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Post subject: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 9:19 pm
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Here is a demo of my Weber Java kit that I built as a poor man's Trainwreck Express. I named the amp "Wrecking Ball Debbie" after my wife.

The guitarist is my instructor, Vinny Roth (I'm a lousy guitarist).

He is playing my Fender MIM Stratocaster with Fender SCN pickups. The amp is playing through a Crate 4x12 that I picked up at Guitar Center for $100. I plan on putting better speakers in it when I have more money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... pONLjnRoCo

The whole story is here:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=83741&p=945479#p945479

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 10:51 pm
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Now that's a nice sounding clean amp. I liked how it starts off sounding really "linear" all the way from the bass strings up to the treble. Seems really quiet too (in the sense of not making any amp hum), I guess you've been careful to lay out the heater wiring properly.

Schematic is interesting, it's pretty much a Fender front end but a fixed-bias EL34 output stage.

So the inevitable question is when are you going to start modding it? I can see there's a whole triode there that's not even being used.

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 11:07 pm
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Definitely "fit for duty" in my book!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 7:03 am
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GilgaFrank wrote:
Now that's a nice sounding clean amp. I liked how it starts off sounding really "linear" all the way from the bass strings up to the treble. Seems really quiet too (in the sense of not making any amp hum), I guess you've been careful to lay out the heater wiring properly.

Schematic is interesting, it's pretty much a Fender front end but a fixed-bias EL34 output stage.

So the inevitable question is when are you going to start modding it? I can see there's a whole triode there that's not even being used.


No mods for this puppy. The one mod I did make (gain switch) while building it was more trouble than it was worth. This is a very high gain amp (the demo just hinted at the amount of overdrive the amp is capable of) and was a real PITA to build. Skim through the thread and you'll get an idea on what it took to eliminate noise and parasitic oscillations from the amp. :shock:

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 7:04 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
Definitely "fit for duty" in my book!

8)

Arjay


Thanks, Arjay. :D

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 7:19 am
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Interesting build thread, lots of firefighting measures there to get the thing up and running. I've had similar squeals from a presence pot after replacing an OT - turns out some Hammond transformers have the phase of the secondary the opposite of the way Marshall TX's have it. So when you connect the NFB you get ... PFB. And the amp howls like a mad thing until you flip a couple of wires round.

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 10:47 am
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GilgaFrank wrote:
Interesting build thread, lots of firefighting measures there to get the thing up and running. I've had similar squeals from a presence pot after replacing an OT - turns out some Hammond transformers have the phase of the secondary the opposite of the way Marshall TX's have it. So when you connect the NFB you get ... PFB. And the amp howls like a mad thing until you flip a couple of wires round.


"Interesting" doesn't even tell half the story of this build. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I did have to reverse the primary leads on the OT. Thinking back, I may have inadvertantly reversed the PI outputs when I took out the master volume. Has the same effect. But all is good now. :D

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 1:00 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
I did have to reverse the primary leads on the OT.


There's your squeal problem, right there.

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 1:09 pm
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GilgaFrank wrote:
bluesky636 wrote:
I did have to reverse the primary leads on the OT.


There's your squeal problem, right there.


That was only one of them, and that came up quite early in the troubleshooting stage. This design is real sensitive to layout and wire dress. I had to move things around quite a bit to get the amp quiet. Beyond the PT primary lead reversal, the next biggest noise source was solved my reconfiguring the tone stack. Designing/building/troubleshooting a high gain amp is a bit different than your average Blackface or Tweed Fender. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 5:52 pm
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Bill that things sounds sweet you get a big two thumbs up


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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 6:24 pm
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tbazzone wrote:
Bill that things sounds sweet you get a big two thumbs up


Thanks. :D

If you haven't done so, check out the build thread. Lots of photos and other good stuff. Still more to come. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:57 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
Definitely "fit for duty" in my book!

8)

Arjay


+1,000! Sounds great Bill.

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 9:28 pm
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63supro wrote:
Retroverbial wrote:
Definitely "fit for duty" in my book!

8)

Arjay


+1,000! Sounds great Bill.


Thanks. I have to share the kudos with Vinny for his great playing just sitting around in my studio. :mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 11:18 pm
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Another enjoyable build thread Bill, sounds sweet through pc speakers, up close and personal I'd imagine put's an extended grin on your face, quickly look in the mirror it's there isn't it :)


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Post subject: Re: BlueSky Amps Wrecking Ball "Debbie"
Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 3:34 pm
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ripitup555 wrote:
Another enjoyable build thread Bill, sounds sweet through pc speakers, up close and personal I'd imagine put's an extended grin on your face, quickly look in the mirror it's there isn't it :)


Thanks. :D

I was sitting 6 feet away from the amp and cab with my fingers in my ears and a big stupid grin on my face while Vinny was playing. :lol: :lol: :lol:

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