Yet another amp project

This chassis is from an old Hammond L-100 organ. I had to rig up controls and get a reverb tank for it. With a few modifications, it turned into a nice amp. The reverb is especially sweet.


Here's the front of the cabinet. That's 1/4" cherry plywood from Rockler.


Here's the schematic. Click on the thumbnail for a larger, readable version.

Desert island albums, #12

Tom Waits, Mule Variations, 1999.


His masterpiece, in my humble yet entirely correct opinion.

6S-7 amp update

Okay, I decided that the amp was way out of control, overdriving too much too soon. Two preamp stages was overkill. So I replaced the first 6SL7 (two triode sections) with a 6SJ7, a single triode. (Click below for a bigger picture of the schematic.)



I also simplified the power supply rail, cutting way back on the capacitance. (Again, the original concept was overkill.) Also added a unique midrange switch and a bright/presence switch.

I quite happy with the sound. It's surprisingly loud, and it gets a little raunchy when cranked.

Desert island albums, #13

The John Prine Anthology Great Days. (Are anthologies cheating? Yes, but I don't care.)

New amp project

This is a little amp that uses two 6SL7 tubes and one 6SN7. (Both of these are twin triodes.) The two sections of the (new Chinese) 6SN7 are used as a push-pull pair, a la the "October Studio" at AX84. The 6SL7s are old tubes; one's a Tung-Sol, the other an RCA.

The power transformer is an old Triad that I have had for years. Can't remember where it came from, but I used it long ago on a crappy attempt at a Champ-like amp. (It's rated at only 40ma, so I'm pushing it pretty hard here.)

Here's the schematic. Click on it for a larger, readable version.

The amp sounds good. It breaks up at a reasonable volume and gets real nasty when you turn it all the way up. But I'm still trying to wrap my head around the sound of it.

Bass porn

1940s Epiphone B5

Desert island albums, #14

Pat Metheny's Bright Size Life, 1976, ECM.

Trio of Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Bob Moses. Wonderful Metheny compositions and blissful Jaco.

Desert island albums, #15

Arvo Pärt, Tabula Rasa, on the ECM label, 1999.

Moving, mesmerizing, almost perfect.

Arvo himself:

Thankful

Today is the first Thanksgiving Day in 10 years on which George W Bush has been neither president or president-elect. Ten years. I want my 40s back.

More Kinkiness

Desert island albums, #16

Jack Bruce's Out Of The Storm, 1974.


This seems to me the pinnacle of Jack's post-Cream solo career. He did, however, do some extraordinary stuff later as a sideman, specifically with Kip Hanrahan.

Desert island albums, #17

Cocteau Twins' Treasure, 1984.


Cocteau Twins when they were still goth-tinged post-punk. More edge and less, uh, you know, less like what you'd hear while shopping at Gap in 1993. A close second to Treasure is 1990's Heaven Or Las Vegas. Elizabeth Fraser will always be one of the great vocalists ever.

Extreme Awesome

(via Dr. Bérubé’s joint)

Bad kitty

Desert island albums, #18

Together Alone, Crowded House, 1993.


I'm conflicted on this one; otherwise it'd be higher on the list. I couldn't live without any of the Crowded House catalog. I settled on this one (okay, it wasn't that hard) because it really is their best album in that from start to finish every song works within the whole -- and it contains so many great Crowed House tunes. Pineapple Head, Fingers of Love, Distant Sun, Nails in My Feet, Private Universe, In My Command, and Walking On the Spot are among Neil Finn's best compositions. Any four of those would have made any album great. Here, you get them all and more.