18W Amp Build

[TeleDog]

Hi there!

Just got started with my little 18W amp build. As it stands now, the pots and jacks are in place, along with the switches, lamp and jacks.

Some pics here... More to come as the amp progresses!

[hipofutura]

Now that's cool! What's it based on? Tube compliment?

[TeleDog]

Ooops, I forgot to "flip" the photos!

Anyway, it's based on the Marshall 18W amp, with a few mods...

[Paragon]

Originally Posted by TeleDog

Ooops, I forgot to "flip" the photos!

[kingofnima]

did you source the parts yourself?

[Deftone]

I love amp build threads. Looks nice!

[TeleDog]

Yeah, got all the parts myself. I tried to check for kits with quality parts and stuff, but they all have something missing...

Board, pots and sockets all wired. Now waiting on the transformers! Going with Heyboer, I thought about a Weber PT, but the price difference is very small, so...

Hey, getting the parts is half the fun!

More pics real soon!

[H.E.L.Shane]

are you using the ax84 specs??

Where'd ya get the chassis? I'm gonna get a pre-punched/ drilled one, haven't decided where yet... lookin at Doberman

[TeleDog]

I got the chassis at Tubedepot. These are nice, the only complaint I got is that both the ins and outs for the OT are right underneath the board. Ceriatone has a chassis that gives you OT outs next to the jacks, for convenience.

I'm following a variation based on the Ceriatone design that has a lot of very good reviews. Using an improved grounding but added a separate ground for the tone pot on channel 1, that's to get rid of the hissing noise you get when you use the ground bus.

I'm thinking about the cabinet, weber has 20% off all cabs now but hey, if I'm lucky they'll ship it in 10 years! They sure get you with the cabinet.

I'm using Mallory capacitors and NOS resistors when possible. If you buy caps from Tubedepot you're taking your chances, I've gotten two batches in the past and they sometimes don't ship the right value! That makes me MAD! But they do ship fast. I got some of my caps here at a local repair shop that's located, ironically, alongside old Route 66! lmao... The rest I got online at different places.

I'm now looking for transformers, but I got some flu thing and it's a bit hard to do things. Trying to ignore it, life goes on and you still need to do what you have to do, but it's annoying.

[TeleDog]

Some pics marking the (slow) progress... Still waiting for the transformers!

[Liam]

Well you're going a lot quicker than me!

I think I got the shell of the cab for my one finished in about 2000, also made a chassis at that time, and bought some tagboard, purple tolex, grill cloth. Also bought a pair of Celestion Vintage 10s and a really nice looking plexi control panel. And then I stalled, and I can't even remember why. I think funds were pretty tight back then, so maybe biting the bullet and buying a transformer set was a bit scary. Who knows...

Anyhow, thanks to your post I ordered a set of GDS vintage transformers this weekend. Going to do the chassis again, as I was never happy with the one I made way back. But I think I can live with the cab, and I'm going to make a winter project of getting the thing finished off.

Thanks for reigniting my enthusiasm!

Liam

[epilespaul2000]

I hate you people that are actually smart enough to do this.

Oh, and your build's nice too. We want clips when you're finished.

[TeleDog]

Really? What transformers you ordered? I'm stuck there! I was looking at the Heyboers, but then I went to their page and they said to go with Mojo as "distributor"... Went there, and they do sell the transformers but they don't tell you they're made by Heyboer!

I don't wanna ruin the amp with crappy transformers, would really appreciate some advice!

Finally managed to install the fuseholder! Gee, the hole was juuuuust a bit too small, but now it's in and wired to the switch and power socket. Also managed to wire the lamp today to the EL84 filaments.

Nothing else today. And don't worry, you'll catch up, I'm gonna get stuck saving 300 bucks for that damn cabinet! Ironically, I'm pretty handy with the wood working stuff, but half my tools are now damaged, gone or some place else. Quite a mess! I wish there was like a cabinet kit, precut panels for assembly, but I doubt such a thing is available. I could order the cab from Weber, maybe I can get it by the year 10,000! lol

For the speaker I was looking at that Celestion special edition, a mix between the Greenback and the Vintage 30.... but will probably go with the Greenback. Not sure.

[Liam]

I ordered the vintage set from here:

GDS Amplification Parts

Free shipping if you're in the USA. They're made by Heyboer, but to GDS specs. The OT is evidently an exact replica of the RS one. Quite looking forward to hearing them, but won't be making any judgements until I have.

I did my cab with the help of a mate that's into woodworking. The radiuses (radii) on the corners aren't quite right, but didn't want to get into buying router bits especially for the job. Might be worth having a phone round people you know with woodworking tools, as the materials aren't expensive, it's just the time involved.

I've never figured out the baffle and grill cloth arrangement, but I've got a BBRI I can pull apart to see how it's done.

I'll post some photos when I've got some of my parts out of storage. I've moved house since I started the build, but I'm pretty sure I've still got it all!

Liam

[TeleDog]

Thanks! I really need to check those out!

[kingofnima]

sweet build!!
I just ordered my TC-15 kit 20 min ago!!
I am so excited about putting that thing together!!
I hope I can finish the actual amp kit during the 2 week Christmas break. The cab will be my winter project...

[TeleDog]

Guess you're gonna have to change your signature come the new year! That's one sweet amp you're gonna have!

I'm currently waiting for my transformers to arrive, along with my JJ tubes. I was going to buy a cabinet, but I'm thinking about making my own, a lot cheaper.

For the speaker, I'm thinking Greenback or Vintage 30. I love that anniversary Celestion model, the hybrid 12" (vintage 30 and Greenback) but it's a bit expensive.

I'm in no rush, so let's see...

[lowatter]

I used a 20W MPS(Musical Power Supplies) output tranny for my 18W build. Mike's a great guy to deal with. Best prices for iron I could find(if price is an issue). I could never afford the GDS's price. My amp sounds incredible(at least to me). I used a Hammond power tranny from Tubes n More.

[TeleDog]

My transformers got delayed! ...

[kingofnima]

Originally Posted by TeleDog

Guess you're gonna have to change your signature come the new year! That's one sweet amp you're gonna have!

I'm currently waiting for my transformers to arrive, along with my JJ tubes. I was going to buy a cabinet, but I'm thinking about making my own, a lot cheaper.

For the speaker, I'm thinking Greenback or Vintage 30. I love that anniversary Celestion model, the hybrid 12" (vintage 30 and Greenback) but it's a bit expensive.

I'm in no rush, so let's see...

Yes, I will haha thats for sure!! I am very excited indeed!!!!
I can't wait to finally hear that thing!!!
yea I think I will build the cabinet myself as well but I will do it in a head cab set up so I'll probably get a 1x12 orange cab and build the head cabinet myself.

Did you get all JJ tubes?

I don't have too much experience with tubes over all so I am not quite sure which ones I'll put in there

How long did your trannies get delayed?

[TeleDog]

Got the JJ tubes, yes, all of them, the rectifier, power tubes and preamp tubes.

The transformers got here today, already in!!! Just a day delay because of weather. Actually, they got an estimated delivery for next week, just got them, can't complain!

However! Ahhhhhhhh! The lamp (indicator, 120V) I got is broken! I can't test the amp because of that! Now I have to wait for a replacement!

Is there anyway to by-pass the lamp so I can just test the circuit? I think it would be obvious how to do it, but I wanna check with those who have more experience here before I try.

Thanks!

[TeleDog]

This is killing me! lol...

[lowatter]

Just solder a jumper accross the 2 pilot light terminals. No harm will come. The circuit is fused anyways, isn't it? Check out Paul Ruby's start-up checklist at 18W dot com.

[TeleDog]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

I only have an 8'' speaker here form the old VJ, but Lord, it sounds so amazing! The overdrive is not so compressed, wide open, it's not farting like tons of other little amps I tried....

I've created a monster!

[Liam]

Congratulations!!!! I really am playing catch up now, as I have no idea when my transformers are going to arrive, and I've used most of my tubes and bases in other projects. Still got all the resitors and caps I need hopefully.

Which circuit did you go with? How the hell do you get onto 18watt.com? (I tried, but got no reply). I'm really keen to get moving now...

Liam

[TeleDog]

Well, I wasn't able to sign up! I never got that little "confirmation email", still waiting!

I did a double, triple, quadruple check the circuit, to make sure it was correct. I actually took time to read a book on tube amp design and construction, tons of interesting stuff there. Not much sleep, I don't need to dress up for tomorrow, just go out looking like this, a zombie, dark circles under my eyes and pale! lol

The best part is the amp's got a master volume for the TMB channel, and crap, I can use the volume for gain and the master to control the output, the overdrive is out of this world, you'll see...

And I tried this without any cabinet, just an 8 inch speaker from an old Epi VJ. It's loaded with JJs, all of them, from the rectifier to the last preamp valve, and it sounds great!

Yours will sound even better Liam cause you went with the vintage transformers. I got regular Heyboers.

The hardest part was to get those 1uF electrolytic caps. Can't find them anywhere so I got them from a radio repair store! lol... Just standard parts, but the best I could afford. Mallory and F&T caps, Cliff jacks, carbon resistors. I went cheap on the pots, I thought the entire thing wasn't gonna work anyway so I didn't care much! Now, well, needless to say it was a mistake and will have to replace them with CTS in the future!

I built the board myself along with the ground bus, all of that, handmade. lol... and sure it doesn't look that pretty but it was "in house" manufacturing! lol... Honestly, if I can do it, anybody can!

[Cygnus X1]

Great stuff!

It is a drug...

[TeleDog]

Oh, here's the layout I followed. I tweaked a couple resistors and caps, but nothing significant.

I understand there's a nicer version of this, but I couldn't find it.

I need to build a cab and put some finishing touches, like... KNOBS and a face plate.

For some strange reason I've been listening to Poison this evening while soldering... This has been one weird day! lol I now need to repent for that sin... Poison? Give me a break! Ahhhhh!

Oh, almost forgot, some more pics to follow soon...

[lowatter]

Way to go TeleDog! Ain't it a great feeling firing an amp up for the 1st time and it sounds awesome?! It's like a satisfaction that's hard to describe. Veteran builders all seem to agree that feeling never really ever goes away. You picked a great circuit. I love mine and would never trade it for another.
I built mine similar but I have only a single tone, volume and drive controls. Mine's based off of Doug Hoffmans "Stout" at his website. I utilized the tremolo circuit as a 2nd stage gain and it really crunches. I also built in a power tube level control which acts like an attenuator that allow you to have thick distortion at bedroom/apartment levels. Another nice feature I built into mine is a switch that allows you to choose between a solid state power supply option or a 5YE3 tube option. This is located on the standby switch(3 way). This allows you to have some different tonal possibilities as well as a backup for the amp if the tube power section takes a dump.
Again, congrats on your new loud-mouthed baby!

[TeleDog]

Yeah, loud mouthed it is!

When I powered it up, the tubes lit up, no smoke, no weird anything... just the feared "no sound"... then I sat down and looked at the speaker, it had one terminal disconnected... So I said, well, what the hell, why not... I fixed that and tried again. Then I turned the volume juuuuust a little and there it was! Amazing.

I was expecting a farting sound, but this thing rocks real hard! The overdrive is sweet and it doesn't suck at clean tones (well, not bad for a Marshall clone, lol).

I wanted a Marshall I could play around without fearing cops showing up! lol... My old JCM half stack doesn't do the trick.

I recently modified a VJ, all new except the old PT. lol.. it was great, it gave me hell because of my own stupidity, but thanks to the counseling of some here I was able to get it to work (more like they were able to).

I did my homework this time, read all I could, tried to educate myself. Before all this I did a little kit, got it halfway there, but finished it up as a gift, that little Champ sounded great!

But this one, first completely from scratch build, Lord almighty!

Now, I ain't gonna stop here, God willing, good amps have always been my curse, never had one and the JCM is simply too damn loud! Great when I gigged, but now it sits there, looking at me like saying "you ain't got the balls to play me"... lmao!

I got my eye on one of the 5C1 circuit, that thing makes one hell of a blues tone! I listened to one and was blown away by that little guy! If I ever build another 18W I'd love to play around with the mods you put in, maybe I'll have the skill then to try.

I love the Vox AC15, found a circuit but it looked extremely hard, so I decided to try this simpler one first... I can tell you, I understand a lot better now, this is a very rewarding and satisfying experience.