Fender '57 Tweed Twin Project

I should begin by stating that I have never built an electric guitar amplifier before. That being said,  I decided to try my hand at just that. Last night I completed the amp itself and housed it in a head enclosure. The enclosure is unfinished, but getting the amp up and running is priority here. This is a Weber kit for the '57 Low Powered Tweed Twin 5E8A circuit. This particular twin yields 40 watts of tube output. It has 3 12AX7 preamp tubes, a 12AU7 phase inverter, and I opted for 2 KT66s as opposed to 6L6s in the output section. The rectifiers are Weber Copper Caps which have a combination of components inside to simulate a vacuum tube. They're called copper caps due to being in a copper enclosure. They run at a high temperature and copper works well to dissipate heat.

Upon being asked yesterday, I realized that I have no idea how long it took me from start to finish as I made time to work on it here and there. I do know that it has taken a lot of time, patience, a few visits to the local hardware store and more than a few visits/phone calls to local electronics guru Eric at Eric's Audio Repair here in Grand Rapids.

I had begun wanting to convert a tube organ amplifier chassis into a guitar amp, but to make a long story short, it wouldn't work out with the parts I had. Once I got to that point, I discarded the materials I had and began anew with ordering the chassis and other parts from Weber. I ordered parts in groups according to what stage I was at using all parts listed in the kit for the 5E8A model. I figured if I wanted to upgrade components at a later time, I could. Also, I was interested to hear what the stock clone kit would sound like. Here are some work in progress pictures at various stages:

The original chassis from the organ that I couldn't use.

5E8A board before soldering.

Mounted sockets, jacks, pots, switches etc.

Input jacks

Back of circuit board after soldering

Wood measured and cut. Ready for drilling and wood glue.

Cabinet sides with control panel space cut out

Front panel mounted

First baffle added with brackets added to front panel

Preamp section wiring

Circuit board dropped into chassis

More socket wiring

All tube socket connections completed. Just grounding and a couple power transformer leads left.

Star grounding at the far end of chassis

Finished guts

Mounted into cabinet with Weber Copper Caps, tubes & knobs added

Now to see if it actually works...

 As mentioned earlier, there is still a bit of work to do on the enclosure. I also have a 4x12 cab that this will be running through and they both will eventually be wrapped in black tolex. The front of the head will be covered in silver/black Fender replacement grill cloth to match the cabinet grill which I have already stretched to a frame. The speaker cab was custom made for someone before (I'm assuming studio use to to not having handles or casters) and I have since cut holes and installed handles on the sides. Still have to install casters once the tolex is finished. Once both are finished it should look and sound pretty nifty.

Life is good.

Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra Live At Founders Brewing 12.18.11

The Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra Performing

 
I had the great fortune of catching another fantastic performance by the Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra at Founders Brewing Company. They perform there on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month and it's always a packed house with people of all ages. This is one of the best regular events that takes place in our fair city of G.R. Great food, drink and service from the always accommodating Founders staff to go along with top notch entertainment.

With it being so close to the holidays, the orchestra followed in theme with some holiday tunes and killed it as usual. If you haven't been to one of their performances before, you have no idea the time you're missing out on. Along with their linked site above, you can keep up on all of their events by visiting their Facebook page here. You can also go to their site and buy their "Jazz On Tap" CD recorded at Founders or better yet, buy one when you go to see them.

I happened to arrive with my stereo recorder in hand so I could capture a little taste of the action. The first clip was recorded by setting up the recorder by the end of the bar furthest from the orchestra so there's a lot more room and patron sound. For the second recording, I placed it against the window by the sound board which is about 10-15 feet away from the players on the stage left side. You can give it a listen below...

Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra Founders 12.18.11 (Part 1) by buefordwilson

Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra at Founders 12.18.11 (Part 2) by buefordwilson


Life is good.

12 Track Radio Live Set At Jukes 12.10.11

12 Track Radio is a trio that my brother Ryan joined recently. I went to Jukes Bar to check them out for the first time this past Saturday and brought my handheld recorder to capture the set. Here's the audio:


12 Track Radio Live at Jukes 12.10.11 by buefordwilson

New Guitar For This Guy

Had another good find on Craigslist. It's a '72 Telecaster Deluxe Reissue. I had to tear it apart and fix some wiring on one of the tone pots and input jack, but it's sounding great with no hiccups now. I played it through my Kay Model 504 tube amp after repairs were finished. This is what they look/sound like:

'72 Telecaster Deluxe & Kay 504 Test_1 by buefordwilson

Life is good.

A New Recorder & Dax Riggs At The Pyramid Scheme

Recently I purchased a Tascam DR-08 digital recorder. It has built in stereo condenser mic capsules the can be positioned different ways for different types of recording. I wanted something portable so I can quickly and easily capture ideas at band rehearsals as well as live performances. Here's what it looks like:

I got to test it out at a show after a few days of receiving it in the mail. The show was Dax Riggs at the Pyramid Scheme and it was great. I managed to get some audio of his set even though the batteries ran out in the middle of it. I haven't done anything to fine tune the audio yet, but it sounds decent straight from the device. Here's the two uncut clips I managed to capture:

Dax Riggs1 PScheme 12 4 11 by buefordwilson

Dax Riggs2 PScheme 12 4 11 by buefordwilson

And here's one track I caught from Grand Rapids' own Haunted Leather:

Haunted Leather Pyramid Scheme 12 4 11 by buefordwilson

I've had a good amount of stuff going on lately and my amount of posts reflect that surely, but I'm going to try to keep up on this better in the future. On another note, I started building my first tube amplifier. This is going to be a long and arduous process, but that's all for another post.

Life is good.

Fes2val.

A really great event that happens every year in Grand Rapids is Fes2val. It is an entire day event featuring 2 member bands. Every year I have to work on that day, so I miss it. This year was no change, but I thought I would be able to catch the last three groups. Wrong. Got stuck at work and only caught a snippet of Beast In The Field's last song. Missed Jowls prior to that. Luckily I was able to see all of Charles The Osprey's set, so the day was not lost. Here are the resulting pictures: