A combo Cabinet for my Kendrick Climax

[bnwitt]

  Well, after holding on to this Gerald Weber hand built Climax chassis for years, I've finally decided it is one of those "too loud" amps for my studio.  So, I'm building a cherry wood finger jointed cabinet for it in the next few weeks and putting it on the market as a 1X12.  I know this amp has a tainted history, but enough time has gone by that it is finally being appreciated for the excellent amp it is as evidenced by the mainly positive reviews.  This chassis was one of the early production units built by Gerald before the partnership collapsed and I must say, his work is stellar.  I'll document the cabinet build in this thread as it moves along.  I don't have any canary wood like the originals but I think the cherry will look great.  Of course the finished combo will not have the logo of the originals.  This amp can use a virtual plethora of power tubes though it came from Gerald with E34L tubes.  So It's a pretty rare bird being NOS and all.  I hope it can go from my shop shelf and on to a stage next to some great player.  It is a beautiful great sounding amplifier that is built like a tank.  I've attached the schematics if anyone is interested in this piece of amp history.
Barry

[VMS]

Hi,


thanks for sharing the schematic. Do you like the texas tea controller and how would you describe it?




-ville

[bnwitt]

Well it has been a long time since I have played this amplifier so my tonal memory of the Texas Tea control is weak.  I would say it is a lot like a raw control IIRC.  When I get the amp all put together again I'll circle back and give you a fresh opinion.  There is still a page on Gerald's website with some information and sound samples for the amp.  The Tweed tone sound file would be the representation of the Texas Tea turned on.

http://www.kendrick-amplifiers.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=KOS&Product_Code=KEN080302-NJK&Category_Code=0803

It seems that after the partnership fell apart and the Trainwreck name was dropped, the quality of the parts sold in the kits declined according to some of the reviews you read on the web.  My chassis was not a kit but was one of the original units built by Kendrick and the parts and craftsmanship are both stellar.  Even the tube sockets are military grade and top notch.
Barry

[VMS]

Yes, i'm just curious if there are good in between sounds with the tea pot or could one just use a switch.
Then maybe i try it if i ever build a blackface type of amp.


Thanks in advance, ville

[MFowler]

Kool amp.


The PDF I'm attaching is same as what Barry posted but the last page on this version has the layout.


Mark

[bnwitt]

Cool

[eldredjames]

    I really liked the tone on the four samples on the Kendrick page.  Looks to be a complex build though, even with the schematics and layout.

[bnwitt]

Well I'll be posting some more detailed photos of the chassis for anyone who is interested.

[jojokeo]

Yes, i'm just curious if there are good in between sounds with the tea pot or could one just use a switch.
Then maybe i try it if i ever build a blackface type of amp.


Thanks in advance, ville

It appears I guessed correctly a number of years ago what the Tea control was. I kept it for a while but eventually got rid of it. You either want a tweed type tone or not, I found in-between settings pretty weak and not really useful. So either a tone stack bypass with the bass filtering/removal or lift (depending on amp & power) are what I feel is best. YMMV of course?

[bnwitt]

Even the Kendrick webpage on the amp suggests turning the control all the way up to get the tweed tone so obviously a switch would have achieved the same thing.  I've seen similar controls on other sites like the mod to the AB763 DR on Rob Robinette's site which lifts the tone stack ground and that works just fine.  Of course tone is a personal thing and to each his/her own.

[jojokeo]

The lift works sure, but with an amp of moderate to higher power setting and the bass easily becomes the muddy enemy unless dealt with in some manner. When lessened it gets a tight bad ass driving tone, but this is also true with any amp unless maybe driving a EVM12L or something.