The board seems to have come together really nicely. Everything fit well and the turrets cooperated. I'm using really good shit on this board. I'm also using standard Marshall wire colors. Not that it really matters, but besides pink (I don't have any pink wire) all these wire colors and locations are pretty standard Marshall spec.
I'm also doing something very different on this build....cleaning as I go! I'm not drowning in bits of wire and clipped off capacitor leads right now. It's nice.
Greg_L wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 10:54 pm
....cleaning as I go! I'm not drowning in bits of wire and clipped off capacitor leads right now. It's nice.
It makes a world of difference eh?1
I know when i get in zone in my garage building something i tend to not keep the space tidy and by the time i sanp out of my zone i just go into a tail spin looking around at the chaos.
It's easy to not stay clean and tidy, but 100% worth the effort to stop every so often and get rid of stuff you don't need, or put a too laway in it's home before moving to the next step.
for your build it looks solid as perusual.
are there advantages to using the turrets? what are the alternatives?
Greg_L wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 10:54 pm
....cleaning as I go! I'm not drowning in bits of wire and clipped off capacitor leads right now. It's nice.
It makes a world of difference eh?1
I know when i get in zone in my garage building something i tend to not keep the space tidy and by the time i sanp out of my zone i just go into a tail spin looking around at the chaos.
It's easy to not stay clean and tidy, but 100% worth the effort to stop every so often and get rid of stuff you don't need, or put a too laway in it's home before moving to the next step.
for your build it looks solid as perusual.
are there advantages to using the turrets? what are the alternatives?
That’s how I am with cooking. Clean as I go.
“Naaaaaaaaaah man. I ain’t touching that mic. That thing’s expensive!”
are there advantages to using the turrets? what are the alternatives?
turrets just give you a place to solder things together ..... the alternative would be you'd simply solder the wires of the various parts together directrly but that's a pain and much harder to do repairs.
WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 2:06 pm
are there advantages to using the turrets? what are the alternatives?
What Boob said - turrets just provide and easy way to attach things and form a layout that allows the signals and voltages to travel efficiently. The alternatives are PCBs...which is how almost every amp is made these days, or Fender-style eyelet boards which are just little metal holes in stiff cardboard, or actual point-to-point wiring where all of the components are physically attached to each other with a very minimum of wire being used.
Even though all Marshall 2203s and 2204s are PCB amps, getting a PCB made for a home build is not practical. And Fender eyelet boards suck ass. Sure they've been great for all the classic Fenders for decades, but they're actually kind of shitty and can be conductive. The last thing you'd want in a higher gain high power amp is the board itself being flimsy and conductive. And this amp is physically way too large and complicated for true point-to-point wiring. So a turret board is the best option on all fronts. Turrets make for very easy reliable connections and super easy repairs and mods later if need be.
Cool. that is almost sort of exactly what i was thinking. the easy of mods and making changes or corrections and stuff like that. Seems common sensical.
WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 5:21 pm
Cool. that is almost sort of exactly what i was thinking. the easy of mods and making changes or corrections and stuff like that. Seems common sensical.
Thanks guys.
One more nice thing about turrets is they have little steps on them, and the hole in the top and bottom. Lots of places and options for multiple connections.
I don't know if there is a right or wrong way to do it, but I like to stick the component legs in the holes and wrap the wires around the stepped parts.
That's very tidy and uncluttered.
I've been on a slow hunt for a knob for my Marshall...one of the "gold" clip in caps disappeared and I wanted to replace it. Seems there're different knob sizes etc across the era as I had to buy a set of 6 knobs and the piece didn't fit. I had the alternative of replacing all the knobs but I think I'd rather go with one slightly off but all original.
rayc wrote: ↑Sat May 28, 2022 8:15 pm
That's very tidy and uncluttered.
I've been on a slow hunt for a knob for my Marshall...one of the "gold" clip in caps disappeared and I wanted to replace it. Seems there're different knob sizes etc across the era as I had to buy a set of 6 knobs and the piece didn't fit. I had the alternative of replacing all the knobs but I think I'd rather go with one slightly off but all original.
I ordered seven new set-screw knobs for this one. They showed up, looked great in the packaging, and when I pulled them out this morning four of them are missing the tiny little set screw.
Greg_L wrote: ↑Sat May 28, 2022 9:20 pm
I ordered seven new set-screw knobs for this one. They showed up, looked great in the packaging, and when I pulled them out this morning four of them are missing the tiny little set screw.
JD01 wrote: ↑Sun May 29, 2022 2:03 pm
Really tidy workmanship in there, mate. Well done.
Thanks!
And....it's alive!!!!!
Powered right up. I went through the startup steps, checked all my voltages, popped a random hodge-podge of spare tubes in it, and full Marshall rage and glory.
I've been a little under the weather these past few days so I haven't been messing with much of anything, but today I should get some playing done with it. New tubes arrive tomorrow and I'll finalize the build and get some tones.
Have you considered making a proper complicated amp? I know I keep crapping on about versatility that you don't need 'cos you have a wall of amps - but I mean something like my H&K or a Mesa - something with 3 channels and an in-built O/D or something.
JD01 wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 11:31 am
Now that looks like a fucking amp!
Have you considered making a proper complicated amp? I know I keep crapping on about versatility that you don't need 'cos you have a wall of amps - but I mean something like my H&K or a Mesa - something with 3 channels and an in-built O/D or something.
No, never even thought about it. I had a Marshall JVM 410 for years, which is about as complicated as they come, and I never used it that way. Never. That amp had four channels, three modes per channel, and I pretty much stayed on one channel and mode of that amp at all times.
It was a cool amp though. I traded it to our dear sweet Minerman because I knew he'd use it properly....then he left us.
Those complicated channel switchers and gain mods don't appeal to me. When would I need that? Never. Playing live I don't switch from clean to mid crunch to high gain. I'm pretty much full throttle all the time. The few moments where I need to scale back I just roll the guitar volume down. And here at home for recording where I might want some tone variety I just use different amps and/or guitars.
Yeah, while I don't think I'd go as bananas as you, if I had more space I probably wouldn't be quite so picky regarding my choice of amps and stuff - I'd probably have two or three dialled in how I like.
Did you ever hear from Minerman's mrs? She manage to shift all that gear OK? He must have had $10Ks worth of stuff.
JD01 wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 12:13 pm
Yeah, while I don't think I'd go as bananas as you, if I had more space I probably wouldn't be quite so picky regarding my choice of amps and stuff - I'd probably have two or three dialled in how I like.
That's really what it boils down to. I like having different amps for different things, and I really enjoy building and tinkering with them. To the average guitar player my shit is extreme and redundant and excessively stupid. I know that. I don't need ten Super Lead and JCM-type amps. No one does. But I like them and each one is different to me. I am a believer that amps that do a lot don't do anything exceptionally well. My JVM was evidence of that. It was a nice amp with tons of versatility, but to me it never sounded amazing at anything. I also have a JCM 2000 Dual Super Lead that IMO does "high gain Marshall" better than the JVM. But 99% of my guitar tone needs are met with a guitar plugged straight into a Super Lead or 2203/2204 Marshall.
Did you ever hear from Minerman's mrs? She manage to shift all that gear OK? He must have had $10Ks worth of stuff.
I never did hear back from her. We talked about me helping her sell off his stuff, and I wanted to buy back my JVM, but she never ever got back to me.
Okay new tubes arrived and it's going into it's new old home.
This is the old 100w Plexi-style headbox I'd mentioned earlier. There was another amp in here that didn't belong. That amp got a new correct headbox so this new build is going in this old headbox.
I'm not crazy about the stupid impedance selector knob. It sticks out too much. I'll let it ride for now but I think I'll be doing something about that later.
And this pic here...the middle amp is the old 1979 JMP 2204 in it's new period-correct headbox. The top amp is the new 2204 build in that old Plexi-style box. And the bottom amp is a 1973 Super Lead in it's correct original headbox.
And this is the wall for now....minus one amp and cab. The Green/Orange and another 4x12 is up at the practice space.
