a bit of a confession; This is my first real electronics project. I have a reasonably firm understanding of electricity and electronics in theory, but I've never actually thrown anything together. All that to say, I really appreciate any advice anyone may pass along, solicited or otherwise. I'm a newbie, but I'm eager to learn. Anyway, here's the damage so far:

[IMG:1024:577]http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab90/mattmodular/IMG_20140103_165043_403_zpse55f8eb3.jpg[/img]

Still have some work to do on the tube sockets, and a handful of other scattered things around the chassis before I can begin the wiring in earnest. There are a couple of absent components on the preamp board, I realize. R13 is MIA, and C12 met a violent end beneath the wheels of my office chair, so I'm waiting on replacements.

If you see anything amiss or out of place, please do let me know. Like I said, this is all new territory for me and I'm really grateful for any and all advice, comments, criticism, etc., etc.

I'd like to say thanks to RJ for the kit and his assistance. Also, thanks to everyone here for the collective wealth of information on this forum. I've been toying with the idea of this build for a long time, and sifting through all the posts here has been a huge help. Glad to be amongst such knowledgeable people. Cheers.
Bob S
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Bob S »

Great looking start.
Keep posting updates & you won't go far wrong.
Welcome to ampaholics not so anonymouse.
:P
Why Aye Man
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Reeltarded
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Reeltarded »

:D

Keep going at it like that and it will be very nice.
Signatures have a 255 character limit that I could abuse, but I am not Cecil B. DeMille.
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jeff12
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by jeff12 »

Looks like you are off to a good start. Much great information and helpful people around here. :)
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cbass
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by cbass »

Lookin good so far
Teleguy61
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Teleguy61 »

Welcome and good luck.
Planning your second build yet?
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M Fowler
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by M Fowler »

Looks good and the Liverpool was my first project on TAG as well.
Tantalus
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Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:16 am
Location: Texas

Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Tantalus »

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I'm getting really antsy at this point, and trying to keep from rushing my work. I find that as I continue throughout the build, I look back on some of the areas I worked out earlier and find them lacking. Something about the preamp tube wiring makes my right eye twitch. I may tidy it up a bit.
Teleguy61 wrote:Welcome and good luck.
Planning your second build yet?
I bought all the passive components for a Rocket build yesterday :D I sense a financially debilitating addiction forming. I'm oddly at peace with it, though.
Tantalus
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Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:16 am
Location: Texas

Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Tantalus »

Mornin', folks. Quick question. Is there a more elegant solution here with the leads across top? I mean, if it works, it works. Just curious.

[IMG:1024:577]http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab90/mattmodular/IMG_20140104_034428_039_zps3745aaab.jpg[/img]
Bob S
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Bob S »

There are some small tag/turret strips you can use but...
I REALLY wouldn't wander too far off the beaten path with your first TW.
Liverpools are quite high gain & Ken's original layout works.
Follow it as closely as humanly possible.
Everything Matters.
Repeat this 3 times before you switch on the soldering iron.
Rockets are a little more stable & forgiving to change.
Liverpools are not.
No.
Great work for a first TW clone.
Most of us hide our first attempts.
:oops:
Why Aye Man
kwijabo
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by kwijabo »

that's usually how i do it for tw style amps. some people j-hook the resistor leads and put one single wire across them with insulation pushed on as opposed to putting an individual wire between each resistor.

also, i'm always careful to check that there is enough clearance between the bottom chassis plate and those joints. but it looks like you're using the green resistors which i think are smaller than the vishay 6.5W black ones so you should have some room.

secondly, are you heater wires wired up correctly in the pre-amps? for v1, v2, and v3 i do not see a heater wire going to pin 4. and on v3 i see one going to pin 8. i can't tell if they're soldered in or not, so you may not even be done with them yet but i figured i'd ask. :)
Tantalus
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:16 am
Location: Texas

Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Tantalus »

Bob S wrote:There are some small tag/turret strips you can use but...
I REALLY wouldn't wander too far off the beaten path with your first TW.
Liverpools are quite high gain & Ken's original layout works.
Follow it as closely as humanly possible.
Everything Matters.
Repeat this 3 times before you switch on the soldering iron.
Rockets are a little more stable & forgiving to change.
Liverpools are not.
No.
Great work for a first TW clone.
Most of us hide our first attempts.
:oops:
Thanks for the input, Bob. I wouldn't want to change anything about the layout itself. I was just asking if I'd done it correctly, or if there were a better way to accomplish the same thing :) And thanks for the kind words. I'm really excited about this build, and trying to stay as faithful to the original design as I can. Which is proving to be sufficiently difficult in certain places.
Tantalus
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:16 am
Location: Texas

Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Tantalus »

kwijabo wrote:that's usually how i do it for tw style amps. some people j-hook the resistor leads and put one single wire across them with insulation pushed on as opposed to putting an individual wire between each resistor.

also, i'm always careful to check that there is enough clearance between the bottom chassis plate and those joints. but it looks like you're using the green resistors which i think are smaller than the vishay 6.5W black ones so you should have some room.

secondly, are you heater wires wired up correctly in the pre-amps? for v1, v2, and v3 i do not see a heater wire going to pin 4. and on v3 i see one going to pin 8. i can't tell if they're soldered in or not, so you may not even be done with them yet but i figured i'd ask. :)
I sat for a while considering the single wire idea last night, but finally decided to leave it as is. I'll probably give it a shot in a future build. And no, the pre-amp sockets weren't wired completely. Something about the wire I used bothered me, and I had been considering rewiring them. I finally did that tonight, but I'm still not quite done there. I'll tackle them today and get the sockets all squared away.
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Cantplay
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by Cantplay »

Tantalus wrote:Mornin', folks. Quick question. Is there a more elegant solution here with the leads across top? I mean, if it works, it works. Just curious.

[IMG:1024:577]http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab90/mattmodular/IMG_20140104_034428_039_zps3745aaab.jpg[/img]
The other way to do it would be to put the resistors horizontal. Their leads were probably long enough.

John
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bkvance
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Re: New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

Post by bkvance »

Looking Good
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