New to the neighborhood. Liverpool build.

[M Fowler]

The way you have it now will work just fine.

If you build something else down the road with EL84's or any power tubes for that matter you can do like I and others have done with turret strips etc.

[beasleybodyshop]

The way you have it now will work just fine.

If you build something else down the road with EL84's or any power tubes for that matter you can do like I and others have done with turret strips etc.

Cool idea Mark. Going to steal that one

[Smokebreak]

The way you have it now will work just fine.

If you build something else down the road with EL84's or any power tubes for that matter you can do like I and others have done with turret strips etc.

What about those singular turret rigs the grid resistors are on? Do you fabricate those?

[M Fowler]

Single turrets have threaded end 4/40 nut to hold tight insulated from chassis available from Angela http://angela.com/terminalpostsforcircuitbuilding.aspx

[Tantalus]

Thanks Mark and others for the ideas on the resistors. I'll experiment on the next build.

Here's a 03:00 am update:

[IMG577]http://i852.photobucket.com/albums/ab90/mattmodular/IMG_20140108_015226_014_zps326bb239.jpg[/img]

I'm out of my mind from lack of sleep, but I believe I've gotten it all. If anything is out of place, please let me know. I'll write a more coherent post tomorrow, and hopefully I'll have gone over all the wiring a few thousand times to be certain. I really need to sleep.

[bkvance]

Wow, looks nice and clean, What's her name?

[kwijabo]

so did power up yet, or are still waiting to review your work?

you said this is your first major electronics project. i'm always jealous of folks like you who can seemingly jump into these builds and do such a good job the first time. nice work.

[Tantalus]

so did power up yet, or are still waiting to review your work?

you said this is your first major electronics project. i'm always jealous of folks like you who can seemingly jump into these builds and do such a good job the first time. nice work.

I appreciate the kind words. I wouldn't be so jealous, though, as I've hit a snag After correcting a hilarious wiring error this morning (bottom right corner of my last photograph), it became clear that I shouldn't tinker with electronics when I'm running on empty. Silly mistakes. Anyway. I powered it up through a bulb limiter with a 40w lamp. When power is switched on, the bulb flashes, then fades to a dull glow. I'm guessing there's an error somewhere, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to find it. Would it not be isolated to the PS board? Hints? Tips? Tricks? Ridicule?

[martin manning]

When power is switched on, the bulb flashes, then fades to a dull glow. I'm guessing there's an error somewhere, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to find it. Would it not be isolated to the PS board? Hints? Tips? Tricks? Ridicule?

I'd say this is a good result. The initial flash is the filter caps charging up, and the dull glow says that you have only a small current draw thereafter. Do you have tubes in?

[Tantalus]

When power is switched on, the bulb flashes, then fades to a dull glow. I'm guessing there's an error somewhere, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to find it. Would it not be isolated to the PS board? Hints? Tips? Tricks? Ridicule?

I'd say this is a good result. The initial flash is the filter caps charging up, and the dull glow says that you have only a small current draw thereafter. Do you have tubes in?

This is a good result, even with the standby off? It was powered up with no tubes.

[martin manning]

Note that the standby is after the 80uF reservoir, and the bleeder resistors so there will be a large in-rush and a few mA flowing afterward. You can check the B+ and filament voltages, and if they look reasonable, switch the standby on. You should see another flash and then a return to a dull glow.

[Tantalus]

Spent a while playing through the Liverpool last night I corrected an error in the filament wiring, then went through the startup procedure smoothly. There was a moderate amount of noise, but I have a feeling it's mostly due to issues outside of the wiring (grounding issues in the house, no head cabinet, no bottom plate, amp sitting atop the speaker cab) so I'll give it a proper run-through later today with the head isolated from the cab.

All in all, I'm really pleased with how it sounds. It's a completely different game, playing through a TW circuit. So beautifully responsive and unforgiving. The amount of gain on tap is scary. And it's loud. Really, really loud. One thing I'm concerned with is the top-end harshness when the volume on the guitar is fully engaged, say when the amp volume is around 12:00. At about 80% guitar volume, it begins to compress immensely into a harsh buzz, then a higher frequency fizz when fully cranked. I'm thinking perhaps it's more the character of the preamp tubes I'm using? Maybe? Running Sovteks currently. I know these amps are incredibly temperamental when it comes to tubes, so I'll do a bit of research.

[kwijabo]

ok great to hear its up and running! yes, responsiveness and unforgiving would be good adjectives.

And it's loud. Really, really loud. One thing I'm concerned with is the top-end harshness when the volume on the guitar is fully engaged, say when the amp volume is around 12:00. At about 80% guitar volume, it begins to compress immensely into a harsh buzz, then a higher frequency fizz when fully cranked.

so that was my first impression of mine, too. i had to have the treble backed off and the presence completely down and it would still sound buzzy and harsh. in addition to the tubes, here's a couple things i found:

- what values did you use for C6 and R7? looks like 100k + some band i can't make out and maybe 0.0047uF? i found that while R7 in the express works well as 150k, somewhere around 68k sounded nicer in the liverpool.
- what speaker(s) are you using? when mine was first built i ran it through some vintage 30's. personally, i think V30's are not a good match with the liverpool. when i moved to a scumback M75 setup the harshness was tamed.

once i changed those things i could actually use treble and presence controls. completely different beast.

[Tantalus]

Did you mean C8? If so, it's .0022uf. R7 is difficult to see in the photograph, but it's actually a 68k. Coincidentally, I'm running V30's right now, and I'm inclined to agree with you. I think the breakup and aggressive mids of the V30's are contributing to the harshness. I'm rolling both treble and presence way off with my Tele, and it's still somewhat ice-picky, only without the liveliness and high-end sheen. Which kinda undermines the intent of a Telecaster On the Les Paul end of things, it sounds pretty sweet with the brite switch up, and everything at 12:00. I can get wonderful sounds until the guitar volume is wide open. Up until that point, the characteristics of the guitars shine through so well, but as the gain reaches its peak, they lose their voice. And I understand that's the nature of compression to an extent, but it seems like there's a factor beyond that.

[ampmike]

Nice build,Its a great hobby building amps.And Im sure Im not the only one who could not sleep and head down the basement to play Ken Fisher in the wee hours.The quietness of the early morning,the smell of solder and hot coffee!!!You got to love it.And then the bitter sweet moment of truth.Time to fire up.Its a downer and a high,The downer is your done ,Maybe and the high is you got a new amp It all started with a Glen vid on you tube.Anyway you did a spectacular job for your first,you should be proud!!!!!!Have Fun,Mikey Let me know if you need a cab Ive got cabin fever!!!