Hilgen Meteor 7337 build

[horax]

Hello,
This is my first post...out of necessity, I'm afraid.

Long story short, my father in law passed about 4.5 years back.  I found that he had a 1963 Harmony Bobkat H15, and in the case there was a schematic
for what they called, "Meteor Model 7337" amplifier.

I've been searching, and it's most likely a Hilgen model of a Univox U-45B.

Anyway, I have the schematics, and since the amps are near impossible to find, how hard would it be to actually build one of these?
I've never built an amp before but have been soldering guitars for years.  can't read a schematic exactly, but am willing to learn.

Here's the schematic.

[horax]

also, I'm wondering if it would be easier to find a chassis that's being utilzied (like a fender frontman 25r or something), strip the components, and place the new ones in there?
Thoughts?

[eleventeen]

It's always iffy to state how "hard" it might be for someone to build what is a pretty straighforward amp.


The hard part is not so much the wiring; either based upon the schematic or what many people prefer, a physical layout diagram. The development of a layout dwg (from the schematic) is trickier than it might appear, but at least you are just burning up pieces of paper instead of soldering parts. Having done this for many years, I rarely used a layout dwg, relying upon the schematic. The biggest issue with EITHER approach is that if you leave something out, it is very very common to find you have backed yourself into a corner and created a mess, or, have to redo things.


The harder part, to me, is the metalwork. That is assuming you do not have many of the tools needed to work sheet metal. It is hard to get your first, second, and third try very neat.


Your idea of salvaging a dead SS amp, gutting it, and building inside same is completely excellent. Go find a dead Peavey you can buy for $25 and you might get a speaker in it. Super! It is not easy, but it is no harder than building on a raw chassis and the good part is, you end up with a cabinet with tolex covering and a handle and corners which is about $300 grand total if you have to go buy it. And if you are successful building a functioning thing, you can move it around. Much better than a voltage-exposed science-fair project. And you may get a pile of knobs and jacks in the bargain. It is easy to underestimate the total cost of all the spacers and jacks and knobs, every one of which costs $2-3 if you have to buy them new. And getting that odd part or ten that you forgot is time consuming.


Again, having scratch-built amps for many years, the number of times it has gone really smoothly that I can recall would be "zero". There's always something. Even for me, with bucketloads of old parts lying around. Sometimes you just have to spend more time & money than you'd like. Sometimes you do that and you STILL end with a fragile thing that you can't really bring anywhere outside of your house because it's fragile and an unenclosed shock hazard. Or something you just cannot get the hum out of because of the way you built it.


So without trying to discourage you in any way....it's easier and in the end no more expensive to buy a kit, esp for your first project.   


It's the metal that IMO is the big deal.


Spend some time wandering around this forum and you will see every variation of neat, sloppy, difficult, easy, and some absolutely beautiful examples of custom built amps.

[horax]

Thank you very much!

I will do as you say.
I was considering even looking at a VHT special 6 or something as they were made for modding.  PTP board is already in there....it only has spots for two tubes, so I'd need more.
The Ultra is more expensive, but it would save from drilling, etc.

I was thinking the frontman 25r in either red or blue with the 12" speaker, becuase I know that the original amp had a 12" in there. I'd want to find a vintage Utah or Jensen or sometrhing
to get as close as possible, etc.

I'm assuming there's places/people on this site that can help me along the way in figuring out all I'd need, etc?

[eleventeen]

We'll absolutely help you. Just do some/a lot of the prep work on your own.
 
Remember: Electronic stuff has infinite patience, it will wait as long as necessary for you to plan the thing out carefully. Nothing wrong with "I bot this dead Peavey Bandit and I am thinking about building a 6G3 Deluxe in it. Is that a good choice? What trannies would be a good choice?" 


You could even ask whether it's a good idea to try to cram a Twin Reverb into it. Probably not!


If you decide you want to do this, my reco would be to go start scrounging around for a dead carcass to work in. I almost got a Fender Frontman for free but circumstances did not work out. A bit on the small side. Some Fender solid state amps have a slanted chassis that would be usable but they are going to be a bit goofy to work with. Old Peaveys are great. For the most part, the reverb cans are the wrong type. For the most part there will be very very few parts you'll be able to use in a new tube build, all the pots are in the wrong resistance range....but you'd only be buying it for the cabinet so do not overpay. $25, tops.


New Peaveys are pretty good too, a Triumph, a ValveKing, a (I think) Prowler will have many many usable parts and might be a: easier to fix, and b: could NOT be built for what it can be bought for used. I like those Triumphs, I have seen them for sale for $150. There is no way that amp can be built for $150. 


There are decades of experience around here. It's a fine resource. And buy some parts from Doug unless you are buying a complete kit from somewhere.

[PRR]

> father in law passed

Condolences. My FiL didn't say much, but was an Influence.

> the amps are near impossible to find ... actually build one of these?

Why?

Does it have any reputation for sonic excellence?

Do you think FiL had a hankering for one?

Maybe the 7337 plan fell into the H15 in a repair shop mixup.

What I see is an uninspiring plan, notable for just three bottles (plus rectifier) to make about 8 Watts push-pull. Slightly bigger and barkier than a Champ, much less developed than a Marshall 18W.

And the 250V PT and 16K OT will be hard to source.

If you had already built about every other amp on the planet, sure. But as a first build, I don't see much to suggest it.

Of course if FiL comes back to you in the night and tells you to build it, best do as he says.

[horax]

My whole thought was to try to emulate as closely as possible teh sound he would have heard.
His kids never heard him play.  So to have his guitar adn MAYBE his amp, I don't know...I thought maybe they could experience it a bit
posthumously. 

I have a vox ac15 and a vt40x....have a 5 watt monoprice on the way (reveiws are amazing and $100 is a throw away for a tube amp with celestion)...and I've
always had a thing for the 60's small boy amps.

[kagliostro]

If you want really to build it

250v PT (use a hybrid rectifier, 2 x 1N4007 + 6X4 Tube)

http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Transformer/Power-Transformer/Toroidal/Toroidal-50VA::527.html

8.5k / 8ohm OT (to have 17K connect a 16ohm speaker)

http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Transformer/Outputtransformer/Fender/Fender-Style-OT-25-W-8-Ohm-125A1A::5905.html

or one more expensive (to have 16K connect a 16ohm speaker)

http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Transformer/Outputtransformer/Fender/Hammond-1750E-Fender-Outputtransformer-125A10B-022913-Princeton::2276.html


Franco

[HotBluePlates]

... "Meteor Model 7337" amplifier.

I've been searching, and it's most likely a Hilgen model of a Univox U-45B. ...

After a quick online search, "Meteor" appears to be a brand Sears used on some amplifiers, perhaps alongside the "Silvertone" brand.

Here you can see a "Meteor" branded amp with a prominent Sears label on the control panel.  And here and here, you can see the identical amp (with an identical model number but subtly-different covering & grill cloth) branded "Silvertone".

I don't know if "Meteor" was meant for use in certain markets, as Sears has some historical information on Silvertone but not Meteor.

EDIT: Apparently some of the Silvertone line received the "Meteor" label between 1957-1960.  Or it could be the UniVox U-45B as you noted, which is the best fit in terms of tube/control compliment.  I wouldn't put it past Sears to have put their label on it, as they did with Valco & Danelectro amps, and Univox sold their stuff under a lot of other companies' labels as well.

[horax]

thanks everybody!

I'm still researching this and trying to decide what to do.
As I don't have the capability to bend metal, etc, for casings and such...I'm wondering if I should just buy something similar or get a VHT and use that chassis, etc. and redesign the circuit, etc.

fun fun fun

[eleventeen]

GEEEZ, there's a Peavey Triumph 120 for sale nearby for $140. 4 - 6L6's, 5 - 12A_7, huge iron. You couldn't come close to building something like this for $140.


With the $30 foot switch. Ridiculous.