Phoenix Rising

[sluckey]

Coming soon...

[davidwpack]

Amp? Amp converted to toaster? New band?

[shooter]

what's it, too hot to play outside, or you got a workbench in the teaky house 

[Willabe]

what's it, too hot to play outside, or you got a workbench in the teaky house 

     

[sluckey]

Naw. Just the normal "Home Alone" mischief!

[sluckey]

Does this look familiar?

[shooter]

look familiar

I'd be honored to gut it AGAIN for you

[sluckey]

A while back I sold my Plexi6V6 to a new member. John sent it to shooter to strip it and put the guts into a different chassis. And shooter sent the dead Plexi6V6 chassis back to me. I finally decided what to do with it. This will be another dual lite, but this time with an American flavor.

Hey guys, I'm not building another amp. Smoky was my final amp. I'm just resurrecting a dead amp. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! 

I'm calling this project the Phoenix. And it's rising up to live again. This is an AB763 Deluxe Lite with an Ampeg preamp too. My biggest challenge so far has been to design the board layout exactly the same size as the old Plexi6V6. And to fill all the holes on the front panel. I actually needed more holes but there was not enough room. So, I've put bright pull switches on the volume controls. The PT is a bit overkill for 6V6s. I'll replace it if I can get an AO-43 donor. Wish I hadn't sold my last one now! My other option is to keep the PT, get a bigger OT, and run 6L6s. That might be fun in this 12" chassis. Kinda like a 409 in my Chevy Vega. Hahaha!

Most of the work is done and I have the board cut and ready to be drilled, but everything is on hold until Monday.

Here are the documents...
 
     http://sluckeyamps.com/phoenix/phoenix.pdf

[kagliostro]

Hey guys, I'm not building another amp. Smoky was my final amp. I'm just resurrecting a dead amp. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! 

 

BTW

this is my mechanic's workshop 




Ciao Steve, as always Great Job

Franco

[bmccowan]

I think we are all glad you are building another amp!

[shooter]

I actually needed more holes

what, in your head!  I had to sit in the freezer for an hour just to shrink enough to move around in that chassis!

[Tbone55]

I actually needed more holes

what, in your head!  I had to sit in the freezer for an hour just to shrink enough to move around in that chassis!

 

[sluckey]

I ordered a Hammond 1760J OT this morning so I'll be using 6L6s. So I'll lose that big honking resistor between the rectifier and cap can. Gain a little more space under the chassis. Still gonna be pretty full.

[sluckey]

Steal away for a bit and drilled some holes. No one even noticed I was missing! 

[shooter]

I stole your Doc's while you were missing, just in case 

[sluckey]

Got the turrets staked...

[DummyLoad]

I ordered a Hammond 1760J OT this morning so I'll be using 6L6s. So I'll lose that big honking resistor between the rectifier and cap can. Gain a little more space under the chassis. Still gonna be pretty full.

you're going to love the tone of that OT. it's probably one of the best sounding hammond OTs for a fender that I've heard so far.


--pete   

[sluckey]

That's good news! Glad to hear from someone with experience. I was looking for a medium size OT for 6L6s and the specs looked good so decided to gamble.

[sluckey]

All laced up...

[vampwizzard]

I ordered a Hammond 1760J OT this morning so I'll be using 6L6s. So I'll lose that big honking resistor between the rectifier and cap can. Gain a little more space under the chassis. Still gonna be pretty full.

So, im building a 5F6A style amp reusing some AO-29 iron and 6L6s. Going to need a new OT to fit on the chassis. replacement chart says a 1760K for tweed bassman but youve gone with a J. Does that mean youll break up a little differently overdrive wise vs the bigger one?

[sluckey]

Does that mean youll break up a little differently overdrive wise vs the bigger one?

Probably. Maybe. I don't know. My reason for picking the 1760J 40W OT was the size fits my small 12x6.5 chassis very well. This OT is meant for the smaller BandMaster/Pro/Tremolux/Vibrolux amps. That bassman OT is physically too big for my chassis. Plus I found a good deal on eBay for the 1760J. 

[vampwizzard]

Fair. I see a tremendous benefit in an OT that electrically works and costs half of what the jtm45 kit transformers cost/costs 30% less than one putting out an insignificant power increase.

I suppose if i get this one and my guy doesnt like it ive got an excuse to build more amps, right?

Thank God its payday.

[sluckey]

If you are considering using a smaller OT like the 1760J, take a look at this. Best price I've found. (Much cheaper than the 1760K.) Fast ship. These guys are professional...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1760J-1-Piece-Hammond-Audio-Transformers/352501489946?hash=item5212b9e11a:g:7csAAOSwE~ZcDl17

[vampwizzard]

thanks, Sluckey. got one on order.

The JTM is rated at 45W (makes sense), the 1760J at 40, the 5F6A direct replacements at 50. Pretty confident this will be perfectly fine.

Looking forward to sound clips of that Gemini preamp on this amp. Very interesting build.

[sluckey]

Got a bit more done today. The chassis is beginning to fill up inside. I like the looks of that Hammond 1760J. It's a perfect size for this chassis. I think I'm down to just loading the board and making all the connections. I "may" change out the choke for the larger Fender choke after I test this small one.

[shooter]

I'd hate to see your car on a family vacation; "ya, the sink is just behind that....." 

keep this one 

[sluckey]

I'd hate to see your car on a family vacation; "ya, the sink is just behind that....." 

That's why I have just about quit traveling! 

[Willabe]

I like the little bracket for the bias pot.   

[sluckey]

Haha! Only took about 30 minutes to build that bracket!

[uki]

Those black shields for preamp tubes looks really nice !!

[Willabe]

Haha! Only took about 30 minutes to build that bracket!

I think it was worth the time. 

[sluckey]

Chassis wiring done. I hope.   

Hopefully I'll get the board loaded tomorrow. My eyes are a bit crossed at the moment.   

[Platefire]

What a fine way to slip into another amp project---can't let an empty chassis go to waste
When I saw "Phoenix" I was thinking about the Carmen Gia clone I built that the only schematic I could fine was a reverse engineered Sch called the "Phoenix" ---but no, another Phoenix is Rising. Snort that solder!!! Platefire

[sluckey]

Not much time to spend on the bench yesterday. I did get the bias supply components mounted. Preliminary checks show unloaded B+ at 450VDC and bias adjustment range of -32VDC to -54VDC. 6L6s should be happy. I may bump the bias range up to about -40 to -60.

[vampwizzard]

Looking good! Ill post about progress on my JTM in a separate thread. A couple more quick questions on the OT... did you have to clean up varnish on yours? and are hammonds still made in Canada? Very atypical of their quality (although ive only dealt with their larger 600V power transformers for commercial/industrial use)

[sluckey]

Varnish on the leads??? There was none on mine. Yes, they are made in Canada.

[vampwizzard]

on the bell housing. Varnish is liquid at too high a temp for this to occur in the warehouse.. manufacturing "defect".

[sluckey]

These OTs were suspended upside down and held by the leads, then dipped in a bucket of varnish. Then hung up to drip dry. I'm sure the process is much more automated than that, but you get the picture. The "drip" will always be on the top side. Many times there will also be varnish on the leads where they enter the bells. Nothing to worry about. There's a bit of varnish on mine too. I'm sure it varies for each tranny. Here's a closeup of mine.

[vampwizzard]

First job out of school was designing power transformers believe it or not. We always dipped, then housed. more aesthetic than anything of course. Ill stop hijacking this thread other than to say the folks who you suggested to supply this OT were pretty good. well packaged, decently shipped. wouldve preferred UPS instead of Fedex but its hard to complain when its free.

[sluckey]

Finished up this morning. Broke the key off one 6L6 and smashed the glass on one 12AX7 while inserting the tubes. These fragile tubes are no match for my fat fingers and tight sockets!    Then I busted a 1.5K grid stopper when I pushed the broken octal key on through the socket. Not a good start.

Took care of the collateral damage and fired it up. Set the bias to 52mA for my hot tube and 42mA for the cool tube. Plates at 400V so one tube idles at 20.8W and the other idles at 16.8. Connected a Celestion 2x12 and began playing some fat finger tunes. The Fender side sounds like I expected, but I thought the Ampeg side was hard to adjust. I was able to get the sound I expected but the controls were set way different from what I expected. Maybe a wiring error or wrong component in the James stack. I'll check. Meanwhile I drug the EVL cab over and plugged in. Whoa! That made a huge difference to the Ampeg. Much better sound and controls are positioned more like I expected. The Fender and Ampeg both agree with the EVL. And they sound good when playing through both preamps. As expected, it's very loud. Almost no idle noise or hum.

I do want a standby switch since I'm using a silicon rectifier. I ordered one of those fused IEC connectors and will see if that will fit this chassis. If so, then I'll put a STBY switch in the hole vacated by the existing fuseholder.

I'm happy so far. Tomorrow I'm gonna open the cage and let her fly. Hopefully she's a homing Phoenix! 

[SILVERGUN]

Meanwhile I drug the EVL cab over and plugged in.

Don't hurt your back now!

Enjoyed your report and look forward to seeing more amps from you in the future now that we know you're still addicted.
Gotta keep putting content on that website so you can start charging on a pay-per-view basis.
I retroactively owe you about 100K.

[sluckey]

Haha. No worry. Remember, I put that EVL in a TV cart that's on casters!

You know, there wouldn't be a website except for a generous Hoffman forum member, like yourself. I would like to drink a beer with all you folks one day. Y'all keep me going.

[SILVERGUN]

My girl is into art.
She shows me paintings by Monet and I show her your website.
 

Some day we will all crash Jimbos house for Hoffmanfest!

Til then, keep on truckin!

[John]

Almost no idle noise or hum.

No way! Your heater wires ain't twisted! 


Beautiful work, as always!

[shooter]

As expected, it's very loud.

I got all the windows open here, it's FINALLY spring, did think I heard playing from the south side 

She shows me paintings by Monet and I show her your website.

listen to her, it helps when you're laying out your next build 

[sluckey]

No way! Your heater wires ain't twisted! 

I couldn't remember if the twist was supposed to be clockwise or counterclockwise so I just averaged it out. 

[shooter]

thumbs up

clockwise

otherwise it just all falls into your lap 

[sluckey]

One final change... I replaced the IEC connector with a fused IEC connector and put a Standby switch in the hole vacated by removing the old fuseholder. I feel better about the SS rectifier now. 

And I added the Phoenix project to my website...

     http://sluckeyamps.com/index.htm

[vampwizzard]

Awesome man! Great stuff thanks for sharing it all!

[davidwpack]

Very nice. I've only seen IECs with the small type fuses.