There is/was an old retired farmer in my neck of the woods who decided to make amps after his wife died and he needed something to do. Not once did he ever intend to make a ton of money or gain status off what he did. He threw together amplifier kits for people for a whole whopping $40 bucks and would tend to sell the ones that he made at more than a bit of a loss. The point was to have some fun and keep his 75 to 80 year old mind active. If the guy who threw this together was anything like that guy, then he has my respect.
Didn’t the builder know that you’re not supposed to use plumbing solder and a blowtorch? The solder joints on those boards made me feel infinitely better about my own work.
Look at the wire to the rear terminal of the fuse holder, it appears to have a half-inch of exposed copper. Probably lots more similar sloppiness in this thing.
Good point on testing resistors and not relying on the color bands! Besides colorblindness you mentioned, mistakes can happen at the factory and the color bands can be wrong. Case in point, while putting together the AB164/AA864 hybrid I've been working on recently I ordered a lot of Xicon resistors from Mouser and a 220k I was going to use looked correct (Red-Red-Yellow) but when I measured it the actual value ended up being 2.2k. I checked it with three different multimeters and still couldn't believe my eyes.
As far as measuring the resistors.......I do it to... as the Blue metal films sometimes make colors hard to discern... and heat in resistors changes them sometimes.
I worked at a TV repair shop with a questionable owner. He would have us pull parts from old TV's mark on the repair tag that we installed "performance tested parts" and charge a higher price than new. This was in southern California in the late 80's . I had to hide my face when I spoke with the TV's owner because I was ashamed of doing that to people.
15:05 - Check that the chassis is grounded; It doesn't sound like it is! Check to see if there's line voltage between the hot lead (white) and the chassis.
Ouch, KT90….they are quite expensive, approx 120€/Duo and you normally won’t get an Ei anymore but EH makes a good Version as well… However, why a ECH81 is used as a PI is really a mystery and I absolutely admire your bravery to dive into that rat‘s nest, I would have rejected that unit…
I don't care for the wiring either. It would make me wonder what else was lacking. Interesting you mentioned color blindness. The Navy gave me a color blindness test before they would allow me to enlist as a tech. Luckily I passed. I wonder how many people are color blind, and aren't aware. Glad you are able to work around around that challenge.
One of those choke-shaped objects is a 5V transformer supplying the rectifier filaments. I’m intrigued what the purpose is of that 6AJ8 triode-heptode. Or maybe the builder just ran out of ordinary dual-triodes and had that in the junk drawer. Despite the ugliness of some of that wiring, I've seen far scarier inside TV sets from my childhood. I'm OK with this if it's a proof-of-concept. But if he's charging money... eh not so much.
Wait a minute, this builder pays for those giant hyper-expensive Sprague Atom filter caps and then uses Illinois Capacitors too? Are those Yugoslavian KT90s or Yugo EL34s or 6L6s which the EL37/EL34 tubes were GARBAGE when they were new. Their KT90s were not too bad. Aspen Pittman had a pretty good stash of NOS EI KT90s I used to buy from. Sadly, he was killed in car crash. I knew Hunt Dabney better than I knew Aspen, and Hunter Dabney is still around, but he left Groove Tubes over 30 years ago.
Did the builder have any schematics for what they made? Although that isn't worse than some of the commercially Tvs built way back when. Some of those had several layers of wires and parts. And usually what you wanted to test was in the under most layer
Is there anything wrong with someone skimming through a couple of 'How to build Guitar Amp' books, and then taking a spin? Absolutely not. Is there anything wrong with someone trying to sell the results? It depends upon what was promised to the buyer. If someone shelled out their hard earned money for this...the builder may not be totally at fault...
Oh look. Another tube amp that is broken. In 1988, aged 17, I bought a Session SG75 (professional guitar transistor amp, made in the UK). Since then I have only changed the pots and the input jack. It sounds just like a valve amp - you can't tell the difference. Brilliant amplifier. In the meantime, my 2007 Vox AC30 Custom Classic sits in the corner, knackered (farts and loses sound) and on its third rectifier valve. Let me down on stage twice. My session meanwhile just keeps on keeping on. Valve amps sound great, but they're heavy, hot, and very very unreliable. I'm enjoying your videos very much. Despite not using valve amps live anymore, I enjoy watching your videos and gaining insights into how they work (and how they don't work!). Cheers.
I was first guy to Build for DiazAmplification after Cesars untimely passing...............In defense SOMEWHAT, When Cesar got sick, his later amps werent QUITE as tidy as earlier ones, n imho yes prolly make u SQUEAL..BUT that said, the amps sounded phenominal, w/NO weirdness whatsoever..It was a joy to build for that camp, n remain friends w/the man who was with Cesar when he died, as well as his brother who was one of first to record SRV live.. , and obviously NO where NEAR this rats nest ur working on.. :)
This must be some kinda new amp I never heard or seen that when tha volume is 0 you hear tha guitar...hmm sounds like spinal tap it goes to 11 type shit.....lmao
Lighten up people, this is called point-to-point wiring, it always looks (slightly) messy. This looks like most people's early build attempts, mine included. Celebrate the bravery here too, we start in electronics by reading a bit, then diving in, trying things out, temporarily tacking components down, swapping, adding, refining. Amp builders start off a bit rubbish, we either improve rapidly or give-up but reading these (very funny) but sneering or judgemental comments, I worry that only some rhino-skinned Mussolini could ever summon the sheer brass-neck and affrontery to attempt anything, like EVER :). Without a few years in-depth engineering math and valve electronics training, making a few messy attempts is the only (and quickest) way to learn. Components are getting costly, recent builders have to recycle all their early kludge amps but this guy might have given one or two away just to free up space. Maybe the 'lucky' recipient sold it on? More interestingly, has anyone considered that our hero 'Mr Psionic!!' might not have just beamed down onto our obscure little planet as a fully formed all-knowing guru level amp tech? How about it Lyle, what is your early history in electronics, where, why and at what age did you start? Did you ever tack-weld any toneless, flawed monstrosity circuits together? Who helped and inspired you? That could make a fascinating, possibly inspiring video.
I see the point you're trying to make, but no. This should never have been sold. This isn't point to point, or at least not the majority of it. It's eyelet construction. My early mistakes were guitar cables and A/B boxes. For myself. Not sold. Then pedal repairs. For myself. Then amp repairs. For myself. Then pedal/amp tweaks. For myself. By the time I was doing any work for friends (for free or a few bucks) my work was much better than this. The first things I did that I sold were not up to my current standards, but they were safe and reliable. My biggest early mistake was during a bad divorce when I was living in a tiny apartment where I couldn't test amps at any level. I would take them to friend's place to hear them. And one amp needed one little tweak so I changed three resistors then shipped the amp because I was desperate for the money. And when the buyer got it, it had almost no output. Because I had used a 47 ohm thinking it was a 47K. So I had to pay shipping three times because of one rushed minor (but crucial) mistake. So no, I didn't start out doing perfect work. But this amp here is a dog's dinner. And the builder has been selling these for years without any sign of improving. And then seemingly can't fix them when they inevitably fail. The wiring inside my first A/B box using Radio Shack parts and a plastic project box (that broke when I stepped on it) was better than this. And it didn't contain high voltage.
@@PsionicAudio Ok, point conceded, I did not pick up that he'd been selling this standard of build for years. And you are right, the high voltages in valve equipment it needs to be built securely and safely and by someone who knows enough not to injure or kill themselves. And on this build uninsulated flapping components were a possible short circuit danger. I can't see how you could build any point to point circuit without connector strips? That's how it's done. I don't build like that, I make turret boards. Almost impossible to loop every component only between valve, pot and multi-cap terminals even on a bog simple Champ circuit. How you gained the extensive knowledge you obviously have is interesting. A lot of people enjoyed Ms Fazio's video about how she got into amp tech work. Maybe I hit a nerve, sorry if my original comment was heavy handed.
No nerve at all. We're good. I did a little "about me" video earlier this year that explains some of that, but in general I want the channel to be about the amps, not me as an individual or "personality." I have nothing but respect for Ms Fazio, but I think she could make a video on how she makes toast and get 10K views. I'm not sure how many of her followers are there for the amp information. I mean that as a comment on sad middle aged men, not on her. She seems to be well along the path to being a good amp tech and I wish her nothing but good fortune.
@@PsionicAudio Also thanks for the insight's into your early days of AB box building and Fx pedal repairs. Still think one fine day there is a video to be made. I got into electronics as a hobby after retirement about five years ago so never had to struggle to keep an amp repair business running and earn enough to pay bills, rent and food. Had businesses though and sweated over late payments so the mortgage could be covered. Rebuilt my life from rubble a couple of times. 1970s and 80s were probably easier than now. Enough work and opportunities around to start anew then.
I'm not buying that. I've seen the inside of more than a couple "beginner" or "project" amps that looked better. This is completely unacceptable for a commercial build.
Very classy of you to not name names. Some of the cheesy work looks familiar. For instance the (bias?) pot doing a trapeze act. I admit to having done things like that. But I was fifteen years old at the time. It took me a few years to understand the value of doing things properly.
From the looks of this mess... the owner would be better off to just get another amp before wasting money or time on this mongrel. What this needs is a complete re-design from the ground up.
There is/was an old retired farmer in my neck of the woods who decided to make amps after his wife died and he needed something to do. Not once did he ever intend to make a ton of money or gain status off what he did. He threw together amplifier kits for people for a whole whopping $40 bucks and would tend to sell the ones that he made at more than a bit of a loss. The point was to have some fun and keep his 75 to 80 year old mind active. If the guy who threw this together was anything like that guy, then he has my respect.
Too far down the path of Suck.....OMFG....had me laughing.
Cheerz!!
Ray Charles did a great job wiring that amp.👊😎
Stevie Wonder could do a better job.....
Didn’t the builder know that you’re not supposed to use plumbing solder and a blowtorch? The solder joints on those boards made me feel infinitely better about my own work.
Almost everything about that layout made me feel better comparatively… yikes!
Look at the wire to the rear terminal of the fuse holder, it appears to have a half-inch of exposed copper. Probably lots more similar sloppiness in this thing.
@@goodun2974 I wonder why anyone who prides themselves as a builder would be sloppy.
Good point on testing resistors and not relying on the color bands! Besides colorblindness you mentioned, mistakes can happen at the factory and the color bands can be wrong. Case in point, while putting together the AB164/AA864 hybrid I've been working on recently I ordered a lot of Xicon resistors from Mouser and a 220k I was going to use looked correct (Red-Red-Yellow) but when I measured it the actual value ended up being 2.2k. I checked it with three different multimeters and still couldn't believe my eyes.
"Too far down the path of suck..."
Ha!
As far as measuring the resistors.......I do it to... as the Blue metal films sometimes make colors hard to discern... and heat in resistors changes them sometimes.
I worked at a TV repair shop with a questionable owner. He would have us pull parts from old TV's mark on the repair tag that we installed "performance tested parts" and charge a higher price than new. This was in southern California in the late 80's . I had to hide my face when I spoke with the TV's owner because I was ashamed of doing that to people.
With Halloween coming up you could call that amp the Freddie Krueger, looks like quite a nightmare inside.
15:05 - Check that the chassis is grounded; It doesn't sound like it is! Check to see if there's line voltage between the hot lead (white) and the chassis.
The ECH81 is a frequency changer tube designed for radio use. Why anyone would use it as a phase inverter in an audio amp is a mystery.
Electro Harmonix sells a KT90. 6550s or KT88s will usually work okay too. If you can find NOS GE 6550As those will work.
Ouch, KT90….they are quite expensive, approx 120€/Duo and you normally won’t get an Ei anymore but EH makes a good Version as well…
However, why a ECH81 is used as a PI is really a mystery and I absolutely admire your bravery to dive into that rat‘s nest, I would have rejected that unit…
The inside of that amp reminds me of that scene in The Fly, when Seth Brundle tries to teleport a dog for the first time.
HAHA!! that had me laughing my ass off. :-)
This will be on Reverb soon for $14,000.
Yikes!
A nightmare looking amp just in time for Halloween!
I don't care for the wiring either. It would make me wonder what else was lacking.
Interesting you mentioned color blindness. The Navy gave me a color blindness test before they would allow me to enlist as a tech. Luckily I passed. I wonder how many people are color blind, and aren't aware. Glad you are able to work around around that challenge.
At first look, i was like, hmm, thats ok, but after a while it was a very sore sight.
One of those choke-shaped objects is a 5V transformer supplying the rectifier filaments.
I’m intrigued what the purpose is of that 6AJ8 triode-heptode. Or maybe the builder just ran out of ordinary dual-triodes and had that in the junk drawer.
Despite the ugliness of some of that wiring, I've seen far scarier inside TV sets from my childhood.
I'm OK with this if it's a proof-of-concept. But if he's charging money... eh not so much.
Have you ever heard an amp that was built terribly but sounded way better than you expected?
No.
Wait a minute, this builder pays for those giant hyper-expensive Sprague Atom filter caps and then uses Illinois Capacitors too? Are those Yugoslavian KT90s or Yugo EL34s or 6L6s which the EL37/EL34 tubes were GARBAGE when they were new. Their KT90s were not too bad. Aspen Pittman had a pretty good stash of NOS EI KT90s I used to buy from. Sadly, he was killed in car crash. I knew Hunt Dabney better than I knew Aspen, and Hunter Dabney is still around, but he left Groove Tubes over 30 years ago.
Did the builder have any schematics for what they made? Although that isn't worse than some of the commercially Tvs built way back when. Some of those had several layers of wires and parts. And usually what you wanted to test was in the under most layer
That thing's fizzier than a can of soda pop
Is there anything wrong with someone skimming through a couple of 'How to build Guitar Amp' books, and then taking a spin? Absolutely not. Is there anything wrong with someone trying to sell the results? It depends upon what was promised to the buyer. If someone shelled out their hard earned money for this...the builder may not be totally at fault...
How would an average player know what is going on inside this thing. Regardless, this mess is a testament to the builders workmanship.
He stated he as seen other work from this builder. So there's your answer.
Exactly, chokkan, thank you for pointing that out. We don't know the story. Best to keep our ideas to ourselves when that is the case.
I think it’s okay to name it “misplaced confidence” on the part of the builder. Uffda.
Where’s the UL label? 😆
Oh look. Another tube amp that is broken. In 1988, aged 17, I bought a Session SG75 (professional guitar transistor amp, made in the UK). Since then I have only changed the pots and the input jack. It sounds just like a valve amp - you can't tell the difference. Brilliant amplifier. In the meantime, my 2007 Vox AC30 Custom Classic sits in the corner, knackered (farts and loses sound) and on its third rectifier valve. Let me down on stage twice. My session meanwhile just keeps on keeping on. Valve amps sound great, but they're heavy, hot, and very very unreliable. I'm enjoying your videos very much. Despite not using valve amps live anymore, I enjoy watching your videos and gaining insights into how they work (and how they don't work!). Cheers.
I always ask for a photo of "custom" amps ahead of time. Would've refused this mess.
Chef Boyardee?
I was first guy to Build for DiazAmplification after Cesars untimely passing...............In defense SOMEWHAT, When Cesar got sick, his later amps werent QUITE as tidy as earlier ones, n imho yes prolly make u SQUEAL..BUT that said, the amps sounded phenominal, w/NO weirdness whatsoever..It was a joy to build for that camp, n remain friends w/the man who was with Cesar when he died, as well as his brother who was one of first to record SRV live.. , and obviously NO where NEAR this rats nest ur working on.. :)
Hinson?
Looks critical..!! Not your normal type of project...I'd call an ambulance..Interesting though..Ed..uk.😀
Tune for maximum smoke?
I think those tube rings are snake oil.
This must be some kinda new amp I never heard or seen that when tha volume is 0 you hear tha guitar...hmm sounds like spinal tap it goes to 11 type shit.....lmao
What do o-rings do to a power tube?
From not much to a little.
Supposed to help dampen microphonic tubes... He mentioned it in the video and also showed, at least in this case, that they are ineffective.
Lighten up people, this is called point-to-point wiring, it always looks (slightly) messy. This looks like most people's early build attempts, mine included. Celebrate the bravery here too, we start in electronics by reading a bit, then diving in, trying things out, temporarily tacking components down, swapping, adding, refining. Amp builders start off a bit rubbish, we either improve rapidly or give-up but reading these (very funny) but sneering or judgemental comments, I worry that only some rhino-skinned Mussolini could ever summon the sheer brass-neck and affrontery to attempt anything, like EVER :). Without a few years in-depth engineering math and valve electronics training, making a few messy attempts is the only (and quickest) way to learn. Components are getting costly, recent builders have to recycle all their early kludge amps but this guy might have given one or two away just to free up space. Maybe the 'lucky' recipient sold it on?
More interestingly, has anyone considered that our hero 'Mr Psionic!!' might not have just beamed down onto our obscure little planet as a fully formed all-knowing guru level amp tech? How about it Lyle, what is your early history in electronics, where, why and at what age did you start? Did you ever tack-weld any toneless, flawed monstrosity circuits together? Who helped and inspired you? That could make a fascinating, possibly inspiring video.
I see the point you're trying to make, but no. This should never have been sold. This isn't point to point, or at least not the majority of it. It's eyelet construction.
My early mistakes were guitar cables and A/B boxes. For myself. Not sold. Then pedal repairs. For myself. Then amp repairs. For myself. Then pedal/amp tweaks. For myself.
By the time I was doing any work for friends (for free or a few bucks) my work was much better than this.
The first things I did that I sold were not up to my current standards, but they were safe and reliable.
My biggest early mistake was during a bad divorce when I was living in a tiny apartment where I couldn't test amps at any level. I would take them to friend's place to hear them. And one amp needed one little tweak so I changed three resistors then shipped the amp because I was desperate for the money.
And when the buyer got it, it had almost no output. Because I had used a 47 ohm thinking it was a 47K.
So I had to pay shipping three times because of one rushed minor (but crucial) mistake.
So no, I didn't start out doing perfect work.
But this amp here is a dog's dinner. And the builder has been selling these for years without any sign of improving. And then seemingly can't fix them when they inevitably fail.
The wiring inside my first A/B box using Radio Shack parts and a plastic project box (that broke when I stepped on it) was better than this. And it didn't contain high voltage.
@@PsionicAudio Ok, point conceded, I did not pick up that he'd been selling this standard of build for years. And you are right, the high voltages in valve equipment it needs to be built securely and safely and by someone who knows enough not to injure or kill themselves. And on this build uninsulated flapping components were a possible short circuit danger.
I can't see how you could build any point to point circuit without connector strips? That's how it's done. I don't build like that, I make turret boards. Almost impossible to loop every component only between valve, pot and multi-cap terminals even on a bog simple Champ circuit.
How you gained the extensive knowledge you obviously have is interesting. A lot of people enjoyed Ms Fazio's video about how she got into amp tech work.
Maybe I hit a nerve, sorry if my original comment was heavy handed.
No nerve at all. We're good.
I did a little "about me" video earlier this year that explains some of that, but in general I want the channel to be about the amps, not me as an individual or "personality."
I have nothing but respect for Ms Fazio, but I think she could make a video on how she makes toast and get 10K views. I'm not sure how many of her followers are there for the amp information. I mean that as a comment on sad middle aged men, not on her. She seems to be well along the path to being a good amp tech and I wish her nothing but good fortune.
@@PsionicAudio Also thanks for the insight's into your early days of AB box building and Fx pedal repairs. Still think one fine day there is a video to be made.
I got into electronics as a hobby after retirement about five years ago so never had to struggle to keep an amp repair business running and earn enough to pay bills, rent and food. Had businesses though and sweated over late payments so the mortgage could be covered. Rebuilt my life from rubble a couple of times. 1970s and 80s were probably easier than now. Enough work and opportunities around to start anew then.
I'm not buying that. I've seen the inside of more than a couple "beginner" or "project" amps that looked better. This is completely unacceptable for a commercial build.
Why are you left with thing "thing", isn't the local builder able to fix it being his design?
Maybe the owner doesn't trust him...
Very classy of you to not name names. Some of the cheesy work looks familiar. For instance the (bias?) pot doing a trapeze act. I admit to having done things like that. But I was fifteen years old at the time. It took me a few years to understand the value of doing things properly.
6hj8 75 cent in quantity of 10 let me know if you want to know the supplier.
Kind of hard to tell whats what in there. Lots of spagetti. Kind of sounded like just a noisy rock n roll amp.
Why in Gods name did he chose to use a triode/ heptode in a guitar amp🤔
From the looks of this mess... the owner would be better off to just get another amp before wasting money or time on this mongrel. What this needs is a complete re-design from the ground up.
I would not work on this amp
Too far down the path of suck
Lol
what the hell is this mess?...
Two 5u4 and two chokes,…ain’t it special. The two 5u4 draw 6 amps filament current combined,…not many a PT have 6 amps of 5vac available
The owner SHOULD NOT build Amps!! What a mess! NO ground on the POT cases, and flying leads everywhere!
That thing is hideous