Top Hat Club -is it any more than a lightning with 6V6's ?

[Structo]

Nice example of terminal strip point to point.

[chopstuck]

I would like to have a couple ratty Traynors ....

I haven't yet decided on next build. If I do I will post my results.

I just got an amp done in a different vein and I really enjoy it. A champ pre into a AC30 with a ef86 thrown in.

[Gee]

I used the 2 available schematics on SH for the Club Deluxe to build what I think is close to a Club Royale. I modified one of those schematics to show the EL84's and also the missing Cut control component values.

It turned out very well. More Marshall that Vox but more versatile that a straight 18Watt TMB. Plenty of gain available and the combination of the TMB (Tophat values) with Cut and Bright SW makes for a very controlable amp.

Anyone else built a Royale?

[Darkbluemurder]

Anyone else built a Royale?

Not a Club Royale but a Club Deluxe. My amp is quite close to yours and indeed it is a fine amp. The differences in my amp are:

1. The coupling cap off V1 is a 1000pf.
2. The gain control is a 500kA, no bright switch. The amp is bright enough to my ears.
3. The regular cathode cap on V2a is 1uf, so that the Fat Switch acts as bass boost.
4. Treble cap is 50pf. I added a shift switch that adds a 470pf cap for a midboost.
5. Between the junction of the 220k/150k voltage divider and the 150k resistor I added a 250kB pot as a variable resistor. That means that I can make the ground resistor as large as 400k. For humbuckers I like to set the control to 6 (approx. 300k), for single coils to 8 (approx. 350k). The amp really starts to sing at these settings.
6. Output coupling caps are 47nf.
7. I added a LarMar PPIMV which replaces the 220k load resistors with a dual 250kA pot. 2M2 resistors are added between the wiper and CCW terminal of each pot section.
8. Finally my output tubes are EL34. I had 6V6s in there initially but I strongly prefer the EL34 as they give the amp more punch and clarity.

That was my first complete amp build which I finished over a year ago. It became my main gigging amp with the country rock band I play with.

Cheers Stephan

[Gee]

1. The coupling cap off V1 is a 1000pf.

I tried 1000pF and found it a bit bassy for some things. I have just fitted a 3 way switch to have 560pF, 500+560pF or 1000+560pF as a kind of contour switch to see how it sounds.

2. The gain control is a 500kA, no bright switch. The amp is bright enough to my ears.

I drew up the bright switch but also haven't fitted it yet. I agree that it is bright enough.

3. The regular cathode cap on V2a is 1uf, so that the Fat Switch acts as bass boost.

It adds a usefull boost. I have it set up with a 3 way for 1K5, 820 or 820with 22uF.

4. Treble cap is 50pf. I added a shift switch that adds a 470pf cap for a midboost.

That's a good idea. I only had a 100pF but I will try your idea.

5. Between the junction of the 220k/150k voltage divider and the 150k resistor I added a 250kB pot as a variable resistor. That means that I can make the ground resistor as large as 400k. For humbuckers I like to set the control to 6 (approx. 300k), for single coils to 8 (approx. 350k). The amp really starts to sing at these settings.

I didn't use the 220K/150K because I am also using a VVR to scale just the PA & PI. So I really need to be able to back off the signal from the full voltage pre amp section before it enters the VVR'd PI. I used a 250KA pot and it sounds about right.

6. Output coupling caps are 47nf.

I will try this. It certainly has a very strong bass content with 0.022uF's.

That was my first complete amp build which I finished over a year ago. It became my main gigging amp with the country rock band I play with. Cheers Stephan

I converted my 18Watt TMB which was a great amp but just not as versatile as this one. I can imagine it must be a hell of an amp with EL34's.

[Darkbluemurder]

Yesterday I made three further changes:

1. I changed the 220k plate load on V1 to 100k. This reduces the gain slightly (from 95 to 76 when using the formulae in ValveWizard's book) but high frequencies are retained better when turning down the guitar volume. Insofar my finding agrees to what he wrote in his book.

2. I changed the PI cathode resistor from 1.2k to 820R. The 1.2k resistor adds a gritty quality to the overdrive tone. 820R sounds smoother to my ears. It does affect the clean tone a bit but this is easily compensated by step 1.

3. I changed the cap on the cut control from 4.7nf to 3.3nf. I am not sure whether I will keep this or even put in a 2.2nf.

Cheers Stephan

[Gee]

Good update. One of the neat things about these circuits are the many ways that you can tailor the amount of gain you want.

[Gee]

There is a neat video here that has some quite detailed shots of the Club "Super Fat" Deluxe circuit. The Fat/Off/Brite circuit can be clearly seen. Looks more like a Fat/Not Fat/Less Fat switch. It is easy to buy into what the front panel switch shows but encourageing to really see what is under the hood. Very nice layout and construction BTW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxPClZxGHW8

[Darkbluemurder]

Attached is the schematic of the homebrew EL34 Club Deluxe that I referred to above.

Cheers Stephan

[GibGa]

Good amp for my needs.

[BarryW]

Not trying to revive an old thread, but I wanted to add my thanks to those discussing the Club Royale and the iterations. I've found this discussion very helpful. I'm exploring 18 watt/Vox marriages and am seriously considering doing a Club Royale. Well, that and 5 other things. ;^}

[jcat5503]

my buddy has an 18 watt combo he wants me to revamp

It uses 2 el84's right now

He wants the most headroom he can get

Any suggestions?

[Darkbluemurder]

my buddy has an 18 watt combo he wants me to revamp

It uses 2 el84's right now

He wants the most headroom he can get

Any suggestions?

Is it a Marshall 18W combo or a clone? If so these amps have a pretty clean preamp and phase inverter and get the dirt from the poweramp. This is not necessarily so with the Club Royale/Lightning/Top Boost/MAZ JR preamp which gets a bit of dirt. If you want to optimize the 18W preamp then you would have to separate the paralleled V1 tube and insert a tone stack (can be an FMV or a James stack).

For most clean headroom however a 2 EL84 amp is not the best option. The EL84 has a higher input sensitivity (=needs the least signal to be driven) than all the popular octal power tubes (6V6, 6L6GC, 5881, EL34, 6550 or KT66). If there is enough room in the amp to observe the recommended center spacing between the power tubes you could consider to convert the amp to 6V6s. They could run safely with a transformer set for EL84s and would increase clean headroom a little. However, this is a radical mod and not reversible without leaving traces (the holes for the sockets need to be enlarged) and should not be done on anything falling remotely in the vintage category.

I would rather sell this amp and buy something better suited for clean headroom if that is the primary goal.

Cheers Stephan

[jcat5503]

After talking with my buddy I think he wants to convert it to a tophat club deluxe clone. Which uses 6v6's. It should have adequate headroom. Especially with single coils

I can use the same 18 watt iron correct?






Does anyone have info on this? Any body built one?

[jcat5503]

Attached is the schematic of the homebrew EL34 Club Deluxe that I referred to above.

Cheers Stephan

Can I use this same schematic but just use 6v6's and 18 watt iron?