tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73726502595441467612024-03-05T07:05:17.181-05:00XFMR DIY ProjectsTube and Solid State Preamp, Amp, FX, and Instrument Projects for the xfmr.org Radio Station.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-29434751397059799232014-10-07T00:03:00.000-04:002015-10-23T15:54:58.207-04:00Fun New Design: Newcomb E10B Rack Mixer Amplifier turned into Ultimate Vocal Amp!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: red;">Newcomb E10B, Tablebeast Modified TB-E10B Mixer Amplifier:</span></b><br />
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So I have this friend that is a singer. He is loud. I mean he is LOUD. LOOOUUUDDDD. Seriously every single time I sound check him, no matter how loud I can get him to check, he will always come back and go louder later in a show or session. So, I wanted to devise an amp that had a genuine brick wall for this guy. And a wall that will compress using amp compression rather than a true limiter or compressor. I also wanted to have a few other unique abilities. I wanted a mic level input for one channel, a balanced line level input (that fed the same circuit as the mic input, but with a 1:1 input transformer instead of a 1:15), and an unbalanced bridge input. The mic input is for a "drive mic" that can be set up as an effects-free overdriven sound (for screams and contrast vocals). It can also be used as a DI or a mic on a guitar for solo performances. The balanced line input is fed by a Voco Loco. The singer uses guitar pedals with this neat device and the output of it is balanced XLR so it feeds right into this input. The last input, the bridging one is simply for playback input for when he is practicing and working along with his iPod. So its nice and clean no matter what.<br />
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This thing also has two outputs. One of them is the speaker output of course, but the 1/4" speaker jack has a built in dummy load so you can run it it with or without a speaker attached. The OTHER output takes the 75 volt speaker tap that is normally unused and taps it, feeds it to a pad, and then to a 600:600 output transformer. This output transformer is the main output and the signal that the singer gives to the sound guy. One last feature is a footswitch with local switch override. This goes to the feedback circuit and literally turns the feedback loop on and off. That way you've got a clean sound and a gnarly driven sound that is easily switched back and forth to with no popping.<br />
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So, all together the singer can create a complex tone himself and have it be consistent throughout all venues. He gives the sound guy one cable that has his finished sound ready to go.<br />
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Oh yeah, I'll get some better pics, it has a nice mural and a custom case for it now.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-87326276963986660872013-04-09T16:55:00.000-04:002013-04-09T16:55:31.771-04:00Magnecord PT6-J Made into Preamp plus Vari-Mu Tube Compressor / Limiter "Pre+Limiter"<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast Magnecord PT6-J TB-PPL1 Pre+Limiter:</span></b><br />
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Whoohoo! I finally got this one finished last week and it turned out marvelous! The new owner is tickled with its amazing performance. I remember when he first asked me (based on this blog) if the new circuits I installed would be better and/or more useful than the stock Magnecord PT6-J with a simple restoration. I laughed a bit and told him that OH YEAH it will be better! Now that he has it back in his hands, he knows what I am talking about.<br />
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So, I start out with a simple preamp circuit using a single 12AV7. It is a rather popular DIY design made popular at "The Lab" and originally designed by a fella named NYDave. I have tweaked his circuit out a bit but it is still the same basic idea. One of my changes is that I am using the 18v volt tap that originally was used to power the 5879 and 12SJ7 with DC heaters. I reconfigure it to have two filter stages and knock the voltage down to 12 volts to run the single 12AV7. With the amazing triad input transformer that was already on-board I change its configuration a bit by pulling the primary center tap from ground, making it a floating input. Then I add a 1/4" DI input, a -20dB pad, and a phase reversal switch. The unbalanced, transformerless output of this circuit goes to the tag strip on the rear of the unit.<br />
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Then to this lovely preamp circuit I add a Vari-Mu Compressor / Limiter that started out as a Federal AM-864/U circuit. I performed quite a few mods to this circuit and thought it really isn't much of a Federal any more, it still retains the special flair that the Fed has, just with a LOT more adjustable parameters. I moved the sidechain from the first stage to the second, giving it a lot more control over threshold. I also added attack and release controls as well as a compression and hold switch. The compression switch turns the mu-line on or off so that it an be used straight up as a line amp or as a compressor. The hold switch is very cool. It essentially holds the compression at its highest amount by removing the release function entirely. This can be cool for keeping stuff that is crushed, fully crushed full-time. I have also added pin jacks and locking trim pots to match the two 6SK7 tubes for optimum operation. I have added a really sweet transformer to the venerable Magnecord lineup as an input/interstage. Magnetic Components of Chicago have a ClassicTone line of transformers and one of their models is 40-18093. It is a designed to be a clone of the interstage/phase splitter transformer from the Fender Musicmaster Bass amp. It has a nice high impedance primary which couples very well with the preamp stage. The secondary has a slight stepup with a center tap. The mu-line goes to this center tap and the two secondary lines each feed to the input attenuator which goes to the pair of 6SK7 remote-cutoff tubes. I will be using this iron on all my vari-mu compressors going forward because it performs perfectly in this capacity. Plus, it doesn't hurt that it is a nice beefy unit with decent shielding and attached wiring. It fits right in with the massive Triad iron. Speaking of which the output transformer, which is designed as an output ready to handle the power of a pair of 6V6GT tubes, it has a balanced 600 ohm output in addition to the single ended 4 and 16 ohm taps meant for hooking up to a speaker. Well, here I have disconnected the 4 and 16 ohm taps, grounded their common tap and floated the 600 ohm taps. These have a 604 ohm resistor strapped across them to knock down the gain just a bit, but there is also a -15dB output pad on a switch that knocks it down even further. This switch is pretty much on any time I hook up to a digital system, but the switch is there in case you're feeling brave or are smacking the shit out of some high headroom tape! The limiter output goes to the XLR male jack originally used as a tape recorder interface. The input is hooked up tot he tag strip and I have it set up so that the output of the preamp circuit is patched directly to the input of the limiter circuit. The beauty of using the tag strip like this is that if you WANT to decouple the two circuits and use them separately (or add another device in between the two circuits, OR just bypass the preamp circuit for line-level work), this is as easy as turning a few flathead screws.<br />
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I am very proud of this new creation. I made a few of these before with a stock Federal circuit and though they were great, this new iteration is something special. This PT6-J is MADE for this type of conversion and I would put this Federalish mod up against ANY stock Fed and wipe the floor with it. Plus, it comes with an amazing microphone preamp on board as well and that adds a whole 'nother dimension to what it can do as a standalone channel strip. The iron is really what puts it over the top. Check out the puny transformers on the original and you'll see what I mean. Where the original was not really designed to be a studio tool, THIS one certainly IS! I may put one up on evilBay soon, so if you are interested in getting one for yourself maybe we can bypass that whole process and deal directly. OK, so here is a pile of pictures showing off the unit from all angles.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-10261149767128864302013-02-28T21:46:00.000-05:002013-06-28T00:52:35.898-04:00Ampex 602 2 Ch Brute Force Preamp Conversion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Ampex 602 Tablebeast Modified TB-602A 2CH Brute Force Preamp:</b></span><br />
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Here is my latest Ampex conversion. I tell you what, the Brute Force circuit really loves the 602. While the 601 and the Akai/Roberts monoblocks make amazing foundations for this circuit themselves, there is just something about the 602 that outshines them in my opinion. I think it may be the solid state high voltage PSU or the DC heaters that give it that inky black noise floor. It is a such a 3D sound that you wind up with something that sounds finished the way it does when you hit tape just right. But the best part is that it doesn't have the tape hiss or the hassle of messing with those aging machines. With this unit you get a brand new set of electronics built from the ground up with all new wiring, caps and resistors while using the best vintage parts to fill it out. I am very proud of my design and so far everyone who has been lucky enough to get one of these from me has been head over heels for them. Get one while you still can. Here are some more pictures.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-59535170286031244852013-01-18T17:14:00.003-05:002013-02-28T23:03:55.689-05:00Now Taking New Orders to Fund the Station<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast Modified Akai Roberts TB-2XP1 Preamp and 2x TB-A436 Vari-Mu Compressor:</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_gzEwHkSb96JbyBE2f0kM8tGqGLQIy4DzLYQZZO1JQvyPz4u2FtvJ3I4XEHGeXyBhL0W7A0IvK7wgJpZlXcy1IdPx3lRTlsCfQOFsq2KaYtb0MJxWkfqGK_9NO3sEvBETHvOSNoqeDZPv/s1600/jesse0223136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_gzEwHkSb96JbyBE2f0kM8tGqGLQIy4DzLYQZZO1JQvyPz4u2FtvJ3I4XEHGeXyBhL0W7A0IvK7wgJpZlXcy1IdPx3lRTlsCfQOFsq2KaYtb0MJxWkfqGK_9NO3sEvBETHvOSNoqeDZPv/s1600/jesse0223136.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a> If you like this blog and would also be interested in getting something
like what you see here for yourself, then now is your chance! I am
beginning production on gear builds for the fundraising phase of the
station. So, after a few months of catch-up on pre-XMFR orders, I have
now have limited time available for new orders. Available will be my
regular turn-key devices: (Akai / Roberts monoblocks, Magnecord PT6-J,
Ampex 600, 601, and 602), trade-in orders (where you send me the donor
to modify), and custom orders (pretty much anything under the sun:
Bogen, Knight, Masco, LaFayette, Magnasync / Moviola, Heathkit, Dynaco,
Sony, Teac, etc.) As you can see here on this blog, I make these old
relics into new beast in the form of: guitar amps, microphone preamps,
hi-fi stereos, audio effects, synthesizers and more. I can install
add-on transformers of nearly any type as long as it fits the donor from
brands like Jensen, Cinemag, Sowter, and Shure. I'd prefer to focus on
what I am familiar with (which is a lot as you can see), but I am always
looking for a new adventure as well. So let me know what you've got!
Prices start at $399 for full rebuilds and can go on up to much more
depending on the complexity of the mod and cost of additional parts. So,
if you like something you see on this blog, drop me an e-mail at :::
xfmr AT xfmr DOT org ;;; and we can discuss what you're looking for.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-4089613645876891052013-01-09T19:32:00.002-05:002013-02-28T22:05:47.223-05:00Ampex 601 2 Ch Brute Force Preamp Conversion w/ Altec Iron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red;"><b> Tablebeast TB-A601 Ampex 601 2 channel with Altec 4722 and 15095:</b></span><br />
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This is my new king of the hill. What an awesome, AWESOME preamp this turned out to be. I started with an Ampex 601 reel to reel tube electronics module. I then gutted and dismantled the whole thing. I separated the parts from stuff I planned to reuse and stuff I planned to discard. Of the discarded some parts, some are kept for other projects and spares while others are just thrown away. Sprague bumblebee caps? Yeah, I keep those when the values are not right for the conversion, you bet! Old cap cans and ALL the wiring? In the garbage it goes!<br />
The next step is to prepare the chassis for my intended design. I rearrange the tube sockets in my needed layout and add a few sockets as needed. Then I install the new Weber cap cans with mounting brackets. The back panel gets all the Switchcraft chassis-isolated jacks, XLR input and pad/phase switches for channel 1 and pad phase switches are also added to the channel 2 input on the front.<br />
When considering iron for this unit, I chose some of my favorite affordable and readily available vintage transformers. The Altec 4722 and 15095 were what I went with. I wired the inputs so that they will take the 4722 of course, but it will ALSO accept a 15095 or 15335 as an input depending n application. The outputs get 15095 plugs, but can also accept 15335 units as well. This makes the octal plug-in format function as Altec originally intended, where you can swap out the transformers easily to modify gain staging and impedance matching depending on what you stuff in there. Oh yeah, they also sound freaking INCREDIBLE!<br />
The tubes in here are the 5879 Pentode for preamp duties, 12AU7 for line amp/output duty and the classic 5Y3 providing voltage rectification. They are set up as a pair of my Brute Force preamps which have insane amounts of gain. They are perfect for ribbons with low noise and the high gain, but really I have yet to find a mic that I don't like with it. Of course you can just turn the gain down when using a hot mic and if that doesn't get you in the sweet spot, engaging the pad and turning back up will get you there. <br />
The inputs and outputs give you a LOT of different options. Of course it has balanced XLR inputs for mics and 1/4" DI inputs for instruments or other hi-z sources, but this unit also has dual outputs per channel. One output is tapped before the output transformer and is connected to an impedance balanced TRS 1/4" output jack. It can be used simultaneously with the transformer balanced outputs that are also on TRS 1/4" jacks. Now the impedance balanced outputs are HOT and I LOVE hitting an actual tape machine with this output as it will roast that tape if desired. The transformer on the output has a stepdown that knocks the signal down while balancing and adjusting impedance as is my preferred output for getting maximum coloration as it allows yo to crank the circuit a bit more.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-19456060170722150092013-01-06T23:27:00.001-05:002013-01-09T22:27:19.814-05:00Projects Out the Door Before the END of the World!OK, well, it didn't happen, but I was still determined to get certain projects out to folks before the Mayan deadline for our civilization, JUST in case!<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Pair of Tablebeast 2xPre TB-2XP1 Microphone Preamplifier:</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">First up is a four channel set of mic pres that I was sad to see go. These are outfitted with Jensen inputs, have impedance balanced outputs, and were stuffed with some very special tubes.</span></span><b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">All four have GE 12AU7A tubes on the line amps, but the bottom pair has some fantastic German-made RFT EF86 pentodes and a GE 6X4 rectifier instead of the normal NEC-made valves that the I normally install. The first two channels do have these NEC tubes and they are simply fantastic of course, but the RFT and GE in the second pair just seem a bit more magical. Also, grainy pics I know. I took them at night in a hurry before I boxed her up. The apocalypse waits for no one.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Tablebeast TB-HR16, a Modified Alesis HR-16:</b></span><br />
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This is a bit of a rare bird these days, at least in my hands. I don't do much circuit-bent stuff any more, but when tempted with this Alesis I couldn't resist. This is a fantastic drum machine even without the mods, but it takes to the patchbay style mod so well it almost seems like a shame to keep them stock. I hadn't done one of these in years, but it all came back once i started and I am very please with the results. Now that I have become familiar with what the guts of this guy actually ARE, I am really impressed with this advanced-for-the-time drum computer. So impressed that I am on the lookout for one of these to keep for myself. Oh yeah, the back panel for this guy was missing when I got it, so it got some hand labels on there. I was bored and there was an empty space ont he face, so it got a little unplanned beast drawing. What the heck.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast Pre+Amp TB-PPA1-R 3U Rack w/ Jensen:</span></b><br />
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This is a rack mount Pre+Amp. Of course I have built dozens of these by now, but this one was particularly cool. It had the Jensen inputs which I just can't say enough good things about. Don't get me wrong, I love the Shure inputs that I usually use. They have a great utilitarian quality that I try to compare to denim when folks ask me to explain the difference between the Shures and the Jensens. What do I relate the Jensens to? Silk of course! So the Shures are jeans and the Jensens are a kimono. The Jensens really are smoother and less aggressive so I think it is a decent comparison. Being a man of many tastes, I like them both in any case. Anyway, this unit was awesome and is finally on the other side of the pond and hopefully in its new owner's hands by now. Enjoy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-53700581592668468502012-12-22T01:35:00.000-05:002013-02-28T22:55:08.898-05:00My Newest Akai Roberts Mod Creation: The Pre+EQ <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: red;">Akai / Roberts Pre+EQ Mod: </span></b><br />
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About a year ago I started messing with some EQ circuits for a new design that incorporated a microphone preamplifier and an EQ in one Akai donor module. I knew that for the preamp part of the device I wanted something totally different than my Brute Force Preamp, so I settled on the mic preamp circuit from the old Tube RCA Broadcast Consoles. It uses two 12AY7/6072 tubes and the circuit I prototyped years ago sounded great. It really is a completely different tone than the Brute Force, so it fit well with my plans. SO, for the EQ I wanted something a bit different: not the same old boring Pultec style for me. Instead I wanted to find the best PA-Style, 'James', 2-band EQ. I also wanted to incorporate some tone switching and a variable low cut filter. What I settled on was a hodge-podge of circuit bits. I used most of the 2-band circuit from the Bogen MXM mixer, a simple variable low cut circuit found on the net, a boost switch that moves the frequency band of the treble control down into the mid range a bit, and finally a 'Beef' switch that removes the negative feedback from the circuit and adds bypass caps to two cathode resistors simultaneously. I will post more details and a final schematic soon.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-57445253738558727412012-11-27T22:40:00.004-05:002012-11-27T22:40:53.668-05:00Tons of New Designs BrewingDon't worry, folks! I may have recently moved to the very edge of the Green River Gorge, but I have not yet fallen off the face of the Earth. I have so much new stuff that I have been brewing that I just can't WAIT to share it with all of you. New Akai / Roberts, Magnecord, Tape Delay (Ampro and Webcor) designs are simmering while I close out my waiting list for 2012. Look for some BIG moves come January! Pictures? Well, I do have pictures of my new place and my new tractor, er... truck.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-66896691873891216312012-11-07T14:18:00.003-05:002012-11-07T14:22:39.191-05:00Webcor Tube Reel to Reel into DIY Tape Delay Echo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: red;">Webcor Royalite model 2001-1C All Tube Reel to Reel:</span></b><br />
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I just bought this lovely mono, tube powered reel to reel off of an auction site. I saw a video on youtube where someone made a crude version of a tape delay with a similar deck. For my version I have some more detailed and involved plans to completely transform this unit into a full fledged tape delay with adjustable tape speed, microphone input (with transformer), preamp, simple mixer, and power section that drives a speaker. So, it will be a colored microphone preamp and low watt guitar amp in addition to being a tape delay! I am even working out how to modify the original little crystal mic to fit on a standard mic stand clip by adding a handle. I have two of these Webcor mics headed my way, so I may just wire them in series and or parallel as some kind of double-element mic. Of course this would be a very colored mic, but so is the preamp! Here is the original schematic.<br />
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Thanks to Dr. Zee of <a href="http://www.mzenertainment.com/">http://www.mzenertainment.com</a> for scanning this schematic. Be sure to check out his site. If you like what I am doing here on this blog you'll love the amazing projects he has built for his own studio. I am really impressed and hope to get XFMR to that point soon.<br />
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Looking over this schematic, this unit is ripe for modification. All the tubes are driven by the power transformer, so no weird AC doubling circuit for power tube B+ like found in the Wollensak T-1500 units. The motor is an AC type and not a good candidate for adjustable speed, so right there I will have to start looking for a DC motor to replace it. My first order of business is to examine the schematics of dedicated tube tape delays like the Gibson Echoplex EP1 and EP2 to see what parts of this circuit I can toss. First thing to go is all the switching. The modified unit will have two modes: tape spinning as a delay and tape not spinning as a straight up amplifier. I will have a dedicated toggle switch that cuts the motor on and off and another toggle with a footswitch in parallel that mutes the delay circuit. <br />
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In my plans I would like to have just one extra playback head. No need for multitaps as that just gets more complicated. For controls I will keep it simple: preamp gain, feedback amount, dry level, wet level and of course a tape speed control. There will also be a 1/4" footswitch jack to round out the controls. I/O will include an XLR input with pad and phase switch, a Hi-Z input, speaker-level 8 ohm output, and a line level output. It has a built-in speaker, but I will have a switch that switches this to a dummy load when necessary. The reason for the XLR input is that this unit will be made for vocals in addition to instruments, so I figured if I remove the counting mechanism I will have plenty of room on the face for the female XLR jack.<br />
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Here are some additional pictures of the donor unit and a few other parts units that I bought mostly for their Webcor heads, but I am sure I will find other parts to vulture for this and the next unit. I am planning on building two of these: one for my good friend and patron Damiam Asker and one for the XFMR studio collection.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Webcor Regent model EP2006-1A:</b></span> </div>
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This model is very similar to my main EP2001-1C unit and will make a fantastic parts donor.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Webcor Regent model GP2910-1</b></span><br />
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This last model has vastly different guts, thought it looks similar from the outside. It should still yield many great parts for this pair of mods.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-9171872372605184412012-10-06T15:42:00.001-04:002012-10-06T15:54:59.282-04:00Metasonix Wretch Machine S-1000 TUBE Synthesizer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: red;">Metasonix S-1000, the Wretch Machine:</span></b><br />
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For the longest time I have been focused solely on recording equipment with my tube projects. I used to really be into weird synthesizers back in my circuitbending days. My interest in synthesizers has been piqued lately so now I have come full circle back to them. This time of course I want to make them all out of tubes! This Metasonix Wretch Machine is made out of an awful lot of tubes, that is for sure! I opened the case up just to see what is going on under the hood and I saw not only tubes, but a few solid state bits in there as well. Based on Eric Barbour's DIY projects on Ken Stone's analog DIY synth site I can guess what is going on in there.<br />
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Where my designs will differ from these current Metasonix ones is that I will be using true all-tube designs. NO solid state anything in my planned designs! From the tube rectifier, to tube VCA, tube LFO, tube VCO, tube PWM, etc they will stay purely thermionic! I will start with some older TS series Metasonix circuits and tweak them to fit into my Akai/Roberts donor chassis. Anyway, here is the S-100 I currently have to mess around with. Unfortunately I have to sell it, but it will be replaced with my very own modular tube synth based on similar circuits.<br />
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By the way, these circuits run on Hz/v CV so I am looking for a Yamaha CS5, CS10, or CS15 to use as a controller. Let me know if you have one of these beasts at a reasonable price. Even if it is broken I can probably fix it.<br />
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This is a jam that a friend of mine did using the Wretch for the very first time:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F62438352&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff0000" width="100%"></iframe>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-29794677547493327532012-09-20T19:36:00.005-04:002012-09-20T19:36:42.632-04:00New Akai Roberts Tube Mod Stuff from August 2012I have been tearing through my waiting list and trying to get to zero so I can begin the studio gear in earnest. I haven't had much time to update the blog here in a bit. I do have some new pics taken by my friend Patrick Olin. So, for now, enjoy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeLQpPVr8OotXskyg2zQhDEiE1qBci0-8xve7hTfXj9aKqnSAFEVfmPY6t7USKa08IgHd-xx1nX0dXhOHzpPa1gIPTvAH74bWrM15fbqFVT0l08SiC94V8kuZyJHHXPeXTHCfLG4Civ2Wa/s1600/PO_20120802_101-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeLQpPVr8OotXskyg2zQhDEiE1qBci0-8xve7hTfXj9aKqnSAFEVfmPY6t7USKa08IgHd-xx1nX0dXhOHzpPa1gIPTvAH74bWrM15fbqFVT0l08SiC94V8kuZyJHHXPeXTHCfLG4Civ2Wa/s640/PO_20120802_101-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp, front 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRz6cEQltNi8H5cp0NUnrjrm2W4RT0dGJ3yXAk6SJP7HxSIXphIhn4vjaI9oKtUgci5Cg5i8J_66-tBxvB4xTpBO4KT6Ra6ahpylOCVf0sMGKtRzt_4G02YjR2_es9wwxz_6dv0cmuHtC/s1600/PO_20120802_112-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRz6cEQltNi8H5cp0NUnrjrm2W4RT0dGJ3yXAk6SJP7HxSIXphIhn4vjaI9oKtUgci5Cg5i8J_66-tBxvB4xTpBO4KT6Ra6ahpylOCVf0sMGKtRzt_4G02YjR2_es9wwxz_6dv0cmuHtC/s640/PO_20120802_112-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp, rear view:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jwYmRcCW8jgtwGuD5q7fqlcd65ZGATc2OsfUlUurLvdtayQuB5S4KPw30_TqRbQ1gtABrhC3JVunee2n0pl1x3RiIqjTIFiC2e2Ug4XZbA7BapwWX9GiA9rTl3y3Ebai_Iy1Yt5IAH7l/s1600/PO_20120802_114-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jwYmRcCW8jgtwGuD5q7fqlcd65ZGATc2OsfUlUurLvdtayQuB5S4KPw30_TqRbQ1gtABrhC3JVunee2n0pl1x3RiIqjTIFiC2e2Ug4XZbA7BapwWX9GiA9rTl3y3Ebai_Iy1Yt5IAH7l/s640/PO_20120802_114-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp, bottom view:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzkW96r4r5xlhu6GlM4c8DHvGoghNLrN-z06wWSbGz3sLjQZA0Omo8wbCwSeF9UY1TIA4Fo05rTz-qfLI_bLyTDvJsu3pKsMwCaV6yVxYqe3kQBDlUhJdW64Jo5N0VCvLy5nCAF09hzGV/s1600/PO_20120802_115-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzkW96r4r5xlhu6GlM4c8DHvGoghNLrN-z06wWSbGz3sLjQZA0Omo8wbCwSeF9UY1TIA4Fo05rTz-qfLI_bLyTDvJsu3pKsMwCaV6yVxYqe3kQBDlUhJdW64Jo5N0VCvLy5nCAF09hzGV/s640/PO_20120802_115-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp, bottom 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGIwIRa91dms4AG4XvaSO7J1GWb6-1VhTEIWc0luH7hVxlMfQk-774GkhcDrtV55Kl3o8YIuUt4Q4tT6yAlKKSCtWTNYjodYcc1TE4H_VM74EcC-7_dOUzWdVoobZzEQnBx6d-UQvGMrH/s1600/PO_20120802_80-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxGIwIRa91dms4AG4XvaSO7J1GWb6-1VhTEIWc0luH7hVxlMfQk-774GkhcDrtV55Kl3o8YIuUt4Q4tT6yAlKKSCtWTNYjodYcc1TE4H_VM74EcC-7_dOUzWdVoobZzEQnBx6d-UQvGMrH/s640/PO_20120802_80-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-2XP1 2x Preamp, front 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihd-4a6wiieGDIEgkOdKWxTHpOuO9pszEW87NoiCoxGQtjRsbqx6yVFWCx00SSepqDDn0lwvl04jy3OLRl9QXvzFS5MRLxsSXXxp_6TbgwD9pftq1sMte34hi-6F1Mv3tBRfWAqzgedtZw/s1600/PO_20120802_81-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihd-4a6wiieGDIEgkOdKWxTHpOuO9pszEW87NoiCoxGQtjRsbqx6yVFWCx00SSepqDDn0lwvl04jy3OLRl9QXvzFS5MRLxsSXXxp_6TbgwD9pftq1sMte34hi-6F1Mv3tBRfWAqzgedtZw/s640/PO_20120802_81-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-2XP1 2x Preamp, rear 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVW70she5pNntg_FsdM1Gn6lf8P2KNWs1EQPLXB7f94EhvcnEXa90FhRXCicKd1QyaqDnbNbYyNCXNm36-KR-XP6Q1sHBBopwcz7a1421C-FCSbvXDC9GAEU3s4_KHLemsuzDiWoEBuW4/s1600/PO_20120802_83-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilVW70she5pNntg_FsdM1Gn6lf8P2KNWs1EQPLXB7f94EhvcnEXa90FhRXCicKd1QyaqDnbNbYyNCXNm36-KR-XP6Q1sHBBopwcz7a1421C-FCSbvXDC9GAEU3s4_KHLemsuzDiWoEBuW4/s640/PO_20120802_83-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PLX1 Plexi8, front 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFpSlzG99TdRYkL3jXfvJ6T_71tzOaznsidZFVZq-hZ-91udhOSeKWQKG6hQUB1nU20q3TUchwdr3wpzkkF3M1ZYoj-KjhdbOeBerFnJvh_BhLqlCjbQMFw5KKmnKJDo3bAQ5-zsq16Vm/s1600/PO_20120802_82-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFpSlzG99TdRYkL3jXfvJ6T_71tzOaznsidZFVZq-hZ-91udhOSeKWQKG6hQUB1nU20q3TUchwdr3wpzkkF3M1ZYoj-KjhdbOeBerFnJvh_BhLqlCjbQMFw5KKmnKJDo3bAQ5-zsq16Vm/s640/PO_20120802_82-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Tablebeast TB-PLX1 Plexi8, rear 3/4 view:</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0eAoi8XfeY4E8fgLCbEfMgC4027QeZXUeD_ymv8gv_75_njAqFXcOQCE3cYdeWr4CGLD7KQzXwq8uorLyLL6OTWhhizu0yfb_KYhmcN0hChMaBakAaYmntr41UDfSAYqipMt6VgUzOUy/s1600/PO_20120802_91-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0eAoi8XfeY4E8fgLCbEfMgC4027QeZXUeD_ymv8gv_75_njAqFXcOQCE3cYdeWr4CGLD7KQzXwq8uorLyLL6OTWhhizu0yfb_KYhmcN0hChMaBakAaYmntr41UDfSAYqipMt6VgUzOUy/s640/PO_20120802_91-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-2XP1 2x Preamp, front 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwC1vUz5pWtb24TpPM_jUPSoBLo-IAZHv-qeMNUZNpX6Li7MUtfzuDe6bhdQTDTs3SIzu0_g2YnGkUfjekIxL5BrmBqdhKHyEtuEAsp8GBf96jLTdwJSaCNIuyWbEGkh9_8HiOlDiYk_O/s1600/PO_20120802_92-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwC1vUz5pWtb24TpPM_jUPSoBLo-IAZHv-qeMNUZNpX6Li7MUtfzuDe6bhdQTDTs3SIzu0_g2YnGkUfjekIxL5BrmBqdhKHyEtuEAsp8GBf96jLTdwJSaCNIuyWbEGkh9_8HiOlDiYk_O/s640/PO_20120802_92-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-2XP1 2x Preamp, rear 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MnZXfD-pt1hHq4te3RoqGZA4EkD5xfCyX4xYIaWewHx4_B8sFW057KM7ZZNdjL6y90S5QrhjJwI3I5GJVIPt812FJNfmVweQ_TmEftK29cxhSWTemLMbzA-S132bAt-mX5Zkbcbqd9kI/s1600/PO_20120827_10-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MnZXfD-pt1hHq4te3RoqGZA4EkD5xfCyX4xYIaWewHx4_B8sFW057KM7ZZNdjL6y90S5QrhjJwI3I5GJVIPt812FJNfmVweQ_TmEftK29cxhSWTemLMbzA-S132bAt-mX5Zkbcbqd9kI/s640/PO_20120827_10-Edit.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp AND TB-PLX1 Plexi8 in wood case, case closed front 3/4 view:</span></b><br />
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrjiBkp218aLS4xOM2ohfIvQTaeUIvR29e6gWuVauKYprVSpItE_-YIpiIj-OyBQyWoLPT1_VSDLLAwebiuaY7zLmiA1TWNQj5DuHd93dsBAReDnr4O_1lh5f1UmRmEXVKV8wmWESXpi4/s1600/PO_20120827_5-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLrjiBkp218aLS4xOM2ohfIvQTaeUIvR29e6gWuVauKYprVSpItE_-YIpiIj-OyBQyWoLPT1_VSDLLAwebiuaY7zLmiA1TWNQj5DuHd93dsBAReDnr4O_1lh5f1UmRmEXVKV8wmWESXpi4/s640/PO_20120827_5-Edit.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp AND TB-PLX1 Plexi8 in wood case, case open front 3/4 view:</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJCAkeSp1y8HvLFTBX7usvYe6BIRNs_SL8btmE0an9EXCUa6NSsTkeucZm92S73MH90thCcqh6Z2Yt1LZKsiGvRWzhR5DhTDSx06nH7pZ1L_O_kMHvzIXdtwI7kI7-gdYVnSp2ARRILY7/s1600/PO_20120827_16-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJCAkeSp1y8HvLFTBX7usvYe6BIRNs_SL8btmE0an9EXCUa6NSsTkeucZm92S73MH90thCcqh6Z2Yt1LZKsiGvRWzhR5DhTDSx06nH7pZ1L_O_kMHvzIXdtwI7kI7-gdYVnSp2ARRILY7/s640/PO_20120827_16-Edit.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp AND TB-PLX1 Plexi8 in one-of-a-kind case, rear 3/4 view:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUm6xk0FvvtY4FLDwJIHqggj05BRxlzXckq0qPpThbLGpthztsM4YRgQv1HLpchvnbxLhf5f3VShAZVs1Fz9kj6DSkDPTZ3_BMSqf5lFaEhFBIoMogjOWycz31Ms7t_rn2LbRNqoS0FSm7/s1600/PO_20120827_20-Edit-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUm6xk0FvvtY4FLDwJIHqggj05BRxlzXckq0qPpThbLGpthztsM4YRgQv1HLpchvnbxLhf5f3VShAZVs1Fz9kj6DSkDPTZ3_BMSqf5lFaEhFBIoMogjOWycz31Ms7t_rn2LbRNqoS0FSm7/s640/PO_20120827_20-Edit-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Tablebeast TB-PLX1 Plexi8, front 3/4 view:</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4WxijuWSkiuNpxNhcguN-DftHV2dAM9HosQHg0vhtXeCHZtvqHRJb6JmgFxR52ltha-E7ZKgjml1mzCim1lUwzlynw7Gq-ZdixXLO58MogJ7u_MdGr9uzs_bopvkCEEVbLLZfxw9QvxZ/s1600/PO_20120827_22-Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4WxijuWSkiuNpxNhcguN-DftHV2dAM9HosQHg0vhtXeCHZtvqHRJb6JmgFxR52ltha-E7ZKgjml1mzCim1lUwzlynw7Gq-ZdixXLO58MogJ7u_MdGr9uzs_bopvkCEEVbLLZfxw9QvxZ/s640/PO_20120827_22-Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Tablebeast TB-PLX1 Plexi8, rear 3/4 view:</span><br />
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So here they are, my most recent Akai Roberts Tube monoblock conversions from August. Please leave comments here and I will try to reply to all of them.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-19430967101439054742012-08-27T14:40:00.001-04:002012-09-06T17:23:44.533-04:00Akai Roberts 2xPre, Plexi8 and Pre+Amp Mods Live Tracking SamplesHere are some live tracking samples. A few friends were jamming while I was finishing up some mods so I just threw up some mics. Very loose recording as a result of course, but it will show you various tones you can get with this stuff. There is no editing, effects, or any kind of manipulation whatsoever on these tracks. Faders were set to zero and elements hard panned. That's it, there aren't even fade ins or outs. Track description tells you what the elements are and how they were tracked.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F57459534&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff0000" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F57459535&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe>
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F57459536&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe>
<b><b></b></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-8765328444200107592012-08-27T14:00:00.001-04:002012-08-27T14:00:38.534-04:00Ampex 601 and a Pair of 602 Reel to Reel Tube Amplifiers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKt9UycrGG8EdvSk9_iWucDs5dYowwgB6VQ1OWiT_cr-_0dwSXbypyk-E8zMBGwRS9L8fa5nzt7l00Was3zbo64V1CC0QoKpXLvohLQcUwziJg2xM-BKyuAxUMoOU5SFPguyE1CXsaabGa/s1600/ebayampexes101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKt9UycrGG8EdvSk9_iWucDs5dYowwgB6VQ1OWiT_cr-_0dwSXbypyk-E8zMBGwRS9L8fa5nzt7l00Was3zbo64V1CC0QoKpXLvohLQcUwziJg2xM-BKyuAxUMoOU5SFPguyE1CXsaabGa/s640/ebayampexes101.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Ampex 601 and 2x Ampex 602:</b></span><br />
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I just got a fantastic score of fleabay yesterday. It was a lot of three Ampex reel to reel tube amplifiers. One is a 601 unit and the other two are 602 units. The 602 pair both have their stock input and output transformers installed in place, but the 601 is missing its plug-in input transformer. I really like both of these units. The 601 has a tube rectified power supply for high voltage and will have an artificially center tapped AC source for the 6.3v heaters. Nothing wrong with AC heaters is you do them right to cancel out the hum. The 602 has a power supply is completely different from the 601. It uses a solid state rectified voltage doubler circuit for high voltage and a solid state rectified DC for the heaters. I usually tune it to be slightly cold at around 6 volts. The sounds of the two units are slightly different despite having identical audio circuits. Because of the tube PSU the 601 has a softer edge and feels silkier overall. The 602 with its solid state PSU has slightly more gain + headroom and is tighter overall. It is a little more aggressive and gives up the softer edges of the 601. It is an interesting trade-off and I like to have both on hand for the different sounds. I have used them interchangeably on just about any source and it really just comes down to personal taste.<br />
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My plans are to make each unit a two channel microphone preamp with XLR microphone and 1/4" DI inputs as well as dual outputs: one will be transformer balanced on an XLR jack and the other will be impedance balanced on a 1/4" TRS jack. One of the 602 units will get the stock input and output transformers from both 602s while the other 602 and the 601 will get Jensen input and output transformers throughout. All three will be put up for sale to raise funds for the station. If you are interested please inquire for pricing and availability.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-25839733898544457782012-08-20T16:45:00.000-04:002012-08-22T16:57:32.824-04:00Yamaha PM1000 Recap Mod Kit Installation Standard and DeluxeHere are some time lapse videos showing the installation of both the standard and deluxe kits.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Standard Yamaha PM1000 Recap/EQ Mod Kit Install:</span></b><br />
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In this first video you can see me removing the old caps and installing fresh Wima films to replace the tantalum caps for coupling/high pass and the poly caps with updated values for EQ. I am alos replacing all the electrolytic with Nichicon Audio series in much higher values. I also replace the old crappy ceramic caps with modern MLCC types. This gives better tone and a broader frequency response.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Deluxe Yamaha PM1000 Recap/EQ Mod Kit Install:</span></b><br />
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The deluxe kit is the same as the standard kit, except it takes about 60% longer to install and that is because include film bypass caps across all the electrolytics on the screenprinted circuit board side.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-34865148823235737272012-08-14T13:52:00.004-04:002012-08-14T13:52:57.687-04:00Getting the Kickstarter Campaign Distilled to PerfectionNo post in a little while here. I don't want anyone to think I'm running out of steam or losing interest. Far from it! I have been hip deep in plans for an upcoming Kickstarter campaign, plus I am working down the very last of my waiting list and trying to 'get to zero' where I have filled all current orders so I can begin building my rig. I should be there this week. And the Kickstarter campaign should be ready to launch once I get the video finished. I've got just about everything else ready to go! [The hardest thing is to distill the hundreds of ideas I have for the station/label down to the basics and then find a way to explain it properly to people. Since it is not really a radio station or a record label and it is non-profit, but takes no funds from the government it has been difficult to figure out how to present it. I'm getting there. Still it is lots and lots of work for no money, but man will it be cool once I get this thing off the ground! In the mean time if anyone wants to help out the cause by having me convert one of your Akai, Magnecord or Ampex tube monoblocks I sure could use some funds to get this ball rolling!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-43312632415150176332012-07-27T02:03:00.001-04:002012-08-01T19:13:50.319-04:00Akai Roberts Tube Monoblock to Plexi 8 Guitar Amp ConversionHere are some more time-lapse videos of one of my builds. This one is of me building one of my original designs, an 8 watt, single ended, Plexi style guitar amp out of an Akai Roberts tube monoblock amp from one of their 60's reel to reel decks. I did the teardown, desoldering, and cleanup of the donor chassis in a previous blog. This set of videos has me taking all the parts, both new, and refurbished, to build the amp.<br />
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In this first video you can see the parts all laid out on my bench. I am wiring up all the heaters and ground wires directly to the tube sockets.<br />
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In this second video I am installing the tag strip board, wiring up some of it, and then stuffing the custom painted faceplate with parts. The blue tape is to protect the paint job during the rest of assembly.<br />
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In this third video I am installing the faceplate, wiring it up, and installing some parts directly to the tube sockets.<br />
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In this fourth and final video I am finishing up this amp: wiring up the rest of the tag strip, controls, and tube sockets. All that is left now is knobs, tubes and a power cord and it is ready to test! I will be recording this amp over the weekend and posting samples soon. Oh yeah, and the schematic, as promised. I add a 25uf-25 volt electrolytic cap across the 820R resistor in the cathode follower (pre-EQ) for more bass if it will be used with a bass guitar, but otherwise this is the schem.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PLX1 8 Watt Akai Roberts Monoblock Conversion, the Plexi8:</span></b></div>
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This amp is made reusing the chassis, choke, and transformers of an Akai / Roberts tube reel to reel monoblock. I also reuse, once refurbished: a few resistors, the tag board strip, some jacks, the meter, tube sockets and retainers, various screws and hardware. But all of the wiring, coupling caps, electrolytic caps, pots, knobs, some jacks, power switch, fuse block, and paint is new. The pictured case is made out of the original wood tape machine case sliced and reworked. The rubber feet and rear plate is also original Akai / Roberts. I can get the donor amps for $50 to $100 each currently plus shipping that also ranges whether I have someone send the whole thing or not. The tape transport is sacrificed to the metal recyclers for about $3. If anyone ever needs any transport parts let me know. I hate tossing them, but am forced to every once in a while when they pile up too much. This is all of the summer of 2012, so who knows where costs will go, but I add about $35 worth or parts. So, it is easy to get it done completely for under $150 and even under a hundred if you're lucky! All in with case building and all it is about 16 hours of labor for me, so expect twice that for a novice. But anyone could possibly build this as it is not difficult. Taking it apart really gives you a good idea of how to put it back together. I have improved greatly on the strength and rigidity of my soldering, parts mounting technique. They just kind of flooded everything and stuck parts and wiring in the blobs. This has held up surprisingly well, but cold solder joints are more likely, especially with a slightly flexible tag strip board. I mount all my parts directly to the tag and then wrap my wiring around it all and crimp it tight making a full mechanical connection before a single drop of solder hits it. Luckily, because of the quickey way the original Akai builder made most of these units they are much easier they are to take apart. My finished mod would be a real beeotch to take apart completely compared to the original way it was built. It will still be easy to service of course, small repairs are no problem, but the way I build it, unless something smashes the board, it should work forever. Call my building style brick shithouse for lack of a better term, they are lightweight tanks. Maybe in 35 years you have to replace the electrolytic caps and of course tubes will come and go, but the finished product is like a sexy Japanese sports car of an amp. I keep the made-in-Japan tubes stuffed int here as much as I can help it as they just sound right! I've always been a sucker for an old Datsun, so I have a fond appreciation for Japanese engineering of the post war era. They were so far ahead of us for so long and held out longer before everyone started "value engineering" everything. Anyway, long story short: you can build a sweet amp cheap and have it last forever!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-6474783065322493622012-07-25T01:30:00.001-04:002012-07-25T01:33:40.743-04:00Time Lapse Footage of Akai Roberts Tube Monoblock Teardown, Desodler, and Cleanup<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3G6oeY4JaD0?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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First up is the teardown itself. I am recording in time lapse mode at 1 frame per second. I have laid out the parts that I will keep and have thrown away the wiring and parts that I will not keep. I am using a Hakko 808 desoldering gun and a Hakko 936 soldering iron along with wire cutters, needlenose pliers, and a few screwdrivers.<br />
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Next I desolder and remove all solder from the joints, sockets, and tag strips. The solder is all sucked away by the Hakko 808. You can see me cleaning the 808 a few times to keep it working optimally.<br />
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And finally I use a chemical cleaner to remove all the dust, gunk, and filth from the chassis, sockets, and tag strip.<br />
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Notice all the parts I keep: hardware, tubes, sockets, jacks, meter, even resistors and some of the caps. Of course all of the wiring, electrolytic caps, ceramic caps, and tape-specific parts are recycled or trashed. The remaining parts are used in different combinations depending on what the amp is being used as a donor for.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-78855959251387928162012-07-23T23:13:00.002-04:002012-07-23T23:13:32.674-04:00Hammond Solovox Tube Synthesizer Hacking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Hammond Solovox Model L Tube Synthesizer:</b></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Did I mention I was also going to have unique instruments available at XFMR? I will have synths of all kinds from ancient tube based to the modern virtual types. I like modular synths and will slowly be building my own from tube and solid state modules. In addition to recording bands with prepared material I would also like to have some jams with my unique gear. The experimentation possibilities are endless. I will then pull multitrack loops so folks (including myself of course) can take the best moments of the jams and make their own arrangements out of them. I just picked up this beauty from fleabay and I have big plans in store for it. In case you don't know what it is or didn't read the title, this is a Hammond Solovox. It is a monophonic tube synthesizer designed to attach to a Hammond organ and be used for solos. It uses a unique coil-based keyboard to control a single tube oscillator with multiple stages of octave dropping circuits that create a deeper and fuller sound. It has other cool stuff like a vibrato circuit a muting circuit, attack controls, multiple voicing layers via the octave circuits, and a neat output power amplifier with variable-mu 6SK7 tubes that drives a built-in speaker.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">My plans are first to install a dummy load so the speaker can be switched off and then add a padded 1/4" output from the speaker level tap, probably with it's own trim control. I can make all the circuits modular where possible. I can bypass the internal oscillator and input an outside signal via a switched 1/4" jack feeding straight to the driver tube. Individual outputs and volume controls for the 4 voices, plus a direct preamplifier input would be nice to have. Some of the fixed values will be replaced with variable pots and condensers. There is plenty of room for a control panel behind the keyboard so some kind of wood panel there with big knobs and a few oversized switches would give me one heck of a mono-synth!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-27084686182731111382012-07-11T21:06:00.001-04:002012-07-12T04:44:57.622-04:00Akai Roberts Mod Sound Samples 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYFGYnzNC0PAf0YDp_gQfgAIC0ohHICgtiDjBmx0W1GZVFhyLUVnz_DUX_y6Jtxczk7pyiX7Yh_Zpu-FRdjNJPEvt31t4197AZEUoP7poptoEXYeJTtN3ai2kZsEW1tMCJy8fIsil-Rlz/s1600/IMG_4764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYFGYnzNC0PAf0YDp_gQfgAIC0ohHICgtiDjBmx0W1GZVFhyLUVnz_DUX_y6Jtxczk7pyiX7Yh_Zpu-FRdjNJPEvt31t4197AZEUoP7poptoEXYeJTtN3ai2kZsEW1tMCJy8fIsil-Rlz/s640/IMG_4764.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast TB-PPA1 Pre+Amp:</span></b><br />
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Here are some sounds that I have recorded with my modified Akai / Roberts tube units. First up is some electric guitar samples of the amp section of a Pre+Amp in drive mode. My friend Myers Gilmer plays his PRS with humbucker through into the amp section of the Tablebeast Pre+Amp with an EH Worm pedal on track 2. The amp is hooked up to a 1x12" cabinet with an EV speaker in it. A Shure SM57 is then plugged back into the Preamplifier section of the same Pre+Amp unit. That preamp is recorded through its transformerless output directly to 24 bit/44.1 khz wav file in a DAW. It is presented in mono with no effects or plug-ins or mastering AT ALL. Just RAW and naked Pre+Amp!<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F52555530&show_artwork=false&color=ff0000" width="100%"></iframe>
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F52555531&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&color=ff0000" width="100%"></iframe>
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Next up are two complete songs by my good friend Daniel Moore from a project called "Crow Brings the Daylight". They both consist of vocals and acoustic/electric guitar. The vocals are sung directly into a Shure SM57 which is plugged into the Preamp section of the Pre+Amp with the pad engaged and the gain at a medium setting. The guitar is an Epiphone Chet Atkins CEC Classical Electric Guitar with Nylon Strings. It is plugged directly into one of my Plexi8 single-ended 8 watt amps. The amp is not hooked up to a speaker, but instead has it's dummy load engaged and is being recorded direct out of the padded line output tapped off the speaker load. The vocals are hard panned to the left and the acoustic is hard panned to the right. These are the absolutely unmolested tracks with no plug-ins or effects at all. No mastering or sweetening. This is the sound of the Akai units 100%.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F52553447&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&color=ff0000" width="100%"></iframe>
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The next track uses the same Pre+Amp and Plexi8 setup as the first, but this time the mic preamp has the pad off and the gain set to a medium setting and the amp is cranked up a bit more.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F52554330&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&color=ff0000" width="100%"></iframe>
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And here is the mixed and mastered version of those same two songs.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F2219138&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff0000" width="100%"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-58890670699133042742012-07-01T14:34:00.004-04:002012-07-01T14:39:23.718-04:00What is a Magnecorder?<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Magnecord M90:</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyvgLQflhqo-6iaAfqFxMomkQvWW45AkouI6kIBhkhoed658wG9d52Bnxt7n-AU65l4aUjM7DygbRscw_qw-cb6ns09_INbrB8uLIUO0XAaBcqqfKQa2llkOn7RR5s-UrPdXtSBSt1Q9r/s1600/magnecord-1292815609-883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyvgLQflhqo-6iaAfqFxMomkQvWW45AkouI6kIBhkhoed658wG9d52Bnxt7n-AU65l4aUjM7DygbRscw_qw-cb6ns09_INbrB8uLIUO0XAaBcqqfKQa2llkOn7RR5s-UrPdXtSBSt1Q9r/s640/magnecord-1292815609-883.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Magnecord PT6-R Magnecorder:</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7K-KMqEj_q5DMMmBNEPwC57r0f2Lo8u7i45k3__fY2_NU3vPkb1cEM9SOoZNZ8jN8DM4w2r0A6TJOdOLvtZlbzC007gr2e9O7hRMT7SIwGHQacJIoh0b56q2PBvhU3GuHvGPHTMBPbJQj/s1600/magnecord-1299108537-1434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7K-KMqEj_q5DMMmBNEPwC57r0f2Lo8u7i45k3__fY2_NU3vPkb1cEM9SOoZNZ8jN8DM4w2r0A6TJOdOLvtZlbzC007gr2e9O7hRMT7SIwGHQacJIoh0b56q2PBvhU3GuHvGPHTMBPbJQj/s640/magnecord-1299108537-1434.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;"> Magnecord M30 Magnecordette:</span></b><br />
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Magnecord, Manecorder, Magnecordette? There were many tape decks made by the company Magnecord following WWII. The most common models being the PT6-J Magnecorder and the M33 Magnecordette. I've had many of these units as well as different models that were related to these in addition to other one-offs and factory mods. Every time I think I've seen every tube design Magnecord made, two more pop up! In their day Magnecord competed with the best in the world.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDaL4kf4-IokLVApHb7FA3YcopvUIplSQB7a4WVrIQZzoKf5-J_1gJ1V2Yz-JfyqmbvvL287Wt3Mhya3J70eHOKqz210zdgJeY93O10xQw3G2GNOgReSR5pwIoZmq1UMAmOz_llyqaipU/s1600/pt66j103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhDaL4kf4-IokLVApHb7FA3YcopvUIplSQB7a4WVrIQZzoKf5-J_1gJ1V2Yz-JfyqmbvvL287Wt3Mhya3J70eHOKqz210zdgJeY93O10xQw3G2GNOgReSR5pwIoZmq1UMAmOz_llyqaipU/s640/pt66j103.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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They have fantastic build quality, are all point to point construction, easy to mod, and best of all: sound amazing once modified. I have used them stock as tape machines and they are solid and reliable with a great tone ONCE restored. Many have a lot of miles on the transports or rotting rubber parts that take their toll on proper function. Frankly all the units I have bought that did come with transports weren't worth the trouble to restore. Most are mono so to me they have little usefulness in a modern studio. Using them stock as straight up preamps or amplifiers works OK, but they are really not designed for this type of use. Much like using a stock Ampex 351 as a mic preamp: sure it will work and sounds cool, but it is really a one-trick pony. I don't like one-tricks. I prefer versatility. My hot rod amps can always do lots of stuff while keeping it simple and these Magncords take to my design philosophy SO well. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilO519VhDJuwhVilhoPU8tAd6mVOZQIcM7m44WmBFgQyPzXFGzKL3NgZRiZ_p6uUy2bp7ya5sYAMtFxz1duqOyuX8a4dmVV1PoeYyTFF23DB7qCv2bN0ZNQKAzj5Uve0Nu_8qQftCagVYl/s1600/magpt6307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilO519VhDJuwhVilhoPU8tAd6mVOZQIcM7m44WmBFgQyPzXFGzKL3NgZRiZ_p6uUy2bp7ya5sYAMtFxz1duqOyuX8a4dmVV1PoeYyTFF23DB7qCv2bN0ZNQKAzj5Uve0Nu_8qQftCagVYl/s640/magpt6307.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So, for most of these units I like to reinvent them as completely different devices using only the original iron as inspiration for the replacement circuit. I have built PT6-J units into multi-functional boxes. One as a Pre+Amp unit has a one-bottle 12AV7 preamp using the original BEEFY stock input transformer sitting next to a guitar amp circuit using the rest of the chassis space. Of these units I have had several different amp permutations. One way to go is with a 6SJ7 pentode as the preamp stage for the guitar amp, but I have also used a 6SL7 dual triode cascaded to make similar amounts of gain with a totally different tone. The power section usually has a 6SL7 or 6SN7 LTP phase inverter feeding a PP pair of 6V6 or 5881 power tubes. This circuit uses the stock output transformer of course. The output transformer is great for recording purposes because it has two secondaries: one for speaker level with 4 and 16 ohm taps and the other can be used floating as a balanced 600 ohm output. It was originally for distribution over phone lines, but once heavily padded works great for the modern recording studio. I usually put a balanced u-pad of at least -20dB so that I don't blow up recorder inputs. </div>
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Another mod I have done to the PT6-J is what I call my Pre+Limiter. It has the same one-bottle 12AV7 preamp circuit AND right next to it has a Federal AM-864/U Limiter circuit. These circuits can be used separately like on the Pre+Amp, but unlike that unit can also be wired directly together. I have coupled them in a few different ways. Originally I used a 10k:600 ohm output transformer for the preamp circuit output and wired it to a tap strip that was jumpered to a 600:10kCT input transformer on the Federal input. Later, while trying to simplify a later Pre+Limiter I decided to leave off the output transformer for the preamp circuit entirely and install a 10k:10kCT input transformer on the Federal. This made both circuits more compatible with my DAW environment because I could get more gain out of the preamp and LESS out of the Federal when using them separately AND they were mostly unaffected when used together because instead of a stepdown and stepup back to back it was just a 1:1 relationship. One less bit of iron is fine with me, there is PLENTY of color in the circuits already. All in all, Magnecords are some of my favorite mods, and despite their notoriety as of late are still fairly plentiful and the common models can be had cheap. Of all the Maggie mods I have done to a dozen models or so none of them have been lacking: ALL of them have turned out fantastic. That said, don't spend too much on these things because you'll start driving the price up for me!</div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-75269247794416847312012-06-28T10:13:00.005-04:002012-06-28T10:14:07.952-04:00Past PA Amp to Guitar Amp Conversions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I thought I'd share some of my past PA amp conversions. I have not kept very good records or notes of this stuff. So in most cases I am just writing from memory. Most of these were PA amps that drive speakers, but a few of them were mixers designed to be used with a separate power amp. Most of the mods were based on keeping the stock power and output transformers in place and using the power sections mostly stock. I nearly always change out the weaker driver/inverter stages for my favorite long-tail pair type setup. The bulk of the changes are getting rid of stupid grid-leak bias preamps and tone stacks designed for program material instead of instruments. Even when I do keep stock bits of circuits, I always rewire anyway just so I am sure everything is put together correctly.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Bell Pacemaker 20:</b></span></div>
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This was an early mod. It wound up needing a replacement power transformer. I think I put some kind of deluxe hybrid circuit in there. I think it had two 6AV6 preamp tubes, one 12AX7 driver/phase inverter tube, and two 6V6 power tubes. There are volume, treble and bass controls. Mode switch that did something cool, I can't remember exactly what right now. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58kVEPbrIQ2pg53mPCWlrG3KNSgiVghf2Ht6GTLlRX9RrRn8aqT78kdzAq6OXNQ39f9O-UNETUgyLrFReUOZmfOREQCxLtd7vIbpt2dLl4s_R6gS9gv6k-ZT7291CpW0jUgxUgjWvuASK/s1600/bogenj330102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58kVEPbrIQ2pg53mPCWlrG3KNSgiVghf2Ht6GTLlRX9RrRn8aqT78kdzAq6OXNQ39f9O-UNETUgyLrFReUOZmfOREQCxLtd7vIbpt2dLl4s_R6gS9gv6k-ZT7291CpW0jUgxUgjWvuASK/s640/bogenj330102.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Bogen J330:</span></b></div>
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I've done two of these. They make insanely great guitar amps. It has all octal socketed tubes, so I took a Bassman/Plexi type circuit and adapted it for 6SF5 preamp, 6SL7 driver, and coke bottle 6L6G tubes. One of my first paint experiments as well.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoPXARxMAJyr_Oj4-6re3ZsDbE5QFuOo0P7Lkmtq1wcf35BzHY3gREibJv3Ili5Yz_w00cXRRa9uLI1WbooNaJe64_A0cYe5dWgyniW9laXGSO27Q_Hgn80D8hmkHusR-ffur1NyqF9HW/s1600/precision201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoPXARxMAJyr_Oj4-6re3ZsDbE5QFuOo0P7Lkmtq1wcf35BzHY3gREibJv3Ili5Yz_w00cXRRa9uLI1WbooNaJe64_A0cYe5dWgyniW9laXGSO27Q_Hgn80D8hmkHusR-ffur1NyqF9HW/s640/precision201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Precision Electronics (Grommes) Mixer:</span></b><br />
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This was originally a line level tube mixer so this one doesn't have a power section. It is essentially the preamp and tone stack from my version of the Bassman/Plexi with a two-band EQ. It also has an extra drive circuit. Stick it in front of even the cheesiest amp and have full tone!<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;"> Bogen CHA-10:</span></b><br />
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This amp was ready for a champ-like treatment. At first I set up the 6AV6 and single ended 6L6 as a mostly stock power section. The interesting bit comes with the preamplifier stage. Originally I had the 6AU6 set up as a pentode, but the gain was just WAY too high, so I triode strapped it and all was well. Single volume control (microphone) and the tone control (phono) is just my favorite simple high end boost or cut. The tone switch is a mode control that implements or removes a negative feedback loop, taking the amp from tame to wild.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQVzELnLexHzKiK7fxQt702VE688TcmUovkQ7CJ-FgxFi5Pe60vtM4JODeQ70ewzHgXKHKdVpNp-DZHv2oUQghTj5Pi5KXjWTLDTyDGSrFa3_osXMyNSH6AMqq02-GeFAe0guT0sy92kr/s1600/newcomb417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQVzELnLexHzKiK7fxQt702VE688TcmUovkQ7CJ-FgxFi5Pe60vtM4JODeQ70ewzHgXKHKdVpNp-DZHv2oUQghTj5Pi5KXjWTLDTyDGSrFa3_osXMyNSH6AMqq02-GeFAe0guT0sy92kr/s640/newcomb417.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Newcomb Pathfinder 10:</b></span></div>
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This amp had a very odd stock circuit. It had a 6AU6 pentode and half of a 12AX7 acting together as a phase inverter. I got rid of all that weird stuff and installed a deluxe type circuit in here. Single input, gain control, and treble/bass controls. '10' watts of sweetness</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t2ZBnEw4PufCXCpiVuMPAovZxI9sCPBc7QD2p8gNEuPezyzgSn_s_2zl0NkLC4l-563iJKR6ZyzFgaeUp3hM2qah6m6Zd6RbdRObaeIeve7azZlG5-TvMwl3b3YDgdKdKkPfCgMfWVFF/s1600/moviola04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_t2ZBnEw4PufCXCpiVuMPAovZxI9sCPBc7QD2p8gNEuPezyzgSn_s_2zl0NkLC4l-563iJKR6ZyzFgaeUp3hM2qah6m6Zd6RbdRObaeIeve7azZlG5-TvMwl3b3YDgdKdKkPfCgMfWVFF/s640/moviola04.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Magnasync Moviola Squawk Box:</b></span></div>
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I installed essentially the Jekyll & Hyde amp circuit in this lovely little box. It was a beeitch trying to get the internal speaker to keep from rattling, but once I did this was a solid combo amp that had a surprising amount of power. I hooked it up to a full stack of 8x12" speakers once and it was plenty loud enough to keep up with a whole band. Not bad for a 6AQ5 single-ended power section!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyJqL1r99MPjb2MtSXg2vbdWEXq-tZ-FYNcA43V14XcpZanHWmyFCjmc3DymJDiQCI1e-aHhWaOGGLUpQpkepgn5UdvdDYYKbY9tmDpbW-GjmC5zXgxJVb9z4rBpX8neXNI14j4AFq39T/s1600/chb10a111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyJqL1r99MPjb2MtSXg2vbdWEXq-tZ-FYNcA43V14XcpZanHWmyFCjmc3DymJDiQCI1e-aHhWaOGGLUpQpkepgn5UdvdDYYKbY9tmDpbW-GjmC5zXgxJVb9z4rBpX8neXNI14j4AFq39T/s640/chb10a111.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Bogen CHB-10A:</span></b><br />
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Another donor with the Jekyll & Hyde circuit. Though this one has a solid-state power supply and a 7868 power tube so it has a very different vibe. I've made 4 of these and they have all turned out amazing. So simple I think I could mod one from start to finish in less time than it takes to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. (That includes teardown, drilling, total rewire and recap, and basic testing!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkft_nHpgho7WrawjiLHTgDFJB2ksa8vLvtMdEsMeMcR53lUrWp8y8VMc15fFM-eEGnpGKaXMbyhJHumFOrBxNa2ov4lS5DRIPNzOZFKJrnu4ixn4qHEC2DJY6Y681gW_WWJm5cpP39bts/s1600/strombergmixer08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkft_nHpgho7WrawjiLHTgDFJB2ksa8vLvtMdEsMeMcR53lUrWp8y8VMc15fFM-eEGnpGKaXMbyhJHumFOrBxNa2ov4lS5DRIPNzOZFKJrnu4ixn4qHEC2DJY6Y681gW_WWJm5cpP39bts/s640/strombergmixer08.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>Stromberg-Carlson Mixer Model 38:</b></span><br />
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Another very early project for me. I think this was the last time I kept the original can caps installed. They worked great for a while, until one day when they failed and fried up the power transformer and nearly started a fire. I reworked it with a new transformer and all new caps. Lesson learned. The circuit was still pretty much stock. It had four mic inputs and one transformer balanced line output. Great tone with way too much gain! EQ section was subtle but cool. </div>
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None of these beauties is still in my collection. They were all sold long ago to further the cause. I just thought I'd share some of the past to help show the evolution to the present. I have several similar amps awaiting mods for the station, so stay tuned.<br />
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-70675785832580626392012-06-24T15:16:00.001-04:002012-06-24T16:27:22.721-04:00Signal Tracers as Recording Amps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheqQaoQZHBsKi7wn3Nl2Xj2_ftAoh6hnS7qnOQKF9l3brHmefsEkbBxKx0wsetgDoZnEU4tKN3t1LVwivCWwpw3gskpiEiBSBFGfQY0RhkT2wYEaGcDV4YD4sE3-gDXTuCsnMMRq33TGsB/s1600/heathkit201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheqQaoQZHBsKi7wn3Nl2Xj2_ftAoh6hnS7qnOQKF9l3brHmefsEkbBxKx0wsetgDoZnEU4tKN3t1LVwivCWwpw3gskpiEiBSBFGfQY0RhkT2wYEaGcDV4YD4sE3-gDXTuCsnMMRq33TGsB/s640/heathkit201.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYo_XWp2J8AHbL26vd4Y1ujnXmn-dIGSlV7UN8aUJkZaFZiyIU2YcqS25wMGuD9wKuAHoejc7jXTNmrpUXHHG3ZwUXipmmYTGXNrnqMmwluTXGnxjeU6UDdRMwZ-8_C-NndPan1DN33gy4/s1600/heathkit104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYo_XWp2J8AHbL26vd4Y1ujnXmn-dIGSlV7UN8aUJkZaFZiyIU2YcqS25wMGuD9wKuAHoejc7jXTNmrpUXHHG3ZwUXipmmYTGXNrnqMmwluTXGnxjeU6UDdRMwZ-8_C-NndPan1DN33gy4/s640/heathkit104.jpg" width="442" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast Modified Heathkit IT-12 Signal Tracer:</span></b><br />
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I made a promise years ago to adopt a thread from an online forum regarding a Heathkit IT-12 Signal Tracer. I modified mine and never updated with details. From what I remember I had to sell it pretty quick, so it didn't stick around for long once it was finished. It was certainly cool though. With a 12AX7 as the preamp and driver tube, it doesn't really matter what power tube you're going into they all sound great. So, it won't be hard to apply basic 12AX7 guitar circuit ideas here. Plenty of designs of low watt amps will work here.<br />
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Here is the <span style="background-color: white;">Heathkit IT-12 Stock Schematic, downloaded from vintage-radio.info </span><span style="background-color: white;">http://www.vintage-radio.info/download/download.php?dir=heathkit&file=it-12.gif</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjzEEpKEkP0GXE_o9HGWYcOKcJJNo4FOC7axQmUz80lPg2CQ9aUCm6TV7kVjaBk-YZ1Xbbm3L6Ca_6dJdmU6Z4ll5juUt8yI_mC0_jlETLSbepCV2nCDwHqD4SA3mrwAK97Sr3DMVEU8V/s1600/it-12.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjzEEpKEkP0GXE_o9HGWYcOKcJJNo4FOC7axQmUz80lPg2CQ9aUCm6TV7kVjaBk-YZ1Xbbm3L6Ca_6dJdmU6Z4ll5juUt8yI_mC0_jlETLSbepCV2nCDwHqD4SA3mrwAK97Sr3DMVEU8V/s640/it-12.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here is my modified schematic. It looks complete despite being a quick sketch:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5pLW2Zmm7nmeMaHEmFwWAnSPhSCj6u9Bsu0mwxSpgp_iJ6ay_A3iYZj9YhyphenhyphenJsryJm53mg03d2sud_5leD11EuhDaGvMyXisrnKHHo1KmP4HTqxr7OgLG9Sc16geP1gaUdBwhUDasH1uX7/s1600/heathkitit12edit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5pLW2Zmm7nmeMaHEmFwWAnSPhSCj6u9Bsu0mwxSpgp_iJ6ay_A3iYZj9YhyphenhyphenJsryJm53mg03d2sud_5leD11EuhDaGvMyXisrnKHHo1KmP4HTqxr7OgLG9Sc16geP1gaUdBwhUDasH1uX7/s640/heathkitit12edit1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Start out by removing entirely the external probe, C2, C3, and R14. R1, the 1 meg potentiometer will be replaced with a 500k Audio taper pot that will be placed between the first two stages. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Replace probe jack with a 1/4" switching jack. Wire ground to the switch so it shorts out when nothing is plugged in. Wire a 68k resistor from the input jack to the grid of V1A. Replace R2 with a 1Meg resistor. </span><span style="background-color: white;">The plate resistors are kind of small so we will replace R3 with a 220k and R5 with 100k. You can keep the R4 bias resistor, but add a 25uf-25v electrolytic capacitor across it from cathode to ground. C4, the coupling cap should be replaced and increased to a .02uf film type. Install the new 500k pot after this cap. Replace the on/off knob for a tone pot. This tone pot will also be a 500k Audio type. Wire the wiper to the wiper of the volume pot, a 500pf cap from the first pin of the tone pot to the first pin of the volume pot (where it interfaces the new .02uf cap), and finally wire a .005uf cap from pin 3 of the tone pot to ground (the grounded pin 3 of the volume pot works perfectly). Then run a 1k resistor from where the wipers of the volume and tone pot meet to the grid of V1B. The old speaker switch will be the new power switch by the way.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">V1B has a grid leak type bias setup with the cathode tied directly to ground. It is cheaper from a design point of view and was adequate for this type of circuit. For guitar amp use and for tone it is kind of a one trick pony, once it clips it gets gnarly really quick. There is little nuance, the nastiness is either on or off. I personally don't like this sound and when I find it in PAs or in test equipment I toss it in favor of a proper resistor bias. Plus adding a resistor here gives me the ability to add a feedback loop and feedback mode switch to give the amp two distinct tonal variations. My favorite size here would be 1.5k, though you could go lower like 820R or higher like 3k depending on what value you like best. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Now the mode switch is where it gets a bit tricky. Leave this out if you don't want to bother. Use the old noise switch to perform this function. Run a feedback loop from the positive output of the speaker transformer secondary to a 27k resistor and connect that to the cathode of V1B. Wired in parallel with the bias resistor of V1B is a 47k resistor in series with a 25uf-25v electrolytic capacitor. The 47k resistor sits between the cathode of V1B and the + end of the electrolytic cap. The - end is grounded. Wired across the 47k resistor is a SPST switch that simply shorts out the 47k resistor. Essentially what this switch does is have the amp be cleaner and more linear with the switch open and the feedback loop engaged and more driven and non-linear/exaggerated with the switch closed. Closing the switch engages the bypass cap directly and effectively erases the feedback from the output transformer's feedback resistor.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The power section and Magic Eye meter section remains stock, but I will increase C7 to 100uf-25v and replace C9 with a film type .001uf cap. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Adding to functionality I will add a switching 1/4" external speaker jack and padded 1/4" TRS headphone/line out jack with its own volume trim. First I will run a 100 ohm resistor across the transformer output as a minimum load even if a speaker cable is plugged in and there is no speaker hooked up. Then I run the + signal to the tip of the 1/4" jack. Wire the switch on that jack to the positive terminal on the built-in speaker. From the output transformer + terminal again run a 100 ohm resistor to pin 1 of the 1k Audio taper trim control. Pin 3 is grounded and pin 2 goes to two 100 ohm resistors that terminate at the two + lugs of a headphone line out jack. When using stereo headphones it provides mono signal to both phones or when using with an unbalanced TS 1/4" cable it shorts one of the signals to ground safely while the tip becomes your line out signal. You can send this padded signal to a recording device, power amp or the input of another instrument amplifier.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Heaters and power supply stay the same, but replace the caps with 50uf types of at least 200 volts. Install a panel mount 3AG fuse block of 1 amp slo-blo type fuse. Replace two prong AC connector with a 3 prong grounded IEC connector or hardwired three prong plug. Ground the ground wire to the chassis securely and run the Line signal to the fuse which is then in series with the power switch Wire the neutral AC leg directly to the power transformer primary.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I think that covers it. If I can help clarify anything please be sure to comment.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-76485654349980246432012-06-23T14:18:00.001-04:002012-06-23T15:48:05.026-04:00Brute Force of Jekyll & Hyde<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAK_2GMYPpd-U6Grh2tdbYhMyGX4PhcpD-J6LvBXIUPcp54u-1A67nraLYTUQhlSlPOuYSK2CaDeSDv60pcf_BdaAKjjx6Flbao-7XcnNLKo_Ov7BAkPsT-KD6Urdc9GA5S0sSD29gzvn/s1600/IMG_4754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAK_2GMYPpd-U6Grh2tdbYhMyGX4PhcpD-J6LvBXIUPcp54u-1A67nraLYTUQhlSlPOuYSK2CaDeSDv60pcf_BdaAKjjx6Flbao-7XcnNLKo_Ov7BAkPsT-KD6Urdc9GA5S0sSD29gzvn/s640/IMG_4754.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrqHF_tcSn0z0IA_arpIsuR5zoAhXS_jKjn61bCbhcUHDcaYUJfVVIl9ryNh2a48iJBVe40KTj525zyjBK7kNaobYAeg8Uf_EaFW22Eg28RWT9eK63MLKV8EJCvU3akWGiZE49Z9yNUZ_k/s1600/IMG_4766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrqHF_tcSn0z0IA_arpIsuR5zoAhXS_jKjn61bCbhcUHDcaYUJfVVIl9ryNh2a48iJBVe40KTj525zyjBK7kNaobYAeg8Uf_EaFW22Eg28RWT9eK63MLKV8EJCvU3akWGiZE49Z9yNUZ_k/s640/IMG_4766.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Guts of the Pre+Amp, TB-PPA1:</span></b><br />
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Here are the current audio circuits I am using in the Akai Pre+Amp and Ampex 601/602. First up is the Brute Force preamp circuit with optional XLR input and XLR dual output circuits. I use this circuit in the Pre+Amp and 2xPre units as well as in slightly tweaked form in the Ampex 601/602 Tape Machine Amps. Like the 2xPre Akai/Roberts monoblock mod, I can fit two channels in each 601 or 602 unit, the only difference between the two is the tube rectified/AC heaters in the 601 and solid state rectified/DC heaters in the 602.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfMFyPliDCIAA0giWOhyphenhyphenIVbGRVw3X9EofdMh2JRlIbqg41ttObYF-zyvsYvxRNQTiLH3v25zqu1eCnLn8s1scvgqtoFhL6cerXbpPw_d5qKTO6WOQPb8R71-1jEspsZO5jvAtBvS38v1N/s1600/bruteforceedit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfMFyPliDCIAA0giWOhyphenhyphenIVbGRVw3X9EofdMh2JRlIbqg41ttObYF-zyvsYvxRNQTiLH3v25zqu1eCnLn8s1scvgqtoFhL6cerXbpPw_d5qKTO6WOQPb8R71-1jEspsZO5jvAtBvS38v1N/s640/bruteforceedit1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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If it is not clear, the first preamp stage's coupling cap connects to the switch of the 1/4" line in jack. V1 is a 6267/EF86 or you could use a 5879 which is basically the same tube with different pinout. The line amp is a 12AU7 type and you can use anything compatible you want here including 5963, my favorite. Also, the plate resistor on the top triode of the white cathode follower is 220R or 220 ohms. There are two outputs, one is transformerless at about 3k and impedance balanced while the other is 600 ohms transformer balanced. They can be used simultaneously. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAG_bwR5kQaRS38zIMJCJY_HjfpVPhJxrc1uzyyk3i_-Ld93apxxKS0HRv3RI8dE6Pivx7aA6dUKTGCYWQJqjpXDNDEbIO3SDoPk_kNdAoB-b9mlbToBtxFdhKkSt5aIDECXSoanS5dJZ/s1600/jekyllhydeedit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAG_bwR5kQaRS38zIMJCJY_HjfpVPhJxrc1uzyyk3i_-Ld93apxxKS0HRv3RI8dE6Pivx7aA6dUKTGCYWQJqjpXDNDEbIO3SDoPk_kNdAoB-b9mlbToBtxFdhKkSt5aIDECXSoanS5dJZ/s640/jekyllhydeedit1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And then here is the Jekyll Hyde Amp. It has two distinct modes that give it two very different sounds. One tame and one wild, but both rich with tone. <span style="background-color: white;">Some stuff might not be so easy to read. The cathode on the second 12AX7 stage has 27k feedback from the output transformer. At the cathode there is a 3k bias resistor and in parallel with a 47k resistor in series with a 25uf 50v cap. The mode switch effectively shorts the 47k resistor and erases the negative feedback. So: switch open is cleaner with NFB. Switch closed is wide open and driven with no feedback.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-41534303178501443372012-06-23T08:47:00.001-04:002012-06-23T08:49:56.647-04:00Circuit Design Philosophy<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip5NqqpnfRqIWRSiZ2Mduitcq3z0x4qrkEEkryygakgfw5lREokjKw4XHN5HrtWzQaoeaRa6rM6nJ0xI5AuMXRppsxJEdC25yzk8Mcf7w-LE0njmi4-_3fvzqg7RbOgjHPO1GGObF-lqcR/s1600/akaiwood101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip5NqqpnfRqIWRSiZ2Mduitcq3z0x4qrkEEkryygakgfw5lREokjKw4XHN5HrtWzQaoeaRa6rM6nJ0xI5AuMXRppsxJEdC25yzk8Mcf7w-LE0njmi4-_3fvzqg7RbOgjHPO1GGObF-lqcR/s640/akaiwood101.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Self Taught Kiss:</span></b><br />
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I prefer to recreate things rather than perform simple tweaks, commit to outright restoring or even trying to reinvent the wheel. I like to take what is stock and, while keeping the spirit of it, rearrange varying amounts of what was already there. I do this to better suit an array of modern studio uses for a particular donor instead of its original intentions. So when I get a new donor amp that I haven't seen before I don't immediately try to shove a square peg in a round hole. Instead I look at what the donor has to offer and work from there. Since I always reuse the power transformer, that is the best place to start. Most of them aren't labeled, so I look up the tubes themselves and see what their respective heater and hi-pot voltage requirements are. Then I can reverse engineer at least what the minimum capabilities of the power transformer are. Most vintage iron was used in circuits that gave it plenty of headroom even beyond this minimal capability, but I try to keep whatever I replace the stock circuit with at or below the stock usage levels. If I have to goose it a bit, though I know this old stuff can take it. Once I have the voltage capabilities I look at the tube sockets themselves. Of course I can always swap out a 7 pin for a 9 pin or a 9 pin for an 8 pin octal, but sometimes it is best just to keep it simple and use what is there. Simple things like the stock socket types and layout often get my wheels spinning as I search out suitable circuits to place in my donor chassis. Once I have a general idea of what I want to put in there I consider controls and input/output. How many pots, switches, and jacks will I need to make my new circuit fully operational? What kind of space do I have or need to make in the chassis to fit what I need? Will there already be some extra functionality built into the stock unit that I can find a function for in the new circuit? At this point I will start to make changes to the new circuits. I like to add simple functions to my mods that are useful to modern recordists without making the new device overly complicated. I really strive to keep things simple and made the old ways. You'll never find anything frivolous in my units, though I do like to take advantage of slight tweaks that can greatly enhance the usefulness of a device. In the end the principle of K.I.S.S. or “Keep It Simple, Stupid” reigns supreme.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372650259544146761.post-12319297484601782302012-06-21T15:52:00.000-04:002012-06-23T09:06:14.025-04:00Didn't You Used to Circuit-Bend?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: red;">Tablebeast Casio SK-1 model TB-SK01 mk II:</span></b><br />
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Yes, I did circuit-bend. And technically I still do from time to time. Though I only used the authentic, 'anti-theory' circuit-bent principles at the very beginning. Soon the whole anti-theory angle of it seemed somewhat lazy to me. I needed to know WHY such strange changes were happening and how those changes made such interesting sounds. I wanted to utilise theory to get the most out of this creative short circuiting called circuit-bending. At one point I even owned circuit-bent.com and ran a really lame website out of it. Back then when bending was so hip, I sold piles of stuff and never had time to even make a proper website! So even though I capitalized on the url, I've always considered what I am doing as modding instead of actual bending. I was never poking around blindly once I got to my third or fourth project. I started to figure out via message boards and my own research what was really going on. I was trying to get the most out of this digital phenomena of screwing up little bits of code to create such alien noises. Back in early 2001 when I first really got going with the bending I picked up my first Casio SK-1.<br />
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While plotting out the mods that I had found, I was becoming frustrated at how to tap into the vast wealth available with this circuit. Up until that point I had been messing with Speak & Spells and other simple children's toys. A few switches, some body contacts, maybe a knob or two and they were ready to go! But this SK-1 was going to take a giant array of switches if it was going to do the SK-1's potential any justice. I thought instead to just breakout the points on the board to a series of contacts and then short them together with alligator clips. While I was doing this, trying to whittle down my favorite short circuit to like 24 switches or so, I realised that I could just install something similar to my clip setup, only more user friendly. My first idea was to use an external box with an umbilical cord attached. The box would have an array of 1/4" jacks. You could jump a cable from one socket to another, make a short circuit connection, and thus creating a patch for a modular bending mod! Immediately I was looking for something more streamlined. I didn't think the mod box was too elegant. I then stumbled on some RCA panels used for diy hi-fi. Since I needed a more compact setup I gave it a shot. There was actually enough room in the case itself if I yanked the speaker out, so I really liked how I could fit the mods all inside the keyboard and keep it as portable as stock. The kicker was that the RCA cables were a joy to play with. The way they contact the sockets allows you to do careful and nuanced shorting that was impossible with the 1/4" variety. Over the next few months I refined my design, changed the 8 point patch panels for some much nicer 12 pt panels that I found, and added some switches that shorted pair of sockets, so specific patches could be saved and engaged with a switch. The hybrid approach of full access to the live mod points and the programmable switches proved to be a popular combination. I soon outfitted this type of setup on nearly all my mods. After a while I figured out you could even patch back and forth with similar devices. The Yamaha DD drum machines, the Roland digital TR drum machines, the Casio SK samplers, could be CROSS PATCHED between devices with insane mods as a result. Needless to say others found this idea of modular bending via an RCA and later other types of patchbay was something they wanted to use for their own mods. Today they call an RCA patchbay of any sort a Tablebeast mod, especially when installed on an SK-1. I don't know if I am the first one to come up with using a patchbay to bend, but I sure was the one to popularise it. I sold a ton of SK-1s back in the day because of it! I don't sell many any more, but I offer them for sale as every time I try to quit selling my mkII SK-1 mod, folks wave money in my face so I help them out. What can I say? 11+ years later and I still love building them!<br />
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OK, so the point of all this circuit-bending talk and what it has to do with the xfmr page? I plan to build a few choice instruments for the studio and will for sure be using an MT-240 and SK-1 to help write sound FX for the podcast. Like I said, the main focus is tubes here, but there will be some synth, mod, and solid state projects added in for variety.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12168608316299859335noreply@blogger.com0