Rocket Boys (No not the movie)

[UR12]

Got to thinking about a Rocket build and was wondering if anyone had tried the Rocket preamp with a EL34 power amp instead of the El84s. (Or any other combination for that matter.)

[908ssp]

No The clone I played was just a straight Rocket clone. And it sounded amazing. I have AC-30 reissue from 1993 with blues and I put the Rocket head on top and used the blues for the Rocket and they never sounded that good. The Rocket has a depth and tightness to the bass I have not heard from amps way more powerful. The chime and bell like peal of the high end was like glass bells. Beautiful clean by dialing back the volume control and set the volume in the middle and you get clean when played softly and crunch when digging in. I have got to sell some stuff or make some money so I can order one.

[Allynmey]

Dana, aha! I knew the burn would set in sooner or later! Like you I want a perfect copy of all three. I'm doing a K*met build while I wait for my Liverpool parts to come in. Does anyone have a lead on the specs for the trannys?

e-mail me off forum
allynmey at aol dot com

Allynmey

[JimiB]

wow that description got me going! So I've got a Heyboer AC-30 PT 280-0-280 @ 280mA with a 5V wind. Hmmmmmmm

[Richie]

So looking at the schematic..and layout, they are a lot of differences.. So which is 'the' one to build. Does two rock still make these..just wondering,if they souded so good, why would they not make them.

Richie

[JimiB]

Also that first filter cap being an 80uf with a GZ34 seems problematic. I've been told 50uf is as high as you want to go. I've used 64uf and gotten away with it but usin 100uf I've killed some GZ34's

[UR12]

Also that first filter cap being an 80uf with a GZ34 seems problematic. I've been told 50uf is as high as you want to go. I've used 64uf and gotten away with it but usin 100uf I've killed some GZ34's

JimiB

The 2 80mfd filter caps are actually in series. This arangement halves the capacitance to 40 mfd and doubles the Voltage that can be applied accross the cap. So in reality the GZ34 will see a 40mfd cap at 700 ~ 900 volts

[JimiB]

Aha! That makes sence.
Have you built a rocket yet?

[tubedogsmith]

Not in the rocket. The first filter stage is 80uf. You need to use good rectifier tubes and even then their lifespan is shortened. I've been runnin the same sovtek 5AR4 in one of these circuits for over three years. A Mullard is even better. JJ's don't seem to work.

[UR12]

Not in the rocket. The first filter stage is 80uf. You need to use good rectifier tubes and even then their lifespan is shortened. I've been runnin the same sovtek 5AR4 in one of these circuits for over three years. A Mullard is even better. JJ's don't seem to work.

Tubedog

I went back and looked at a few pictures of the Komet and the RKT schematic and it would appear you are correct. The Komet has me puzzled as it has been stated that the routinely run 466v b+ and it would seem that this would be a tad over spec on the 450v caps. Hmmmm

I know fender used the series caps in their power supplys. They used 350v caps in series .

Thanks for enlightening us

[tubedogsmith]

Dana, the Komet does run caps in series for a 40uf total. The Rocket doesn't do that.

[LeftyStrat]

Does the komet just have to two 80uf caps? I remeber someone saying there were two more under the board, run in a serial/parallel configuration.

[rhinson]

hello there, yes the komet has 2 80mf in series for both the plates and the screens. you don't really need the 2 80mf's for the screens since you can use a 40/500v because this is after the standby switch and the screen voltage will only be in the 460v range. the 2 80mf in series are used on the plates because the voltage will rise above 500v while on standby with no load. rh

[v00d00blues79]

Would the Toneslut transformers work for a Rocket?

Thanks,

Andy

[UR12]

Would the Toneslut transformers work for a Rocket?

Thanks,

Andy

Yea they should work fine. Moose has even supplied a 5v winding for the tube recto. Use the 260v tap for the B+. Since the output stage is same as the Liverpool I can tell you that the OT will work great also.