JapanAxe

Only joking! Over the years I have warmed to the sound of the accordion.

At this point it was obvious nothing good was going to happen.

The money laundering thing happens on Amazon as well. Someone lists a really boring book on, say, the statistics of left-handed spigot trunnions, for a way higher price than any genuine buyer would pay. The transaction is used to send criminal funds, making them look like a legitimate purchase. Alternatively, the seller is just inviting offers and doesn't want to put too low a ceiling on these.

And I think I know who that is too...

Yes, I've met him. I'm on guitar at an open mic, sax player turns to me to take a solo, during which he continues to honk away at full volume. Of course this was a fun event, no paying punters, but the same guy is known locally for his inability to stfu on his sax.

Personally I’ve had more grief with guitarists who don’t understand how music works, e.g.: - Assuming the first chord of a song is its key; - Coming in in the wrong place e.g. starting the lead part of Apache on beat 1 instead of beat 2; - Adding the sus4 to a D chord (easy move for the LH pinky) regardless of musical context; - Inappropriate use of the blues scale (and I do mean scale, played up then down); - Inability to stop playing in breakdowns (or indeed at all). I could go one but I think that’s depressing enough!

I re-checked my layout this afternoon and found a couple of silly mistakes (plus another after I took the photo). After that I had a bit of a solder session and finished populating both eyelet boards, as well as fitting most of the flying leads, except the connections to the ground bus, which will be made with the boards in place. It's always worth checking component values on a meter before installing them - I found a stray 1ohm resistor in my 220k bag!

You may have noticed there are no valve retainers fitted. I did buy ‘bear trap’ retainers but decided not to fit them - the valves will stand above the chassis and the head is for home use only, plus it is a pain to remove valves from bear trap retainers.

I finally drilled the small guide holes that I will eventually widen for the self-tapping screws which will secure the cover to the chassis. I have ordered what I hope will be suitable screws. I also drilled a hole for the safety earth bolt and exposed bare metal around this and the input socket hole using a Dremel-type tool. All the panel hardware is now firmly mounted except for the input socket. It's always satisfying when the valve sockets are in. Next up, a load of soldering.

While I wasn't gigging I thought I might as well enjoy my smaller stage rig at home, so this has been my practice rig for several months. All being well, the Demeter is soon to be displaced from this role by my home-build B15 clone.

This makes perfect sense - prepare an encore but only play it if the audience demands it. Of course the word ‘demands’ is open to interpretation - do you wait for them to scream for more (genuine encore) or are you content for them just to stay in the room (fake encore). Perhaps Gibson should put out a video urging bands to ‘encore authentic’…

Thank you! This time I used a 30mm panel cutter for the valve socket holes instead of a step drill.

Yesterday was all about metalwork. Most of the chassis hole are now drilled and/or punched. The PT leads will pass through the rubber grommets immediately beneath where it is mounted, but I need to finalise the points at which the OT leads will enter the chassis as they need to be away from the preamp area.

This EBS head:

Of course it does, as a matter of principle - this is a hill on which many noble souls have chosen to die!

Test fit of eyelet boards (one partly populated) and most front and rear panel components.

My diary is starting to look a bit healthier now. Some pub and function gigs on guitar, and some on bass playing country music festivals at Warner and Pontins venues. I’m not taking any of this for granted though, it could all change in a heartbeat.

Good to hear from you again Blue. Here's to your good health!

I realised I had the board stand-offs coming out under the transformers, which wouldn't work. In the second draft I moved the transformers a bit closer to overcome this, but then I wondered whether the PT might induce hum in the OT, so I set them up as below. The PT primary is connected to the mains and the screen to the earth. All the unused PT wires are parked safely in chocolate block connectors. The OT is mounted orthogonally (look it up!) to the PT and I have my headphones connected across the OT's 16 ohm tap. I found that the transformers really need to be at opposite ends of the chassis, and their relative position is crucial to minimise induced hum. When it comes to it I will mount the PT, then move the OT around on the chassis before marking up the bolt positions. Rather than mount the eyelet board with 2 stand-offs at each end, I will settle for one at each end at the front and one in the middle at the back. The board is 3.2mm phenolic and very rigid so I am happy this will be sufficient. Measure twice, cut once? No - measure, check, measure, check, sleep on it, measure, check...

The tendonitis has improved to the point where I can sit and work at a desk, so I have finished the layout today. I have had to carefully work out the positions of the transformers so that none of the mounting bolts and grommet holes conflict with the board stand-offs - you can see my paper mock-ups to the right of the photo. With the PT position I have chosen, the primary wires would come through the chassis right next to the preamp, but I will run them the other side of the chassis and bring them in at a different point (yet to be decided) to prevent induced noise and feedback. I haven't shown the 6.3V heater wires I will have a fresh look at this tomorrow before committing myself to making holes in expensive metalwork!

Unscrew the base plate and have a look at the chips?

Barrie is your house made from bits of the old Bassgear shop?

Yeah I have the Lost Highway phaser on my main guitar ‘board. Trouble is those blue LEDs are so bright that I can’t make out which way they’re pointing!

Come on Stew, surely the (optional) light-up knobs are cooler!

On previous builds I have re-used and recycled ‘old iron’, not least to save on cost. This is a new build from scratch and after researching the topic I decided to go for these transformers from Primary Windings. I am currently reading Merlin Blencowe’s excellent book and have just read the section on heater supplies. He suggests running just the first stage heaters on DC as DC doubles the current requirement compared to AC. I have never had problems with noisy heaters on previous builds (5 valve amps and a 6G15-style standalone spring reverb). If it turns out to be a problem I have various options - humdinger, elevated heater voltage, and DC as a last resort! Yeah it was a fairly weighty package! Fortunately the head will just sit on top of my BF One 10 in my music room and I won’t have to schlepp it around too much...