Tweed Amp Build Thread... For those interested

[Dr Hobbitstein]

Dunno if anyone is interested in this sort of stuff, but here goes...

Last year I built a Tweed Champ 5F1 for a buddy of mine. It sounded pretty awesome, and he was pleased...
I've been playing a Phaez SIBLY (look them up, handmade amps by Randy Fay in Canada) for about 3 years now, and have loved it... It's based on Page's SuperLead from The Song Remains The Same (SIBLY=Since I've Been Loving You), but scaled down to 18 watts.

I borrowed my buddy's Champ for a recording session that never happened, but ended up using it at band practice for a couple weeks, plugged into a 12" WGS Retro 30, and man! I was in love... Then he picked it back up. This was 6 months ago.

For the past 6 months, I've been trying to dial those tones into the SIBLY with zero success (and why would I succeed, they're different beasts). I have been obsessed with this tone, and I need Tweed tone.

I build custom effects pedals for local guys (so, maybe 4-5/yr), and got a call the other day and a guy ordered 2 pedals from me (which means 3 already this year, plus a 4th one pending deposit), so I used the profits to built a 5F2 Tweed Princeton. I ordered the MojoTone small parts kit (to save time), and a pair of ClassicTone transformers. I have an old Dean Markley 8" practice amp that's been dead in a corner, so I've stripped it out and started building...

You'll note my crude faceplate. All I had was some thin sheet metal, and as soon as it hit the drill press, it started to crinkle. Gonna get a real faceplate made in the coming weeks. Aside from that, everything is coming together nicely. It'll be a TIGHT fit, but it'll sound good in the end.

*NERD STUFF* Modifications include: switchable impedance (4 & 8ohm), negative feedback switchable, 3 way switch on the tone circuit (stock, off, bright), improved grounding, center tapped heaters.

Sadly, I have to take a break for a couple days, as there's a Rhodes on my bench in need of repair, but I'll be back at it this weekend.

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[Iggo]

1. Dude! That is so cool!

[iscooterliberally]

2. That looks like fun!

I'm kind of a retired bass player, but I love old tube guitar amps. I have an old Marshall JMP100 that I got off of ebay. The ohm selector switch was busted and someone hard wired it to 16 ohms. I just pulled the two outside tubes so I could drop it to 8 ohms and plug it into this THD cab that I had. The tone was wonderful. I lent it to my old guitar player who's still out their playing. I'm going to get back into it, but I have to get a new bass amp. I'd love to learn how to build my own amp from scratch. I'll have to figure out how to make time for it though. I work full time and have a menagerie of rescued critters at home. I hope that you find the tone that you are looking for! Keep on rockin'!

[Dr Hobbitstein]

3. Not too difficult.

Soldering skills, and being able to follow a schematic is all it takes...

[Dr Hobbitstein]

4. Tubes arrived...

RCA 6V6GTA and a Sylvania 5Y3GT for the power and rectifier, respectively... Got a few 12AX7's for the preamp laying around...

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[8 track mind]

5. what in the world is wrong with you?

If you are going to go to all of that trouble you have to use PCB laden Sprauge "bumble bee" caps, and smooth plate telefunken 12ax7's.

My lord what is the world coming to.....




Just kidding, i build tube amps as well and your work looks very nice including the old Fender tie point circuit arrangement.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

6. Some people go overboard...

I use carbon comp resistors because I have tons on hand (my grandfather owned a TV repair biz in the 70s-early 80s, and he recently gave me everything that he still had left, which was bins full of carbon comps, and a bunch of diodes and transistors. Orange drops are good enough for anybody, and TAD and Mojotone power filter caps are just fine... It's funny how much of the hi-fi snakeoil has seeped into the guitar world. It's a lofi instrument running through a lofi amp. Wire it right, use the shortest signal paths, and it's gonna sound good.

Have you priced bumblebee caps lately? Jeez. People want a fortune for them. Same with the Sprague tropical fish caps.

The tie point board makes troubleshooting so easy. I've done true point to point, and it's a PITA to troubleshoot. Turret boards are too expensive, and I HATE etching PCB. Hell, I build all my pedals on stripboard just to avoid etching a PCB.

[8 track mind]

7. LOL

I have never, ever, used or reused a bumble bee cap. Those things are just toxic if they start leaking (which they do). The oil in them do contain PCB's. Nasty stuff.

The Sprauge orange drops are quite good and i use them in my old radio restorations and guitar amp restorations, but if i'm going HiFi i prefer the yellow polypropylene caps. I usually get mine out of old computer equipment from the 80's. I have used oil filled motor starter cap's in a power supply section before (Pi network) and was really really pleased with the results.

Another good source of B+ filtering caps is the newer switch mode computer power supplies. They usually have a 200uF cap rated at 450VDC that lasts for years.

Back to the champ, i do have an original tweed. Scored it at a flea market in Paris Texas for $25. It had been sitting in an attic for years.

There is nothing sweeter than the distortion out of one of those amps. A friend and i once took that thing and did a Jimmy Page trick with it. We set it at the end of a small hallway with one mic up close and another mic at the the end of the hallway. Once we played around with the levels between the two, the sound was just unreal.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

8. Yeah... Recording space works wonders...

As long as you have good sounding space...

Cool score on the Tweed Champ! I almost picked one up for $100, but it was bought within SECONDS of being posted on Craigslist.

I've never used bumblebees, either. I have used a ton of Sprague Vitamin Q PIO caps with good results. Along with some old Atlas caps (those things leak like crazy, however). My current amp (made by Randy Fay of Phaez Amps in Canada) has the reproduction yellow props: SoZo Yellow Mustards. They sound just like the Mallory 150s, though.

[8 track mind]

9. Poly Caps

CDE, the industrial electronics suppliers, make the yellow poly caps. i think they are still widely available from Allied electronics and digi-key. It's been a while since i bought some.

I have some programs called Tube Cad that have been incredibly helpful to me when designing SE amp stages or driver stages. I do have a bunch of sweep tubes and compactrons that i would like to try in the audio relm, just for the fun of it.

Awesome to meet someone who is into this hobby!

[Dr Hobbitstein]

10. Looks like the Mallorys and the SoZo and the CDE are all the same...

With the CDE being cheaper...

I need to check out TubeCad. As of now, I just use old 1950s Fender schematics, and tweak them to my liking. Would love to design one from the ground up. Also, may be building an Ampeg B-15N flip top clone for a buddy (an original is !500+, and the reissues are like 3g's) soon...

[Dr Hobbitstein]

11. Moving right along...

Well, haven't had a lot of spare time, but yesterday I made some progress. Ran the heater wires, ran the rectifier wires, mounted output tranny, tube sockets, wired up the controls, and wired up the output. Just a handful of things left to do here...

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[clarice]

12. AWESOME.....

Question: What guitar are you playing through this amp?

FWIW I had a Dr Z Maz 38 for the last couple of years, but it was just TOO much amp.
I bought a Fender special edition Humboldt Blues Jr. It came with a Cannabis Rex hemp speaker.
What an amp !!!!!!! I can definitely get "tweed" out of that speaker with a Fender Tele and
a Fulltone OCD pedal.
Hope this helps.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

13. My homemade Les Paul copy...

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It's based on a '59 Paul. Solid mahogany body, 3/4 carved maple cap, flame maple veneer. Mahogany neck, rosewood board. Hand-rubbed faded amberburst, nitrocellulose lacquer top coat. 50's wiring. CTS pots, Russian PIO caps, Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbuckers.

My bassist has a Blues Deluxe that he dropped a Cannabis Rex in. Sounds wicked. I currently run through a Phaez SIBLY w/ 1x12 cab. And a bunch of pedals I've either made or modified (wah, Dist, OctaveFuzz, Octave down, EQ, Phase)...

This isn't my first build. Built a tweed Champ for a buddy awhile back. Love the sounds I can get out of these.

[clarice]

14. Now THAT is a beautiful guitar !!!!

I'm afraid to ask...but..... how much would you charge to make a guitar like that ?

[clarice]

15. Also, I would like your opinion...

I'm looking for a delay pedal. I am DEFINITELY not a pedal tweeker. I like to set it and forget it...especially delay. Can you recommend a nice, easy to use pedal that won't break the bank?

example....The Boss Delay is way more complicated than I would like.
Thanks

[Dr Hobbitstein]

17. Well, do you need analog or digital delay?

I used a shitty Behringer VD-400 Analog Delay for a few years with good success. Real easy to dial something in.
ElectroHarmonix makes the MemoryToy, which is pretty simple...

But TBH, I really liked the BOSS DD-7. I don't really use delay anymore, however.

As far as building the guitar, you're looking at about $2,000... Maybe more, depending on finish and parts.

[clarice]

18. I've used a few Behringer pedals...not bad for the price...

Did it "color" or alter your tone much? Or is it pretty transparent?
Any buzzing with a tube amp?

[Dr Hobbitstein]

19. It was mostly transparent...

My buddy bought a Way Huge Aqua Puss, which is essentially the same circuit as the Behringer VD-400. The Aqua-Puss sounded the slightest bit airy-er, but it was hardly noticeable.

Tube amps don't buzz unless they're designed wrong. Same with solid state amps. With that said, I've never had an issue unless I'm in a place with bad power or lots of dimmer switches.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

20. OK, it's been awhile since I updated...

But I've been backlogged. Finished everything up last night and powered on for first test. Wasn't seeing the voltages I should, so I waited til this AM, and found my issues (a couple broken solder joints on the power tube). Powered it up, and she screams. There's VERY little noise from this bugger. Nice and quiet at idle. So far, I'm digging it. Gonna record a couple samples later today if it cools off enough in the garage.

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Of course, still gotta get a proper faceplate made. The one I made is terrible looking, but it'll do for now.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

21. And here's a quick demo of the amp...

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Camera mic audio only. Too hot in the garage studio today to record comfortably.