My new ruby head

[DryRoasted]

I'm pretty chuffed with my ruby amp, so I decided to treat it to a proper wooden head shell, I'll post more when its done.

[christobean]

sweet. i made a dual ruby(2 386 chips) and made it into a little combo amp with two 4.5 inch speakers. its fun to take on family trips where space in teh car is limited.(and theres electricity where youre going)lol

[DryRoasted]

I've wanted to make a decent ruby since I first perf'd one up last year.  I'm using the Beavisaudio schem with the tone control, which I always thought was the only thing lacking from the original.

[dano12]

I did my last 386 amp using a picture frame and some plexiglass. Your box looks superb!

[brett]

Oh my...
That's ART.

[DryRoasted]

Hehe I only used MDF looks like you used oak or mahogany!

[dano12]

Hehe I only used MDF looks like you used oak or mahogany!

I don't even know what the wood is. It is probably a plastic veneer. I had the parts for one last Noisy Cricket build but no more enclosures. I stole one of my wife's picture frames, stuck some foil and a small led in the box area for a cool back-lit glow, and built from there.

Art? Nope. Expediency? Yep.

[PKV]

Expediency is best achieved through the Creative Solution - and that often makes it Art...and besides, it looks really cool.

[DryRoasted]

Without being too surreal, it reminds me of the pics of PC CPU's where theres lots of tinky tiny transistors packed into the centre and a large blankarea around the edge..... no, just me then......Its been a long day.......

[oldrocker]

I used the Ruby in my personal headphone amp.  I stuck a Muff Fuzz in it so I can flick a toggle switch for some distortion.  I also put a 1/4" jack next to the 1/8" stereo headphone jack to plug into any portable speaker.  It's great on camping trips and as a practice amp.  The cigarette case works nice with its built in belt clip.  The cigarette lighter compartment inside fits the 9 volt battery like it was made for it.
I use it for my computer sound too.
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=muffin1_1159192871-422-13728.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=muffin3_1159171657-422-13730.jpg

[beatstrat]

http://store.guitarfetish.com/modboards.html

I've been thinking about getting one of these small, delay FX and integrate/install into/in a Ruby enclosure for some blissful ambience.  I dig 'verb and delay and currently use my Ruby with a delay and boost in front of it - but having some ambience built in would be hip for an on-the-go rig.  This is one of my favorite builds because of how great it sounds (especially vs the part count, etc).

[DryRoasted]

The finished article

[b2thea]

nice nice

next step: paint?

[DryRoasted]

yep paint and lettering for the controls

[dano12]

The finished article

That turned out *really* nice. Great work on the PCB and the chassis! You should build a bunch and sell them People love these amps.

[DryRoasted]

hmmm maybe I will, I'll have to give Basicaudio a cut though

[John Lyons]

Why give me a cut?

If I were you I would get some tweed or go to the fabric store and find some nice heavy cloth you like and glue that on.
Sort of a poor man's tweed cvering. Takes some patience and planning but it looks nice and covers up that MDF well.

You can alsoget some neat fake fur and animal looking shag stuff that's fun. Take a look and see what you can find. The fabric store has lots of fun things. An upholstering shop is best because you can get the heavy durable stuff. Vinyl can be had at both places as well.
Use Contact cement for Vinyl. Spray glue for the cloth and yellow wood glue for the heavy cloth similar to tweed.

Paint works but I think it looks cheap. Another fun thing would be to get some of the truck bed liner, sort of a plastic rubber like gunk that is sort of like tolex when it's finished. A bit expensive though for a one off.

Thanks All I got of the top of my head!

Looks nice!

John

[DryRoasted]

I used your cricket schematic for the added tone and boost

I'm not sure how to finish it, cos its MDF I dont want to stain it and I'm not sure I left enough space around the metal for tolex(its real tight fit).

THanks for all the kind comments though

[John Lyons]

The cricket wasn't me/mine.. I'm not sure what it is actually.

You can file down the Top and back of the chassis flange enough to get a thickness of tolex/cloth whatever between the chassi and the inside edge of the case. You would be better off getting a Jigsaw (way faster) and putting a board across the chassis as a guide for the jigsaw then cutting a little off the chassis top edge. Then filing that smooth.

Depends on the thickness of the material. MDF is pretty gross when stained. Slaping on a few coats of thinned Polyurethane and sanding between coats with finer and finer grits each time would be ok as well. The last coat being buffed out with Steel wool...
The color MDF is a pretty nice Amber color that way.

John

[DryRoasted]

yeah staining looks pretty bad.  I was thinking about priming, then sanding then painting, then sanding etc .