Tube Town Reverb

[radiocaster]

The electronics part was pretty easy, covering the cab was kid of hard, not really but I made lots of noob mistakes and probably worked longer on the cab.

Not really done because I need to order some taller feet, tube shields, washer things for the back panel, and I haven't shielded the inside either.

Sounds pretty cool though.

Kind of wanted to base the look on the Excelsior, although I don't have one. I know the brown on this is lighter. But it is still a bit darker in real life, those are regular brown knobs.

Sorry about the bad inside shots, I'm not opening it up again for now. It is a PC board build.

 

[Wally]

Radiocaster, imho, Tube Town should refund your money for the right to use your finished kit for their promo photos rather than that bare wood cab they have shown on their page. Good job, Brother!

 

[Wally]

Radiocaster, imho, Tube Town should refund your money for the right to use your finished kit for their promo photos rather than that bare wood cab they have shown on their page. Good job, Brother!

I guess I wanted to give props twice!!!!

 

[Mongo Park]

Nice job on getting it all together including the cab.
I like how you got it all snug and tidy into the cab. Some planing there.

 

[radiocaster]

The tolex wasn't that tight on there on the front panel. Like I said, I didn't really know what I was doing. I also planned on doing a two piece on the headshell, but messed up the calculation even though I measured it like 3 or 4 times and cut the long piece too small, so I had to change the plan and make it a 4 piece. The bottom also looks worse because I installed that first when I should have done it the other way around. And I made some dents in the bottom part, both on the front and bottom.

 

[Paul-T]

Is this the EL84 version? Great that we have a build on here, as those look terrific value for money. Was it a straightforward build? Did you get tips from their forum? I see it's the smaller tank, which one is it?

I have thier LNDverb which I'm hoping to build into a Deluxe Micro....

 

[Piotr]

I was quite surprised to see that, too. A European source for a nice tube reverb is always welcome. Any sound samples?

 

[radiocaster]

Is this the EL84 version? Great that we have a build on here, as those look terrific value for money. Was it a straightforward build? Did you get tips from their forum? I see it's the smaller tank, which one is it?

I have thier LNDverb which I'm hoping to build into a Deluxe Micro....

EL844. It was pretty straightforward, the most complicated thing was probably figuring out how the output transformer mounts, I just checked the pictures on their site, did not use the forum.

It's a 3 spring tank, but you can use a 2 spring one as well.

Actually I freaked out a little because it wouldn't work when I finished it, but then I remembered that I'm not a noob, fixed and modded quite a few amps.
Went through the circuit until I got to the reverb tank. Turns out one of the RCA jacks was not properly screwed on the chassis, you couldn't tell by looking at it though.

 

[radiocaster]

Any sound samples?

tutaj:
https://app.box.com/s/86zwm703ax7gy5sczd2yl0zz2jededbx

 

[Jowes_84]

Looking great already! Also sounds fantastic on the recording.
Building one like this is on my list for 2021. Just like you, I think I will struggle more with the cab.
Merry Xmas

 

[smuc]

tutaj:
https://app.box.com/s/86zwm703ax7gy5sczd2yl0zz2jededbx

Sounds and looks good!

 

[radiocaster]

I had a lot of interference if the unit was placed close to another amp, so I tried some improvisation, which did not work very well, so I removed it.

I'll leave that stuff on the bottom.

Making a template for the holes.

Then I got so caught up that I forgot to take pics, but I put a metal plate on the bottom.

I had these tiny feet on...

I just put the biggest and tallest amp feet I could find, for clearing amp handles, but also to have the reverb tank farther away from the amp below.

The EL844 was in pretty tight, but I decided to put in a retainer anyway.

Unfortunately, the feet are still not tall enough to clear these Vox handles I have on some cabs. I did test the reverb with my Micro Terror, but I have to take it to another practice space to find out if the metal plate helps reduce noise if I put it on another amp.

I still want to reapply tolex to the front and back panels; I didn't like how they came out at first and have enough tolex. Most of the backing didn't come off. I guess I'll need to sand.

 

[radiocaster]

The shielding works.

There is still less hum if I lift the thing I built 10" above the amp, or move it somewhere away to the side, but before there was a lot of noise if it was right on top of the amp, even with all that copper tape all over the reverb tank.

With a clean sound the difference in the amount of noise is negligible, barely noticeable. The only reason to move the unit away from the amp is if recording, the noise level is too low to bother me when just playing.

 

[NickK_chugchug]

Have you looked at ground loops? If there’s shielding on the RCA cables - are their shielding connected at both ends?

 

[Alamo]

I just put the biggest and tallest amp feet I could find, for clearing amp handles,

How tall do they need to be?
maybe these door stoppers work. 35mm tall.

https://www.obi.de/tuerstopper/wagner-system-tuerstopper-mit-schraube-medium-schwarz/p/1256247

 

[radiocaster]

How tall do they need to be?
maybe these door stoppers work. 35mm tall.

https://www.obi.de/tuerstopper/wagner-system-tuerstopper-mit-schraube-medium-schwarz/p/1256247

No, they're not, it says "24 mm" and the ones I have are 33 mm.

To clear Vox handles? I don't know, 40 or 50 mm?

To reduce all interference from an amp? 250 or 300 mm.

 

[radiocaster]

Have you looked at ground loops? If there’s shielding on the RCA cables - are their shielding connected at both ends?

Would a ground loop have anything to do with interference based on the proximity of an amp?

Anyway, I had another topic on this subject. Also had a topic on reverb tanks, where I wanted to know something about the grounding characteristics of reverb tanks, the 5th digit in the code, A-F, before the locking device and mounting direction. No one explained to me what the differences were, I mean they're pretty clear , but no one explained why I would want one or the other.

 

[Alamo]

No, they're not, it says "24 mm" and the ones I have are 33 mm.

Sorry, I got the wrong link.
they even have 73mm ones, which maybe be a bit of an overkill considering the price.

https://www.obi.de/tuerstopper/wagner-boden-tuerstopper-vulkano-big-eh-2072-schwarz-40-mm-x-73-mm/p/2336873

perhaps its better to elevate the ones you have with two strips of wood, covered in tolex.

 

[Lowerleftcoast]

It seems to be *magnetic* EMI. You stand a better chance with Ferrous metals for this shield.
Aluminum and copper shields RFI.

 

[radiocaster]

Sorry, I got the wrong link.
they even have 73mm ones, which maybe be a bit of an overkill considering the price.

https://www.obi.de/tuerstopper/wagner-boden-tuerstopper-vulkano-big-eh-2072-schwarz-40-mm-x-73-mm/p/2336873

perhaps its better to elevate the ones you have with two strips of wood, covered in tolex.

It's all overkill, considering I'm not that interested in using it much with my Vox cabs. I did measure the handle, and it needs 45 mm, but I'm not going to bother.