Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the
duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada.
(Red Green would like this amp!)
http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg

I was hesitant to dismantle the el84 version, since I
was really enjoying the sound. This version is built
around JELabs 45/2a3. Those are some Canadian 2A3 in the
picture, but the amp runs nicer with a pair of 45's.
Good sound from this little amp, not much slam, but nice
tone. Zero audible hum.

Listening through my $25 dollar pipes(wood $20, spkrs $5).
http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/speaker.jpg
($75 if you include the Japanese wood plane from Lee Valley).
Those are little 5.25 inch Radio Shack automotive full-range
drivers, could $1K Lowthers actually sound 200 times better than
these?
Funny, I get more enjoyment from this $150 setup than sitting
in the local "Hi-Fi" boutique listening to their $25K display
system

I miss the little el84 amp and will have to build another one
when winter sets, it should help heat the room as room as well.
The other project I've been considering, is something like a
kt66/kt88 PP using the old Harmon Kardon iron from that chassis.
Hunting around for a suitable design, looks are not important!

Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with
the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips!
billy

"Fred Nachbaur" wrote in message
news:AT94b.112971$K44.62722@edtnps84...


billy wrote:
Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the
duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada.
(Red Green would like this amp!)
http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg
[...]

Aaarrrrgghhh!!!! Duct tape!!! runs screaming into the flaming woods

The true irony is that the crap isn't used for ducts. Too gooey when
new, too brittle when it ages.

Cheers,
Fred
has to remove duct-tape poop from handheld VHF radios on an almost
daily basis

PS - the rest of it looks great! ;-)
--
+--------------------------------------------+
| Music: http://www3.telus.net/dogstarmusic/ |
| Projects, Vacuum Tubes & other stuff: |
| http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk |
+--------------------------------------------+

There is a duct tape that's actually
used for ducts. It's thin aluminum
with adhesive backing.
Jeff T

dag Billy!.. could ya NOT have used hockey tape for that!

OK, just to assure the rest of the world.. we only tinker
with tube amps when we're NOT playing hockey or drinking beer.

nuff said..

Last winter I build some speakers from the "Accolade 2" plans that
Lowther are good enough to post on the web. Inside are two pairs
of RSC (radio speakers of canada) whizzer-cone speakers, total
cost of about $25Cdn. They are the BEST speakers I've ever heard...
and having spent way too much time trying to line up internal
baffles has NOTHING to do with this opinion.. honest.

Speakers can be fun to muck with too.. whizzer-back-damping, damar
varnish...

EC (from canada, eh)

Hey!
Got to love the Ugly Amp! My stuff is so dependant on wiring layout, and
you've got 'gator clips! Anyhow, my hat's off. The amp transcends "ugly",
it's "fugly"! I wish i had a chance to hear it...

"billy" wrote in message
m...
Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the
duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada.
(Red Green would like this amp!)
http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg

I was hesitant to dismantle the el84 version, since I
was really enjoying the sound. This version is built
around JELabs 45/2a3. Those are some Canadian 2A3 in the
picture, but the amp runs nicer with a pair of 45's.
Good sound from this little amp, not much slam, but nice
tone. Zero audible hum.

Listening through my $25 dollar pipes(wood $20, spkrs $5).
http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/speaker.jpg
($75 if you include the Japanese wood plane from Lee Valley).
Those are little 5.25 inch Radio Shack automotive full-range
drivers, could $1K Lowthers actually sound 200 times better than
these?
Funny, I get more enjoyment from this $150 setup than sitting
in the local "Hi-Fi" boutique listening to their $25K display
system

I miss the little el84 amp and will have to build another one
when winter sets, it should help heat the room as room as well.
The other project I've been considering, is something like a
kt66/kt88 PP using the old Harmon Kardon iron from that chassis.
Hunting around for a suitable design, looks are not important!

Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with
the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips!
billy

"Engineer" wrote in message
...
billy wrote:

Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the
duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada.
(Red Green would like this amp!)
http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg

(snip)

Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with
the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips!
billy

I'm 100% in favour of experimentation (and I've built my
share of "uglies"), but I strongly advise either the
"breadboard" approach or a true "open chassis". Much better
than your "crock-clip birds nest" which can go open or short
with no warning. Poof! Splut!

With a "breadboard" you literally take a piece of wood, say
12 inches square (or as needed), and you screw down (or even
nail) tube sockets (use stand-offs), transformers, etc.,
plus a pile of tag strips, then connect everything by
soldering hook-up wire in place - it's actually quicker than
what you have done. But MUCH SAFER!

Brass nails are good as soldering points, and can actually make this a quite
stable mock up, even sort of nice with attention to detail. It is also good
to have a useful experimental design, since it will always sound better than
the finished......... :-)

I agree with your safety precausions.

I remember in the military getting my fingers into some nasty high voltage,
nothing really happend (I think:-0) but it was mandatory to go to the doctor
for a check.
As I walked thru the door, the doctor almost trimbled over in
laughter..........It turned out that, because of my hairstyle at that time,
I looked exactely like the picture he had in his head, from when they called
to tell that "someone eletrocuted" was on his way )

The stupidity prize goes to a friend from school, putting up a lamp in the
ceiling, taking off the insulation of a 230V live wire, with his teeth!!!!
Since he survived, I still can't help laughing, when I think about it, need
I say he went down that ladder pretty fast......

Karsten,
Denmark




The "open chassis" approach is similar - just use large
recycled chassis with lots of tube socket holes and tag
strips strategically placed. Then you just hook up under
the chassis - again, always by soldering. I used to use an
old, stripped military receiver chassis.

Tube circuits carry high voltages and tube power supplies
can deliver very large peak currents, both to fatal levels.
Those reservoir capacitors can really ruin your day if you
don't discharge them properly before poking about.

Remember, safety first. Solder all hook-ups. Never use
crock-clips on plate supplies! Nor anywhere else, come to
that, except on a DMM.

"Live long and prosper" by doing it right.

Cheers,

Roger
--
Roger Jones, P.Eng.
Thornhill, Ontario,
Canada.

"Friends don't let friends vote Liberal"

billy wrote:

Here's the second generation of my ugly amp, note the
duct tape safety shielding, now mandatory in Canada.
(Red Green would like this amp!)
http://home.golden.net/~wjm/ugly/uglyamp2.jpg

(snip)

Haven't tried battery bias yet, but that'll be easy to add in with
the open chassis concept. I need more alligator clips!
billy

I'm 100% in favour of experimentation (and I've built my
share of "uglies"), but I strongly advise either the
"breadboard" approach or a true "open chassis". Much better
than your "crock-clip birds nest" which can go open or short
with no warning. Poof! Splut!

With a "breadboard" you literally take a piece of wood, say
12 inches square (or as needed), and you screw down (or even
nail) tube sockets (use stand-offs), transformers, etc.,
plus a pile of tag strips, then connect everything by
soldering hook-up wire in place - it's actually quicker than
what you have done. But MUCH SAFER!

The "open chassis" approach is similar - just use large
recycled chassis with lots of tube socket holes and tag
strips strategically placed. Then you just hook up under
the chassis - again, always by soldering. I used to use an
old, stripped military receiver chassis.

Tube circuits carry high voltages and tube power supplies
can deliver very large peak currents, both to fatal levels.
Those reservoir capacitors can really ruin your day if you
don't discharge them properly before poking about.

Remember, safety first. Solder all hook-ups. Never use
crock-clips on plate supplies! Nor anywhere else, come to
that, except on a DMM.

"Live long and prosper" by doing it right.

Cheers,

Roger
--
Roger Jones, P.Eng.
Thornhill, Ontario,
Canada.

"Friends don't let friends vote Liberal"

(billy) wrote in
m:


EC, no hockey tape here. Kids have been into lacrosse for the last
few years. That dual horn on that Accolade looks interesting! Do
you have a link to the drivers you used, I couldn't locate that RSC
company you mentioned in Canada?
Any excuse to make something out of wood is good for me. You wouldn't
guess by looking at that amp that I'm paranoid about getting shocked.
Likely from my childhood, when brother would tell me to hold the spark
plug wire on the lawnmower before giving it a pull
billy


Hey Billy,

Lacrosse is *hot* here too, might be a spinoff of The Rock, but it
makes hockey look down right civilized!

My RSC drivers are from the 60's... RSC as such are no longer. They
used to make speakers for Jensen at one point, I've seen pictures
of drivers with "RSC for Jensen" or both the RSC and Jensen logos on
them. I used a pair of alnico's I saved from an old solid-state
console, and a pair of ceramic's I bought off eBay from a local guy
for $15US. Both are the full-range whizzer cone type, not Lowthers
to be sure, but hey. Both are 8ohm, run in parallel, no crossevers.
My Heathkit can run 4ohm luckily.

I made the boxes out of MDF, not knowing they would turn out so good!
So, add another $14 for a sheet of that. I drew up a template out
of cardboard to help with all the funky angle cuts and alignment, and
screwed-and-glued it all together.

They're now covered in a black carpet-felt material, with black amp-
corners (50 cents each at Longe and McQuade!). Unlike the plans, I
extended the fron out a bit to fit a frame for speaker cloth.

And finally (you'll love this...), for speaker cloth I got some
hockey practive sweather material )

The only mods I've made to them is to add rings of the carpet-felt
stuff behind the whizzers (supposed to cut down the "single-driver
midrange honk"), and applied two coats of damar varnish to all the
cones (another single-driver trick).

EC

Snip

A piece of soft chip board makes a good breadboard.
Wouldn't it be easier to use brass plated 6 guage x 5/8'" long phillips
head
screws
available cheaply at any hardware store, rather than hammer in nails?

Good point! Well of course.... :-)

Karsten

The tube sockets lugs can be directly soldered to an array of screws set
out to
suit,
and connection points kept neat and tidy, with short wire runs,
and with soldered joints. No need for any alligator leads,
which become intermittent.

On breadboard power supplies I have, I also strap and screw down
chokes, transformers, switches, caps, and I use an electric drill with a
phillips
bit in it to drive the screws, so bloomin easy!!!

snap

"jim" wrote in message
...

"All Ears" wrote in message
k...
Snip

A piece of soft chip board makes a good breadboard.
Wouldn't it be easier to use brass plated 6 guage x 5/8'" long
phillips
head
screws
available cheaply at any hardware store, rather than hammer in nails?

Good point! Well of course.... :-)

Karsten

The tube sockets lugs can be directly soldered to an array of screws
set
out to
suit,
and connection points kept neat and tidy, with short wire runs,
and with soldered joints. No need for any alligator leads,
which become intermittent.

On breadboard power supplies I have, I also strap and screw down
chokes, transformers, switches, caps, and I use an electric drill with
a
phillips
bit in it to drive the screws, so bloomin easy!!!

snap

Hiya,
Off topic a bit but might be of interest... Prototypes/hook ups are often
done on bits of timber etc. I have sometimes just layed things out on the
bench top and soldered them together to prove a point. When you're happy,
you move on to the final, finished thing.
You seen those cutaway models of car engines etc they do so you can see
the
internal workings ? Built an amp like that about 20 years ago with no
chassis at all !! With a remote PSU, the only tranny in the amp was the
OPT. Stand up 6" x 4" tranny with frames either end with lots of
convenient
bolt holes. On top of this was bolted a roughly 8" cube, as I remember,
built up by soldering together pieces of 10 SWG copper wire.
Diagonals across the 6 faces gave it rigidity... race car chassis used to
use the same 'space frame' technology. Octal valve bases were soldered
direct to internal 10SWG frames to take 2 x 6V6GTs and a 6SL7. All
earth/ground returns were through the frame.
It all fitted inside the 8" cube, and since everything was visible, I
spent
weeks laying out passives in the right positions and choosing the right
colour hook up wire, before soldering everything together so it looked OK
from any angle.
Looked fantastic !! The weight of the OPT at the bottom meant it was
never
going to fall over, and it was nice to watch resistors and caps working
while listening to the music. After 36 pints of lager you could almost
see
the music going through the thing !!!
After 3 weeks the wife suggested it could kill one of the children...
Plans
to encase it in a glass case never came to anything and I scrapped it.
Nowadays, 20 something designers call this an, 'industrial' look...
They
obviously don't have wives and children.
regards
jim


Hi Jim -
I'mfinally running a hop with two kids around (just turned 5 & 7), and,
other than constant interruptions, they seem to have an instinctive sence of
what's *really* dangerous & *really* bad - other than killin' all the power
when I'm away from the bench, and minor thefts of "beads' (new resistors),
no worries.
If you decide to make another see-through, though - forget glass - there
are ammazingly good transparent plastics nowadays, easy to work with, clear
glue joints, hheat resistant if need be, and available for short $$'s if
you buy remanants. You're right, though, the see-through thing has been
used and abused by everyone from wrist watch designers (and I'm not talking
about skeleton clocks / watches of yesteryear) to goofy companies like mac.
-dim

Hi Jim -
I'mfinally running a hop with two kids around (just turned 5 & 7), and,
other than constant interruptions, they seem to have an instinctive sence
of
what's *really* dangerous & *really* bad - other than killin' all the
power
when I'm away from the bench, and minor thefts of "beads' (new resistors),
no worries.

hiya dim
You don't need me to tell you... you'll make sure those kids are OK.

If you decide to make another see-through, though - forget glass - there
are ammazingly good transparent plastics nowadays, easy to work with,
clear
glue joints, hheat resistant if need be, and available for short $$'s if
you buy remanants. You're right, though, the see-through thing has been
used and abused by everyone from wrist watch designers (and I'm not
talking
about skeleton clocks / watches of yesteryear) to goofy companies like
mac.
-dim

Going back twenty, odd, years, -- I like things to look nice and used to
turn things upside down so people could look at all those pretty caps and
resistors.. **** me, they used to say.. That looks complicated !! Just
went on from there.. Let it all hang out !! If you've got it, flash it
about !!
Folk used to look at this open frame thing I had created as though it was
the warp drive off the Starship Enterprise !
Killed conversation though !! People sat watching to see if they could see
the music going through it !!
regards
jim

"jim" wrote in message
...

Hi Jim -
I'mfinally running a hop with two kids around (just turned 5 & 7), and,
other than constant interruptions, they seem to have an instinctive
sence
of
what's *really* dangerous & *really* bad - other than killin' all the
power
when I'm away from the bench, and minor thefts of "beads' (new
resistors),
no worries.

hiya dim
You don't need me to tell you... you'll make sure those kids are OK.

If you decide to make another see-through, though - forget glass -
there
are ammazingly good transparent plastics nowadays, easy to work with,
clear
glue joints, hheat resistant if need be, and available for short $$'s
if
you buy remanants. You're right, though, the see-through thing has been
used and abused by everyone from wrist watch designers (and I'm not
talking
about skeleton clocks / watches of yesteryear) to goofy companies like
mac.
-dim

Going back twenty, odd, years, -- I like things to look nice and used to
turn things upside down so people could look at all those pretty caps and
resistors.. **** me, they used to say.. That looks complicated !! Just
went on from there.. Let it all hang out !! If you've got it, flash it
about !!
Folk used to look at this open frame thing I had created as though it was
the warp drive off the Starship Enterprise !
Killed conversation though !! People sat watching to see if they could
see
the music going through it !!
regards
jim


Hi Jim -
Got the same obsession - used to restore vintage cars (and later antique
clocks & cameras) for a livin' (sure paid better than this toob
foolishness), and after a while, you start getting obsessed by *details*, -
as in chuckin' up every screw and getting the lat guy's screwdriver burrs
off, and hittin' them with 400 paper - not polished, just 'correct'.
Partially as penance for all the butchery I've done when I was starting out,
and partially after sein' a Bugatti 35 at an auction, with the owner
/restorer standing as guard /mother hen near it. I started pointing out the
finish on the block to my friends, as the guy slapped my hand away (thought
i was goin' to touch the aluminum, he wasn't havin' any of *that*. Anyhow,
spent about an hour milking him for his tricks & gaping at the gorgeously
bent & immaculately welded exhaust manifold ("Tig?" "No, just torches -
spend 30 years working with gas, you might get it."). Anyhow, got to
rebuild a couple of bugs, and *every internal engine part was a work of art*
The connecting rods (milled) had machining marks which were simply showing
off how good the machinist was - a much simpler finish pattern would have
been more practical (like bead-peenin', which would'a made the rods
stronger), and no one other than a mechanic would ever see these things, but
this was *aht* The Hunger Artist? Every toob geek should give that a
read....
Anyhow, now i love working with solid-core cloth wire, and get bummed when
the best wiring layout is aesthetically poor... And yeah, I want everyone
to see 'under the hood", but settle for taking pictures...
/morning rant
-dim (gettin' to ... errr ... work.)