Hi there,
My name is Jeff and I'm located in Missouri, USA. I came to this site by way of interest in point-source speakers. But it began before that.
Initially my interest in audio was sparked by my friend Bob who has since passed away. I have a band called Rutherford, and Bob would come to almost every show. He saw us have a little problem with the acoustic guitar through the house PA one night, and at the next gig he walked in with a Dean Acoustic amp that he'd modified. He had removed the reverb tank and speakers, and put a somewhat modified Dynaco MKIV where the reverb tank had been, using the Dean preamp to feed it. He just gave me the amplifier, which was overwhelmingly generous.
So this introduced his audio interest to me, and we set to work on designing a preamp that would never be completed. He was doing the circuit work, and I primarily laid out the control panel and told him what I was looking for.
When Bob passed away I was given most of his electronic gear by one of his few family members. So now, with a stock of resistors and caps and some diagnostic equipement, I decided to tackle an issue that had been bothering me about my guitar rig - I needed a good overdrive. I'd tried several pedals and hadn't found one to fit my tastes, and finally determined that I'd like a "wet" amp separate from my "clean" amp. I stumbled across people harvesting amps from projectors, and soon I'd found someone in Virginia who offered me a 10w 6aq5 PP amp that was nearly complete in its modification to a guitar amp for about what I was finding "harvestible", un-modified projector amps. I took him up on it, and in wiring up the B+, I discovered the thrill of anticipation that has continued on which each project since. That amp wasn't intended to be a project by either of us (as he'd mostly completed it), but a problem rectifier tube and a bit of hum led me through the process of essentially rewiring the thing and replacing the power transformer! It sounds great now, though!
Then, looking for speakers on the cheap, I suddenly found I had too many. And so began the pursuit on what to do with them, what kind of cabinets to build for them, etc. Researching cab types I came across Voight Pipes and other approaches at taking advantage of all one speaker has to offer. Aging home stereo speakers and the acquisition of some more old tube gear has led me into the hi-fi realm as I look to make the best of what I have and include the quality of sound reproduction in my household.
Currently my projects are many, and I welcome any input you may have, preferrably constructive:
Improve the tone of an old solid-state Sireko (Echoplex without Sound-on-Sound) by Maestro. This thing greatly increases instrument volume and adds too much punch while shaving off the top end, removing sparkle along the way.
Modify newly aquired Pioneer B20 full rangers - I'm planning a pole-piece/phase plug mounted tweeter, and will install them in
Curvy Changs that I've yet to build. I've been reading through this site for a couple of months now trying to figure out what to build, and this seems like a good choice.
Update a Dynakit ST-70, probably with the DynaMutt driver board as developed by Gregg the Geek.
And I've got a couple of Bell & Howell projector amps that I am toying with. One 6aq5, one 6v6, both PP NFB. I may make a 5e3 clone out of one of them for a friend's wedding present.
Anyway, there's my introduction. Thanks for reading.
Jeff
My name is Jeff and I'm located in Missouri, USA. I came to this site by way of interest in point-source speakers. But it began before that.
Initially my interest in audio was sparked by my friend Bob who has since passed away. I have a band called Rutherford, and Bob would come to almost every show. He saw us have a little problem with the acoustic guitar through the house PA one night, and at the next gig he walked in with a Dean Acoustic amp that he'd modified. He had removed the reverb tank and speakers, and put a somewhat modified Dynaco MKIV where the reverb tank had been, using the Dean preamp to feed it. He just gave me the amplifier, which was overwhelmingly generous.
So this introduced his audio interest to me, and we set to work on designing a preamp that would never be completed. He was doing the circuit work, and I primarily laid out the control panel and told him what I was looking for.
When Bob passed away I was given most of his electronic gear by one of his few family members. So now, with a stock of resistors and caps and some diagnostic equipement, I decided to tackle an issue that had been bothering me about my guitar rig - I needed a good overdrive. I'd tried several pedals and hadn't found one to fit my tastes, and finally determined that I'd like a "wet" amp separate from my "clean" amp. I stumbled across people harvesting amps from projectors, and soon I'd found someone in Virginia who offered me a 10w 6aq5 PP amp that was nearly complete in its modification to a guitar amp for about what I was finding "harvestible", un-modified projector amps. I took him up on it, and in wiring up the B+, I discovered the thrill of anticipation that has continued on which each project since. That amp wasn't intended to be a project by either of us (as he'd mostly completed it), but a problem rectifier tube and a bit of hum led me through the process of essentially rewiring the thing and replacing the power transformer! It sounds great now, though!
Then, looking for speakers on the cheap, I suddenly found I had too many. And so began the pursuit on what to do with them, what kind of cabinets to build for them, etc. Researching cab types I came across Voight Pipes and other approaches at taking advantage of all one speaker has to offer. Aging home stereo speakers and the acquisition of some more old tube gear has led me into the hi-fi realm as I look to make the best of what I have and include the quality of sound reproduction in my household.
Currently my projects are many, and I welcome any input you may have, preferrably constructive:
Improve the tone of an old solid-state Sireko (Echoplex without Sound-on-Sound) by Maestro. This thing greatly increases instrument volume and adds too much punch while shaving off the top end, removing sparkle along the way.
Modify newly aquired Pioneer B20 full rangers - I'm planning a pole-piece/phase plug mounted tweeter, and will install them in
Curvy Changs that I've yet to build. I've been reading through this site for a couple of months now trying to figure out what to build, and this seems like a good choice.
Update a Dynakit ST-70, probably with the DynaMutt driver board as developed by Gregg the Geek.
And I've got a couple of Bell & Howell projector amps that I am toying with. One 6aq5, one 6v6, both PP NFB. I may make a 5e3 clone out of one of them for a friend's wedding present.
Anyway, there's my introduction. Thanks for reading.
Jeff
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