TONE!! (got it)

[Harris]

Well, I finished my build about a month ago and with the help of Dogears, WNCLuthier and others, I have tweaked and tweaked and inhaled lots of solder fumes. Last night, I finally nailed it. I was reading another post (and I think is was Glasman) that mentioned that Mallorys "sounded like a$$" in the Dumble circuit. It just so happens that I had mostly mallorys in my amp. I swiched them out last evening for orange drops...and BOOM there was THE tone. The highs were increased. The bottom end was tightened up substantially and the tone was finally pouring out of my amp. Thanks for the help guys!

[dogears]

Hey hey... I think I mentioned which caps to use...oh about a thousand times!! LOL Funny thing is the only caps I really dislike are the Mallorys! Congrats btw!

Well, I finished my build about a month ago and with the help of Dogears, WNCLuthier and others, I have tweaked and tweaked and inhaled lots of solder fumes. Last night, I finally nailed it. I was reading another post (and I think is was Glasman) that mentioned that Mallorys "sounded like a$$" in the Dumble circuit. It just so happens that I had mostly mallorys in my amp. I swiched them out last evening for orange drops...and BOOM there was THE tone. The highs were increased. The bottom end was tightened up substantially and the tone was finally pouring out of my amp. Thanks for the help guys!

[Bob-I]

Caps and resistor type can really make a difference. Orange drops or Xicon's make all the difference, as does quality metal film resistors on the plate loads.

Glad you got the tone. Once you hear that TONE you get hooked, nothing else will do. It's addicting. Congrats

[Icetech]

Harris, i went through the same exact thing.. i was using mallory 150's and my amp sounded lifeless and just dull for lack of a better term... i swapped out orange drops (915's?) and man... world of difference... oh and the vishay dale resistors..

[Harris]

Yea, sometimes its hard to decribe the tone without being able to hear it. The amp sounded really good with the Mallory's, but I could tell that it wasn't THE tone. Swapped them out for the orange drops and...it turns out that I was farther from THE tone than I had imagined, because the amp just came alive after that. The difference was pretty drastic.

The tone of this amp is really something. If listening to Ford and Carlton is inspiring because of their tone, actually playing the amp and "feeling" its response makes just listening pale by comparison. As Bob said, its quite addicting. I've built a stack of amps, and with the exception of the blackface era Deluxe Reverb clone....well, I've got a bunch of great sounding amps that aren't gonna be used a whole lot.

Lastly, my playing is pretty crappy if you ask me. I'm gonna have to improve my chops to be worthy of the amp.

Again, I can't say this enough...thanks to everyone that helped and everyone here that posts.

[dogears]

Hey Harris,

I can't remember which circuit you used.... What is it?

Thanks

Yea, sometimes its hard to decribe the tone without being able to hear it. The amp sounded really good with the Mallory's, but I could tell that it wasn't THE tone. Swapped them out for the orange drops and...it turns out that I was farther from THE tone than I had imagined, because the amp just came alive after that. The difference was pretty drastic.

The tone of this amp is really something. If listening to Ford and Carlton is inspiring because of their tone, actually playing the amp and "feeling" its response makes just listening pale by comparison. As Bob said, its quite addicting. I've built a stack of amps, and with the exception of the blackface era Deluxe Reverb clone....well, I've got a bunch of great sounding amps that aren't gonna be used a whole lot.

Lastly, my playing is pretty crappy if you ask me. I'm gonna have to improve my chops to be worthy of the amp.

Again, I can't say this enough...thanks to everyone that helped and everyone here that posts.

[Harris]

This one, but with boost:

https://tubeamparchive.com/download/fil ... ede890fb5d

[dogears]

Harris,

These changes are crucial.

Pre OD network is 470k bypassed with a 47pf feeding a 200k (you have 120k?) then into 25k trimmer and 4.7k tail.

The HRM treble cap is a 500pf, 330pf is WRONG......

I would also suggest modding the dropping string to bring V2 10v lower. Shoot for 200v-215v

Make sure you use a load resistor at the end of the dropping string to simulate the FET load.

Make sure your boost is DPDT and breaks the bass pot wiper too..... Adjust the HRM in PAB boost mode only! Amp sounds best in boost. Don't adjust at all in normal mode.

No bright cap on the OD master.....

[Bob-I]

Make sure you use a load resistor at the end of the dropping string to simulate the FET load.

Can you explain this?

[dogears]

All Dumbles have a FET that pulls its voltage from the end of the dropping string. If you copy the schematics and don't use a FET, your voltages will be 20v-30v high!! So, the FET has about the equivalent load as a 150k resistor to ground. This is Uber-Important! Otherwise the voltages to V1 and V2 are way way out of spec.

Make sure you use a load resistor at the end of the dropping string to simulate the FET load.

Can you explain this?

[Bob-I]

All Dumbles have a FET that pulls its voltage from the end of the dropping string. If you copy the schematics and don't use a FET, your voltages will be 20v-30v high!! So, the FET has about the equivalent load as a 150k resistor to ground. This is Uber-Important! Otherwise the voltages to V1 and V2 are way way out of spec.

Ok, so it's to get the voltages in spec. I've been doing that by adjusting the dropping resistors or using a smaller PT (like on my 6V6 version).

[dogears]

That works

Not sure if there is a tone difference by using the "FET" method..... I prefer to do it the way the big guy did though.

All Dumbles have a FET that pulls its voltage from the end of the dropping string. If you copy the schematics and don't use a FET, your voltages will be 20v-30v high!! So, the FET has about the equivalent load as a 150k resistor to ground. This is Uber-Important! Otherwise the voltages to V1 and V2 are way way out of spec.

Ok, so it's to get the voltages in spec. I've been doing that by adjusting the dropping resistors or using a smaller PT (like on my 6V6 version).