I FINALLY got to ALMOST crank the amp today jamming with some friends. If any of you are looking to build the 18 watt so you can play at low volumes in a house apartment, this amp is NOT for you if you want it to growl. These 18 watters are alot louder than I thought.
The tone was just monumental. I didn't use reverb, chorus, delay - nor did I need them. I DID use my Fulltone Fulldrive some on the TMB channel to see how it would react with the amp. That's probably about all I'll ever use to spice things up. Sounded wonderful.
On the downside, I encountered a crackling at the higher volumes, regardless of channel. Towards the end of the jam, I tried jiggling the speaker wire I had just soldered in a couple of days ago when I received my cabinet. After that it worked perfectly for the last 15 minutes of the jam. I will go ahead and resolder the speaker connections, but in the meantime, does this issue sound familiar to anyone else to where the crackling only happens at the highest volumes? I'm crossing my fingers it's only the speaker connections.
could be the speaker cable..or something loose,or cold solder joint. Thats what it sounds like.. sometimes the componets are soldered good,but just the vibration ,the leads and caps vibrate,tubes or retainers,and pick up a buzz or noise. Theres alot of vibration going on. Combos are known for this happening.
Some people use silicone type stuff to put on the caps or resistors.
It may sound crazy,but when you look at a layout or schematic,you just see the parts, the things you don't see are how the componets can vibrate and cause noise. Some things i do, is use rubber washers under the boards mounting bolts. You could also strip some solid core wire about 18 ga. and use the insulation to slide over the leads of the caps and resistors, this will help,and make sure the leads are pushed down along the board. I'm sure there are alot more methods,but these are some that help. Sometimes its a little more extra work but it helps in the combos.
could be the speaker cable..or something loose,or cold solder joint. Thats what it sounds like.. sometimes the componets are soldered good,but just the vibration ,the leads and caps vibrate,tubes or retainers,and pick up a buzz or noise. Theres alot of vibration going on. Combos are known for this happening.
Some people use silicone type stuff to put on the caps or resistors.
It may sound crazy,but when you look at a layout or schematic,you just see the parts, the things you don't see are how the components can vibrate and cause noise. Some things i do, is use rubber washers under the boards mounting bolts. You could also strip some solid core wire about 18 ga. and use the insulation to slide over the leads of the caps and resistors, this will help,and make sure the leads are pushed down along the board. I'm sure there are alot more methods,but these are some that help. Sometimes its a little more extra work but it helps in the combos.
Richie
I've also encountered thus problem When there was dirt and oxidation on the 12AX7 pins. Just needs cleaning the pins with some steel wool and plugging the tubes in firmly.