Calico 18 - Coming Out Party

[hipofutura]

Now that I have the head cab (still incomplete), I wanted to share some pics. The hole in the front of the cab is going to have a gold screen, once I find the appropriate material.

For those who haven't read the build thread, it's a one-of-a-kind amp. I took the Fender Rivera designed Super Champ power amp (not the Super Champ XD) from the early 80's which was a 18 watt 6V6 push/pull , added a buffered FX loop, and a fairly complex preamp. A 2-button foot switch jumps from clean to dirty, and the second button engages a preamp boost stage.

I still have more testing and debugging to do, but it works. I haven't yet played it while critiquing the tone as I haven't set the bias.

The head cab is my own design based on the Carvin head from the early 70's.

[LPV]

Awesome job!

[RichieJ]

That looks really good!

[LPV]

I know its not your style Don, but you do realize you are going to have to put up a sound clip of at least just strumming a chord on your creation. Showing a one of a kind amp and not sharing a clip is just torture

I don't know if I told you the reason I recognized it as a Carvin design is because when I was in high school in California the best guitarist in school had a carvin stack with a head that looked just like that. He played an Ibanez Iceman. I envied that guy like you would never believe, for his gear and the fact that he was allot better than me.

[Jason]

Cool throwback style.

[Micky]

Nice. I like it!

[hipofutura]

LPV, only us old farts would recognize that cab design for what it really is. The old Carvins were SS amps which didn't generate much heat. I've had to add the ventilation. I ordered the gold mesh tonight from Mojotone. I'll post more pics when I finish it up. I'm still toying with the idea of a Kustom style cab.

I have this phobia, complex, aversion to playing publicly. As a teenager I jumped at every opportunity to play on stage. Now that I'm old it's just the opposite. It's not about ability as I've been playing long enough to not embarrass myself. Not to mention that I don't have any recording equipment. However, I'll take it under advisement.

I'm now thinking about a speaker cab design.

[Deftone]

I love it. Nice work!

[hipofutura]

Added the gold mesh. I'm not happy with it. It is too gold and very fragile. I bunged it up in several places while working with it.

[mono]

Lookin' good man, but I think silver or even black mesh would work slightly better and have less contrast with the faceplate. Consider yourself $0.02 richer

[teemunknee]

Lol "Coming out party"

[teemunknee]

Cool build!

[hipofutura]

Thanks Teemunknee!

Mono, I think you're right about the silver or black. I can always spray paint it black and see. I think it would have been better without the air vent. The amp doesn't produce as much heat as I was expecting with 7 tubes. I think the back vents are adequate.

[LPV]

Don at a local metal shop they should be able to supply you with polished aluminum 1/4" holed grate. Or the same thing painted flat black or another gloss color ?

[epilespaul2000]

Love it. I wish I was able to do something like this.

[hipofutura]

by the weekend the temp is suppose to be in the 70's!!!! I'll spray paint the grill black and see how it goes. Gold is definitely out!

[BillB1960]

I'm with you on the gold Don, definitely not feelin' it. What about some basic Fender silver grill cloth? I actually have some leftover from my last cab build I could send you.

[JMV]

Originally Posted by BillB1960

I'm with you on the gold Don, definitely not feelin' it. What about some basic Fender silver grill cloth? I actually have some leftover from my last cab build I could send you.

That'd be COOL!

This looks great, Hip.

[BillB1960]

Any updates Don?

[LPV]

Ya. How's it sound ?

[hipofutura]

I have spent a few minutes testing and found some problems. There is a hum/ground problem and the OD channel switching isn't working properly. This is going to take some time to resolve, so it will have to wait a couple of months before I can get back to it. Work is extremely busy, and I took too much time off to design and build the amp. I now have to re-focus on work, so no more play time.

I did have an emblem made which is in the new picture. I also painted the wire mesh black. Look much nicer. I think the logo looks better on the tolex, rather than the mesh.

On a side note, I'm looking into having a Phaez emblem made. Will report any progress.

[X–Ray]

for your consideration:

remove covers off tubes - anchor them down someway and shield the inside of the head if necessary

paint the rear inside panel all black

attach a dark colored (or another deep color) acrylic clear plastic faceplate to the amp



they do custom orders: Pick Guard Materials Gallery

when the tubes warm-up there will be this glow from the tubes (see below)



just trying to think outside the box

good luck :~)

[Cygnus X1]

I love that diamond pattern back as is, do not paint it.
The cab is what you described, functional and good looking.

Logos are always a b*tch, don't sweat it.

Focus on the sound, you did much better on the appearance of yours than I did on mine.

[hipofutura]

Thanks Cyg! I scrapped the logo. Looked terrible. At some point I'll have time to finish debugging, but not in the foreseeable future.