Uncle Doug Rides Again (5f4 Victoria)

[JuneauMike]

See how the other half lives. This is Victoria's take on a 5f4 Super.

(He's not right about the chassis. Fender was doing that galvanized shell with chrome faceplate in at least their BJ amps. It's a smart cost cutting measure.)

This Victoria amp looks like a beautiful DIY build. I'd love my amps to look that clean. Quality stuff. It's interesting to see where they skimped and where they didn't. Massive PT, CC resistors throughout and Spragues and perfectly adequate orange drops in the power and signal chains.

 

[jays0n]

I watched this one already and it was great. Those amps are BUILT. Needed some work but over all I would not hesitate to buy a Victoria amp after see that.

When you said “Rides” though, I thought you were going to talk about Uncle Doug’s hotrod. He does great car work too.

 

[JuneauMike]

I watched this one already and it was great. Those amps are BUILT. Needed some work but over all I would not hesitate to buy a Victoria amp after see that.

When you said “Rides” though, I thought you were going to talk about Uncle Doug’s hotrod. He does great car work too.

Nope. I am aware that he works on cars but not too familiar with that. I just love how he dissects circuits.

 

[jays0n]

Nope. I am aware that he works on cars but not too familiar with that. I just love how he dissects circuits.

I do too. I watch a lot of his vids. At the end of some, he cues over to show his car work. It’s done in the same way as his amp work. Here is one. Right at this time in the video, he is making some parts for the car:

At t=3522s (in case this gets converted into an embed)

 

[Intubator]

Love his videos, but he needs to get some clamps on those fuel lines feeding the carbs...

 

[JuneauMike]

I do too. I watch a lot of his vids. At the end of some, he cues over to show his car work. It’s done in the same way as his amp work. Here is one. Right at this time in the video, he is making some parts for the car:

At t=3522s (in case this gets converted into an embed)

In this case he cued over to a nasty looking feral cat and his neighbor's poor arborist skills. Ha. We all miss Rusty.

 

[Fluddman]

I especially liked this one as I have a 5f4 Super clone that was made in Australia by the Retro Sound Amp Company. I've never seen another 5f4 in the flesh.

Cheers

 

[Intubator]

I liked Rusty as well. Seemed like a great companion and his frequent indifference towards Uncle Doug's requests gave me more than a few chuckles.

 

[Paul-T]

Rusty is gone!I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm lucky to have a pooch who doesn't seem to hate my guitar playing. She's come sitting next to me as I relax in a self-congratulatory way having just fixed my friend's £10 yard sale Orange Crush 30R. The only thing I'd know to check on a transistor amp is the electrolytics and that's exactly what got it working.

RIP Rusty, you added a touch of cool to our nerdy pursuits.

 

[nickmm]

He likes cats, and has a droll sense of humour.

 

[Kev-wilson]

Kudos to Uncle Doug he helped this Yorkshireman get his head around 'why the dc output is much higher than the rms rating' as I was struggling with it (and many other amp related things ) and I enjoyed his dialogue with Rusty.

A good guy .

​

 

[drf64]

we need a thread of Uncle Doug quotes. my fav: "You need an NFB switch in an amp like this. On for Bar Mizvahs and weddings, off for when you are playing for your soul in hell against Steve Vai. "

 

[JuneauMike]

we need a thread of Uncle Doug quotes. my fav: "You need an NFB switch in an amp like this. On for Bar Mizvahs and weddings, off for when you are playing for your soul in hell against Steve Vai. "

There is just no telling where foolishness can be found in the world. It can be as close as next door.

 

[BenTobith]

So silly to use CC resistors, but I guess if historic accuracy matters?

 

[JuneauMike]

So silly to use CC resistors, but I guess if historic accuracy matters?

See that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Those look like 1w resistors (could be wrong). Probably really expensive to source (both for price and availability) for a production run product. Makes you wonder.

Wish Uncle Doug had said something about it.

 

[BenTobith]

Wish Uncle Doug had said something about it.

He definitely favors carbon comps for vintage amps and custom builds, but I'm all about lowest noise floor possible and prefer to find a nice compromise between original designs and modern improvements that help lower noise floor or increase safety and reliability.

 

[JuneauMike]

He definitely favors carbon comps for vintage amps and custom builds, but I'm all about lowest noise floor possible and prefer to find a nice compromise between original designs and modern improvements that help lower noise floor or increase safety and reliability.

CC's in 1 watt would be a good compromise for noise floor. The larger mass has less shot noise. But like I said, expensive and probably not a reliable supply over the long haul.

 

[cometazzi]

I watched this one already and it was great. Those amps are BUILT. Needed some work but over all I would not hesitate to buy a Victoria amp after see that.

When you said “Rides” though, I thought you were going to talk about Uncle Doug’s hotrod. He does great car work too.

I thought the same thing, and thought maybe his latest was something like cruising in a '53 Ford Crown Victoria. I like both the amplifier and Hot Rod content from Uncle Doug. I was a Hot Rodder in my youth as well.