My Liverpool clone is alive and it is GOOD..with pics inside

[fzfwyv]

Another Trainwreck clone was officially born today...this time it's a Liverpool.

This one is especially nice because it fired up perfectly the very first time. No funny noises, squeals, or unruliness, just sweet 4xEL84 tone.

A little history with this particular amp: I got it from Nik minus the transformers. When I got the amp I downloaded Mark Abbott's schematic (which is very well done, BTW) and traced the entire amp and noticed a few things that were different in Nik's build than to Mark's schematic. So off went the emails to ask a few questions to my buds UR12, Allyn, & Nik.

Got things sort of sorted out, mainly I replaced all the filter caps with the correct values, which required quite a bit of re-wiring because the 40 uf didn't fit on the board where the original caps were. Then I decided to go with the Sozo caps in place of all the Orange Drops that I ordered with the amp.

Finally, I actually had to read, understand, and apply the information in the schematic. This is a bit of a feat because I am really just a paint-by-numbers guy (that's why I love the nice layouts!).

I left out Rgs and used a .0022 for C8 and a 68k for R7.

The amp use's Moose's trannies: the 260 HV taps & the 5200 primary. I have a set of Clarostat pots I am going to put in there, but I'll play this amp for a while first.

I also will be getting a custom cab built by Jeff Swanson.
It will be a tolexed head but it will match the 2x12 bottom that's shown in the pic.

When I built the Express, I liked that amp but it was louder than I could ever use. Wasn't sure if El34's were my cup of tea. I ended up selling it. In a way I'm glad I did because it led me to build this Liverpool. I think I've found what I really like now...the EL84 sound.

The Liverpool will join my 18 watt marshall clone which has been my favorite amp of all time. They also have a red-headed step brother in the house, a Divided by 13 FTR 37.

As far as guitars, my Les Paul sounds so good through this amp. My LP Special with P90's also can rip too. Man, I'm in tone heaven right now.

Lastly...thanks to all you guys for helping out so much with all the great information around here!

Ok, I'm done rambling....

-Rich

Here's some pics to enjoy:

[img768]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rszmagaj/l1.JPG[/img]

[img768]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rszmagaj/l2.JPG[/img]

[img768]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rszmagaj/l4.JPG[/img]

[img768]http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rszmagaj/l6.JPG[/img]

[Allynmey]

Rich, that is damn sweet! I'd love to hear a clip. I would also like to see your layouts to compare with my build!

Allyn

[UR12]

Rich

She looks beautiful! Congrats on a very nice build. I have been trying to describe the sound of this amp compared to an Express to others. So I was wondering , how would you describe the way the Liverpool sounds compared to an Express or your 18watt? Just curious.......

[fzfwyv]

Hey Dana,

I spent a lot of time reading your past threads as well as Richie's comments. I do think the 'Pool is a more rounded amp. Not round sounding, just a little more range, tonally.

It has a lot of the characteristics that I really like in my 18 watt amp (trem channel mostly) but more of it. The same sort of feel but just a tad more tighter. The 'Pool also has more gain and more "bite" on tap than the 18 watt. The exact things I was after when I was bugging Richie for his 36watt layout.

When the amp is screamin' I think the overdrive is different than the Express. Not better or worse, just a little different. Maybe a bit more fluid? I'm not sure what fluid means in amp context but that word seems to fit.

Hey, my wife even commented that the amp sounded good. She followed that up with a "now turn it off for the night!!!". My kids agreed with her...enough for tonight but I'm already anticipating cranking a couple chords before i head into work tomorrow.

I'll try to get some clips up this week.

-Rich

[philmanatee]

Nice work! Phil

[NitroLiq]

Great job! Looking forward to the clips.

[Zippy]

I'd be interested to learn whether you still like the sound running on just two of the EL84s - ie, whether a 1/2 power switch would be a good thing in this configuration.

Thanks.

g