Pictures!

[mtk]

I took some good pictures of the recent batch I've been working on lately. Bolivian Rosewood, Padauk, Bubinga, Ebony, Honduras Rosewood, a little Walnut, Maple, and Mahogany here and there.


Pedal and circuit wise, I've got some TDA2030's coming in soon, gonna try working on a practice amp with gyrator EQs.

[dfx_pedalpcbs]

stunning pieces

[daverdave]

This is a big jam spit wah clone I built for someone, modded with a more elaborate envelope detector with attack and decay controls. It doesn't look so swanky, but sounds pretty good. I made a few mistakes, which is why there's a few resistors bodged in on the pcb!

[ElectricDruid]

Those look superb. Very nice work!

[vigilante397]

This went through a couple changes before I was happy with it, but now I'm happy with it. My take on the Effectrode LA-1A minus a tube, plus a gain reduction indicator LED bar, in a 1590BB. Finish is UV printing over raw enclosure with a clear powdercoat on top. I had to trim my 3PDT pcb to get it in there (poor planning), but I'm going to move those electrolytic caps in the next spin of the board so it will fit better.

[ElectricDruid]

I love the mixture of technologies in your work, Nathan. There's some very modern, hi-tech elements, like the CNC machining, UV-printing, and the SMD components (and is that a switch mode power supply providing the tube supply I see?). And then there's two bloody great space heaters in there and an original design from 40 years ago!! It's great!

[vigilante397]

I love the mixture of technologies in your work, Nathan. There's some very modern, hi-tech elements, like the CNC machining, UV-printing, and the SMD components (and is that a switch mode power supply providing the tube supply I see?). And then there's two bloody great space heaters in there and an original design from 40 years ago!! It's great!

Cheers Tom And you're right, I use a "Nixie-style" SMPS for the high voltage in my tube designs. But compared to the submini tubes 12A*7 tubes barely get warm

[bean]

An Ibanez SB-7 project I just completed. This one is a lot of fun to play if you like wakka wakka type tones (and I do!)

[EBK]

This one is a lot of fun to play if you like wakka wakka type tones (and I do!)

[bluebunny]

Right now, the world needs a little bit of wakka wakka.  Cool build, Brian.   

[mtk]

Here are some things I've been messing with over the past few days.

Fun stuff first.

Dyed ply knobs. These are my favorite set so far.

Really digging the Bamboo pointer.





Boss MT2 Metal Zone

I haven't played one of these since high school and playing it again brought back lots of old memories of sitting in my room trying to learn Metallica songs.

Keeping the 90s distortion train rolling, here's the Randall RG100ES Preamp from Hell.

That one had some output issues because the toggle switch added some diodes to ground which we all know kills volume. I swapped the SPDT for a DPDT toggle and added in an LPB-1 to the diode side to bring it back up. It jams.



Now for the not fun stuff. A TDA2030 power amp.

I'm still noobing it with making vero layouts and I can't see where I've goofed. I'm using the bipolar +9 -9 power supply that I used for a VFE Mobius Strip so I know it's not the problem. The whole thing, bipolar section too, got hot real quick. No sound passed. I unplugged it before anything smoked. I've read the 2030 gets hot after prolonged use at high volume and especially when using a higher voltage supply. I've got a heatsink for it but with the way it heated up right away, I know I've messed up somewhere.

Here's the project file and schematic. http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_20x0_amp.pdf

The vero


And the build






TDA2030 power amp success!!!!



So, it turns out that the GGG schematic was the problem. The 2030's output pin is 4, that schematic says it's 5, I dunno. I scrapped that and used the schematic from the spec sheet, it fired right up.

Now to work on a preamp, then an EQ, then cabinet design. I've got three 12" G12T-75's and four speakers from old boomboxes to tinker with, lots of fun stuff ahead.

[cab42]

Here are some things I've been messing with over the past few days.

Fun stuff first.

Dyed ply knobs. These are my favorite set so far.

Really digging the Bamboo pointer.

Great looking knobs. I agree with the pointer

They seem to be cut from the the side of the sheet. What did you use for cutting them out? A hole saw or plug cutter?

[mtk]

Great looking knobs. I agree with the pointer

They seem to be cut from the the side of the sheet. What did you use for cutting them out? A hole saw or plug cutter?

Yeah, I start it with a hole saw to get the size and center, then it's off to the lathe.

It's actually not a sheet, it's a 2.5"x2.5" blank. Check this out, the second slide, you'll see what I mean.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzk8xFKgVW8/

[cab42]

Yeah, I start it with a hole saw to get the size and center, then it's off to the lathe.

It's actually not a sheet, it's a 2.5"x2.5" blank. Check this out, the second slide, you'll see what I mean.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzk8xFKgVW8/

So it was green to start with? Cool.

I was thinking about gluing  a couple off pieces of ply together in order to get enough thickness.

I don't have a lathe, but I think for this purpose I could diy something with a power drill.

[EBK]

Some self care today:
built a tiny amp and enjoyed an IPA.

[mtk]

Some self care today:
built a tiny amp and enjoyed an IPA.

That's excellent! I'm just heading down the little amp road. Is that an lm386 based amp?

[EBK]

Some self care today:
built a tiny amp and enjoyed an IPA.

That's excellent! I'm just heading down the little amp road. Is that an lm386 based amp?

This one is based on a JRC 2073D, but my next one will be a 386-based Ruby.

[mtk]

This one is based on a JRC 2073D, but my next one will be a 386-based Ruby.

Cool. I've not come across that one yet.

If you want, I made a vero layout for the 1 watt amp from Electrosmash. I left off the headphone and mp3 connections and the gain knob. I was just aiming for a clean amp, but it's really easy to add the gain control, it's just a pot connected to pins 1 and 8 with a resistor connected to lugs 1 and 3. There are free spots on the vero where you can connect that. I labeled the tone caps/resistors with a T so you can easily adjust it to your liking. The 1WAMP gets a little dirty on its own when it's maxed out, but that's just the nature of the 386. It's pretty damn loud all things considered.

https://www.electrosmash.com/1wamp

In the demo I'm running an OD into the Model T preamp.

[davent]

Here are some things I've been messing with over the past few days.

Fun stuff first.

Dyed ply knobs. These are my favorite set so far.

Really digging the Bamboo pointer.

Very cool and yeah the bamboo is a great little addition.

Further to your discussion with @cab42 came across this product, SpectraPly...

https://www.cookwoods.com/collections/spectraply-wood

dave

[cab42]

Very cool and yeah the bamboo is a great little addition.

Further to your discussion with @cab42 came across this product, SpectraPly...

https://www.cookwoods.com/collections/spectraply-wood

dave

Thanks Dave.

Did a quick search, and it does not seem to be available on this side of the Atlantic.

In any case, wood working outside this time of year is a no go in these parts, so I'll have to wait a couple of months.