Lowell's Crackatwoa Build Log

larcenasb · 6902

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Offline larcenasb

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Reply #15 on: October 03, 2022, 12:43:03 PM
Hi Natural Sound, yeah, I was wondering how many other builds this has happened to. I did let the paint dry for a week and the can says it fully dries in 24 hrs....so I think it was just the heavy torque.

Lowell B.


Offline larcenasb

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Reply #16 on: October 03, 2022, 12:51:40 PM
Hi Paul! Yeah, that's definitely the smart approach, and one I'd do on other builds. But as I said before, I've wanted the Crackatwoa for a while and have spent a lot of time imagining how I'd go about the build. I want it to be as nice as I can make it. I can fix this with just a little more time and effort. :) Plus, I've never stripped paint before with mineral spirits (like in that American Restoration show), so it was a good learning experience.

All done, will let dry for two days just to be safe (can says fully dry in 24 hrs), then will tighten the screws carefully--turning the nuts, not the screws.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2022, 05:01:46 PM by larcenasb »

Lowell B.


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #17 on: October 03, 2022, 01:21:05 PM
All done, will let dry for two days weeks just to be safe (can says fully dry in 24 hrs), then will tighten the screws carefully--turning the nuts, not the screws.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline larcenasb

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Reply #18 on: October 03, 2022, 01:38:16 PM
Alright, this will test my patience haha. But I've waited so long for this amp, I can wait a little longer. :) Two weeks, will do. Will keep busy with classes till then.

Lowell B.


Offline larcenasb

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Reply #19 on: October 03, 2022, 01:39:37 PM
Thanks for always being so present on these forums and helping us out, Paul. I really appreciate that. Quite rare really.

Lowell B.


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #20 on: October 03, 2022, 03:11:59 PM
I'm not patient enough to use that stuff, and that's part of the reason I learned to powder coat ;)

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man


Offline Mucker

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Reply #21 on: October 03, 2022, 03:53:57 PM
Washering the bell can look pretty good IMO. I swapped the steel machine screws for brass ones on my Cracks, S3X, and Moreplay. I like the contrast it provides and it matches up with the RCA's. I think it would look great with the gold accents on your amp.

« Last Edit: October 03, 2022, 03:56:57 PM by Mucker »



Offline larcenasb

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Reply #22 on: October 03, 2022, 05:06:34 PM
Paul, hopefully I'll get there one day! Would love to learn how to powder coat. I can just imagine, I bet you have an awesome workshop. :)

And Mucker, yeah, the washers will be a backup plan for me if the paint still tears. Either that or spot/dab painting. The brass would look nice for my build, but I really like the gold tube sockets stealing the limelight! :)

Lowell B.


Offline Mucker

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Reply #23 on: October 04, 2022, 05:35:54 AM
Right on. You're amp is killer as is!



Offline larcenasb

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Reply #24 on: October 04, 2022, 09:48:01 AM
Thanks Mucker, really excited to complete it!

Lowell B.


Offline Bourney

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Reply #25 on: October 04, 2022, 09:36:26 PM
This build is looking very nice.

I really like that Art Deco font and era-appropriate heavy toggle switch. Nice touch.

My rule about paint drying is that if you can still smell it, even a little, then it is not fully dry.

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.



Offline larcenasb

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Reply #26 on: October 05, 2022, 06:09:35 AM
Thanks Bourney! Means a lot coming from you, as your build is one of my favorite Bottlehead builds I've seen, and an inspiration for me to build mine. :)

And yes, I'll be sure to wait for the paint to fully dry. Will keep busy and distracted till then. Cheers!

Lowell B.


Offline larcenasb

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Reply #27 on: October 06, 2022, 06:14:10 PM
Only been three days waiting for the bell cap's paint to dry....eleven more days to go lol. I quickly realized I'm not strong enough to cold turkey the Crackatwoa build process, I needed a little taste...

Good there were a lot of minor things to work on:

First, I worked out the wiring for the output caps. Since mine have radial leads, not the default axial, I needed to route one lead to the other side. I soldered an extra wire for each cap, covered the joints with heatshrink, then hot glued the wires where the velcro straps will be, so the joints won't get stressed. The caps are still to this day 91% off on Parts Connexion (https://www.partsconnexion.com/ASC-81958.html), so only cost about $5 a piece—for that price, any quirks are worth dealing with. Also, 60uF is more than sufficient for my 600-ohm AKG K240 Sextetts.

Next, the Audio Note pots don't have a stopping pin (or orientation pin?), so the pots under the chassis could potentially rotate over time and perhaps ruin the wiring or solder joints. To make sure that isn't an issue, I fabricated side-mounted plates with stopping pins. I cut some hard plastic into shape (from a plastic container lid....it's really stiff) with my heavy-duty scissors and attached one to each pot with industrial-grade double-sided Gorilla Tape. It works very well!

Lastly, I got my solid aluminum control knobs in the mail today, but the selector switch's shaft is a little too thick for them, so I had to drill one knob's hole to make it ever-so-slightly wider. Worked out perfectly. I'll save the photos of the knobs on top for when the amp is complete hehe.

« Last Edit: October 06, 2022, 07:10:44 PM by larcenasb »

Lowell B.


Offline larcenasb

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Reply #28 on: October 06, 2022, 06:17:22 PM
Also, I was looking at the wiring of the Crackatwoa and noticed the wiring from the IEC socket to the power switch is different than on the Crack (please see photo). Why is this so? And does anyone know how I would solder the IEC socket to the toggle power switch on the Crackatwoa? L on the IEC would go to which power switch pin? Thanks so much for any help.

Lowell B.


Offline Paul Birkeland

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Reply #29 on: October 06, 2022, 07:24:01 PM
You can use whichever power switch pin you like, as they both kind of do the same thing, just be sure the wire going to the power transformer comes off the lug that you don't use to connect to the IEC module.

Paul "PB" Birkeland

Bottlehead Grunt & The Repro Man