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The Menace


n_maher

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as for alternatives (like you really care, at this point) vt4c has some nice sockets that should fit.

I care and actually have some nice, normal octal sockets I just didn't think it was going to be as much of an issue using the Johnson sockets. Now that I've got 1-1/2" holes in the chassis my options moving forward are somewhat limited unless I start fabing mounting plates to hide the over sized holes and I think that the rtv is a better solution.
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I'm loving the Diary of the Menace, Nate. It's like tuning in to a new episode each night. It will be even better when I get to see/hear it at CanJam.

Me too. It's like the minute by minute amp reviews that are now the vogue, except that things actually change here. The story is great Nate. Keep it up!

Oooh, so B-52-like! Although, I guess they would have to be gold.

Beat me to it. The exact same thought came into my mind when I saw these. ;D

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Update: hour 783.216 - rich colorful sound with good tone and separation. Like all good burn-in reviews I haven't actually spent any time listening to the amp yet.

Ok, a successful lunch time trip to the store yielded both rubber o-rings to use as spacers and RTV silicone to use as well. No black available so I had to settle for red. Devil colored RTV works for me. >:D

Also managed to put in a call to my tube pimp and order the last of the tubes that I want to have available for the trip to FLA. It's a damn good thing that I have in no way attempted to track what I've spent on this project. I'm guessing that the power supply has the better part of $500 or so into it not counting tubes. And the amp, while less expensive in terms of parts will be a lot more in terms of tubes.

:kitty:

The race to CanJam continues...

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It's a damn good thing that I have in no way attempted to track what I've spent on this project. I'm guessing that the power supply has the better part of $500 or so into it not counting tubes.

This is why I'm damn happy there's a large electronics surplus store near me where I can pick up parts for pennies on the dollar. Of course there's no guarantee on the parts and I've had a couple things blow up, and that can be a bit of a bummer...

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Ok, back on topic.

Nights 7 and 8: amp fab continues. Cut thumb aside I really did make some half-way decent progress tonight. First things first I needed to enlarge the holes that I'd drilled for the Johnson tube sockets. I guess that these are supposed to be mounted from the underside but that would make using the various output tubes that I have in mind a giant hassle. Basically it'd mean finding a way to mount them in the same location that would require 1-3/4" access hole for the tube base. Uh, that's not going to work at all. But with the help of a few folks here and my local hardware store I found all the things that I'd need to mount them on the top of the chassis which I think looks 10x better anyway. Also, after a few conversations with Pete we decided that my plan of running parallel 50W resistors to both help with temperatures and also run the resistors conservatively was a good plan. So a little more work with Autocad and I'd found a way to mount them such that my existing layout wouldn't require modification. That's a damn good thing since modifications at this point would involve overnight shipping and tossing what I have in the trash can.

:kitty:

So after enlarging the tube socket holes I got down to the business of laying out the resistors in their predetermined locations and also laying out the mounthing holes for the two caps at the rear of the chassis (local B+ caps). Then it was just a matter of drilling 20 or so holes and the bulk of the top panel fabrication is now complete. I installed the resistors and the sockets to make sure that everything was fitting as intended and decided to call it a night. Tomorrow is front and rear panel time, with all round holes that should go pretty quickly. I suppose this wouldn't be complete without a few pictures. ;)

Custom Holes (not sexy, but functional)

95793514.jpg

Socket and Resistor Mock Up

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Holes Drilled

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Top Layout Preview

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I Hope These Resistors Are Big Enough

95793519.jpg

That's it for tonight, but wait, a preview of things to come...

95793520.jpg

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Day/Night 9: no pictures tonight, mostly because I had to stop mid-drilling for fear of waking my wife and unleashing the wrath. But today I managed to get both power umbilical cords built and just about all the rest of the chassis fabrication done. All that's left for tomorrow night is to finish drilling the power inputs (less than a half hour) and then it'll be time to start installing all the big parts so that wiring can begin. With a little luck I'll get that started tomorrow night. With a lot of luck I'll have all of the wiring finished up Tuesday night and might get to fire this sucker up Wednesday...

Oh, and wish me luck as tomorrow night I get to try and drill out a knob to fit the shaft extension that I have. The extension that I have is 1/4" and the knob is 6mm (.2362") and there's no way that I have time to try and find another extension kit and also hope that it fits the mounting holes that I've already drilled. >:(:o

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<snipped>

Oh, and wish me luck as tomorrow night I get to try and drill out a knob to fit the shaft extension that I have. The extension that I have is 1/4" and the knob is 6mm (.2362") and there's no way that I have time to try and find another extension kit and also hope that it fits the mounting holes that I've already drilled. >:(:o

You have a drillpress, right? How about a drillpress vise, like one of those cheapies from Harbor Freight or whatever?

30999.gif

I had to drill a couple out, and it was quite easy. Just wrap them in a rag or something and fasten them down as best you can, level if possible is good...

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You have a drillpress, right?

Yeah, I have a press and I've got a vice so really it shouldn't be all that bad. Just be a bummer if I torch a $30 knob from THL that I don't even want to use for this project but it's the only one that I have on hand that will really work w/ the rest of the project (scale wise).
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