First tube amp build. Tiny Meazzi T-55

[1gonecat]

I am new to the forum and new at building amps. I work on guitars but modified an Epi VJ recently. I liked the results and would like to build my own 5W SE amp from scratch. I have an output transformer (ClassicTone) and am looking for an inexpensive but good Power Transformer.
 Also looking for suggestions on preamp resistors and such for biasing more toward a guitar amp. I am told the current setup picture is more for Hi Fi.

Tubes are 12xAX7 and EL84.











Gene

[sluckey]

I recommend you build a Fender champ and forget about that stuff in your pictures.

[Raybob]

I recommend you build a Fender champ and forget about that stuff in your pictures.

+1

[PRR]

Would be darn nice to know WHAT output tranny you got.

Maybe: http://www.classictone.net/40-18030.html
CLASSICTONE 40-18030 Output, 5W- 5K & 8K Ohm Primary to 4/8 Ohm Secondary

With a 12W bottle, and choice of 5K or 8K at 50mA max, these are your maximum happy Volts and Amps:
5K: 245V 49mA
8K: 310V 39mA

With silicon rectifier, your PT Volts will be about 71%, 75% of these.

5K: 183V AC
8K: 233V AC

Get a schematic and compare it to a Champ, use Champ R and C values; EXCEPT use the EL84 cathode bias resistor. Keep the 100uFd caps; they are huge for guitar but that's OK.

[1gonecat]

Yes that is the output transformer I am using. I am trying to build this on a budget. I have an 18 gauge piece of sheet metal for the chassis and am looking for a folk art type of enclosure, like an old radio box.

 The Vac is what confuses me. Is that the same as AC voltage? I believe I need at least 200v for the output on the PT. If it is rated 100Vac can it be doubled to 200Vac on the output side by combining two wire leads? I know I need a center tap also but not sure what it is.

I have owned a few Champs and they are great amps. That will be my next build.

[sluckey]

Weber sells a small power transformer for his standalone reverb or revibe units. Cost is $25. It's perfect for that little board you have. Here's a circuit from my revibe unit using that transformer.

[1gonecat]

Fantastic. I emailed Weber to find out how much shipping is.

[eleventeen]

Do you have a schematic of the amp as built on that board? If so, you could probably get some suggestions as to changing a few inexpensive resistors/caps that would make the thing more guitar-suitable.

[1gonecat]

No schematic, I have to follow the traces. I have plenty of 1w resistors and several different capacitor types and values. I have some Tropical Fish caps coming too.

 The EL84 is V1. Preamp is V2 12xaX7.

 Say R2 and R9 are changed to 1.5k ohms and R4 is also changed to 100k ohms. I can't figure out what to make R11 or R5.

From a smart man.
C8 is the anode coupling cap for V1 and at least 150v .1uF - .15uF.
C3 is the cathode bypass cap for EL84. 25v 150uF.

Also I have to learn how to wire this input output arrangement. A suggestion was:
Signal>input>V2a>output>input1>V2b>power section.

[eleventeen]

My suggestion: A meter with a "beep" function would be massively helpful, but in any case, I would strongly recommend you go through the exercise of tracing out the circuit. Look at a Champ schematic as kinda sorta your general layout of the symbols. Start with two circles and draw in the grids and plates, etc; Leave some room between the circles (tubes) and work in pencil so you can erase. The meter will help you with continuity test, in essence, to test your perception against the actual traces laid out on the board. The beep is great because you don't have to take your eyes off the board.

Not knowing anything about your general electronics skill level; this would be a truly superb opportunity to get familiar with 1: the circuit you wish to build, 2: how it differs from a Champ (but leave that to after you have completed the board-to-diagram exercise and have CONFIRMED you got it right) 3: how you might modify a few parts...or...only temporarily tack in some parts, eg; leave the leads long, don't press them all the way into the board and cut & solder the leads...you can always unsolder the too-long leads and change or choose to permanently install them 4: learn about how you have to look at PC boards on this fine little bite-size example.

That's a very cute little board and if you wish to learn about this stuff (as opposed to building a Heathkit thing where you really have no understanding of what's going on) this is a slick little oppportunity to do so. A fine learning experience, if I may say so. I like that board.

I myself am building an amp in the carcass of an old Hewlett Packard meter and it's almost done. But I am salvaging a little board remarkably similar to yours from the inside of the meter to build the circuitry around first two preamp tubes in an AB763 Deluxe Rev style amp. I will supply a more detailed expose once it is finished. In the meantime, here's a pix of the board I salvaged. In my case, I am stripping off all the traces and just bending component leads to make connections.



IF you do this, then you will be in fine shape to receive suggestions from board members to adjust parts values to suit waht you might wish to do about the thing. We cannot really address what you mean by "R29" and "C13". But with a schematic, we can give you all manner of harebrained ideas.

[1gonecat]

Thanks. That sounds like a plan and good advice. After all like you say, I need to know the what, why and where of PCB's and their components to be able to explain myself better.

[eleventeen]

Can you buy just the board from the supplier?

If you perfect a little Champ-type modification you might create a commercial possibility or two. Including supplying the mfr with your findings and have him send you a few boards for your trouble. He could end up with another product. Or you might.

You realize, you are going to have to tack some wires onto that board to provide for tone controls. In order to do that with mechanical strength, you may wish to drill a few holes in that board so that you can thread some tie-wraps thru the board to secure the wires. Or attach some cable-clamps like the nylon "P" type that Doug (and others) sell.

I think you have a neat little project on your hands there, very bite size.

[1gonecat]

It was on Fleabay, Meazzi T-55 I believe. I found it unique when I saw it and thought this would be a cool project after modifying my Valve Junior. I had to determine if it needed a preamp or not, I wasn't sure.

 I was also thinking if it worked out as an inexpensive build it may have a place in the small amp market.  Also it's small size means it can be fit in a cool amp or folk art enclosure.

[1gonecat]

I found a link.

http://meazzi.net/

[HotBluePlates]

Weber sells a small power transformer for his standalone reverb or revibe units. Cost is $25. It's perfect for that little board you have. Here's a circuit from my revibe unit using that transformer.

He also needs rectification. It might be obvious to you & me, but maybe not to him.

Also, Meazzi's site erroneously says it has the power supply on the board, and you only need power and output transformers. Really, they mean they have some filter caps and dropping resistors on the board, but you have to already have the raw d.c. to feed the board.

... I myself am building an amp in the carcass of an old Hewlett Packard meter ...

Uggghhh!!

I hope that 412A was in bad enough shape you couldn't tell if it was a meter or a ham sandwich... I have a special place in my heart for that particular meter, quite a few of them on-hand (maybe 5), and some of the innards are unobtainium. If the chopper in your 412A dies, the only place to get another is another 412A (or one of the few other HP models which had choppers).

Let me know if you had any useful leftovers from that meter; I might be able to use them as backup spares for mine.

[1gonecat]

He also needs rectification. It might be obvious to you & me, but maybe not to him.

Also, Meazzi's site erroneously says it has the power supply on the board, and you only need power and output transformers. Really, they mean they have some filter caps and dropping resistors on the board, but you have to already have the raw d.c. to feed the board.

I was wondering about a rectifier and not sure what it is. Does it change AC to DC current for the preamp or the whole board? Is this where a center tap comes in?

{EDIT -- fixed broken quote-syntax -- PRR}

[HotBluePlates]

No offense, but you should start with a well-thought-out kit. I don't know any vendors in particular, but I imagine someone on here can suggest one.

The Meazzi board looks complete, and their wording on the site suggests as much, but it really assumes a lot on the part of the builder to judge the suitability of the board to their application. And it looks like you'll have about zero support in building it.

I was wondering about a rectifier and not sure what it is. Does it change AC to DC current for the preamp or the whole board? Is this where a center tap comes in?

Yes. It rectifies the power transfomer's a.c. into pulsating d.c., which is then smoothed by the filter caps which follow.

No schematic, I have to follow the traces.

... A meter with a "beep" function would be massively helpful, but in any case, I would strongly recommend you go through the exercise of tracing out the circuit. ...

The problem is, there are a set of traces on the top and a different set of traces on the bottom. And after looking at each and how the signal transits certain parts, I'm convinced there is a 3rd trace layer within the board, as the top and bottom layer don't account for some (must-have) connections between some parts.

I think a well-documented kit with excellent build instructions would make this an enjoyable first outing.

[1gonecat]

There are definitely some traces hidden. It can also be soldered from the top or bottom.

[eleventeen]

It was a 413 AR null voltmeter, HBP. Rackmount. I'd be happy to send you the chopper & demodulator and the meter if you want them. How many of things can a person use?

The desktop ones, there are loads of them around under $50.



It's gonna be a cool amp, 1 ch Deluxe Reverb if I can get a small can in there without having a hum monster.

[HotBluePlates]

It was a 413 AR null voltmeter, HBP. Rackmount.

Okay, you are pardoned. The 413A is a beast for a particular (and not common for us) task.

Anyway, it seems the 413A uses some of the boards from the 412A, which is why it has that designation on the board in your pic.

Okay... hijack over!

[eleventeen]

If you want the chopper & the other parts, please let me know and I'll send them. I know the motor turned, a few of the bulbs were burned out but that's probably normal. I leave it to you to ascertain whether the chopper is the same as in your meters. Although I have a similar appreciation for old gear, I couldn't imagine using the thing and if I did, for the cost of making sure it was accurate and repairing anything it might have needed, I could probably buy a midrange used Fluke DVM and have 50 times the functionality. Except I already have 2 of them. Plus, I LIKE the idea of having my meters batt powered, droppable and of course much more portable; versus chassis grounded and BIG. 

Hey, I don't even like tearing old CONN organs apart, even though they are crud. It's still a musical instrument even though a $129 Casio toy whatever can probably smoke it.

[1gonecat]

Well, should I use this pcb or get a different one? If it is going to be tuff I can get another board for my first project and use this one later.

[eleventeen]

One alternative: On a very small board/project of this size, you could take a 1:1 photocopy of this board, cut it down, then tape it to a piece of bare PC board material. Drill out the resistor/capacitor holes with a very small bit, but a teeny bit bigger than the holes that are there. *Very* carefully drill out the holes for tubes....those have to be pretty accurately drilled. DON'T drill out holes for the baby terminal strips. If you want, get flea clips = push-in terminals for the external connections. (I never used them) You could also use perf-board, but you will still have to drill for the tube sockets. A baby drill press is the ideal item for this. The holes for the resistor leads might be a tad bigger, but you have to control the hole size for the tube sockets. Perf board makes the R's and C's easier, but might make the tube socket harder.

The board as is, even without knowing the circuit/schematic, is almost certainly pretty close to a Champ. Just install the parts into your board using the existing layout for the project you aren't going to build. The plate resistors and the coupling components will be in about the same places for either project. Push the leads through and bend them to essentially mimic the traces on the existing board. You will need to figure out a way to provide solderable terminals at the edges of your board to provide connection to the tone controls, p/s, input, etc; etc; Me? I just drill two holes close together and thread a wire thru up, then down to secure it, solder to a component lead.

[1gonecat]

I like the perf-board idea. Either way drilling holes for the tubes will be the tough part like you say. I have a Dremel that they have an attachment for a press I need anyways. Those flea clips look great too.

[eleventeen]

The perf board, when I used to be much more active building chip and solid state stuff, I would build stuff putting the parts on one side and bending the leads on the other side to form the connections and the stuff would last indefinitely. (and anyone else could, too) Good solder joints and strain relief for attached wires, this is a VERY rugged way to build stuff. You just have to get your brain into translating the connections from one side to the other, but it is basically a matter of "one item at a time"...double-check that you have the topside pin numbering correlated with the underside pin numbering.....leave a little more room between things than you think you might need. Don't bend leads tight-tight to the body of R's and C's. It's a great way to build ckts. 

The issue I would have with perf board is that it is a lot more fragile than fiberglas circuit board material but I think that will prove to be a nothing when it comes to a tiny 2-tube project. Still, reco you try to mimic the layout you have on the blue board.

[1gonecat]

I saw Nixie Tube Socket Pins on Fleabay. They seem to be flexible for less drilling on a perf-board.

[terminalgs]

I'd suggest doing what I did for my first ground up build:

download a schematic and layout, likehttp://www.el34world.com/charts/Schematics/files/fender/champ_5f1_schem.pdf] [url]http://www.el34world.com/charts/Schematics/files/fender/champ_5f1_schem.pdf[/url]

buy several 8 lug terminal strips (hoffman sells them here).  a few spools of different color hook up wire, and sockets.  Arrange the strips in a two rows to mimic the terminal locations on the Fender layout diagram.  build.

tips:
- be aware of of chassis ground lugs at the ends of the strips,  either cut them off, or bend them backwards to avoid the accidentally use of them....
- don't crowd components, buy plenty of strips, and use every other terminal (if case you later find you over looked something).
- don't worry about extreme levels of tidiness.
- don't venture too far off the original layout, this means PT & OT placement, socket & switch placement etc...
- don't use under spec hookup wire, but there is no need to use heavy gauge hookup wire either (22,22 gauge).

If the layout diagram is confusing, study the schematic.
If the schematic is confusing, study the layout diagram.

[eleventeen]

"I saw Nixie Tube Socket Pins on Fleabay. They seem to be flexible for less drilling on a perf-board."

I really don't think you want that/those. I don't know if the relevant outer pins are coincident with normal nine-pin-tube >>PIN<< locations. Nixie tubes "never" burn out, as they are neon lamps, in essence, with shaped (cold) cathodes. Some of them have literally wires as leads. Point being, the sockets are not designed for repeated insertion/extraction of a tube.

If as you say you have a Dremel tool, there would nothing at all wrong in my book with making a 3/4" hole in the perf board and mounting a conventional, non-PC-mount 9-pin socket with two screws just as if you were mounting it in sheet metal. In fact that would be pretty nice as then, for troubleshooting purposes, you could see the bottom of the socket along with the pin numbering; versus always having to count/work that out. You'd make the connections to the socket pins with short pieces of bare wire, which would be very convenient to grab with a scope probe. But making large holes in perf board can be very, very tricky as the material is on the fragile side and a big drill bit with unquestionably grab it and shatter it. Even a reamer can be hard to use without shattering the material...even by hand! The perf board is very intolerant of flexing and of course you are going to be using a small piece so it might be tough to grab on to. If you wish to go this way (make big holes) do yourself a favor and rehearse making such a big hole or two on a piece of scrap material. The Dremel tool would be the good way to go....just take your time. Some folks like the PC-mount sockets as they give you a way to grab a pin from the top side with a scope probe. Either way.

Again, should you make the big holes, the challenge will remain to support the board very well in the ultimate enclosure. Because if you have only (say) 1/2" of perf-material between the hole and the edge of your board, you are going to find that inserting/extracting a tube will easily crack the board. This is one of the reasons why even though perf is very friendly to all of your R's and C's but irritating on drilling out the tube-socket holes, I initially reco'ed going with a piece of blank fiberglas PC-board material---because it is so much more rugged and flexible.

You'll get this. Just trying to prevent you from having predictable problems I and every other electro-geek has had with perf. It's absolutely superb for transistor and chip stuff because EVERYTHING in that world is designed on those .100" centers or multiples of same. It's utterly not designed for the stress of pushing a tube in or pulling it out.

Edit> The smart way to use the 9-pin conventional (sheet-metal mount) sockets would be to use say 1" 4-40 threaded standoffs as the nuts to hold in the sockets, and screw the other end of the standoffs to your chassis sheet metal to mount the board. That way you won't be flexing the board putting in and taking out the tube(s).

[1gonecat]

 "The smart way to use the 9-pin conventional (sheet-metal mount) sockets would be to use say 1" 4-40 threaded standoffs as the nuts to hold in the sockets, and screw the other end of the standoffs to your chassis sheet metal to mount the board. That way you won't be flexing the board putting in and taking out the tube(s). "


That sounds like a good idea too.

[eleventeen]

I'll go so far to say, there will be no other way to not have your board crack unless you use the threaded standoffs to mount the sockets. I've used perf board for years and years (though not at all lately) and I will tell you, plenty of times drilling even a 3/16" hole through the stuff, the drill just grabs the material and cracks it. Very irritating. Other than that it's ideal, LOL.

The Dremel with an abrasive (not a cutter) bit is likely the only way you'll achieve big (tube socket) holes successfully. And you may want to leave the overall size of the perf uncut until your wiring is done so that you are not fooling around with the mat'l with 3/4" of margin between the cutout hole and the edge of the perf. When you are finally done, THEN you cut down the size of the perf to match however much room you used for the project. The way you cut it is to score it w/xacto knife along a row of holes and snap it along the score-mark. Works perfect. Make sure you are on a non-giving solid surface (eg; not corrugated cardboard, shirt-cardboard is good) when you score it. I suppose you could score it with a side cutting Dremel bit, as well. Not a hacksaw! If you simply must use a hacksaw, you clamp the hacksaw in a vise upside down (eg; blade up) and move the mat'l against the blade and carefully hold the material on both sides of cut as you make the cut. Cut at a very acute angle. Likewise, if you don't like the choppy edge you get from scoring-and-breaking, don't try to file the material in the conventional way---get a largish flat file and move the material against the file. You just have to realize, any metal thing you bring up against the perf board outweighs it 500:1 and will just grab it and rip the heck out of it. It's amazing, really, to think of all the things I built using perf over the years...but it is phenomenally unfriendly to careless drilling. Each and every time I had a screwup, it was because of trying to drill the stuff without taking surgical precautions. Even careful drilling, you make 3-4 holes, get a little overconfident, then wham!

There is one other approach which I will bring up; though it is sort of ugly, it offers IMO the smallest chance of cracking the perf. That is to use conventional sockets, do not make big holes in the board, mount those sockets on let's say 3/4" standoffs above the board, and use tiny pieces of stiff bare wire to thread and loop through the tube terminals. By the time you have 9 loops going thru the tube terminals, the tube socket will be fairly rigidly mounted to the perf. Stuff & wire up your board. Now, using a short piece of 4-40 threaded rod which you'll likely have to cut from a long screw, use threaded standoffs UNDER the board to mount the thing to your enclosure. You will have to fabricate those pieces of threaded rod but that's no more work than surgically making huge holes in the perf.

All you ever wanted to know about perf. The stuff HATES being drilled.

[1gonecat]

I could just use the chassis mount tube sockets and wire the tubes as pictured correct? When I can get out of my driveway I'll go to Radio Shack and give a closer look at the perf-board. I can cut it no problem just don't want to drill it too much.

 I need to bend my sheet metal also to make the chassis. Looking into making my own bender too.

[eleventeen]

I could just use the chassis mount tube sockets and wire the tubes as pictured correct?  <--Pin for pin...not sure what you are asking.

When I can get out of my driveway I'll go to Radio Shack and give a closer look at the perf-board. I can cut it no problem just don't want to drill it too much. <--trust me, "looking" at it will not show you how relentlessly frangible (breakable) it is as to drilling. Only hard experience!

 I need to bend my sheet metal also to make the chassis. Looking into making my own bender too. <--would love to have one. But it takes practice and lots of material to get good at it. And it takes up space for something you use....how often..? Can you use a dead PC power supply box for your amp? AC entry already there, tube tops might have to poke out of the enclosure (not necessarily a bad thing) That way, if you screw it up you can just go get another one and start over. Nice enclosure for small projects, if you can use it. Pilot lamp can be a 10 cent LED (w/500 ohm current limiting resistor) just sticking up from the board...doesn't need to poke thru the enclosure and thus you don't need to mount it since you can see it thru the vents.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jff/pipsqueak_pentode/Pentode_DIY_guitar_amp.html

Note how he used regular fiberglas board, one sided copper...that didn't necessarily help him. You'd be better off, IMO, using fiberglas epoxy material with NO copper on it. If you can find some. Since it is almost useless for hobbyists, it might be very cheap to buy some mail order. When I was a kid and making stuff, I sometimes made "PC boards" out of scrap of formica. Also hostile to drilling but at least it doesn't have the pre-drilled holes that will split off if you as much as sneeze on it.

[1gonecat]

That's a great link. I will study it further. Thanks!

[eleventeen]

By the way...if you like the raw fiberglas/epoxy material and drill all your own holes....wherever you get it from, you can probably get .125" (1/8") thick material vs 1/16th material. I would do that.

[1gonecat]

I found this schematic with my receipt. It does not look like the board I ordered but may help. It has a V2b.

I taped the board to a window for see through.

[PRR]

> new at building amps.
> does not look like the board I ordered... It has a V2b.

You ARE new, yes.

The 12AX7 is a twin-tube, really two triodes in on bottle.

For reference we often tag them "a" and "b".

So you have the right number of bottles and the right number of tube-units, and possibly the right types.

The schematic has ERRORS. The B+ supply and the NFB connection have been messed-up.

There's no values on that schematic.

The image in your first post shows Preamp Output and Power Amp Input, the schematic does not. (You may find that your PCBs have Out/In connections after C7 on the schematic.)

If your PCB really has two resistors under V2b, then that is very sweet, because the Champ (later AA version) also has that, and it is non-trivial to hack that into a single cathode resistor PCB.

I'll attach a scribbled-up version with Champ-like values in place. You need a full Champ plan to check my poor memory and fill-in omissions. You also need the Meazzi T55 plan/kit for the resistor values around the EL84 (in place of the 6V6 in a Champ-- do similar work but need different resistors).

[1gonecat]

"You ARE new, yes. "


Thanks so much. I am pretty new at amps. Modified a Valve Jr not too long ago.

"The 12AX7 is a twin-tube, really two triodes in on bottle."

 Well that ends that confusion I had on the 12AX7. I should have known that.

"The schematic has ERRORS. The B+ supply and the NFB connection have been messed-up. "

  B+ supply and the NFB I have read about.

  My question is will I need to make a rectifier for this setup to go from alternating current to deadly current?

[sluckey]

My question is will I need to make a rectifier for this setup to go from alternating current to deadly current?

Yes. If you look at the first pic you posted you'll see that the board requires +300V DC. There is no connecter for AC.

[1gonecat]

Yes. If you look at the first pic you posted you'll see that the board requires +300V DC. There is no connecter for AC.

Man I thought that was a misprint being the schematic has mistakes. It has the output transformer shown so I thought next to it would be the AC in. Heather is another term I can't find anything on. Could the mean heater?

[sluckey]

Heather is another term I can't find anything on. Could the mean heater?

Yes, it does.

[1gonecat]

A friend from my guitar board is going to send me a Weber W022772. Great amp man and a good fellow. Looks perfect for what I need. Can't wait to hear this amp through my 44 year old stacked twin 12" CTS speakers. I'm going to get a new pair someday.

[1gonecat]

I received my power transformer From Soul Train Amplification. It is the Weber mentioned. I did not realize I needed a rectifier and don't know how to build one. I have two mini boards with eyelets. It will be a solid state type.  What size components, caps, resistors, diodes do I need?  The diagram for it looks like a loop of either diodes or reistors.  Any photos or sites?

I believe this is one here.



Transformers

[eleventeen]

That's one monster transformer for a Champ! Most would consider that a Bassman (dual 6L6 & 4-6 tubelets) capable transformer.

To build the rectifier, the pic you supplied is perfect. That there are three diodes in series, do not worry about that. One (per side, total 2 qty) is plenty. See the two red wires? Those are your two HV leads. You probably only want to use the inner pair, the red/whites. "Tape off" & insulate the red-red pair. You ground the red-yellow. Most people would simply place two diodes oriented with the bar (cathode) ends AWAY FROM the input leads, tie their bar-ends together, and go to town. Most people would use 1N4007 diodes because they are kind of a standard part, 1000 volt, 1 amp. Even for bias which is only a ~~100 volt affair, most people just reach for their 4007 stash.



Here's your pix: https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1440&bih=785&q=full+wave+rectifier&oq=full+wave+rectifier&gs_l=img.3..0l10.5245.10052.0.10547.19.11.0.8.8.0.160.1421.1j10.11.0....0...1ac.1.34.img..1.18.1380.nPC4jjT3LQI#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=w2KOBuqN6X9PlM%253A%3BjQjXpEhRBcQWOM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu%252Fhbase%252Felectronic%252Fietron%252Frectct.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu%252Fhbase%252Felectronic%252Frectct.html%3B489%3B184  

If you are good with shrink-wrap, you can solder the red (or red-white) wires to the "ass" ("anode" = that's how I remember it, ass = anode) ends of the diodes, enclose them in heat shrink or other ins tubing, and connect their cathodes (bars) together at some convenient tie-point. HV center tap MUST be grounded.

[1gonecat]

It is a big one and one I won't get rid of. It was free from Don, a fellow from my guitar board. He had one laying around and gave it to me, cool. I will use it for now while I am learning on this project. I hope to give it a more better home someday.

That was great info on the rectifier, thanks! Don't know what I would do without you all, or, yinz.

http://www.pittsburghese.com/

[Willabe]

It is a big one and one I won't get rid of. It was free from Don, a fellow from my guitar board. He had one laying around and gave it to me, cool.

Yeah you can build a champ with 6L6, EL34, 6550, KT88 and still have enough heater current left for a bunch of 12 _ _ 7 for what ever you want them for. 3A for 5v tube rectifier you can use, 5Y3, 5V4, GZ34 or 5U4. Nice.

            Brad