Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Finished my Model T build. As an extra speed bump the first 6550 quartet apparently had a faulty tube. That had me worried for a bit, but it got sorted admirably fast and now everything seems to be stable. I'm quite pleased with the end result. The amp is really quiet, master volume works well, and just a booster pedal and cranking the pre-amp gain gets pretty fuzzy and works even at manageable volume levels.

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Love that any sound clips?

I reckon I could build one of these for fun.

I may take up this very kind offer if it's still for sale in a month or two but I'm psyching myself up to buy another Forester at the moment and have to pay for EP mixing / mastering too so can't justify another guitar much as I want it 🥹

Those amps are luverly too. I've been on the sniff for an affordable Marshall after 15 glorious mins in a studio with a cranked and freshly re-valved JCM800 and 4x12 last weekend. Dunno why now after decades of "meh" at the big Marshall thing... but i'm suddenly smit and I need one. I'm not sure exactly what i'm after but I think it's an 800, 900 or maybe a plexi RI (the 1987?). Must be a 4x12 tho. I'll find the space and the band. Just want.

Oh - and i found this weird old Arbiter Slave 150 power-amp head from 1970 on facebay. Have no need for it but it's chonky and cheap. Serious iron and it has six (six!) 1970's mullard EL34s in it - which means if it works (as the ad claims) it's worth four times the asking price in valves alone. Will report back shortly

any sound clips?

Nope, but I can try to record something. I'm also curious on how well the tone translates.

I feel like it took me ages to build this thing. AFAIK the chassis is re-purposed from another kit (their Hiwatt DR201 clone), which caused a bit of extra work, but I think I ended up spending a disproportionate amount of time wiring everything up inside the chassis. I mean it still doesn't look all that complicated.

This was largely an impulse thing but the finished item feels more sensible that it has the right to be. I've been planning on selling a few other amps, but having this makes it an easier decision.

Must be a 4x12 tho. I'll find the space and the band. Just want.

No judgement. I've been sort of playing with the idea of putting up a wanted ad for a matching top or bottom cab for full stack stupid.

A band could be fun too, obviously, but at least now I don't have move any of this stuff around.

There's something really special about an 800 compared to the 900 imo. You can get more gain out of the 900 in the in built preamp, but the 800 forces you to boost the bejesus out of it using pedals, and there's something really tactile about playing it at that trouser-flapping volume, feeling the notes from your fingers change the physicality of the room you're playing in. It's a very three dimensional feeling. I think that's what people really talk about when they talk about 'power amp' distortion. It isn't the sound so much as the feel, imo, and the 800 pushes you to take it there.

Johan reckons you only need a 1x12!

https://youtu.be/h1bFMvffiTs?feature=shared

I love my 900 SLX but it makes me play rawk, Fender amps make me wanna play more interesting things. It's obvs all in my head but that's my 2p anyway.

Look at this beast. https://www.facebook.com/share/rRgTfrAWx3s6aKhG/?mibextid=79PoIi

That's absolutely preposterous, I love it. You could probably recoup most of its price by selling those Mullards and swapping them out for JJ/ehx tubes...!

@RonAsheton I know what you mean about Marshalls, though I absolutely loved my JTM45 and it took pedals very well, but at that point I was mostly slapping Fugazi/ATDI-esque arpeggios and noisy chords which it did amazingly well. Though I never had a Fender amp (and hate how stiff a lot of them feel!) I do get a similar, more interesting thing now playing my Vox.

Speaking of amps, I might be next in line to build my own as I'm gathering the last bits to put together a Supro Dual Tone, though I will somewhat heretically forgo the tremolo circuit.

Yeah, I would put my AC15 into the same bracket as my Fenders, I think it kinda sits between a Marshall and a Fender.
Tho' it's probably just bias/an association thing for me, with the correct settings you can get the same, or very similar results, on any amp.

@Dooks-Fatberg That amp is AMAZING!!!

All this soldering talk is making me want to have a go at a pedal kit, my colleague is a wizard-tier electrical engineer and has offered to oversee my ham fisted soldering. It’s been a long time since gcse electronics but I’m up for giving it a whirl.
Any recommendations for an easy kit? Maybe not a fuzz as don’t need one. Lots of vids on yt of folks building an Amazon Klon kit.
Preferably something cheap in case I get frustrated/cook something vital.

Some simple but great sounding pedals/circuits are boosts (SHO, EP boost) or something like a Dist+/DOD 250 which are great sounding distortion pedals, or a Red Llama for a slightly more ragged option.

A lot of people lately have gone head over heels for the EQD speaker cranker, which is just another Electra variant - super simple but great sounding little circuit, in many ways similar to the 250/Dist+ but transistor based. If a lower gain OD sounds like something you might need/want, the Bluesbreaker/King of Tone circuit sounds great too and is quite simple as well.

Once you start looking at modulation, delays etc circuits get quite a bit more complicated. Ultimately if you're going with a kit on PCB more than EE skills per se what you really need is decent soldering technique... and a bit of patience when it comes to the wiring!

Even a little amp through a 4x12 sounds amazing, proper thunks and depth to the sound.

Having said that, I’ve got my eye on a Cornell Plexi 7 which is either 1x12 or 1x10.
https://youtu.be/vT0JjwZGBC0

I love how he contradicts himself several times.

Was an entertaining video...

I fell down this rabbit hole and whilst it was fun... wish I just stuck to playing...

You’re right of course! However, there’s an element of electronics in my job which I have so far steered away from, if I can spend £25 on a pedal kit that gives me some skills that’ll be useful day to day it’s no bad thing.
Not a rabbit hole I want to spend much time down as I really should practice more.

Just a quick test, random noodling, warts and all, with the Model T. For full geek-out details: late '70s MIJ through-neck, tuned down to standard D, BKP Nailbomb bridge pickup, DIY booster pedal (Runoff Groove Omega), G12H-100 speakers in the cab. Recorded with a ribbon mic ca. 20cm from a speaker. Some limiting applied in DAW.

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• modt_.mp3

Sounds suitably huge, top work!

Trying to learn some Nashville Pussy riffs this evening. Look easy on paper but struggling to get that tangy sizzle she gives everything 😅

Not really guitar related but this seems like a decent enough place for music tech queries. I've decided I want my next project to be a DIY ribbon microphone and have started looking around at sourcing parts and stuff and think I've got a couple of options.
But would anyone have any recommendations for places that might stock relevant stuff? Magnets, foil and transformers looks to be the parts I'd be after.

Sounds good, I think I could use an overdrive/gentle fuzz of some description? I have a wooly mammoth clone but even turned low it sounds like sunn o))) or monolord. Something a little brighter might be nice.

For reference I’m playing an orange micro dark with 1x8 cab. Only really play at neighbour friendly volumes most of the time.

If you could recommend a pedal that would give a little biy of zz top trebly sizzle that would be ace.
Sorry, I know nothing about pedals or amps…

Seems jedspeds.co.uk has a huge range of kits and pretty popular :)

Jedspeds is good yeah. They used to have a doc that listed their pedals and what they’re clone/similar to but couldn’t see it on a quick glance there. Might be worth looking at their ‘mul-tique’ range of pedals and see if there’s one that sounds interesting for what you’re after.

I like FuzzDogs too. They also have some really good guides as well I find. This is where they line up their kits with the inspiration but might be a bit dated - https://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/blog/what-are-our-kits-inspired-by

If you’ve got an idea of a pedal you want to replicate this site is good to provide a list of kits that you can get for them from different sites. https://diyeffectspedals.com/diy-pedal-kits/

I’ve made one pedal from Musikding as well which was also good. But their enclosures are a different standard (or at least the kit I made is) so that’s kind of annoying to fit on my DIY board as it’s longer and wider which is the main reason I haven’t done another from there yet.

Oops 😬 impulsive ngd

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If you could recommend a pedal that would give a little biy of zz top trebly sizzle that would be ace.

The Mythos Chupacabra is sold as "ZZ Top in a box" and happens to be a copy of the Way Huge Red Llama, which Fuzzdog sell as the Llamatron. Seems like it might be a good place for you to start!