pix of Custom built guitar amps/cabs

[rankot]

I have few PCL82 tubes and I am very tempted to build something like this!

[thomasha]

made a quick video of it while I'm between builds.

gain maxed and volume at 1(from 10), so almost only preamp gain.

[rankot]

Would you share schematic for this amp?

[thomasha]

Here you have it>

[rankot]

Thanks! I have few PCL82 tubes, so I will try to build this using them.

[stallik]

This one has taken me ages to complete, mainly because of the cabinet.
It's a WF-55 kit from Ampmaker with a couple of mods. Based on a Champ but with silicone rectification, 12ax7 and a 6L6. Added a tone control and switchable cap which increases gain and volume. Everything I did was with the intention of giving me as much clean headroom as possible. I run it through a 12 inch Vintage30 and it sounds huge. It's also bleedin loud for 4 watts. It overdrives nicely when cranked but I prefer to use it clean and add pedals

The cab is constructed from 18mm teak salvaged from a laboratory drawer from where I worked 25 years ago. That kind of means something to me. Limited supply of wood coupled with poor carpentry skills has left the dovetails 'fixed' with PVA mixed with sawdust. French polish covers much of it up and makes the grain glow differently as the light changes. No bottom on the cab, just an acrylic plate so I can see the guts...looks good, easy access and saved wood

Just need a handle and some rubber strips for the bottom to complete it. I'm now looking for some more, similar wood to construct a matching cabinet

[diydave]

Impressive.

[bluebunny]

Very nice, Kev. I love the acrylic sheet idea to give a gutshot view.

[thomasha]

very nice! the wood looks really good

[Marcos - Munky]

Beautiful! Loved the acrylic sheet idea too. Just a queston, does it have any noise issues because of the acrylic? I mean, you have an "open" faraday's cage because of the acrylic.

[stallik]

I worried about this so ran a test with and without a metal plate over the acrylic but solidly connected to the chassis. No difference in noise levels. Of course, in a different location, this may change but when I think about it, most amps chassis have their open face in contact with the wood of the cab rather than another piece of metal. I don't know if there is a difference in this respect between wood and acrylic. (Just checked my big amps to see if there is a shielding plate attached to the wood - there isn't.)

This is not a totally silent amp but the noise is very low and perfectly acceptable to me given the heritage and age of the design.

[Marcos - Munky]

I know some people who put a layer of aluminium foil or copper foil glued to the wook, so it closes the cage, but I don't really know the difference in tube amps. I just asked this because I want to do something similar, but once I made an okko dominator pedal and got noticeable noise differences between open lid and closed lid hammond enclosure when I was testing it. Glad to know you didn't noticed any difference in noise levels.

BTW, I never heard of Ampmaker before, until about half month ago, when a guy at Handmades (brazilian diy forum) posted a picture of the SE-5A he just build. I did a quick search, and they have nice kits.

[stallik]

Yes, nice kits and Ampmaker is just one knowledgable guy called Barry. Not far from me so I popped in to meet him. Thing that impresses me most about he kits is the testing procedure before and after adding the tubes and his genuine concern that all of his customers produce a safe, working amp with good tone.

[bluebunny]

Another thumbs up from me for Ampmaker. The open side of my chassis sits against the wood of the cabinet. A tiny bit of noise, but barely noticeable. I think lead-dress may have more effect?

[deadastronaut]

thats a thing of beauty kevin.....very cool.

i used to do french polishing, furniture restoring many years ago,

the best job i ever did was restore an upright piano, a lot of work as it was dinged and battered..

stripped it entirely back to wood, came out great....miss it sometimes, not the mess and stink though..

one day i'l build an amp......one day,..

[stallik]

Thanks Rob. Now I know where to get advice on French polishing then! I found it quite relaxing but I was dealing with flat surfaces with no dings. Not sure how I'd feel after a piano..

BTW - what happened to your avatar? it's gone

[deadastronaut]

yeah i know.....i need to sort it....somehow.

[bluebunny]

I can see you Rob!  (NASA app, obvs...  )

[cpk313]

Awesome job!! I am in the process of collecting the parts for a 2 channel Matchless build (spitfire and nighthawk) and maybe some reverb too. Anyhow I am thinking about putting it in a box made of redwood with is 5/8" thick. Not sure if I want to make a head and separate speaker cab or a combo. I think because of the EF86 I'm leaning towards separate head and cab.

[Marcos - Munky]

Just finished this one. Rick Holt's (aka frequencycentral) Superfly, which is an submini version of Doug Hammond's Firefly, built in a 1590A.