I feel like it's NAD, the beast is back!

DirtySteve said:
I found the interface and cables, but I haven't located the mic or mic stand yet and I haven't found the disc. I know all that stuff is here, but it's still packed in boxes. I'm trying to figure out why I didn't keep everything together, but I've moved 3 or 4 times since I last tried to use it so I'm not surprised really.
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I moved several times also. What a pain.
 
Update: So I've been doing some mods to this amp. I ended up taking out the high gain clipping diodes that were sucking all the tone and sustain out of the circuit just by being there, no more Cameron/Freidman high gain clippers. Also changed a few components to accurate Jose values and fixed a couple of flat out wrong values that were used in a couple of places that weren't caught when I did the initial rebuild.

The amp is now a straight up 18watt hot rod plexi with Jose mods. It was a one trick pony before, without the gains cranked up it was lifeless and pretty much sucked, but not anymore. It's not very good at clean tones, if fact I don't think it gets completely clean at all, but who wants clean tones from a hot rod plexi anyway. Now I can turn the gains down and get some great low to mid gain action that I've never been able to get from it before. I have to use a boost or OD to get back the high gain it had before, but it sounds even better that way than it did with the clipping built in. Those zeners were stealing all the tone! I feel like NAD all over again....again!

Special thanks to @T-Rex for all the help! I'm super happy with the results and I definitely owe you one.

:cheers:

Edit: I'm going to work on getting some clips, but please bare with me, I'm not set up to do so just yet.
 
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DirtySteve said:
Update: So I've been doing some mods to this amp. I ended up taking out the high gain clipping diodes that were sucking all the tone and sustain out of the circuit just by being there, no more Cameron/Freidman high gain clippers. Also changed a few components to accurate Jose values and fixed a couple of flat out wrong values that were used in a couple of places that weren't caught when I did the initial rebuild.

The amp is now a straight up 18watt hot rod plexi with Jose mods. It was a one trick pony before, without the gains cranked up it was lifeless and pretty much sucked, but not anymore. It's not very good at clean tones, if fact I don't think it gets completely clean at all, but who wants clean tones from a hot rod plexi anyway. Now I can turn the gains down and get some great low to mid gain action that I've never been able to get from it before. I have to use a boost or OD to get back the high gain it had before, but it sounds even better that way than it did with the clipping built in. Those zeners were stealing all the tone! I feel like NAD all over again....again!

Special thanks to @T-Rex and an anonamous source (from another forum that knows his Jose mods) for all the help! I'm super happy with the results and I definitely owe you one.

:cheers:

Edit: I'm going to work on getting some clips, but please bare with me, I'm not set up to do so just yet.
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Sounds like it's an awesome amp, I'm impressed. I'd Love to hear it I bet it kicks ass. I never considered building one myself, kudos bro!!
 
The only thing left to do now is get a new head shell made to match my Mojotone cab. It'll be the same except black with the gold piping. I have other plans for the white box.

PUkSbIg.jpg
 
DirtySteve said:
I'd love for you to hear it. I'm working on it, but I'm not going to post a crappy sounding cell phone vid just to post something, I want you to hear it like it actually sounds.
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Steve , you don’t need the disc for the interface, just download the driver from their website. Of course you will need the mic. I don’t know if you found that.
I have a very similar interface. I used it once, my others are world better.

I have a mic , I can spare if you need it. It’s a GLS , very good copy of a Shure SM57.
 
ibmorjamn said:
Steve , you don’t need the disc for the interface, just download the driver from their website. Of course you will need the mic. I don’t know if you found that.
I have a very similar interface. I used it once, my others are world better.

I have a mic , I can spare if you need it. It’s a GLS , very good copy of a Shure SM57.
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I have a mic, it's a generic SM75 but was highly recommended when I was looking for a mic years ago. It's still packed up somewhere from when I moved, I have a stand and everything. What I would rather do is find someone that is already set up to record that can help me get a decent demo, but I'm not sure if that's possible. I have absolutely zero interest in recording...that's the real problem.
 
DirtySteve said:
Update: So I've been doing some mods to this amp. I ended up taking out the high gain clipping diodes that were sucking all the tone and sustain out of the circuit just by being there, no more Cameron/Freidman high gain clippers. Also changed a few components to accurate Jose values and fixed a couple of flat out wrong values that were used in a couple of places that weren't caught when I did the initial rebuild.

The amp is now a straight up 18watt hot rod plexi with Jose mods. It was a one trick pony before, without the gains cranked up it was lifeless and pretty much sucked, but not anymore. It's not very good at clean tones, if fact I don't think it gets completely clean at all, but who wants clean tones from a hot rod plexi anyway. Now I can turn the gains down and get some great low to mid gain action that I've never been able to get from it before. I have to use a boost or OD to get back the high gain it had before, but it sounds even better that way than it did with the clipping built in. Those zeners were stealing all the tone! I feel like NAD all over again....again!

Special thanks to @T-Rex for all the help! I'm super happy with the results and I definitely owe you one.

:cheers:

Edit: I'm going to work on getting some clips, but please bare with me, I'm not set up to do so just yet.
Click to expand...


I'm glad we got it where it works the best for you. Am always happy to help with amps if the need arises
 
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