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Completed: 50's Tweed Bandmaster 3x10 (5E7)

This is some beautiful work. I vote you send the end result into Guitar Player magazine, let them review it, pretend you make them all the time, and put a proper "boutique" price on it. You'll probably be able to quit your day job.
 
Yeah, it's a ridiculous amount of work. I don't know how anybody makes any money at it, even given "boutique" amp prices.

Maybe Mayfly will chime in - he did it on production basis for awhile. I'm sure he has some insights on what the enterprise is worth.
 
That's really cool.  I had no idea he did that.

I build and sell at my own leisure, so I couldn't imagine having a queue of 4 or 5 builds.
 
Yeah, he's a multi-talented little rascal. What some might call a "polymath" or an "autodidact". Literally hundreds of amps out there. You see one on eBay every once in a while. I think they were a variation on a Vox design, like an AC15 or something. Add that to what he does for a living, and his musical career with several commercially released CDs to his credit, and we're very fortunate to have his participation on this forum.
 
Cagey said:
Yeah, he's a multi-talented little rascal. What some might call a "polymath" or an "autodidact". Literally hundreds of amps out there. You see one on eBay every once in a while. I think they were a variation on a Vox design, like an AC15 or something. Add that to what he does for a living, and his musical career with several commercially released CDs to his credit, and we're very fortunate to have his participation on this forum.
Click to expand...

wow - now there's a fanboy statement! Thanks man! You're pretty awesome too :occasion14:

Yea my amps were based on vox designs.  I had a 15 watt and 30 watt version.  They were both pretty good.  I got to the point where it was about 5 hours total to make one amp.  I made my own eyelet cards and cabinets (except when Cagey made them!) but sourced out the metalwork and the front and back panels. I had jigs for everything.

As for making money, the biggest levers were time and parts cost.  I got fairly good at tightening both up (I would never in a million years buy from Mojo Tone for example - they markup their stuff freaking 100%!!).  Seeking out interesting suppliers and going direct when possible to save a buck and making jigs to save time was the fun part.  Even with all that it was not a money spinner.  I eventually ended up with better things to do with my time.  Like building microphones  :tard:
 
Mayfly said:
Cagey said:
Yeah, he's a multi-talented little rascal. What some might call a "polymath" or an "autodidact". Literally hundreds of amps out there. You see one on eBay every once in a while. I think they were a variation on a Vox design, like an AC15 or something. Add that to what he does for a living, and his musical career with several commercially released CDs to his credit, and we're very fortunate to have his participation on this forum.
Click to expand...

wow - now there's a fanboy statement! Thanks man! You're pretty awesome too :occasion14:

Yea my amps were based on vox designs.  I had a 15 watt and 30 watt version.  They were both pretty good.  I got to the point where it was about 5 hours total to make one amp.  I made my own eyelet cards and cabinets (except when Cagey made them!) but sourced out the metalwork and the front and back panels. I had jigs for everything.

As for making money, the biggest levers were time and parts cost.  I got fairly good at tightening both up (I would never in a million years buy from Mojo Tone for example - they markup their stuff freaking 100%!!).  Seeking out interesting suppliers and going direct when possible to save a buck and making jigs to save time was the fun part.  Even with all that it was not a money spinner.  I eventually ended up with better things to do with my time.  Like building microphones  :tard:
Click to expand...

That's really cool.  I've yet to build anything based on Vox topology, but I do love me some EL84s!

 
Finished the chassis wiring.  Passed broom handle test.  Cab arrives next week, but face plate, tube chart, and badge are about 3 weeks out.

04FB74F1-10B2-4DD5-949C-30D6ED04D38E_zpsbpuhspjj.jpg


B4655A51-6886-418F-B266-6284D6A858A3_zpsmabd3ejj.jpg


B7DCD250-5BC2-4482-821B-2543CAC0189A_zpszsbsq3f8.jpg

 
It's aliveeeeeeee!!!

Sounds amazing!  I had no idea how awesome this amp could sound. It's like a thicker and juicier blackface. Very greasy and dynamic. So excited about this one.
 
I just tested through an open back 112 with a WGS ET-65 - not ideal!

Incoming cab is a 3x10 combo in wine red taurus with wheat grill.  I have 3 Eminence Legend AlNicos at the ready.
 
Whipped up a little elevated DC reference supply for the heaters.  There's a 12AX7 as a cathode follower driving the tone stack.  I needed to elevate the heaters by about 60Vdc to keep the heater to cathode voltage in tolerance to save the little 12AX7s.  The side benefit is an extremely quiet filament supply! This is easily the quietest amp I have yet built!

020D48C0-60AE-4C2A-8382-4F71D3176049_zpsh86qas2q.jpg


4F8AFEC7-F047-463B-820E-89A1A79BDEB8_zpsgkcxmjx6.jpg
 
That's where I cower behind heavy furniture and turn the amp on for the first time with a long wooden stick.
 
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