6v6

[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1382627958' post='2254656'] A shop that takes good care of its stock will make sure the guitars are well set-up before people are allowed near them [/quote] Where can I find such a shop? IME it's a myth, the vast majority of shops stick stock straight from the box to the wall, frequently with terrible playability, and you'll only get a setup if you negotiate it as part of the deal when purchasing.

[quote name='guntherbuffalo' timestamp='1382560715' post='2253786'] Great thanks, I actually have an old Watkins Dominator that is 18 watts which I use that is great for big gigs. Nice and loud! This amp is more for smaller pubs, and rehearsals. We have started doing one in particular where the Dominator doesn't even come close to breaking up for more rocky songs, I think I had the volume on 2 and a half! And that is still quite loud! So it would be for that sort of thing. The kit I am looking at is 4w, when the champ is normally 5w, but all other 5f1 kits are abroad and I can't be doing with the huge shipping costs! [/quote] If you already have a dominator then you probably don't want a PP18, it's pretty much the same circuit IIRC (it's based on the 18watt.com lite2b I think, which is a stripped down version of a marshall 18w, which is very similar to a dominator) That said, you could build one with 6v6's and/or tweak the circuit to be closer to a 5E3, which will give a very different sound (more bass/treble, less gain), and you could also install a VVR (variable power), which I think ampmaker are going to add to their kits by the look of the website. Another UK option for kits is vyse/torres: [url="http://vyseamps.com/standard-amp-kits.htm"]http://vyseamps.com/...rd-amp-kits.htm[/url] - their prices are a bit higher than ampmaker, but it's good stuff and they do more Fender-ish options if that's what you're after. I built my princeton/deluxe reverb clone with parts from them, and it's been my main gigging amp for nearly 10 years. Since you're finding the dominator too loud, I'd say go for it and build the 4w tweed amp - with an efficient speaker it sounds like it may work well for you.

[quote name='Magic Matt' timestamp='1382571377' post='2253949'] Looking closer at the pictures, I don't think it is conductive traces... I think it's just wire soldered to the components leads. I don't even thing the wires are in contact with the board - more likely slightly above it. [/quote] I think Bill was saying there was no reason to use fibreglass board over wood unless you wanted to make a PCB with copper traces. As mentioned in my response IMHO that's not true, there are plenty of advantages to using it for turretboard point-to-point construction with wire connections. In the pictures it is just wires hanging off the component leads, which was the reason I mentioned it - that's not a durable construction method for something which will be vibrating at bass frequencies for hours every time you use it (IMHO). I'm sure it sounds great tho, and could be easily fixed!

If you want loud/giggable I'd go with the PP18. I've built several 18w clones, a 5E3, and a Princeton Reverb and they are all loud enough for gigging with a drummer if the band is not too loud, the speaker is fairly efficient and you like dirty tones (there's not much headroom particularly on the 18w). I also built an AX84 P1, with the same transformers/tubes that are in the 4w kit, and it was nice but not enough for gigging, even with a fairly efficient speaker, assuming you want to keep up with a drummer without PA assistance. Btw, I know this is a bass site, but I'm assuming you're gonna put guitar through it (any of these small amps will suck for bass beyond bedroom volume IMO) If you really want tweed-ish, you could easily substitute 6v6 output tubes in the PP-18 kit if you don't mind a bit of drilling - compare the 18w schematics with a Fender 5E3 tweed deluxe and you'll see what I mean, similar circuit topologies and values in many cases - I'd start with the 18w tho, they sound great. Checkout [url="http://18watt.com/"]this site[/url] for 18w schematics.

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1382528556' post='2253189'] I understand what you are saying, but there is another point to consider. When you play in a pub, with the backline so close to the singers, the full range of the band (including drums, bass and guitar amps) will be picked up via the vocal mics and then projected into the room via the tops and subs. So, you do get value from having them. It's not massive, but it is in there and part of the whole sound mix. If you ever take a recoding out from the desk at a gig on one of the vocal channels, you'll hear what I mean. I may only get one sub for the moment - and add a second if it goes well. [/quote] This comment pretty much explains your feedback issues IMO. The whole point of decent live mics with tight polar patterns is that they *don't* pick up loads of ambient noise - unless you turn the PA up super loud and don't sing close enough to the mic.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1382533209' post='2253271'] Google is wrong. Bulbs aren't employed in crossovers as fuses, although they will in effect act as fuses if the cab is over powered or fed with very highly distorted signals, which can blow them out. Bulbs are used as simple compressors. As the filament heats with higher power input the resistance of the filament goes up, reducing the voltage delivered to the tweeter. [/quote] Very interesting, thanks! Seems live a very crude method, but I guess whatever works! [quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1382533209' post='2253271'] There is no reason to use fiberglass or phenolic other than that they can be made with conductive traces, which speeds the construction process in high volume operations. Making a board with conductive traces slows the construction process in typical DIY production runs of one or two cabs, even assuming the DIYer has the capability to make traced boards at all. Wood as a material for crossover boards has been used since the first crossovers were constructed circa 1920, with no ill effect. [/quote] Gulp... I hate to to disagree with someone of your unquestionable experience, but I maintain that wood is a poor choice for anything but very low voltage circuit construction. In the 1920's I'm sure it was used because more modern materials (e.g FR4 epoxy or PTFE sheet) did not exist - the dielectric properties of wood (particularly if it absorbs any moisture) are not good when there are high voltages involved (admittedly, I come from a tube amp background ie 300+v, but 500w into 8ohms is still going to be ~60v in that crossover right?). Most of these materials are also somewhat more resistant to components getting hot, so probably a bit less likely to catch fire when you're putting loads of power through a lightbulb attached to it... I wasn't advocating conductive traces at all, but saying some sort of GRP or similar board, with turrets or tags (connected by wire traces) would be electrically and mechanically better than the construction method in the photos. Something like [url="http://www.qtasystems.co.uk/loudspeaker-components/crossover-boards.htm"]this[/url] Edit: grammar

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1382526967' post='2253155'] not going to disagree with any of that... but... isn't a bulb used quite commonly as a fuse to protect the tweeter? [/quote] Well I never, google says it's true! You learn something new every day. I still wouldn't want that nice hot bulb tie-wrapped to a big bit of flammable ply personally..

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1382462119' post='2252488'] how much has your planned build been costed out to? How valuable is your time? add them together... if more than that cab and petrol money... then yes [/quote] IMHO it's not that simple - for most folks who make DIY anything, it's not the cost that's the main driver, it's the satisfaction of fully understanding how to make something from scratch, and the enjoyment of realizing the end result from the raw materials. As for the low price of DIY cabs second hand (even if they're made to plans which have been professionally designed), I guess the reason is you don't really know anything about the quality of construction, so it's much more of a risk than buying from an established manufacturer. I think anyone building a DIY cab in their shed (myself included) knows the resale value will be relatively poor. I'm sure that BFM cab linked is really awesome, but FWIW I think you'd need to spend some time sorting out the wiring, as it (IMHO) looks, uh, a bit dodgy: - None of it is secured, so it will rattle about and eventually wires will fall off. - Same goes for the crossover, which should be constructed on a bit of fiberglass or phenolic board with turrets/tags, not a bit of ply which can absorb moisture and become conductive. - The components in the crossover (capacitors in particular) have non-secured long bits of wire hanging off them which will vibrate and eventually the component legs will fall off. - Also, for some reason, it seems to have a 12v bulb from a car interior light wired into the tweeter part of the circuit, I assume instead of a resistor, only bulbs filaments will fail with vibration whereas decent wirewound resistors won't. - The wires on the right are close to the speaker cone, so will probably make a buzz and eventually fall off due to vibration Sorry if that sounds harsh, I'm sure the cab is otherwise awesome, and I'm very aware that no DIY cab is perfect (mine isn't, but I like it!)

[quote name='Magic Matt' timestamp='1382378781' post='2251500'] Ok... I must be missing something as I'd seen the combination of a Barefaced Midget and Compact being a lovely combination, and as far as I know that's a 12" and 15" respectively. Perhaps different because they're tuned to be able to work together though? [/quote] I'm a novice at cab design, so I can't help with the details (there are experts around here who no doubt can tho), but Barefaced do state on their website that the Midget and Compact have been specifically designed for compatible phase response.

[quote name='Magic Matt' timestamp='1382363721' post='2251185'] Hence I have acquired a Polytone Mini Brute which is a 75 watt into 4 ohm, that has a facility for an ext cab. which I've confirmed would also be 4 ohm. The amp itself actually contains a 3 ohm 12 inch speaker (weird!) but if it says it is designed to take a 4 ohm ext cab, that's probably the best thing to plug onto it! [/quote] So just to state the obvious, you know that if it's designed for a 4 ohm minimum load, you'll only be able to run the extension cab and not the internal speaker (because the combined impedance would be 1.7 ohms) right? [quote name='Magic Matt' timestamp='1382363721' post='2251185'] My aims are: 1 - Good efficiency. Low powered amp driving 4 ohms, so the more efficient the output the better. 2 - Tone - not sure. The polytone on its own is great at lower volumes, but when you start to crank it, the low end starts to vanish too much. The Peavey is nice, but a little muddy on the bottom end to me. I'm hoping that combining a 12" and 15" might give me what I want. [/quote] AFAIK the general consensus is not to mix different sizes of speaker, or you can get phase related issues which cause dispersion/phase-cancellation issues. So if using multiple speakers then they should be the same size of driver, vertically stacked for best results. [quote name='Magic Matt' timestamp='1382363721' post='2251185'] 3 - Lightweight (ish). This is intended to be a nice easy carry, and should fit in the boot with the polytone, so no fridges. 4 - Not too worried about power - The Peavey is ok most of the time, though it's driven just over half full volume and gain. I expect I could DI into the PA if I had to, but I'd rather not. I figure two cones will be louder than one, so I shouldn't need to drive the amp as hard as I do currently to get the same volume. 5 - Looks - I want something that looks a bit different from the usual black box. I like the idea of putting the wood on show 6 - Cost - Low cost without being silly. I had in mind a figure of £100-£150 for cab and speaker. [/quote] If you want a natural finish, then you want top-quality void-free birch ply. I used 15mm in my cab, which helps keep the weight down a bit compared to 18mm, but it's only stocked by good/larger timber merchants. This sort of ply is good but expensive - I paid over £50 for an 8x4 sheet including vat and cutting. IME you'll be doing very well if you manage to build and cover the cab for £100 (wood, glue, fixings, finishing materials, grille, wiring, handle, corners, wadding, foam gasket, etc etc - it all adds up). That's before you start thinking about the driver - DIY cabs aren't a way to save money (but they are fun to build! ) You may be interested in my build thread, and the thread linked where I got some great advice before starting out on a similar project: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/200152-1x12-diy-cab-build/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/200152-1x12-diy-cab-build/[/url]

Thanks to all for the suggestions - this is now sorted, I've got some BK modules (thanks bertbass!), and have made a start on the preamp. Link to build thread: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220279-diy-tubemosfet-hybrid-amp/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/220279-diy-tubemosfet-hybrid-amp/[/url] I'm still mulling options for the preamp design, but I will definitely consider the [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Baxandall eq idea - I'll post schematics to the build thread, so feel free to post suggestions over there [/font][/color]

Follow up from my [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/218992-diy-mosfet-hybrid-amp-donor-amp-suggestions/"]post[/url] asking for ideas for a donor amp for a DIY hybrid tube (preamp) and mosfet (poweramp) project. Thanks to bertbass, I now have two BK 450watt mosfet power amp modules - these are similar in design to the power amp sections of the amps mentioned in the initial post (Mesa Walkabout, some Trace and Ashdown etc), so I'm hoping they will get me where I want to go (fat/punchy/warm, vintage-voiced tube preamp, with a mosfet power stage to save on weight/cost of a tube output stage) The pics below show the starting point - the BK module, and a donor amp for the preamp, which is a previous DIY guitar amp (an [url="http://ax84.com/classicprojects.html"]AX84 P1[/url]) - the transformer in that will run around 5-6 typical preamp tubes. So far I've stripped out the chassis, and modified it so the tubes will mount horizontally instead of vertically. This should allow me to mount it all in a head box which is not too huge (should end up similar dimensions to a classic tube head). The idea initially is to build up the preamp using whatever I have on hand, experiment with preamp designs until it sounds good, then rebuild into something a bit neater I should probably also add the obligatory disclaimer given the nature of this project - amplifiers, and tube amps in particular, have lethal high voltages inside - [b]don't attempt anything like this unless you're very sure you won't hurt yourself or anyone else[/b] - touching the wrong part of a tube amp (or wiring it up wrong) can easily kill you.

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1382105444' post='2248068'] Agreed. I think we are coming from a different direction here. Investing in decent PA is the best thing you can do with a band. Forget the backline... a good PA and desk allows you a much better FOH sound, better monitoring capability and lower on stage volumes. You see countless threads on here about people not being able to hear themselves, not having a loud enough amp... you know... all these problems could vanish.... [/quote] This is true, but only if you put everything through the PA, which (for a pub band, without someone to setup all the mics and drive the desk, which the OP says he doesn't want) is a huge amount of extra effort, even with a digital desk. IME, it's too much to expect someone in the band to mix the band and play at the same time, unless the setup is very simple (ie just vocals, maybe with a bit of kick drum and DI's bass to fill out the sound in larger venues)

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1382096915' post='2247858'] Cool - it's not at the moment, but these thread usually end up in people pasting up what they use rather than posts from guys who've used a whole load of PA and compare the strengths and weaknesses. [/quote] Well I'd argue first hand experiences from folks who have used stuff, and found it works well in the OP's scenario (pub bands, which I guess many of us are in), is valuable. FWIW, we've used MK1 SRM's for 8 years and many (loud-ish blues/rock) pub gigs, and they have been 100% reliable and sound pretty good to me. I'm very aware there are better options if you're fortunate enough to have an unlimited budget. Claiming the thread is "breaking down" just because people make suggestions for the OP to investigate, and demo/evaluate for their use-case isn't all that helpful IMO. How many folks on here have first hand experience of a "whole load" of high end PA to objectively compare anyway? Anyway, as others have mentioned, setting up the PA behind the band is just wrong, so dropping another £3k won't solve the problem - IMHO a couple of good powered speakers out front, with two or three small powered wedges on the stage, combined with a decent small mixer is all you need for a 3 piece pub rock band. I'll refrain from making any more suggestions on brand or model

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1382093837' post='2247782'] Have you listened to the DLM12 yet....?? They're pretty dire..... [/quote] No, but we've been using Mackie SRM450's for years and they are excellent IMO, if a bit heavy. I'd be very surprised if anything Mackie makes is "dire", but perhaps folks can chime in with first-hand experiences. I have heard QSC K10's and they sounded excellent.

I'd be looking at the Mackie DLM series, or the QSC powered speakers. [url="http://www.mackie.com/products/dlmseries/lineup/"]http://www.mackie.com/products/dlmseries/lineup/[/url] [url="http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/k_series_k10.php"]http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/k_series_k10.php[/url]

[quote name='rk7' timestamp='1382083235' post='2247569'] Check out ProBolt [url="http://www.pro-bolt.com/"]http://www.pro-bolt.com/[/url] I've used them a lot in the past, for Titanium fasteners for my Trials Bike. No minimum quantity, very reliable, and they sell Titanium! [/quote] Thanks for the suggestion, but they have to be some of the most expensive bolts I've ever seen - like at least 10x the price of the ones I've just bought (admittedly I think they're steel which is fine for my purposes..)

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1382025035' post='2246846'] that's a smart looking cab, for next time you could see if you can find the combined 1/4" - speakon sockets, there a little bit more expensive than the standard speakons but should be cheaper than separate speakon and 1/4" sockets. [/quote] Yeah, I did think of that, too late after I'd ordered the speakon-only plate, I may order some and rewire it at some point.. Would also solve the problem of what to do with the 1/4" hole created by the switchcraft jack, which I'll have to plug when I'm using a speakon lead.

Finally got the dome-socket head screws I've been waiting for, so final assembly can happen! Still need to sort a grill, but otherwise it's nearly done! Doesn't look like I've done much, but today at lunchtime I: - Attached both handles and speakon-plate - Fixed wiring with cable-ties and bases - Added stuffing (maybe will need to add more, I only got one small roll, not sure?) - Repainted the baffle, and attached it with the right screws Tomorrow I'll touch in the paint around the baffle edges, fit the driver, re-test, and order a grille (probably going for perforated steel, although I have made a ply baffle too expecting to use grille cloth - I'm liking the stealth all-black vibe atm tho! )

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1381954261' post='2246108'] I've noticed a lot of guitarists (Guthrie Govan being the most obvious example) are turning to the AxeFX ... [/quote] I read an article in Guitarist magazine recently, and they had a rundown of his live rig, and it was a boutique tube amp combined with a load of boutique effects.

I just bought some BK power amp modules from bertbass - very happy. He was a pleasure to deal with, modules were awesomely packaged (in a plywood box!), promptly dispatched and as described - great communication throughout, 100% recommended!

[quote name='RPaul' timestamp='1381879403' post='2245053'] [i]"There is nothing wrong with your amp.. It is designed as a practice amp and as such does indeed have a little bit of background noise from the circuitry..[/i] [/quote] Translated that means "the amp was designed to use the cheapest components we could possibly find, as such does indeed have a very significant amount of background noise" There might be something a decent amp tech could do to quieten it down a bit, but it's very likely to be uneconomical on such a cheap amp and may be impossible if it's due to poor PCB layout or other non-tweakable issues. FWIW I tried to fix a very expensive Mesa-Boogie guitar amp a while back which had the same issue, and in the end I had to conclude that it was just poor design, not an actual fault which could be fixed. I swapped out some tubes in the preamp which reduced it a bit, but sometimes it's just layout, component choice and gain combined and there's nothing much you can do. I told the owner (a mate) to turn it up louder and get some earplugs!

I have an SR500, and I put TI flats on it when the original rounds wore out. Sounds really great with the TI's, although they are a little on the low tension side if you like a really low action (I get a bit of string clicking on the frets sometimes, which is annoying when recording) IMO active/passive is not really relevant, but I'd steer clear of super high tension flats due to the very thin neck on the SR.

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1381862651' post='2244737'] i have been looking into routers as mine broke. But i find with the cheaper ones the bit gets pulled out while in use, so im looking for something with a bit more oomph. [/quote] Hmm, never experienced that problem, particularly when dealing with thin material/cuts, maybe try a different collet which is slightly tighter, or do it up tighter? My first router was the cheapest one I could find at Argos about 10 years ago, and it's still going strong. I'd get something nicer if I could justify/afford it tho, my joiner mate rates the more expensive Makita stuff, but it's about the cost of 10 cheap ones.

I'd make an mdf template, rough cut the blank with a jigsaw or fretsaw, then flush-trim the plate on the template with a router. You can get a router very cheaply if you look around - I got one for £25 from Aldi and it's perfectly OK for occasional use. It can also be used to bevel the edges if it's a multi-ply plate.