Thanks to Ya'll the newbie amp is done

[rakkassan34]

I started a thread a long while back http://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=17068.msg170046#msg170046

The amp has been tested and modded, tested and modded, tested tested tested. Then loaned out for a week of being tossed around and extreme use to make sure it will endure. Then I finally got around to finishing the cabinet. I know... I know it's a little odd, ok it's a lot odd but it's the look I was going for. I used EL wire to make the neon looking sign and to light the gauge in the middle. It's an old DC meter that I ripped the guts out of and replaced with VU meter internals so it'd jump around when playing guitar. Well the needle don't jump around as much as I'd like but my lack of knowledge in the electronics department finally got me to throw in the towel and call  it finished. A word of warning about the EL wire, the transformer used to power EL wire makes a hardly audible high pitched tone. Turn on the amp and you now have very loud high pitched tone. I corrected this by insulating the inside of the transformer box with silicone then wrapping it with real thick double sided tape topped with a sheet of aluminum foil.
This was my first build and it has me hooked! I am in the works of building another bassman but with a reverb in it. It is on the back burner though because I have a rat rod to finish up and a ground up motorcycle build underway.
Thanks again to all who've helped me out

[John]

That's cool, love the meter!

[shooter]

Very Nice, Odd is a relative thing!

[tubenit]

Thanks for sharing about the amp and the project/journey getting there!

With respect, Tubenit

[punkykatt]

Well done, nice job.

[lego4040]

  This is way cooler then building pedals

[SILVERGUN]

Very nice!

More "modern retro" than odd to me.

[rakkassan34]

Thanks guys. I'm going with a steampunk theme on my next build

[Willabe]

Thanks guys. I'm going with a steampunk theme on my next build

What is a 'steampunk'?


                    Brad   

[PRR]

> What is a 'steampunk'?

Really??

Shovel some coal in your Google and look it up.

Here is a fair kids-level introduction.

[rakkassan34]

What is a 'steampunk'?


                    Brad   
[/quote]

To me it's gauges, gears, brass and kind of a 20's-30's art deco kinda thing. I seen these and thought they looked so cool I've got to use these on my next build, put them right on top so everyone can see them and the rest of the amp will have to compliment them.

[Guitarzan]

Wow. Nice work. Amazing that it's your 1st build, and that you aren't even a player.
You came to the right place for help man, I've been put right by these guys when I was stuck too and have found them to be generous beyond belief with their knowledge and experience. Not to mention having the patience of saints.
What is EL wire?

[rakkassan34]

EL wire is what I made the electro sign out of. It's a luminescent wire.  I wanted something that looked like an old neon sign and that's the best i could do. It took a week or more just to draw up, carve out, and thread the wire to make it. I wish I'd have not poured "mod podge" over it cause it looked more like neon but I wanted to protect it. I came up with "Electro" for the name cause during testing I was moving the chassis and didn't discharge the caps My elbow touched a metal shelf grounding me and gave me quite a shock lol

[Guitarzan]

So is it pretty fragile then? Looks like it would make an interesting piping material too. Does it come in different thicknesses or just the one? How is it to work with?

[rakkassan34]

It comes in different thicknesses, is pretty easy to work with and not too brittle. I made some very small and tight 90degree angles with it. Ravers sew it onto their clubbing clothing looks cool but just not me. There's all kinds of creative uses for it on the web.

[Guitarzan]

Well I really liked your project. The documentation of the process is great and the kind of thing that really plays well on this forum. The members here are the best. Helpful, friendly, and without judging. I was cruising around on one of the other boards recently and saw a post where a guy was trying to simply post a helpful hint about something that happened to him, and one of the first responses was someone telling him how stupid he was for making the mistake in the first place. I can't remember exactly what it was. Oh yeah! I do remember. He was saying how you have to be careful when drilling larger holes in a chassis cuz the bit wants to grab as it finally penetrates and it tossed his chassis on the floor. The other guy chimes in right away with "drilling without clamping or otherwise securing the work is just plain stupid" or something like that. Whether or not he was right is beside the point. The poster had obviously learned that lesson the hard way and didn't really need the insult added to the injury. I've never seen anything like that on this board.

[rakkassan34]

Here is the buildup of the sign. I cut the name out of some chrome looking cardboard then glued it to a piece of plexiglass. Next came the hard part, figuring out where to drill holes to pass the wire through the back so it looks like you have separate letters and they consist of one strand of EL wire not two. Once I got the holes drilled I started feeding it through painted the back black to hide the EL wire behind the sign and TA-DA! almost neon looking sign. Sounds easy but it took me a week working on it about an hour a day. The wire I chose was very thin. Try to solder a wire about the size of human hair, no make that two wires that size but I did it and am happy with the result.   

[Guitarzan]

Yeah I'll bet that thin stuff was murder to solder and no, it doesn't look like it was at all easy. It's cool looking tho. I've never even heard of the stuff much less ever worked with it so I'm prolly speaking way out of turn but...one trick the neon sign guys use to make letters look like separate pieces is to paint a part of the tubing black between letters. Or to make the dot above a lower case "I" for example, they might have a straight hunka tubing with a space painted black to create the effect. If you ever do it again, that may help in some of the spots. I like the font you used too. Reminds me of the refrigerator we had when I was a kid. I still think that stuff would make cool piping. Can you just cut it anywhere? Or does it need to remain intact for the entire length, like from the factory?

[rakkassan34]

It can be cut to any length just have to solder the wires together. Comes in a few different colors too. Thanks for the ideas I'm smacking my forehead for not just painting the areas I didn't want to show black. I have no idea why I didn't think of that but thought of the way I did it lol I guess I just like challenging work or maybe I'm just a detail hog.

[Guitarzan]

Man, it amazing that you did what you did. I've done some simple builds. Mostly 5F1 and 5E3 types and mostly from kits so it was pretty much painting by numbers. I'd never have dreamed of starting basically from scratch and building a more advanced circuit on the first try. Nice going man, really.

[shooter]

Welcome to the survivors club, living after  electrocution!  I survived a 3.5kw cap bank discharge, the glass door I blew thru died!