Deluxe Reverb style amp project

[Ken Fox]

Building these for a studio in Nashville, Tn. One will he a head version and the other a standard amp with a 12" Jensen Neo. I am using:

-Weber chassis kits 6A20(with bright switches on both channels), just the chassis and boards. Weber uses stainless steel chassis that are laser cut.


-Switchcraft jacks, CTS pots, carbon comp resistors(a few exceptions on some values not available), 225 series and some 716 series Orange drops, ceramic power tube sockets, JJ tubes. Mercury Magnetics for all transformers and chokes, MOD reverb tanks and more. Multi output transformer using 8 ohms for the main speaker and 4 ohm switching for the external speaker jack use.

I still have to lay down the OT wires and do the heater wiring. It will look a bit better when that is done.

Rick Johnson is doing cabinets for both.

[Dave Grafe]

That's some good looking work there, Ken, big kudos to you for keeping the quality alive!

[John Billings]

WOW Ken!
That looks just great!.
JB
BTW, thanks for the advice with the Peavey reverb. My friend is VERY pleased with the results.

[Ken Fox]

Thanks guys! I am having fun building these. Been a long time since I have done a Blackface amp build.

I hope to have time Monday to get the heater wiring done and test this one out. Rick has the other chassis for building the cabs. I am glad I sent them to him! The Weber chassis is 1/8" wider than a Deluxe Reverb standard chassis and also has IEC power connectors that will require some tweaking of the back panel design.

Will post more results as I go along and especially some pictures with Rick's excellent cabinet work.

[Ken Fox]

Got the 1st of 2 up and running. Testing with a shop speaker cab with a 250 watt SICA 12" and it sounds superb! The combo amp will be getting a 12" Jensen Neo.

Should have a head cab soon and the the other full size cab soon. Will post a few shots of the finished amps soon.

[Ken Fox]

Head cab done. Rick did a fantastic job onthe cabinet!!

[Thomas Ludwig]

Ken,
your amp looks really good !!!

Thomas

[Ken Fox]

These amps are for Michael Flanders and his son. Mike owns and operates a studio on Music Row in Nashville


http://wn.com/pacificintmusic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyihdTwT ... re=related


Dan Dugmore does a lot of steel work there and uses the Fox Vintage Steel amp for his work as well. I hope to have some sound clips to share of Doug's playing soon on our website.


Since last September the studio has used the Fox Vintage Steel amp (212 model) for all session work for guitars, slide guitars and pedal steel. Mike was so pleased that he contracted me for this project as well, a personal amp for himself (the 112 combo) and the head version for his son.

[Bill A. Moore]

Beautiful work as always Ken. I'm in the middle of a Weber 6A20 build, and my chassis doesn't have all the holes in the right places. I had to drill another hole to mount the OT, and realized last night that the hole for the bias pot is way too close to the front. There are also lots of holes that have no use. I didn't realize it until I had a lot of the components mounted.
Looks like your chassis is correct for a "Deluxe" clone.My last build was a "Twin" clone with a Weber chassis, and had no problems.

Here's a pic from before I started mounting.

[Ken Fox]

Same chassis that you have, Bill.

Things I did:

-expanded the speaker jack and rca jack holes to 3/8"
-expanded holes as needed to mount the output transformer with 8-32" stainless screws and locknuts
-added new hole for the bias pot
-expanded holes for the insulating boards mountinto use 6-32" stainless steel stand-offs
-used 4-40" stainless lock nuts and screws to moount all tube sockets
-expanded holes for the cap can cover and used 8-32" stainless screws and double lock nuts (one to the hold the screws as studs for the can to mount to.
-expanded holes for the cap board to use 6-32" stainless steel standoffs.


The stainless chassis is excellent, but not as soft as the standard steel chassis. I have the stainless steel chassis screws like Fender used but could not use them, as the hard stainless chassis would take the threads off of them. I prefer to use all stainless steel screws and nuts on amps I build. I also mount the insulating boards to the chassis first with the stainless standoffs and them attach the circuit boards to the stand-offs. That way there is proper spsce under the board for wire and no warping of the circuit boards will occur.

[Tim Marcus]

just out of curiosity - why are you guys not using the mojotone chassis? They are almost identical to the ones Fender used. No need for extra drilling, odd shaped cabinets, or head scratching when its time to mount everything.

[Marc Jenkins]

I use Weber chasses because while I need to drill a few holes, the transformer viroids are correct. (high power Princeton reverb)

[Ken Fox]

I normally use Mojo chassis but wanted to try the stainless chassis. I am very pleased with the Weber chassis and the stainless is a lot harder and less likely to sustain the damage I often see caused by shipping to the typical Fender chassis. All are great choicves. For the novice builder I would not recommend the Weber chassis. Drilling stainless takes special drill bits and you will not be able to use the typical sheet metal type screws for mounting the transformers, etc.

Another thing that was cool is bright switches on both channels for the Deluxe Reverb style (GA20) chassis.

[Bill A. Moore]

I don't feel so bad now, Ken. I generaly just thread the chassis for mounting the lighter components, (6-32 for 9 pin sockets, circuit board, and cap can, and 8-32 for octal), but with this chassis I had to use 6-32 with nuts for the octals.
As we can see from your pics, it is possible to make the Weber chassis work.

[Ken Fox]

Here are some shots of #2

[Tommy R. Butler]

yeah man !!! Yeah man !!!

[KENNY KRUPNICK]

R.J. builds some of the best cabinets!

[Tommy R. Butler]

Yes he does

[Curt Langston]

Wow! That looks excellent! I bet it sounds like a dream as well. Great job Ken!

[Ken Fox]

I am just thrilled with the tone. I was running the head cab thru a 15" JBL (M-151-8) and a 12" SICA yesterday and was just amazed at the volume and the tone. I could play a concert with that setup. The SICA was the stamp frame 8 ohm, great tone (similar to the Jensen 12" NEO). I set these up for one or two 8 ohm loads (switchinc jack on the aux speaker output for a 4 ohm tap, when running two 8 ohm speakers).

I deliver these to Mike in September. I might just have to build one for myself as well!!

[Bill A. Moore]

Ken, I know you're a Jensen,(Sica) fan, have you ever tried the Electric Lightning speaker. I'm sure tempted.

[Ken Fox]

No I have not. I am so pleased with the vintage tone of this speaker. I have friends using them for blues guitar as well and loving them. Great reviews all over the net on them.

[Rich Hlaves]

Ken,

How do you like the sound of the Orange Drops in the DR? I know you are a Mallory 150 fan as am I.

I'm building a DR now for the girlfriends nephew from mostly a Mojo kit. I used 150s in my personal DR build and think they sound very much like the blue moldeds in an original BF.

Nothing against the Orange Drops but to me they have a bit of a "harder" sound, less chimey. They don't at all sound bad, just a little different to my ear. I use ODs when physical fit make them a better choice or when a 150 value is unavailable.

A very subjective question I know. Just wondering if those orange caps were spec'd by your customer or chosen by you for new reasons yet unposted?

Pic of my DR chassis below.

Thanks,
Rich

[Ken Fox]

I took Mallory 150's out of a Vibrolux build and went to to 225 series Orange drops. Much better!

They seem much better for the Blackface sound. I prefer the Mallory 150 for the Tweed era amps.

[Bill A. Moore]

Rich, your Deluxe is also a very nice looking build. What chassis did you use?