Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on April 20, 2011 at 2:18am

BLY,

 

Interest?  Heck yes.... go a pic of your prototype?  vid? or audio file?  I have a heavy tube amp Fender M60 (RIveria design) that is great, but probably is too too much for the lighter lo-fi sounds that work so will with a CBG....  Been thnking about some kind of low output amp, but it like tube amps, so this might be the thing, esp if the kit is "idiot" proof.  I do simple soldering on guitar pups and controls... think I could handle it?

 

the best,

 

Wichita Sam

 

 

Permalink Reply by BLY on April 20, 2011 at 3:57am

Hi Sam. 

The kit would be more along the lines of a Weber tube amp kit.  It assumes you know what to do with the parts. It's not a step by step kit.  I would include some basic instruction, layout and build tips.  This is a very simple amp for the most part.  The most important thing about working with tube amps is safety.  This amp has voltages in excess of 200 volts DC.  You have to be very careful of what you are touching or electrical shock or worse can occur. 

That said, if you can drill holes to mount transformers, a speaker, one tube socket, read a schematic diagram, identify electronic parts, route wires and solder you should be able to build this amp.  It will be fool proof in the fact that if its put together correctly it will work the first time without needing to make any electrical adjustments or settings. You will have to have a multimeter for troubleshooting purposes in the event it doesn't work the first time.

If there would be enough interest or need I could put together detailed instructions for an additional cost.  Putting the kit together is the easy part.  Step by step instructions are very time consuming and allot of extra work.  I guess I could also build them for folks.

I will post some pics of the prototype when its presentable, a schematic and some sound clips.  That will give you and others a better idea if you think you can handle the building of this amp.

 

Take care,

 

BLY

Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on April 20, 2011 at 4:25am

BLY,

 

If you need a guini-pig reviewer, I'm might be able to take it on as a project in the middle of May.  I'll be layed up at home from a May 2 surgery and will probably be a little stir-crazy by then.  As long as there is no heavy lifting involved  ;-) , I can probably manage it.....

 

Sam

BLY said:

Hi Sam. 

The kit would be more along the lines of a Weber tube amp kit.  It assumes you know what to do with the parts. It's not a step by step kit.  I would include some basic instruction, layout and build tips.  This is a very simple amp for the most part.  The most important thing about working with tube amps is safety.  This amp has voltages in excess of 200 volts DC.  You have to be very careful of what you are touching or electrical shock or worse can occur. 

That said, if you can drill holes to mount transformers, a speaker, one tube socket, read a schematic diagram, identify electronic parts, route wires and solder you should be able to build this amp.  It will be fool proof in the fact that if its put together correctly it will work the first time without needing to make any electrical adjustments or settings. You will have to have a multimeter for troubleshooting purposes in the event it doesn't work the first time.

If there would be enough interest or need I could put together detailed instructions for an additional cost.  Putting the kit together is the easy part.  Step by step instructions are very time consuming and allot of extra work.  I guess I could also build them for folks.

I will post some pics of the prototype when its presentable, a schematic and some sound clips.  That will give you and others a better idea if you think you can handle the building of this amp.

 

Take care,

 

BLY

Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on April 20, 2011 at 4:37am

It does sound like a neat kit, how many "parts" are involved.  I've made a few simple 386 amps so far, but a real tube amp would be sweet.  Test it Sam and give a full report.

Permalink Reply by David Sutton on April 20, 2011 at 5:58am

I love the sounds of this... get us some samples!

Permalink Reply by BLY on April 20, 2011 at 6:26am

This is the parts list and sources so far.  It will change slightly as I put final tweaks on the amp.  Many of the components are wired directly to the tube socket. The power supply components will be mounted to terminal strips.

There are two options for building this amp.  Combo or separate amp head and speaker.  It is much easier to build the amp in separate boxes due to the extra space available.  You can save money by using the cigar box as a chassis and use a bigger speaker with this approach.  The combo approach is a VERY tight build and speaker choices are limited to smaller speakers.  Decide which way you want to go and start looking for boxes.  Try to find a box at least 2 inches deep for the separate amp/speaker build.  Your speaker will dictate the dimensions of one of the boxes. You will need a box at least 5W x 7H x 4D for the combo build.  Find a La Gloria Cubanna #7 for the combo build.

What concerns me most about you guys wanting to build this amp is SAFETY.  This is nothing like building a LM386 chip amp.  Nine volts wont kill you.  Two Hundred volts will !  So you must know and pay great attention to what you are touching while working on the amp. I will point this out in the basic instructions.

 

I will post more details as I get closer to a final build.

 

1- 9 Pin Tube Socket (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 6GV8/ECL85 Tube (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- Traid N68-X Isolation Transformer (Mouser)
1- Filament Transformer (12.6VAC CT or 6.3VAC CT @1amp) (Radio Shack)
1- Output Transformer 5k to 8 (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- Bridge Rectifier (1000V @ 3A) (Mouser)
2- 47MFD @ 350VDC Capacitor (Antique Electronic Supply)
2- 25MFD @ 50VDC Capacitor (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- .022MFD @ 630VDC Capacitor (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 1M Res. (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 1K Res. (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 100K Res. (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 820 @5W Res. (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 1k @1W Res. (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 1k @5W Res. (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- Input Jack (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- 1M Audio Pot/Switched (Antique Electronic Supply)
1- Power Cord (Antique Electronic Supply)

1- Power Cord Restraint (Antique Electronic Supply)

1- Speaker 8 Ohm @ 4W (Jameco)
2- Terminal Strips 3, 5, & 6 Position. Get Pack of each size. (Antique Electronic Supply)

1- Hammond 1590C (For combo build) (Antique Electronic Supply)

1- Wire spaghetti to insulate bare component leads. (Antique Electronic Supply)

1- Knob for volume control. (Antique Electronic Supply)

1- Assorted 22 gauge wire. (Antique Electronic Supply)(Radio Shack)

Permalink Reply by BLY on April 20, 2011 at 6:59am

Might rename to "Smoke Screamer"  or "Smoke Scream"  That sounds more amp like?

Permalink Reply by Servaas (Der Groovemeister) on April 20, 2011 at 10:40am

I am definately interested! Sounds great. Especially the simplicity of just 1 tube! I already built a tweed champ and a marshall 18 watt clone so i wont need a kit nor step by step instructions just a layout and a schematic would be fine.
I'm looking forward to it!

Permalink Reply by BLY on April 21, 2011 at 12:41am

Hi Groovemeister,

Thanks for your interest. I should be ready to release the schematic in the next few days.  Layout and sound demo in about a week.  I'm still tweaking the bias settings.

Surprisingly loud for 3 watts.  I had it running last night through a vintage 10 inch Jensen alnico speaker and it sounded fantastic.  Not as much gain as a tweed champ because it only has one preamp stage but it will still overdrive nicely.  My design goals were good sound, simplicity, economy and easy to build.  The tube is a ECL85 which are under $4.  The triode in that tube has a gain factor of 50.  You can use the Russian equiv. 6F5P to get a little more (70)  gain.

This build is what I call a "box top" build with external speaker.  Power trannys and tube are mounted directly to the top lid of the box with guts and output tranny inside of the box.  Point to point wiring using terminal strips.  Power supply mounted on inside bottom and amp wired directly to the tube socket under the lid. An experienced builder could put it together in a few hours. It can be built as a combo unit but is more difficult to build and requires some different parts and a different approach to get everything to fit in one box.  Parts will cost about $70 plus shipping or less depending on what you already have laying around.  I'm sure you get the idea. 

Permalink Reply by Servaas (Der Groovemeister) on April 21, 2011 at 2:06am

Sounds great man! Can't wait to build it!!!

Permalink Reply by BLY on April 24, 2011 at 11:39am

Pics posted in pictures section.

Permalink Reply by BLY on April 27, 2011 at 7:23am

Smoke Screamer Schematic

Attachments:

• Smoke_Screamer_Tube_Amp.ps, 23 KB

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