Vood, that looks fantastic! You do nice work.
Thanks for the pics and updates, you are 'da MAN!!!
Well, after spending a bit more time with this little dynamo, I must admit I'm pretty impressed. It can generate an unbelievable amount of volume considering it's power rating (I suspect that 1.5W is very conservative), and when you crank the boost gain, it has plenty of raunch on tap. And I haven't even really "opened it up" yet, because I haven't had the house to myself since I built it. But I will on Wed. night, and I'll try to record a demo clip then, too.
The only thing I don't particularly like is that it's a little dark sounding, at least at low volumes. The good news is that John Calhoun included an optional "brightness" capacitor spot on his PCB design, so I'm going to get two different value silver-mica caps and wire them to the board via an on-off-on DPDT switch. That'll give me three settings: normal, bright and brighter. That should cover it....
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
Pedals/Effects - ZILLIONS, including DVM's Home-built Pedals - See some HERE and HERE, TOO!
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Vood, that looks fantastic! You do nice work.
Thanks for the pics and updates, you are 'da MAN!!!
Guitars
Wilburn Versatare, '52 FrankenTele(Fender licensed parts), Fender USA Roadhouse Strat, Fender USA Standard B-bender Telecaster, Agile AL 3000 w/ WCR pickups, Ibanez MIJ V300 Acoustic, Squier Precision Bass,
Amps
Ceriatone Overtone Special, Musicman 212 Sixty-Five, Fender Blues Jr., Peavey Classic 30, Fender Super Reverb, Traynor YCV-40 WR Anniversary w/ matching 1x12 ext. cab, Epiphone SoCal 50w head w/ matching 4x12 cab (Lady Luck speakers), Avatar 2x12 semi-open back cab w/ Celestion speakers
Pedals
Digitech Bad Monkey, Digitech Jamman, DVM's ZYS, Goodrich volume pedal
Why didn't GOD give the talent to assemble small amps and pedals on my own?
This amp looks gergeous and the sound in the clip is killer. I can only look up to people like you - respect!
"A lot of people in the industry want to blame downloading for the state of the business. But I think if most music wasn't shit to begin with people wouldn't be downloading it for free," - Corey Taylor (Slipknot)
Funny, that's how I feel about you when I hear your guitar playing! Thanks for your generous comments, Jimi. Really--the building is easier than the playing!Originally Posted by Jimi75
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
Pedals/Effects - ZILLIONS, including DVM's Home-built Pedals - See some HERE and HERE, TOO!
DVM's Gear Photos
Visit MY WEBSITE!
I waited a bit to make sure that you really have built it now .
Looks beautiful as usual Vood!
Technically speaking, what makes the amp dark. Could you go into a little more detail about how a bright switch works?
You duh_man voodoo!
I pick a moon dog.
As I understand these things, and amp will sound dark if the circuit is laid out such that a large portion of the high frequencies are lost/bled off to ground during the course of amplifying the signal. This tends to be most pronounced at low volumes. Some amps are intrinsically dark sounding, while others are bright, or somewhere in between. Dark sounding amps are often modified in some way to give them more top end, with the addition of the famous "Top Boost" stage to the Vox AC30 being a well-known example. (Interestingly, that circuit was copied directly from an old 50's Gibson amp, right down to an error in the bass pot design!)Originally Posted by tot_Ou_tard
However, this can be done in other ways, notably by adding judiciously chosen capacitors to locations in the circuit where they can act as a bypass around points where high frequencies would otherwise be bled off. This works because of the the fact that the impedance of a capacitor varies inversely with frequency, so that at very high frequencies, a capacitor becomes a short circuit, and at very low frequencies, an open circuit. Now, exactly how you decide what capacitance rating to use in what circuit is still a mystery to me, but John Calhoun suggests something in the 200 - 450 picofarad range for the optional brightness cap in the Firefly. So I've ordered several silver mica caps in that capacitance ballpark and will see which I like the sound of best.
Clear as mud?
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
Pedals/Effects - ZILLIONS, including DVM's Home-built Pedals - See some HERE and HERE, TOO!
DVM's Gear Photos
Visit MY WEBSITE!
Thank you :-)Originally Posted by duhvoodooman
"A lot of people in the industry want to blame downloading for the state of the business. But I think if most music wasn't shit to begin with people wouldn't be downloading it for free," - Corey Taylor (Slipknot)
Holy Moley Voo that's the coolest thing I've ever seen! Let us know how the cap mods do.
Guitars/Bass - MIM Fender Classic 50s Strat, MIM Fender Standard Strat, Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Epi '56 Gold Top Les Paul, Martin DSR acoustic, Sigma Martin Auditorium electric/acoustic, Squier Jazz Bass.
Amps/Cabinets/Modelers - Model 2558 50 watt Marshall Silver Anniversary Jubilee combo w/ Celestion Vintage 30s, 4x12 Marshall cabinet w/25 watt Greenback Celestions, Fender Blues Junior w/ a couple of Billm mods, Line 6 POD 2.0, Roland Micro Cube
Pedals/Effects - Cry Baby Classic Wah, Boss TU-2, Boss NS-2, Boss RC-2 Loop Station, Ross Compressor, MXR Micro Amp, Danelectro FAB Echo, Danelectro FAB Chorus, Danelectro Chicken Salad, Marshall Guv'nor Plus, Marshall Echohead, Duhvoodooman's Zonkin' Yellow Screamer, Digitech Digiverb, Digitech Bad Monkey, Dunlop Fuzz Face, Homemade Loop Bypass pedal, Duhvoodooman's Sonic Tonic (Maxon SD-9 clone +), Voodoo Labs Superfuzz
Very nicely done. It must be cool to play through an amp you build yourself.
I think you need to mod the above with a clarity boostOriginally Posted by duhvoodooman
Thanks Vood, that did help some.
I pick a moon dog.
Got a schematic? I could use one of those!Originally Posted by tot_Ou_tard
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
Pedals/Effects - ZILLIONS, including DVM's Home-built Pedals - See some HERE and HERE, TOO!
DVM's Gear Photos
Visit MY WEBSITE!
OK, here's a little sample of what the Firefly can do. I came across a posting at the AX84.com Firefly forum that said if you swap a 12AT7 for the 12AU7 power tube, it drops the max. power output but brings on an earlier breakup with a huge bottom end. Since I'm not using close to the max. output of this little monster, that sounded like a pretty good tradeoff to me. So I tried it through my 1x12 cab using my LP Std. and--WHAM--instant mini-Marshall stack sounds! Couldn't think of anything better to ram through it than some vintage Zep. Now, I'll never be confused for Jimmy Page, but playing aside, this sounded pretty good to me. Mind you, this is with NO effects other than a bit of plate reverb from my DigiVerb pedal. All the crunch comes purely from the amp. Here's the link:
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
Pedals/Effects - ZILLIONS, including DVM's Home-built Pedals - See some HERE and HERE, TOO!
DVM's Gear Photos
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Crunchy Vood !, nice playing !
oh yea I like that mini marshall!!!!
Sweet is right Vood!!!!
I pick a moon dog.
That's a truly sweet sounding amp!
Guitars: '05 MIA Fender Strat HSS, '04 MIA Fender Strat SSS, '03 Burns Steer, '83 Hondo LP copy (project)
Amps: Fender Blues Jr., Line 6 Spider II 112
Pedals: Boss BD-2, Boss CS-3, Boss DS-1, Ibanez TS9DX, Ibanez AW7, Ibanez FZ7, DigiTech Bad Monkey, BYOC Lazy Sprocket (in progress - almost there), Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus.
Wowza!
Steve Thompson
Sun Valley, Idaho
Guitars: Fender 60th Anniversary Std. Strat, Squier CVC Tele Hagstrom Viking Semi-hollow, Joshua beach guitar, Martin SPD-16TR Dreadnought
Amphs: Peavey Classic 30, '61 Fender Concert
Effects and such: Boss: DS-1, CE-5, NS-2 and RC20XL looper, Digitech Bad Monkey, Korg AX1G Multi-effects, Berhinger: TU100 tuner, PB100 Clean Boost, Line 6 Toneport UX2, Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff Pi, DuhVoodooMan's Rabid Rodent Rat Clone, Zonkin Yellow Screamer Mk. II, MXR Carbon Copy Delay
love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart. . .
- j. johnson
Two additional notes:
- Though the Firefly is really about tube distortion, it's not purely a one-trick pony. Nobody's ever gonna confuse it with a Fender Twin, but if I put the 12AU7 tube back in and run just on the main preamp with the boost stage off, it will do a pretty nice clean tone, too. I'll record another clip with my Strat when I have some time, showing the cleaner side of the amp.
- If you liked the sound of that 1x12 cab, it's got one of those $45 Warehouse Guitar Speakers "Veteran 30" models in it, a Celestion Vintage 30 clone. Unbelievable value at that price, IMO.
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
Amps & Cabs - "Kap'n Kerrang-aroo" BYOC 18W TMB kit amp head; Mojave Coyote head; Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Lacquered Tweed Ltd. Ed.; Allen Sweet Spot kit amp; BYOC Tweed Royal kit amp; Epiphone Valve Jr. combo + mods; Drive 2x12 cab / Celestion G12M Greenback + G12H30; AB Custom Audio 1x12 cab / Celestion Alnico Blue
Pedals/Effects - ZILLIONS, including DVM's Home-built Pedals - See some HERE and HERE, TOO!
DVM's Gear Photos
Visit MY WEBSITE!