Revibe Build ala sluckey

[Blind Lemon]

Been busy with building and repairing amps for local customers but haven't been around here in a while. Did a Weber style tweed revibe for a customer and it turned out pretty nice. It was a bitch to shoehorn into that tweed chassis and I decided that I wasn't going to do another one of those. Anyway I did some research on here and found sluckeys build. Nice with lots of room. So I ordered the parts I didn't have, I went ahead and am using Weber transformers and a choke I had laying around. Chassis is a a blank from Mojo, 17X6.5X2.5.

Posting as I build, so this may be a little slow between other amps.

And, Thanks Steve.

[sluckey]

Good start. FYI, the blinky LED I used requires a 1/4" hole.

[Blind Lemon]

I have a different holder and am going to use a mini switch for the range.

BL

[Blind Lemon]

Don't look like a lot but I got a lot done today. (Had the day off from my day job  )

Got the chassis punched, pots laid out and wired up and turret board staked. Not to mention helped a buddie with his amp and had lunch with him.

Good day................ Oh and started this thread.

Hell, I need to slow down and drink a beer!!!

[sluckey]

That's a lot of progress in my book!

[Blind Lemon]

Got a little more done today after work. When drilling the board it was suggested to use carpet tape to hold the guide down, I had some spray adhesive and used that just on the board and stuck it on. Held great, used thinner to get the paper off after I was done.

Here's a couple of pics of the board with the jumpers installed, looks correct to me. Jumpers are 20 gauge and the long ground bus bars are 18 gauge.

BL

[Blind Lemon]

It's been a couple of days and I got a chance to work on the board a little yesterday and today.

Everything on the board is pretty much the same, although I did add a thermistor (CL-150) between the bridge and first cap. I ran a jumper under board to the two unused ungrounded turrets for the filament center tap resisters. Transformer is center tapped so the 100 ohm resisters are not needed. The thermistor will slow inrush and should provide a little time for the circuit.

BL

[pompeiisneaks]

Looking great!

This begs a question I've been wondering.

Why the different types of caps there?  I see orange drop, normal xicon caps and then the right side has the nicer type.  Why are particular ones used in certain parts?  I know that certain types are supposed to sound better etc, but why not consistently all the same type?  If you felt that the Yellow ones on the right were best why not use them everywhere?  If you liked orange drop better, why not those everywhere?  If not why not save a bit and just use the Xicon ones?

Just curious.

~Phil

[Blind Lemon]

Hummmm, wasn't really expecting that question, not that it's not a good one. I think the first thing I would say is there really, in my mind, is not good or bad just different. To answer your specific question, size and space, I have a good bench stock of them all so why not.  I count 6 different types.


The last one of these I built I thought started out a little dark and I used the "good ones" Mallory 150s. I really like the Mallories for some builds that I think my turn out a little on the bright side, EL84 amps to name one. I also like them in Marshall style. For the most part I like orange drops for Fenders. But hey that's me, some people say they don't hear the difference.  OK. I think the different caps do change the tone and feel of the amp. Though I am not a cork sniffer when it comes to expensive caps for guitar amps. I'll let others keep them in business.


In the end I will be surprised if his is the final iteration. I usually play with tubes and caps to get the project voiced to the way that I feel it should sound or more importantly the way the customer and his equipment sayes it should sound.


Its fun to swap parts out to hear the changes.


BL

[sluckey]

I have at least a half dozen different types of caps in mine. I was using up stuff in my parts bins. When I have to buy caps for a project I get Xicon chicklets if the values I want are available. I'm cheap. But I mainly like'em because they are small and you can touch them all day with a hot iron and never leave a mark! Try that with a M150...

[Blind Lemon]

Huh, come on if your having that much trouble putting the hot end where it needs to go you need to break out the old Operation game for some nondestructive practice. 


BL

[pompeiisneaks]

Cool, makes sense.  Just didn't know if some were supposed to be 'better' than others, I've almost always just used the xicon and once tried some orange drops just because and didn't notice anything, but I'm mostly deaf I think :D

[sluckey]

Huh, come on if your having that much trouble putting the hot end where it needs to go you need to break out the old Operation game for some nondestructive practice. 


BL

Hey buddy. Your day's comin' too! Hair in all the wrong places. Ears shot. Eyes a little cloudy. Hands a little shaky. 

[Blind Lemon]

Steve, It's all about heat and tip control.

550 watts and seven pounds is about the right balance. 

[sluckey]

What a Beauty!

[Blind Lemon]

Wiring in the heaters and hopefully a startup today.

BL

[sluckey]

Hope you're using Teflon wire! 

[BetterOffShred]

Hey Lemon, Where did you source your 100uf/100uf multi sections from?   I've been looking around for these.   The build looks great!

EDIT:  https://www.tedweber.com/ec100100-500   these?  (I'd still rather buy from Doug!)

-Brett

[Blind Lemon]

BOS - They are Webers but I have some that are made by JJ also.

Sorry its been a while got caught up in other things.

Started it up and somethings not right so I'm into it for some troubleshooting. Makes noise (bad) but you can hear the guitar in the back ground. Both sides are working as you can hear the reverb and LFO pulsing.

More to Come. Today. Got to get this finished as I have a 100w Super Lead that I need to get built for a guy.

BL

[Blind Lemon]

Sounded like arching, tic-tic-tic-tic ........... pulled different tubes and it was still there.

In the power supply circuit?

[sluckey]

Does the LED flash? Is the tic,tic,tic in sync with the LED? Measure the voltages at each filter cap. Measure tube voltages.

Maybe you overheated some of those components with that Beauty!

[Blind Lemon]

It was the old choke that I had in there, it was shorting between between winding's causing the noise. If you look at the last pic I have the chokes stacked slaving the new one into the circuit. Was surprised that the pre-amp tubes made as much difference in the noise floor.

Had to do my switched .01uf rate cap a little different, I could not keep the noise out of it the way you did it so I moved one leg to the turret board instead of on the pot. Dead quite.

Not sure what b+ you have but I'm using a Fender twin choke and it dropped my B+ to about 360.

BL

[sluckey]

All my voltage readings are on the schematic. Is your unit working properly now?

[Blind Lemon]

Yep  working great. Here are a couple of photos.

The big Tweed is my take on the low power circuit.

BL

[sluckey]

Hey, that looks familiar. Good job! The LED does blink, right?

[Blind Lemon]

Yea, that's a still pic so it looks like it's on all the time. 


Steve, great build. Thx for sharing.


BL

[sluckey]

Yea, that's a still pic so it looks like it's on all the time.

Duh huh! That's also how a LED looks if you install it backwards.

[sluckey]

BTW, I still think the Revibe is the most useful thing I've built in the last 40 years! 

[PRR]

> The LED does blink, right?

I see it blink.

[sluckey]

Hahaha! That's pretty slow and choppy.

[Blind Lemon]

Nicely done.