Main Forums => Larrivee Electric Guitars => Topic started by: WPete on February 18, 2012, 11:30:43 PM

Title: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: WPete on February 18, 2012, 11:30:43 PM
After hanging around the Amp Garage forum a bit, I ended up getting one of the kits a member there puts together - similar to the Champ 5F1 but w/ a tone stack and some other tweaks - called the Eagle Supre big SE amp.
  I started on/finished the Amp this week - got sound and works pretty good - slight hum, but no more than my Goodsell - tone controls work w/ good range, vol cranked gives tube distortion and can get loud - at half vol works nice w/ my F-IV w/ K&K PWMini - speaker is an old 10" retired stereo cabinet - may get a guitar speaker for it and cut down the cabinet a bit - will also have to back it up to the goodsell and try that 12" speaker - still need to tidy up wires a bit and one tube doesn't seat all the way - works tho !!

Took me maybe 20 - 30 hours including studying where parts go - figuring out the schematic, drawings, pics and part list - kinda held my breath when I turned on the power strip - no smoke and maybe 20 second warm-up and then could strum and get sound. Relief !! 

Don't know if I'll try this again tho - eye hand co-ord @ my age is not what it used to be. Briefly grabbed the HOT barrel of the iron w/ left thumb/index/middle finger tonite early on, so a bit blistered now,- glad I have calluses, tho will be tricky fretting for a while.






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Title: Re: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: bacchus on February 19, 2012, 12:00:19 AM
Very cool project!  Money and time-wise, do you find something like this worth pursuing?
Title: Re: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: WPete on February 19, 2012, 02:10:28 AM
Quote from: bacchus on February 19, 2012, 12:00:19 AM
Very cool project!  Money and time-wise, do you find something like this worth pursuing?
Thanks, here's the link to a 20 page thread on this amp over on "Amp Garage", careful it's catchy !!

http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14349&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I'm thinking of getting a Celestion Greenback 10" to go with it and even then I'll still have less than $400 plus labor in it - for what is approximately a Blackface Champ that I can now tweak w/ different output tubes, std is an EL34, - change caps etc. - the labor is a trade-off vs. knowledge gained and given the risk of screwing up and melting $100 worth of transformers plus ?? etc. then you gotta make the call if it's economic, I'm an old retired guy so my time is very economical.  :beer
Title: Re: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: Cybercanyon on February 19, 2012, 03:18:49 AM
Nice job!   I like your tube amp project.  :thumb

I have built a solid state guitar amp before, but never a tube amp.  I have always wanted to try my hand at building a tube amp like yours.  Maybe someday.
Title: Re: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: thirdlake123 on February 19, 2012, 06:09:33 AM
Nice project.
I have been thinking about building a tweed deluxe kit so this is inspiring. Have you thought about what you will do for a cabinet?
Title: Re: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: el guitana on February 19, 2012, 06:34:01 AM
Way to go - been wanting to try myself.
Title: Re: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: WPete on February 19, 2012, 09:23:35 AM
Quote from: thirdlake123 on February 19, 2012, 06:09:33 AM
Nice project.
I have been thinking about building a tweed deluxe kit so this is inspiring. Have you thought about what you will do for a cabinet?

Thanks, I've got a tweed Goodsell combo amp, so this may just be my downstairs/back bedroom outfit - left ugly and tweak accessible. In the thread above - some nice combo examples in wood p. 6 and a head example using pickup bedliner have been done - p.19  - also sound clip on - p. 3 - of that thread.
Title: Re: Built an Amp - Got sound and not smoke !! - plays well w/ my RS-4
Post by: PM33AUD on February 20, 2012, 05:28:46 PM
Awesome!

If you ever have any electrical questions, shoot me a PM, I'm glad to use my degree for something useful! :bgrin: