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"i told you the cabinet was sexy" - the 18watt build thread

exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
edited February 2008 in Musicians and Gearheads
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38165&l=4a2f2&id=668580992

a photo gallery with notes about each stage.


will update with pictures every step of the way. this will be slow with a new baby etc. not the one weekend job my 5E3 was.

the cabinet.

http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/cab_front.JPG
http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/cab_back.JPG

levant ivory with checker grill and gold piping. 12" weber alnico silver bell speaker.

will be getting finishing washers for the back if there aren't any in the kit. i haven't opened the actual amp box yet.
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Comments

  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    wow, holla! That's a sexy brit right there.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    pretty much why i went with weber. totally custom cabinet and a kick ass speaker.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    exhausted wrote:
    pretty much why i went with weber. totally custom cabinet and a kick ass speaker.


    nice, that's a silver bell right? Alnico?

    I want a leviant blue 4x10 with the bluesbreaker style grill cloth.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    yep. if i end up not liking it in this amp i'll pull it and put it in my epi valve jr. cab and try a something else.

    unpacked the amp.


    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/packed_components.JPG
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/unpacked_components.JPG

    bonus water bottle.

    nice turret board. the transformers look good etc. nice little weber logo that i'll put somewhere on the grill.

    i skipped the chinese tubes that come standard and have a complement of EHX tubes coming. my experience with JJ on my last amp and on the tubes i bought for my valve jr soured me on them. EHX has never let me down.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    nice, they want you to stay hydrated while you're breathing in fumes. ;)
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    That definitely looks cool. I want to build a custom cab for my Epi Valve Jr. (4x10 or 2x12) eventually. Not enough money or time right now. I'll probably come to you for tips when I do though. :) The brit looks great.
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i can't build cabs. all i can do is solder. :)
  • NovawindNovawind Posts: 836
    Oh, did you get the cab pre-built from Weber? That looks damn good.
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
    7/10/06 LA 2
    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    yeah. weber makes damn good cabs. i have no woodworking resources or ability.


    started the circuit board tonight.

    the felt pieces are to eliminate the potential for components rattling against the circuit board. lesson learned from my last amp build.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/board_start.JPG

    halfway in place but not soldered.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/board_1.JPG

    halfway and soldered.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/board_2.JPG

    all components soldered. still have to do some underboard connections and all flying leads.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/board_3.JPG

    also need to go get some heavy gauge copper wire to use as a ground bus.
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    exhausted wrote:
    yep. if i end up not liking it in this amp i'll pull it and put it in my epi valve jr. cab and try a something else.

    unpacked the amp.


    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/packed_components.JPG
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/unpacked_components.JPG

    bonus water bottle.

    nice turret board. the transformers look good etc. nice little weber logo that i'll put somewhere on the grill.

    i skipped the chinese tubes that come standard and have a complement of EHX tubes coming. my experience with JJ on my last amp and on the tubes i bought for my valve jr soured me on them. EHX has never let me down.


    What happend with JJ's on your valve junior? I boycotted JJ's for about 7 years over 10 years ago, but have finally gone back to them.
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    the JJ 12ax7 i had for my valve jr. failed within a couple of hours and the 6V6s that came with my 5E3 kit had mechanical vibration noise issues that the EHX tubes don't seem to have.
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    exhausted wrote:
    the JJ 12ax7 i had for my valve jr. failed within a couple of hours and the 6V6s that came with my 5E3 kit had mechanical vibration noise issues that the EHX tubes don't seem to have.

    Yeah te vibration noise issues is a constant battle it seems with combo amps.

    My 6v6 bronson power tubes are noisy as can be, and those are only a few hours old. Sometimes you just get lucky.


    I had a EL84 JJ short out with in a week 10 years ago on one of my amps, and took a board out with it.
    E. Lansing-98 Columbus-00,03,10 Detroit-00,03 (1&2),06, 14 Cleveland-03,06,10 Toledo-04, Grand Rapids-04,06 London-05, Toronto-05, Indianapolis 10, East Troy (1&2) 11, Chicago 13, Detroit 14

    https://www.facebook.com/aghostwritersapology/
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    underboard wiring, groundbus done.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/board_4.JPG

    board done. the rest of the leads i'll take from the top of the board. i only ran the leads that ran across the board underneath for neatness. tagged the resistors that may need adjustment once the amp's up and running.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/board_done.JPG


    putting the board aside now. moving on the to chassis. will be installing all the tube sockets and wiring up the power next.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    mounted tube sockets, transformers etc.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_1.JPG

    doing some pot and jack wiring.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/panel_1.JPG
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/panel_2.JPG
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/panel_3.JPG

    faceplate, pots and jacks in place. cracked two of the plastic nuts on the jacks accidentally. oops.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_2.JPG
  • evenflowrocksevenflowrocks Posts: 96
    I love the play by play style of this. I wish I could solder that well! Are the instructions pretty simple that come with or do you have to know a lot about electrical schematics? just wondering
    www.myspace.com/evenflowrocks

    heathen frog psycho number ONE!
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    there are no instructions supplied with weber kits so i'm going off my past experience building my last amp (that had instructions) and lots of pictures of completed amps and the weber forums. reading the wiring diagram is pretty straightforward though.
  • RhynoRhyno Posts: 304
    Very cool. I also enjoy the play by play. Maybe someday I'll be able to tackle a project like this. Thanks for the inspiration.
    Cheers!
    Rhyno

    11/30/1991 ~ 3/25/92 ~ 8/28/92 ~ 6/30/98 ~ 10/8/2000 ~ 6/18/2003 ~ 6/21/2003 ~ 6/26/2006 ~ 6/27/2006 ~ 7/7/2006 ~ 8/5/2007 ~ 6/24/2008 ~ ALPINE VALLEY in '09 ;-)
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    starting to wire up the power transformer.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_3.JPG

    power and output transformers completed wired, save for the AC cord which I will do last. the kit didn't make provisions for a speaker jack (neither did the original) so i've added that.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_4.JPG

    filament wiring completed. i know i violated colour convention here but the green wire provided had insulation that made it hard to work with so i used the red with pushback insulation after i used up what was left of my green from my last amp. much nicer to use. edit: at this point i'd forgotten the filaments to the rectifier. i've since added them.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_5.JPG

    board mounted in the chassis. no turning back now. i triple checked everything because once i start wiring this in, it'll be impossible to go back.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_6.JPG

    all wiring to the tube sockets is now completed.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_7.JPG

    all i have left is the pot wiring and the AC cord.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    wiring to the pots completed.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_8.JPG

    AC cord wired in and secured.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_9.JPG

    final chassis overview.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_10.JPG

    mounted to the back panel.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_complete.JPG

    now for some refresher reading on first power up....

    and a torturous wait as my tubes don't arrive until wednesday.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    it passed initial power on tests (i.e. it didn't explode) so it's buttoned back up while it waits for tubes and more testing. i bought finishing washers for all the screws to tidy things up. i put velcro loops on each side to keep the power and speaker cables away from the tubes.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/cab_back2.JPG

    mechanically complete.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/done.JPG
  • keeponrockinkeeponrockin Posts: 7,446
    That IS a sexy piece of equipment.
    Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    damn that looks great. way to go Greg.

    Next logical step...experimentation :D

    and a 4x12 wired exotically.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i hope it works. i'm nervous.

    i'm going to voice it for lower gain on the TMB channel than the "stock" amp is. i guess lots of people seem to have issues with oscillation etc. because of the amount of gain. we'll see. i'm a low gain guy anyway.

    i turned it on to check that the filament voltage was getting to each tube socket and nothing blew up so i'm encouraged.

    but, as i've learned and was pointed out to me, my neat wiring may cause me grief. i may also need to take the ground connections off the backs of the pots. we'll see how much hum i get. the neatness of old hiwatts was my inspiration.

    compare this to my 5E3 rat's nest. which works great and really only hisses due to all the carbon comp resistors in my opinion.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/5E3/100_2546.JPG
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    if it turns on and works great it matters not the wiring inside the chassis, really the only reason that matters is you get an idea of how meticulous the builder is.

    Those amps sound better as low gain amps anyway (see bassman) and unless the amp is cascaded high gain amps generally sound like shite.

    I like your idea. It'll sound great when you crank it.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • puremagicpuremagic Posts: 1,907
    Really nice, love the color. Have a question. How long did you run it during your initial set up test for the tubes?
    SIN EATERS--We take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i haven't put tubes in yet. i only turned it on to make sure the filament wiring is correct. i haven't done anything else yet. still waiting for tubes.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    the guys on the weber forums have been really helpful so i'm doing some adjustments to my grounding on their suggestions.

    revised the grounding.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_11.JPG

    the filaments to the rectifier that i forgot. it's not on the layout since they assume you're using the weber copper cap instead of a rectifier tube but i'm using a tube.
    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/chassis_12.JPG
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    the tubes arrived!!!!!!!

    i had huge self-oscillation issues with the TMB channel due to my wire routing. the guys on the weber forum predicted it.

    http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/redressed.JPG

    redressing everything solved that problem.

    now the only issues i have is a crackly volume pot on the TMB channel and a really subtle bass control that may be inherent to the design.

    amp sounds super sweet though. i'm running it fairly tame gainwise and it's really nice. still lots of gain on tap on the TMB channel and lots of good headroom on the normal channel.

    very quiet humwise. no complaints there at all.

    maybe a little bassy overall but we'll see as i get used to it.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    it's done.

    i replaced the volume pot to fix that issue.
    i found a missed solder joint which fixed the bass control issue.

    i'm now just tweaking EQ and gain to taste but the amp is done and cooking.

    here's a photo gallery with some more detailed notes one each stage, including important information about mistakes i'd made.

    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38165&l=4a2f2&id=668580992
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    well done greg! Congrats.

    Insert Treble Boost!!!!
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
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