I think I'm ready to build an Express ive

[daryllm]

Hello, I have been searching the posts and checking out the vendors websites for parts that are available to build a Twreck clone. I do have a few questions.
1) Is Ceriatone the only vendor available at this time to procure a chassis from?
2) Has anyone A/B'd the polypropylene caps and the orange drops? What were the results and which had the better tone or is this an individual taste.
3) Has anyone tried the components that are <1%> ?
4) Does the 6V6 Express have decent volume or would it be adviseable to go ahead and build the EL34 amp.
5) Has anyone tried the paper in oil caps and what were the results?

I have been repairing/ modding tube amps for friends and family for about 19 years and playing guitar for about 29 yrs. I was going to purchase another amp when I stumbled across your site. I decided it would be a lot more fun to build an amp then to buy an already assembled one. I was intrigued and am now excited to get underway. I welcome any and all input, thanks in advance.

[tubetek]

Hello and welcome...
I'll try to answer your questions in order:
1. NO AllynMey (the mod here) usually has top quality chassis; PM him.
2. "OrangeDrop" caps are available in both Polypropylene and Polyester; there are differences in the sound. A simplification: Polyester types (Mallory 150, Sprague 6PS, etc.) generally sound more "Marshallesque" and the 715 series ODs are usually described as sounding more "Fender-like"...cleaner with less "grit"
3. I'm sure someone has; the only 1% parts I've found worth the money (in a guitar amp) are the 1 ohm resistors used between the power tube cathodes and ground; used to measure current to set bias..accuracy is really important here to get the correct reading. These ain't HI-FI and Ken didn't build 'em like they were. In fact, most here would agree that even the power tubes can be too closely matched and the tone can suffer as a result.
4. The Express circuit is designed to use either tube; it's the same.
5. I haven't personally but I'm sure someone here who has will chime in with their experience. Hope all this helps
Tom

[Firestorm]

I bought a couple of very heavy-gauge chassis's off some random twit on eBay. Really crappy, but fine for my experimental use. Also got a couple off Nik, which were VERY well made, but designed for mutliple applications (lots of holes you might not need). Never had anything from AllynMey, but his reputation here speaks for itself.

Caps are largely a matter of taste; I've only ever found an audible difference in caps that performed an EQ function (meaning, no difference in coupling caps) but you may find differently.

1% parts are for solid-state circuits (or people with too much money) -- except in the aformentioned case of current-measuring resistors.

In the case of an Express-type amp, the parts don't make the difference: tubes, lead dress and tweaking do. I hope you have a lot of fun pulling yours together.

[daryllm]

Thanks for the info and for the advice. I am really looking forward to this new experience. I will pm Allynmey for pricing for the chassis, and thanks once again for your help.

[dartanion]

Allyn's chassis are top shelf. Can't go wrong there.

Get the best OT you can afford or find. PT should be 300V 200ma.

[daryllm]

Do you recommend the Heyboer PT and OT ?

[gearhead]

Lotsa folks have used toneslut's PT/OT combo with great results:

http://www.toneslut.com/transformers/index.html

I -believe- they are Heyboer's built to spec. Nice price and a variety of taps/inputs/outputs.

For the other stuff, you can't go wrong using the parts in the BOM on this site; especially the caps.