copy of my post from hifivision...
------------------------------------------------
Hey there everybody, and good morning from Bombay.
I have a rather pressing matter - a friend of mine from Delhi is the proud owner of a very high quality guitar amplifier - a Bogner XTC - that has a bit of an issue with its standby circuit. there seems to be some sort of overheating problem somewhere in the low-level DC circuits.
Bogner does not have a dealer or support of any kind in the country, i did attempt to fix it and it worked temporarily, but the problem just cropped back again.
Because of this, I'm looking for a GOOD - and by good i mean knowledgeable, neat, meticulous - person who is well versed with tube amplifiers and electronics (i believe there is a logic section that is used to control the relays) on the whole who could take a look at the amp. I've advised my friend to steer clear of music stores and their self-proclaimed technicians, as well as run-of-the-mill repair shops. if you could be so kind and help me here, i'd be rather grateful. this amp is a bit too precious to be maltreated.
there is unfortunately no complete schematic available - bogner keeps it firmly under wraps. there have been bits and pieces provided by bogners tech support though.
Thanks to all in advance!
------------------------------------------------
Hey there everybody, and good morning from Bombay.
I have a rather pressing matter - a friend of mine from Delhi is the proud owner of a very high quality guitar amplifier - a Bogner XTC - that has a bit of an issue with its standby circuit. there seems to be some sort of overheating problem somewhere in the low-level DC circuits.
Bogner does not have a dealer or support of any kind in the country, i did attempt to fix it and it worked temporarily, but the problem just cropped back again.
Because of this, I'm looking for a GOOD - and by good i mean knowledgeable, neat, meticulous - person who is well versed with tube amplifiers and electronics (i believe there is a logic section that is used to control the relays) on the whole who could take a look at the amp. I've advised my friend to steer clear of music stores and their self-proclaimed technicians, as well as run-of-the-mill repair shops. if you could be so kind and help me here, i'd be rather grateful. this amp is a bit too precious to be maltreated.
there is unfortunately no complete schematic available - bogner keeps it firmly under wraps. there have been bits and pieces provided by bogners tech support though.
Thanks to all in advance!
Do you own the EL34 monoblocks? How is the clarity/sound quality?
Do they ship it to Mumbai or possibly to USA? (with modified AC 120V 60Hz).
Also can anyone recommend a good source to purchase some quality tube gear from India other than Viren Bakshi.
Last edited:
in a higher price bracket, i believe cadence (pune) make some unbelievably good amps - Welcome to CadenceAudio WebSite
I've heard a bit about this Cadence audio. Speakers are good but there are better choices in similar priced ultra-high end boutique market.
Amp. THD specs are impressive for the VA 1.0, however some of the tube gear out there with similar numbers are not utilizing pure wholesome tube electronics.
Amp. THD specs are impressive for the VA 1.0, however some of the tube gear out there with similar numbers are not utilizing pure wholesome tube electronics.
LOL. Cadence (Pune - run be Ajay Shirke and co) cannot be compared to Lyrita. They cater to different audiences.
Cadence is a well funded company with Kapil Dev as their brand amabassador etc. Lyrita is a much smaller company.
My EL34 amps are DIY and unfinished (I am woefully short on time).
If you are looking for someone in Mumbai itself try Mohamed Ansar of BE3 amps. He is in Vashi or Vasai (I forget which) which is about 2 hours from South Mumbai by car. I have talked to him but never met him. Seems like a reasonable guy.
Another alternate is Staarc Audio in Bangalore. They have a few models including a 845. If I remember right they use the ECC 81/82 tubes (not my favourite).
That said I am told that the Jadis tube amps are made in India but I have yet to see concrete evidence of the same!
Marbin are you around?Miracle (in Bangalore) makes very nice power transformers, and tubes and OPTs are available in many local markets (mostly ECC83, 6L6, El84, etc..).
Let us know exactly what you want so we can help you better.
oh yeah, forgot all about starc audio... Starc audio Electronics-High end audio
i build tube amps too, but most of my exploits are guitar amps. i did just order some 40W output transformers for 6L6 or EL34 monoblocks from plitron's partner in south india. what exactly are you looking for though?
@navin - you own a marshall studio 15? the "little fatty" with the 6V6s and attenuator? nice!
i'm not sure but i think i heard about you off the forums from a friend, who talked about this navin guy he knew who spends a lot of time testing out different speakers... i thought, hm, i remember someone like that....
i build tube amps too, but most of my exploits are guitar amps. i did just order some 40W output transformers for 6L6 or EL34 monoblocks from plitron's partner in south india. what exactly are you looking for though?
@navin - you own a marshall studio 15? the "little fatty" with the 6V6s and attenuator? nice!
i'm not sure but i think i heard about you off the forums from a friend, who talked about this navin guy he knew who spends a lot of time testing out different speakers... i thought, hm, i remember someone like that....
i did just order some 40W output transformers for 6L6 or EL34 monoblocks from plitron's partner in south india. what exactly are you looking for though?
@navin - you own a marshall studio 15? the "little fatty" with the 6V6s and attenuator? nice!
i'm not sure but i think i heard about you off the forums from a friend, who talked about this navin guy he knew who spends a lot of time testing out different speakers... i thought, hm, i remember someone like that....
1. I much prefer the OPTs made by SAC to Plitron SAC Thailand
2. How did you know? Kya jasoosi kar raha hai? I have a Lead 12 (transistor) and a Studio 15 (aka thin lizzy aka 4001) and was hoping Ansar would find the time to build me the 18W (EL84 PP) - I already have the required valves and OPT just do not have the time. My guitars are a 1986 Fernandez Strat copy (Made in Japan), A custom made by Salu Diaz (Alberto) using Grover heads, DiMarzio Pickups, A Floyd Rose tremelo, Bubinca body, and Maple neck with ebony fretboard, and a Yamaha.
3. You heard of me? That is very odd. Must be someone else. I have been inactive in Audio since the mid 90s ...but between 1976 and 1995 I built about 20 pairs of speakers using drivers from Philips, JBL/UREI, Focal, Dynaudio, Vifa, Morel, Audax, etc..so maybe you heard from an OLD guy!
I was indulged by my dad and his friends (one of the first speakers I took apart was my dad's friend's DQ10s and added a Audax mid and Decca ribbon to this speaker).
Last edited:
1. thanks for the heads-up. i sourced the newest OPTs from salzer in coimbatore. let's see how they turn out.
miracle toroidals actually delivered a good bang for the buck. what's your take on signal in lamington road? i have a few OPTs wound by them, not too bad so far.
2. no jasoosi, just your older posts on the forums
what kind of 18W do you want? i'm getting a bunch of chassis made soon.
that guitar made by salu sounds quite nice. i played a hollowbody at alberto the other day, with an atilla zoller jazz pickup. quite nice indeed. i'm getting my setups done by sunil shinde though. only gave alberto a squier strat that i'd converted to a fretless cause i wanted it painted, and was fed up of my spraycan experiments....
i'm a huge fernandes fan, i own the revolver pro 7 myself. made in taiwan, strings with the sustainer system, soon discontinued because not too many people cared about a 7 string sustainer. i love the sustainer system myself, probably one of the coolest tools for the textural guitar player. also, their older stuff (the fender copies et al) are very good guitars, probably better than the US manufactured ones at the time.
3. not so sure. my friend is just a couple of years younger, maybe 26 or so, could be his dad who knows you? i'll find out and let you know. the description sounds right though. apart from JBL, dynaudio, urei, vfa and philips, i don't know the drivers/ribbons you've mentioned at all i'm a complete hi-fi noob (weird guitar stuff is my thing) and just two years into building amps, so i still have a LOT to learn and a long way to go...
miracle toroidals actually delivered a good bang for the buck. what's your take on signal in lamington road? i have a few OPTs wound by them, not too bad so far.
2. no jasoosi, just your older posts on the forums
what kind of 18W do you want? i'm getting a bunch of chassis made soon.
that guitar made by salu sounds quite nice. i played a hollowbody at alberto the other day, with an atilla zoller jazz pickup. quite nice indeed. i'm getting my setups done by sunil shinde though. only gave alberto a squier strat that i'd converted to a fretless cause i wanted it painted, and was fed up of my spraycan experiments....
i'm a huge fernandes fan, i own the revolver pro 7 myself. made in taiwan, strings with the sustainer system, soon discontinued because not too many people cared about a 7 string sustainer. i love the sustainer system myself, probably one of the coolest tools for the textural guitar player. also, their older stuff (the fender copies et al) are very good guitars, probably better than the US manufactured ones at the time.
3. not so sure. my friend is just a couple of years younger, maybe 26 or so, could be his dad who knows you? i'll find out and let you know. the description sounds right though. apart from JBL, dynaudio, urei, vfa and philips, i don't know the drivers/ribbons you've mentioned at all
i'm a complete hi-fi noob (weird guitar stuff is my thing) and just two years into building amps, so i still have a LOT to learn and a long way to go...
I have seen Singal's work. The OPTs do not look fancy but work fine. I was going to get their OPT for my Marshall 18W 1974 clone.
This is what I want to make
http://www.18watt.com/storage/18watt Schematic 08-28-03 -3.pdf
http://www.18watt.com/storage/18Watt_Layout_Original.pdf
http://www.18watt.com/storage/18watt Layout Mark Durham.jpg
http://www.18watt.com/storage/Corrections layout.gif
here is the video of what I'd like to to look like
YouTube - Marshall 1974X Amplifier, Rob Math, Gearwire
I ran into trouble when I could not find Baltic Birch plywood locally> I hope Ansar still has stock of the G12H. I much prefer that to the G12M Greenback.
I even got this pic for my reference to show Ansar how I wanted the layout to look like.
http://www.turretboards.com/layouts_schematics/marshall/ly_36_watt_new.bmp
i can't open any of those links except the layout. i use a signal set in my 1974x/2061x hybrid (more like a 2061x with a switchable diode/tube rectifier, separate cathode RCs on V1 and a cascade switch.
i screwed up the chassis a bit though - i had someone at work do the drilling from me and forgot to specify the orientation. didn't bother checking it since the other two chassis i did at the time looked fine. when it came back from bending, i though... "waitaminit...." basically the top drills got reversed so that the tubes were in front of the tag board and close to the pots. i figured that it was no reason to waste an otherwise perfectly good chassis, so i went ahead and built it anyway. precarious build despite the simplicity. as for the next set of chassis, i've figured DXF/laser is the way to go (provided it isn't too expensive...)
the amp sounds great, but i'm still working on the insides and trying to get it to sound better. have a mustard cap on the lead channel since yesterday and a WIMA PIO on the bass channel. other caps are NOS germans too. here are some clips (not me playing though, i can't play like that, i'm a terrible guitar player): Music page of Aditya Nandwana - MP3 music page on SoundClick
they'Re the clips with "plexi" in the title.
i screwed up the chassis a bit though - i had someone at work do the drilling from me and forgot to specify the orientation. didn't bother checking it since the other two chassis i did at the time looked fine. when it came back from bending, i though... "waitaminit...." basically the top drills got reversed so that the tubes were in front of the tag board and close to the pots. i figured that it was no reason to waste an otherwise perfectly good chassis, so i went ahead and built it anyway. precarious build despite the simplicity. as for the next set of chassis, i've figured DXF/laser is the way to go (provided it isn't too expensive...)
the amp sounds great, but i'm still working on the insides and trying to get it to sound better. have a mustard cap on the lead channel since yesterday and a WIMA PIO on the bass channel. other caps are NOS germans too. here are some clips (not me playing though, i can't play like that, i'm a terrible guitar player): Music page of Aditya Nandwana - MP3 music page on SoundClick
they'Re the clips with "plexi" in the title.
Not even the youtube video?
For the 18W links you will have to register but that is where all the fun 18W information lies.
got the video and the layout. i think you'd have to import that tolex as well as the grill cloth, haven't found something similar here.
if i wanted results like that, i would probably go the kit way. the amp itself is no biggie though. baltic birch will be a bit of a problem too.
i'm registered on 18watt, i think. will check it out.
celestion has a dealer in lamington road who does retail, pretty sure he gets te G12H in.
if i wanted results like that, i would probably go the kit way. the amp itself is no biggie though. baltic birch will be a bit of a problem too.
i'm registered on 18watt, i think. will check it out.
celestion has a dealer in lamington road who does retail, pretty sure he gets te G12H in.
Tolex and grill cloth is easy to import it is the electronic components that are an issue. I already have all tubes, sockets and OPT so Now I only need the passive components.
However it is the BALTIC birch PLY that is really stumping me.
what electrolytic capacitors would you be looking at?
I've pretty much settled for keltron - there are no other caps available on the market where i'm 100% sure that they're both from a recent or often current production and not fakes. they measure up ok too, as far as capacitance is concerned. i believe they do some defence manufacturing as well, might be worth it to look into their mil-spec line.
the other alternative would be to import F&Ts or something similar. i think keltrons are fine so far.
for signal caps, i'm still using the german nos i got out of a big unsorted lot of caps back in germany. they're pretty good too, IMO.
otherwise, getting a couple of orange drops, sozos, mallory et al shouldn't really be an issues at customs.
which places have you checked for ply?
I've pretty much settled for keltron - there are no other caps available on the market where i'm 100% sure that they're both from a recent or often current production and not fakes. they measure up ok too, as far as capacitance is concerned. i believe they do some defence manufacturing as well, might be worth it to look into their mil-spec line.
the other alternative would be to import F&Ts or something similar. i think keltrons are fine so far.
for signal caps, i'm still using the german nos i got out of a big unsorted lot of caps back in germany. they're pretty good too, IMO.
otherwise, getting a couple of orange drops, sozos, mallory et al shouldn't really be an issues at customs.
which places have you checked for ply?
Keltron is good- it is local and there is no spurious stuff
for the signal caps I was looking at orange drops. Remember this is a guitar amp. It does not need the clean sound of a hi-fi amp.
I asked my local timber yards (there are a few near my office) and they looked at me like I was talking Greek.
true - but since i already had those FKP/KP/MKP lying around and don't really do hi-fi much, i figured i might as well put them to service in whatever guitar amps i build... they definitely won't degrade tone as compared to orange drops or mallorys
also, i'Ve seen them being used in some guitar amps too. it's a very long shot, but did you check at dadar? i daresay you'd be very hard-presed to find baltic birch here. would another birch of birch-like wood do? pine would probably be a bit too soft. also, do you have the actual plans for the 1974x cabinet?
EDIT: maybe you could contact these guys: http://www.123ply.com/products/index.aspx they might have resellers in bombay, you never know.
Last edited:
I did check at dadar. My office is close by.
I think the plans of the 1974 cabinet are on 18Watt.com.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.