This is a prototype we sent to Nashville for the CMT Music Festival (2003). This is close to the
production amp. The grill cloth will change as will the chassis mount. The amp will be mounted in the
top of the head. The grill cloth backing board will be mounted on the inside of the head so the screws
on the front of the head will be gone. The color scheme will remain the same. The front panel color
will be black with gold lettering. The knobs will be either chrome or cream chicken head knobs. This is
an 18 watt all tube reverb amp, with adjustable bias and diode protection circuits on the transformers.
Click on the picture for a high res view. The picture will take a second or two to load if you have high
speed access. If your on dial-up be patient.
production amp. The grill cloth will change as will the chassis mount. The amp will be mounted in the
top of the head. The grill cloth backing board will be mounted on the inside of the head so the screws
on the front of the head will be gone. The color scheme will remain the same. The front panel color
will be black with gold lettering. The knobs will be either chrome or cream chicken head knobs. This is
an 18 watt all tube reverb amp, with adjustable bias and diode protection circuits on the transformers.
Click on the picture for a high res view. The picture will take a second or two to load if you have high
speed access. If your on dial-up be patient.
Here's an 18 Watt Chassis (internal view). We use the new TUNG-SOL 6v6 Power tubes. The preamp tubes are
JJ's. The rectifier tube is a 5U4GB but you can use a GZ34 also. The transformers are MOJO's and the Power
Transformer has a Faraday shield. The output and power transformer are overload and reverse current protected
using low and high current diodes. As you can see the amp is hand wired using phenolic tag board. Phenolic
board doesn't warp like the old paper boards do. The tag boards are hand drilled and the eyelets are installed by
hand. We use Zicon 1% tolerance 1/2 watt metal film resistors, hoveland music caps in the tone section, orange
drop 716P high performance capacitors, Sprague atom capacitors, Silver Mica capacitors, and a JJ multi cap as the
filter capacitor. The input, output, and reverb jacks are switchcrafts. We use CTS and Alpha Potentiometers, and
Carling switches. The controls are ( form left to right- High Input, Low Input, Volume, Treble, Midrange, Bass,
Reverb Volume, Reverb Dwell, Standby, Power ). The reverb tank is an Accutronics 3 spring long delay. The bias
and power feed resistors are 2 Watt metal oxide non-flameable. The input, volume, and reverb, controls are
connected using George-L's shielded cable and grounded to reduce noise. All mounting bolts are locked in place
using lock washers and lock-tite red. We plan on implementing a reverb tone control soon. We buy all our tubes
matched from the distributors then we test them on our AMPLITREX AT1000© computerized tube tester.
JJ's. The rectifier tube is a 5U4GB but you can use a GZ34 also. The transformers are MOJO's and the Power
Transformer has a Faraday shield. The output and power transformer are overload and reverse current protected
using low and high current diodes. As you can see the amp is hand wired using phenolic tag board. Phenolic
board doesn't warp like the old paper boards do. The tag boards are hand drilled and the eyelets are installed by
hand. We use Zicon 1% tolerance 1/2 watt metal film resistors, hoveland music caps in the tone section, orange
drop 716P high performance capacitors, Sprague atom capacitors, Silver Mica capacitors, and a JJ multi cap as the
filter capacitor. The input, output, and reverb jacks are switchcrafts. We use CTS and Alpha Potentiometers, and
Carling switches. The controls are ( form left to right- High Input, Low Input, Volume, Treble, Midrange, Bass,
Reverb Volume, Reverb Dwell, Standby, Power ). The reverb tank is an Accutronics 3 spring long delay. The bias
and power feed resistors are 2 Watt metal oxide non-flameable. The input, volume, and reverb, controls are
connected using George-L's shielded cable and grounded to reduce noise. All mounting bolts are locked in place
using lock washers and lock-tite red. We plan on implementing a reverb tone control soon. We buy all our tubes
matched from the distributors then we test them on our AMPLITREX AT1000© computerized tube tester.
| Brad and Pete spraying tolex glue on a new 4x8 cabinet. We'll be moving to a larger shop soon so we don't have to do this stuff in the parking lot anymore. Tolex glue is nasty stuff so ventilation is very important. |
| This is an 8 Watt all tube Non-Reverb amp that will fit in the palm of your hand. Mini-me will drive a 4x12 cab and sounds like a mini plexi. 7" wide x 51/2" deep x 51/2" tall. MINI-ME may be a production amp. EL-84, ECC803 and 5Y3 Rectifier. 4 Ohm output impedance. |
| Here's the 18 Watt non-reverb prototype that started things rolling. |
A little Bonepicker amplifier history. Below are some prototypes I have built.