Lets see all them Amplifiers!

JonL said:
Beautiful! I'd love more details...
Did you start with a full or partial kit for the chassis, circuit board, and cabinet?
Interesting choice of caps... never saw those used in the signal path before. Why?
What transformers did you use?
What made you decide on the mix of speakers?
Most importantly... how's she sound?
Click to expand...

Precut and pre chromed chassis. Just needed to be drilled for offsets and mounting. Custom power and output transformers and choke. Went with Alpha pots (seem to have a more accurate taper than some)

The rectangular caps are Swedish made Rifa caps. Great sounding caps. (no longer made) The circuit board is all hand made. Cabinet was built by mojotone(just had to send them the cover material and grill cloth)

Mix of speakers came about partly due to a desire to use speakers with higher wattage handling than the typical Alnico Jensen P10Rs, and partly because these particular speakers were lying around. And wanting to see what could be done with cheaper ceramic speakers. They ended up sounding great with this setup, and give me a little different sound on the top speakers vs the bottom. So I find that I have a little bit of variety with mic placement.

Sounds great. Very warm, and liquidy but quite detailed and harmonically rich. Really has that sweet tubey vintage sound without sacrificing presence and detail like most bassman style amps do. Great breakup and distortion, but quite a bit of headroom before breaking up.

I work with a local amp builder here in Austin that designed the circuit layout and sourced the custom transformers.
 
My current stage rig is a bit of an oddball:

2012-11-23_17-01-21_63.640.jpg


My brother in law found that CS-800 in an abandoned house and gave it to me. After I blew out all the dust it ran fine. I feed the guitars through a Roland GT-8, then into the -800. The stack is homemade - 2 4x8".
 
Here's a shot of the new Traynor head (YSR-1 Custom Reverb) seting on top of my early, three input, YGM-3 combo, setting on top of an Ampeg VT-22 2x12" cab.

004-5_zpsb0860196.jpg
 
I'm a Traynor fan and I have always loved the grill cloth on your YSR-1 head!That stuff always seems to hold up,wish I could find some for a few recovers.
 
Vox VBM-1 limited edition Brian May amp...still pristine in the box, only comes out for occasional recording sessions.

:guitar:

je

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spideyjack said:
now you guys have me lookin' online for info on these, I have a Pathfinder 15R which I absolutely love, this is like a hepped-up version of that no?
Click to expand...

No. Completely different circuitry. The VBM-1 is modeled after Brian May's "Deacy" amp (Pronounce that: "DEE-KEE") that was built for him by John Deacon out of junk parts found in a dumpster.

The VBM-1 is usual in that it can be used as an amp as well as an effects pedal by patching the top output into the input of another amp (Like an AC30 - Ohhh YEAH).

Original Deacy:

deaky2.jpg


This is what you hear on Bohemian Rhapsody and countless others.
 
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FredC said:
No. Completely different circuitry. The VBM-1 is modeled after Brian May's "Deacy" amp (Pronounce that: "DEE-KEE") that was built for him by John Deacon out of junk parts found in a dumpster.

The VBM-1 is usual in that it can be used as an amp as well as an effects pedal by patching the top output into the input of another amp (Like an AC30 - Ohhh YEAH).

Original Deacy:

deaky2.jpg


This is what you hear on Bohemian Rhapsody and countless others.
Click to expand...

wow, interesting
 
I am late to this gathering and no time now to collect pix, but will post several those I have at hand: 1959 Gibson G-40 "Les Paul", 1954 Fender Deluxe, and 1976 HIWATT 50 (head only). A few not at hand (in storage or with older son): HIWATT 4-12 cab (original Fanes), early 1950s Danelectro 2-8's (brown covering, slant-in face, bakelite parts), 1965 Fender Pro Reverb, some kkoky Guild combo circa '65, 1966 Fender Super Reverb, 1960 Fender Pro (brown tolex, pre reverb model), 1958 Fender Super, circa 1958 Gibson (1-12, tweed, don't recall model name at the moment), mid '70s Orange 2-12 combo, couple more unless I've lost them or lent them away.
 
Here's a few of mine. VHT rack rig:

IMAG0347_zps06130bce.jpg


Marshall 6100LM 30th Anniversary head:

Marshallresized.jpg


VHT Pittbull 100 head:

VHTresized.jpg


My main guitar, Fender American V neck Strat with Joe Barden pickups:

Vneck002.jpg
 
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I've never had my own AC-30, Top Boost or otherwise, a situation that needs to be rectified. :smoke:
 
spideyjack said:
now you guys have me lookin' online for info on these, I have a Pathfinder 15R which I absolutely love, this is like a hepped-up version of that no?
Click to expand...

Wooo! I just scored one.. Guitar Center (facepalm) online used for $99.

vbm1.jpg


While buying anything at Guitar Center (facepalm) new is right up there with root canal, I've had really really good luck with their used gear.
 
Got lucky on that one too.. The VBM-1 I was watching on ebay is bid up to $142 and there's still 8 hours left.

...and of course I DO have a Burns Brian May Red Special to go with it.

Brian_May_008.jpg
 
Mystic said:
I've never had my own AC-30, Top Boost or otherwise, a situation that needs to be rectified. :smoke:
Click to expand...

Stay away from the CC series (AC30CC2 - AC30CC2X)

They're only one channel with no top boost and they have issues with the Rectifier tube circuit.

The one you want is the AC30C2X (Like mine!).. 2 Channels - Top Boost - Tone Cut and Celestion Alnico Blue Speakers.

IMG_2917.jpg



The AC30C2 is identical in every way except it has Celestion Greenbacks
 
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