Backing up a bit.

I ran into an issue with Amp #2 when I went to plug the tubes into those nice gold bottom mount sockets. It was extremely hard to get the tubes into the sockets and harder yet to get them back out. I'm going back to the regular ones and have those on order. They allow easy tube changes without any risk of bending pins. Since I'm removing those sockets I also decided to do some house cleaning and will shorten each wire to its minimum length. Doing so will reduce noise in the circuitry. I will then know what that length each wire should be so I'll be able to use this recipe in the future amps. This will make it a lot easier to wire up. I also found another builder's amp and his heater wires where a work of art. So I took his lead and created a new set of heater wires that are much prettier than the previous ones.

New heater wire harness

My friend requested a Send and Return effects loop, so I needed to re-arrange some items on the back panel. I also had to add another hole. In the end I think it was for the best because now things will be laid out in a nice orderly fashion. But there isn't any more room for holes, so that's about it on the bells and whistles for this amp.


Here's Mizzen doing quality inspection. The ole sniff test.

I brought the two pieces I have done back home so I can start practicing the art of laying out, cutting and securing the Tolex to the cabinet. This is my first attempt so I plan on using some other materials to figure out how to do the corners and such correctly. I have some vinyl laying around so I might practice with that first to get the hang of it. The last thing you want to do is have the contact cement curing away while you figure all of this out.