A local musician wants me to convert this unit to a guitar amp. It looks pretty do-able, but I wonder if anyone here has modified one of these,..I see a lot of discussion on the web re this model.
Suggestions?
a'doc
Bell Carillon 35
Moderators: pompeiisneaks, Colossal
Bell Carillon 35
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Re: Bell Carillon 35
I wrapped some old shelf wood around one, made it into a 1-10 combo. Very useful. I've been taking it to gigs every weekend lately because it's loud yet fits well into the trunk.
It sounded pretty decent as-is but I ultimately ended up rewiring it into a simple black Fender style two preamp tube configuration [except cathode biased]. I use a clean tone mostly.
Let's see, I got a computer fan in there now, and a standby switch for some reason. Just using up stuff.
Helpful hint: mine had a hard to fix annoying hum. I finally moved the o.t. further away from the p.t. which solved the problem. Made it even messier under the hood though.
It sounded pretty decent as-is but I ultimately ended up rewiring it into a simple black Fender style two preamp tube configuration [except cathode biased]. I use a clean tone mostly.
Let's see, I got a computer fan in there now, and a standby switch for some reason. Just using up stuff.
Helpful hint: mine had a hard to fix annoying hum. I finally moved the o.t. further away from the p.t. which solved the problem. Made it even messier under the hood though.
Last edited by Baxtercat on Wed Mar 24, 2021 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Guitar Bob
Re: Bell Carillon 35
Nice looking cab. Green n wheat, sweet.
Tube junkie that aspires to become a tri-state bidirectional buss driver.
Beautiful job!
This is real close to what my buddy wants,..see pic.
I haven't verified much except that it will come on, but the entire unit looks almost brand new, not even much dust inside.
I'm considering trying an idea I have, mostly because it won't take much to temporarily try it. I'm thinking of :
1) tie the three PA channels inputs in parallel and so, drive all three into the master gain tube (as is normal),
2) change the 12AX* cathode resistors if more gain is required, and replace the three 12AX* plate output caps with staggered values typical of a passive, B/M/T tone control setup,..kinda a 3 stage active EQ.
Does any of this make sense? I'm open to ideas.
I haven't verified much except that it will come on, but the entire unit looks almost brand new, not even much dust inside.
I'm considering trying an idea I have, mostly because it won't take much to temporarily try it. I'm thinking of :
1) tie the three PA channels inputs in parallel and so, drive all three into the master gain tube (as is normal),
2) change the 12AX* cathode resistors if more gain is required, and replace the three 12AX* plate output caps with staggered values typical of a passive, B/M/T tone control setup,..kinda a 3 stage active EQ.
Does any of this make sense? I'm open to ideas.
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Beautiful job!
repeat of above
Re: Bell Carillon 35
he owner told me last week he'd like an amp that he can play clean, and really hammer it for some growl.
I built an amp in '06 using a Fender TFL Dual Showman Reverb, which does this perfectly, (Trainwreck pre, Dumble OD, Original Dumble loop, and the original Tube Rectifier and Trannys.)
The tube compliment on the Bell is perfect for this, except it uses FWB rectifier diodes in the PS. Luckily, the Bell PT puts out just about the same voltages as the Fender.
But, do you think going with the stiffer solid state recto will make a big change in the dynamic response? I can get a new PT = to the Fender, but they are not cheap.
PS, I am not going to include the Dumble OD section,..it sounds good but this player is not looking for super OD.
I built an amp in '06 using a Fender TFL Dual Showman Reverb, which does this perfectly, (Trainwreck pre, Dumble OD, Original Dumble loop, and the original Tube Rectifier and Trannys.)
The tube compliment on the Bell is perfect for this, except it uses FWB rectifier diodes in the PS. Luckily, the Bell PT puts out just about the same voltages as the Fender.
But, do you think going with the stiffer solid state recto will make a big change in the dynamic response? I can get a new PT = to the Fender, but they are not cheap.
PS, I am not going to include the Dumble OD section,..it sounds good but this player is not looking for super OD.
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