5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: Pics on Page 11
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
- jimboyogi
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 2083
- Joined: Tue May 27, 2008 2:38 am
- Location: Melbourne
- Contact:
- Shadoweclipse13
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 12435
- Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
- Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
Woo! Nice looking chassis! Excited to see more
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384
- MuscleDad420
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 257
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:19 am
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Contact:
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
Respectfully disagree. My experience with NOS is anecdotal and my own. Yes, the "scope doesn't lie" but my ears and wallet can't justify the price and 9/10ths of my clients agree. I have some in stock, of course and I loooooove the 70's green and yellow script Sylvania 12ax7's, but for the purpose of service and my own amps I tend to go with new and avoid brands that have high failure rates. The rare occasions in which I may prefer NOS as an option is for studios bringing me their backlines. If somebody brings me NOS with their amp, I give them "the talk" and assure them any weak (i.e. "pre-used" sold as NOS) or noisy tubes will be returned.sookwinder wrote:I am sorry ... but this statement is blatantly wrong.
Evidence?
Expert advice?
chicken entrails?
Do some searches for previous threads here at OSG where NOS and vintage valves have been discussed in rfelation to modern valves.
If we just want to use my own empirical evidence. I have many hundreds of NOS valves ... over the past 10 years I have purchased them from the USA, Russia, Turkey, the UK, Germany, Thailand, India, Canada, Taiwan, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Czech Republic. Every one has had to be shipped airmail to Australia, everyone had to be exposed to the idiots that are postal workers. All but one of these valves (rectifiers, power and preamp valves) I have was perfect. The single valve that was faulty was a RCA 12AX7 that had one of the triodes DOA.
Let me now think of the modern valves I have purchased. Firstly they sound shit compared to vintage, many times the design criteria is way off the original specs from the 50s, they last a fraction of the time period that vintage last. I would hazard a guess that 30% of the modern valves I have had to return because they were either DOA or did not function correctly. Hence why I started looking at and using vintage.
A brand new electronic item sits in its box , on a shelf, for 50 years. Tell me ... why would it have any more reason to be "faulty" than a new electronic item manufactured last month and sitting on a shelf for 2 weeks?
There's lots of shysters on eBay and elsewhere that will talk up their used or defective product as NOS. It takes a leap of faith to assume every purported example of "NOS TUBES L@@k" has been sitting on a shelf for 50 years. Of course a good return policy is important but a lot of re-sellers don't offer that much. Neither is it isn't insanely difficult to have repro tube boxes made up to package used tubes with good inking, or even to put fake logos on new tubes that are fundamentally different from what they're represented as. The case of Ei ECC83's being re-inked and passed off as old Mullards in the late 90's and early aughts comes to mind...I bet a lot of those are still in circulation!
I'm sure none of this is news to you, but for those uninitiated that may lack photographic reference of NOS tubes, datasheets, a calibrated tube tester, etc etc it's a lot to take in considering the cost of some NOS tubes. No disrespect meant to you, sookwinder. If you prefer NOS, that's great. It is a superior product, of course. However, for a first-time amp build, because of the market that NOS tubes occupy, I believe it presents a variable that may derail an otherwise successful build. I'm not gonna twist the OP's arm into abandoning his stock or shame him -- merely presenting a possible scenario.
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
MuscleDad,
I definitely went into this eyes wide open. I paid a bit more for some of the tubes, but they were purchased from a trusted vendor rather than some dude on eBay. I know that I can return them if there's an issue. If I had priced this with nicer new production tubes, I would have spent at least 30% less. Was this a *necessary* expenditure? Probably not, but neither is this whole project. I wanted to see if I could appreciate the difference between these tubes and the new production stuff I have in my Marshall and Fender. I'll definitely be swapping them out and giving the ANOS and NOS tubes the Pepsi challenge. As for them not working, I have new production versions of everything except the 5y3, so I'm pretty confident that I can troubleshoot the tubes if I feel like there's a tube related problem when I go to fire it up.
I definitely went into this eyes wide open. I paid a bit more for some of the tubes, but they were purchased from a trusted vendor rather than some dude on eBay. I know that I can return them if there's an issue. If I had priced this with nicer new production tubes, I would have spent at least 30% less. Was this a *necessary* expenditure? Probably not, but neither is this whole project. I wanted to see if I could appreciate the difference between these tubes and the new production stuff I have in my Marshall and Fender. I'll definitely be swapping them out and giving the ANOS and NOS tubes the Pepsi challenge. As for them not working, I have new production versions of everything except the 5y3, so I'm pretty confident that I can troubleshoot the tubes if I feel like there's a tube related problem when I go to fire it up.
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
- tonehungry
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 89
- Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2016 7:01 pm
- Location: calgary, canada
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
this amp will sound great with the valves you've chosen
- PorkyPrimeCut
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 24464
- Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:46 am
- Location: Leipzig
- Contact:
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
Great build!
This thread has inspired me to dig out my old 6G15 build thread & un-fuck it as I'm pretty sure I used Photobucket to host the photos.
EDIT - I just checked & the images were posted using ImageShack. Huzzah!!
This thread has inspired me to dig out my old 6G15 build thread & un-fuck it as I'm pretty sure I used Photobucket to host the photos.
EDIT - I just checked & the images were posted using ImageShack. Huzzah!!
You think you can't, you wish you could, I know you can, I wish you would. Slip inside this house as you pass by.
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
Thanks for the encouragement, folks! Today and yesterday, I refined and deburred the chassis. I also got it drilled for the OT, test fit the chassis into the cab, test fit the turret board into the chassis, and installed the speaker. I'm trying to do all of the tedious stuff first before I populate the board and begin my soldering.
- sookwinder
- Mods
- Posts: 11179
- Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:47 pm
- Location: Melbourne Australia
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
don't forget:
- if you are using the chassis at the earth return for the pots, use a dremel or similar to grind off the plating of the chassis around where the pots are fitted to get a better earth connection
- do the same grinding around where the input jacks are ... as I suspect they will be using the chassis as earth return (I don't think you will be using isolated jacks, I never do)
- if you are using the chassis at the earth return for the pots, use a dremel or similar to grind off the plating of the chassis around where the pots are fitted to get a better earth connection
- do the same grinding around where the input jacks are ... as I suspect they will be using the chassis as earth return (I don't think you will be using isolated jacks, I never do)
relaxing alternative to doing actual work ...
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
David,sookwinder wrote:don't forget:
- if you are using the chassis at the earth return for the pots, use a dremel or similar to grind off the plating of the chassis around where the pots are fitted to get a better earth connection
- do the same grinding around where the input jacks are ... as I suspect they will be using the chassis as earth return (I don't think you will be using isolated jacks, I never do)
Thanks for the tips! This chassis isn't plated, but I'll be sure to sand the area around where the pots and jacks connect to assure a good connection for grounding. I'm not using isolated jacks, so that makes especially good sense.
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
Re: 5E9 Tweed Tremolux Build Thread: I'm Doing This!
Alright folks!
I test fitted my transformers today and realized that while the screw holes for mounting my OT did not interfere with the board, the OT itself did! Better to learn this now than later, right? Also, my board is mostly populated! I should be mounting jacks, switches, and knobs tomorrow. Also, any advice on the wiring of the jacks pictured above would be greatly appreciated!
I test fitted my transformers today and realized that while the screw holes for mounting my OT did not interfere with the board, the OT itself did! Better to learn this now than later, right? Also, my board is mostly populated! I should be mounting jacks, switches, and knobs tomorrow. Also, any advice on the wiring of the jacks pictured above would be greatly appreciated!
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA
- wproffitt
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1263
- Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:48 pm
- Location: Ellicott City, MD, USA