Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

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Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

This should be interesting. Once again, Bieworm got me curious, so I designed what will eventually be an official version of the Tremolo TMB Xtra.

Here's the roughly 14" turretboard design:
JMPGuitars TremTMBXtraR Turretboard.jpg
I've been curious about how this amp would sound with high quality SMD/radial stuff on a smaller footprint, so I designed this:
JMPGuitars TremTMBXtraR PCB.jpg
I have a smaller chassis design on order, and I'm going to try it out with that PCB which is half the width of the turret board.

I'm looking forward to building/hearing this.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Bieworm »

Sweet!
A few things drew my attention...
The bright cap parallel to the 470k resistor in the cascade.. is it there to compensate the loss of treble , using the 120k plate resistor?
I see a voltage divider.. does that imply the volume gain is gone? You should try a 220k resistor to ground there.. that's where the prototype shines. Try it and let me know what you think. I have the 500k pot on 75 to 80%, and that is IMHO a crucial value for me at that spot...
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Bieworm wrote:
Tue 03/08/22 1:04 pm
Sweet!
A few things drew my attention...
The bright cap parallel to the 470k resistor in the cascade.. is it there to compensate the loss of treble , using the 120k plate resistor?
I see a voltage divider.. does that imply the volume gain is gone? You should try a 220k resistor to ground there.. that's where the prototype shines. Try it and let me know what you think. I have the 500k pot on 75 to 80%, and that is IMHO a crucial value for me at that spot...
That 100pF cap is what Phil called the "Sparkle Cap." Now it's extra sparkly!

Nothing is implied. If you compare my Tremolo TMB and Xtra TMB circuits, you'll see in the Xtra TMB I had a Lite2b Tone/Volume setup incorporated before the TMB tone stack. I did that again here, but in a different position. It should be pretty interesting assuming no issues from my PCB design.

This is missing a couple switches, but shows my initial plan for the pots (ignore the missing ground wire, the doc isn't finished):
TTMBXR Pots.jpg
Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Bieworm »

Looks like a reeeeally nice project, Josh!! When d'ya think you’ll build it?
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Bieworm wrote:
Tue 03/08/22 2:03 pm
Looks like a reeeeally nice project, Josh!! When d'ya think you’ll build it?
Thanks!

Well, I already found a mistake on the PCB. So I'm not ordering those until I'm fairly certain there's no issues left. Then it will probably be a week or two before I get them. I have the chassis on order, but same deal, probably a couple weeks before they arrive. All the components/SMD stuff I didn't have in my stock will be here this week. I figure I'll probably build this next month.

This month I'm building some recording preamps.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Daviedawg »

How easy are the SMDs to work with Josh? The only time I have been beaten in amp repairs was a Blackstar with SMDs.

Dd
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Daviedawg wrote:
Wed 03/09/22 4:50 am
How easy are the SMDs to work with Josh? The only time I have been beaten in amp repairs was a Blackstar with SMDs.

Dd
Easy is relative. If you have hot air and solder paste, it's easier. Size also makes a big difference for how easy the SMD stuff is.

I made a few SMD practice boards before doing more serious stuff: https://www.instagram.com/p/CN7ZXahAAUZ/

My tube tester board has some much more difficult SMD work on it, some worse than the 0402s on those test boards:
tube tester SMD stuff.png
For that I had to use my digital microscope.

I highly recommend getting a few SMD practice boards. They're probably harder than most of what you'll see in guitar amps.

For my amp PCB I made the resistors really big (as SMD goes) – they’re on the 2512 footprint, which is much larger than a lot of the stuff I’ve done. They’re also on hand-soldering pads (wider than the 2512 spec) so they can be done by hand or reworked fairly easily. By comparison, the largest components on the practice boards were 1206, half the size of the 2512s.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Daviedawg »

Thanks Josh. More of the stuff is coming with these so I need to address it rather than stick my head in the sand.

Dd
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Daviedawg wrote:
Wed 03/09/22 11:24 am
Thanks Josh. More of the stuff is coming with these so I need to address it rather than stick my head in the sand.

Dd
You should get some of those SMD training boards. They're typically under $10, and well worth it. I use an Aoyue 2703A+, but there are lots of other great options too if you don't already have hot air. Hot air is soooo much easier than hand soldering is with the tiny stuff.
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

The PCB passed highlighter testing vs. the regular layout and schematic, so I ordered it.

Here's how it looks:
TTMBXR.jpg
Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

I got the board in and soldered all the resistors...that I ordered. I might have forgot a couple values.

Here's what it looks like so far:
ttmbxr-pcb.jpg
Here's a video of me soldering the resistors in with hot air:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbYWUVTAgUQ/

After that, I cleaned it off with a nylon brush, and got rid of the tiny balls of excess solder. When they're all done, I'll also clean the PCB with rubbing alcohol before proceeding with the caps.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Funny side note...
The SMD resistors didn't save any space compared to the typical CMF resistors I use. That's okay, my goal was to hear how the SMT stuff sounds. But now I'm tempted to make the same exact board with standard THT resistors and see if there's any audible difference.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Bieworm »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Tue 03/22/22 1:24 pm
Funny side note...
The SMD resistors didn't save any space compared to the typical CMF resistors I use. That's okay, my goal was to hear how the SMT stuff sounds. But now I'm tempted to make the same exact board with standard THT resistors and see if there's any audible difference.

Thanks,
Josh
They saved you some height ... now find filter caps with the same height and you can fit your amp in a cd player 😉
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

The PCB is all done, but I have no idea when the new chassis design will arrive.
JMPGuitars_TremTMBXR-PCB.jpg

I took my time, and while this is a fairly complex circuit by comparison, it was probably the fastest I've every finished a board.

Thanks,
Josh
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Bieworm »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Wed 03/23/22 8:28 pm
The PCB is all done, but I have no idea when the new chassis design will arrive.

JMPGuitars_TremTMBXR-PCB.jpg


I took my time, and while this is a fairly complex circuit by comparison, it was probably the fastest I've every finished a board.

Thanks,
Josh
Did you solder them Wimas with hot air too?
Wimas are soo nice.. I like the way they feel😏
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Bieworm wrote:
Thu 03/24/22 4:49 am
Did you solder them Wimas with hot air too?
Wimas are soo nice.. I like the way they feel😏
Haha, no. WIMAs melt with hot air. Don't ask me how I know. 😉

I love their capacitors, they make great stuff. I've never made a guitar amp with them exclusively, so I'm interested to hear how it sounds.

They finally shipped my new chassis. Maybe I won't have to be toooooo patient.
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Bieworm »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Thu 03/24/22 5:48 am
Bieworm wrote:
Thu 03/24/22 4:49 am
Did you solder them Wimas with hot air too?
Wimas are soo nice.. I like the way they feel😏
Haha, no. WIMAs melt with hot air. Don't ask me how I know. 😉

I love their capacitors, they make great stuff. I've never made a guitar amp with them exclusively, so I'm interested to hear how it sounds.

They finally shipped my new chassis. Maybe I won't have to be toooooo patient.
Yeah, I'm curious how it will look and sound too.. the lil' Tremolo TMB
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Bieworm wrote:
Thu 03/24/22 6:33 am
Yeah, I'm curious how it will look and sound too.. the lil' Tremolo TMB
The lil' Tremolo TMB Xtra.
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by Bieworm »

JMPGuitars wrote:
Thu 03/24/22 7:57 am
Bieworm wrote:
Thu 03/24/22 6:33 am
Yeah, I'm curious how it will look and sound too.. the lil' Tremolo TMB
The lil' Tremolo TMB Xtra.
I wonder how your version will relate to mine, soundwise.. I fitted mine with a heritage 55Hz G12H30 and it sounds really amazing. I like the footswitch option on mine a lot.
Will have to build yours too, a few amps from now. Have planned 2 builds the next few weeks. One plexi 20W and a 6L6 powered 6G3 with blackface reverb. The plexi will fit into an old Vox combo I scored some time ago. But I'm still deciding plexi or JCM800. I ordered a bunch of those primarywindings B+ switchable PT 's from the UK ...
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Re: Josh's Tremolo TMB Xtra Reverb

Post by JMPGuitars »

Bieworm wrote:
Thu 03/24/22 9:11 am
I wonder how your version will relate to mine, soundwise.. I fitted mine with a heritage 55Hz G12H30 and it sounds really amazing. I like the footswitch option on mine a lot.
Will have to build yours too, a few amps from now. Have planned 2 builds the next few weeks. One plexi 20W and a 6L6 powered 6G3 with blackface reverb. The plexi will fit into an old Vox combo I scored some time ago. But I'm still deciding plexi or JCM800. I ordered a bunch of those primarywindings B+ switchable PT 's from the UK ...
No idea yet. I'm hoping there are no noise issues, but we'll see. I'm making a head, I only play through a detuned 2x12 cab with a single WGS Blackhawk.

Thanks,
Josh
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