Anybody completed their kit yet?

Doc B. · 9518

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Offline piperbob

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Reply #15 on: September 05, 2012, 03:38:57 PM
Doc, your instructions were very well done. I've built about 20 guitar amps from instructions all the way to crappy pictures and grainy looking schematics. This would have been a tough build for me going point to point in three dimensions without your instructions. My reason for buying this amp was to try the EF-86 flavor. I can't figure out if it is better than a 12AX7 or 6SN7/6Sl7 that I have used in the past. I'll have fun trying to find out.



Offline Doc B.

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Reply #16 on: September 06, 2012, 05:40:58 AM
There's a lot going on in the amp that will make it sound different than a typical 12AX7 input kind of thing. The EF86 has enough bias on it that you would usually need a pedal with some boost to overdrive it, even a humbucker is barely going to get the EF86 crunching. On the other hand that single EF86 has a ton of gain and drives the bejeezus out of the EL84, particularly with the feedback rolled off. That's how the amp is capable of putting out around 10W distorted. So the sound is not only pentode distortion-dominant (duh), it's also output stage distortion-dominant. It gives it a wee bit more of a "big amp" sound that one would expect from a little practice size amp. In clean mode it's probably going to sound closer to a 12AX7 input amp, but the direct coupling and fairly high amount of global negative feedback that can be dialed in (about 20dB) should at least in theory make for a "cleaner clean" than some other amps are capable of - a bit more snappy and articulate.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.


Offline STURMJ

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Reply #17 on: October 10, 2012, 07:54:33 AM
I should have posted these earlier:



Offline Doc B.

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Reply #18 on: October 10, 2012, 08:52:14 AM
Very cool! The leather handle looks nice. I wish we could include those in the kit, but it would drive the price up.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.


Offline STURMJ

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Reply #19 on: October 10, 2012, 09:33:45 PM
It's a strap from a trunk restoration site. It really didn't cost too much (for those thinking about it) and I even got the replica brass nails to attach it.