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PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:06 pm 
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I've just finished my first amp build and have yet to test it so I'm not claiming success just yet but, while I'm still able to recall this and in case it's somehow useful to a first time builder, here are some things I've learnt from my first amp build:

1 - A decent set of tools is an absolute necessity - a good wire stripper capable of stripping various gauges, needle nose pliers, etc.

2 - Tinning stranded wire is a must if you don't have 3 hands :shock:. Tinned wire is easier to keep seated in a connection tab of a pot, etc and to mould around a turret than untinned stranded wire.

3 - Instead of running the jumpers on the bottom of the turret board, I would absolutely run these jumpers on top of the turret board with the rest of the components the next time as is suggested in other posts. You don't really appreciate how difficult it might be to have to troubleshoot a jumper on the bottom of the board until you've spent a few hours running wires from transformers, tube sockets, jacks and controls to the top of the turret board - I'm hoping I never have to try and remove the board to get at the jumpers on the bottom.

4 - This may go against some sort of "best practice" but next time I think I would wait to install resistors, caps and diodes on the turret board until after I've finished running the wiring for the controls, tube sockets and transformers to the board. I found myself jostling (bumping) the resistors, caps etc while trying to strip and/or install the wires from the controls, sockets, etc. As a result, some of the turret board component leads aren't quite as straight as they were before I started running control/socket wire and once they're bent, even slightly, they never seem to go back to true straight as hard as I tried to get them there. It's purely an aesthetics thing but it plays into my propensity towards perfectionism. Also, trying to get 18 gauge tinned stranded wire to cooperate on some of the turrets would've been easier without having to worry about the presence of components already on the board.

5 - I would install the shielded wiring from the input jacks (Normal and Bright) to V1 before physically installing these jacks into the chassis and wiring them to ground (hence making it trickier to remove the jacks from the chassis). It was a little dodgy getting at the Normal jack with the soldering iron while trying to keep the shielded wire from moving and the other leads from being singed. Had I wired up the shielded wires to the Normal and Bright jacks prior to installing the jacks in the chassis, it might've made wiring the jacks to ground a little tricky but I found the 20 gauge solid wire easier to seat and keep seated while trying to solder them in place than the shielded wire (stranded).

6 - Similarly, I would wire the centre pin of the impedance selector switch before installing it in the chassis and connecting the output transformer to it. I was a little nervous trying to keep a steady hand with a soldering iron sitting in between the black and yellow leads from the transformer knowing that if I wasn't paying attention, things could get ugly.

7 - I'm not sure what others have done with the 6V6/KT66 bias toggle switch but trying to thread an 18 gauge stranded wire though the very small eyelet of the connector leg on that toggle switch is next to impossible, especially on the lug the wire from C20 also has to connect to. I ended up wrapping the stranded wire around the lead coming from C20 at the junction between this lead and the toggle switch lug and soldering it there instead (this lead went to D5). Perhaps I could've/should've used 20 gauge solid to the connection from the bias switch to D5?

8 - I ran the buss wire along the bottom spindle of the turrets that it's connected to while I see that others have run this across the top spindle of the turrets - I'm not sure which is the right or wrong approach of installing the buss lead (or if there is a right or wrong approach) but I would run this lead across the top spindle of the turrets next time for the aesthetic value (I just think it looks better).

Some or all of the above may be second nature to a seasoned builder, but these are some observations as a first time builder in case it's helpful to those in the same boat as I.


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:51 pm 
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Let's see a picture. :)


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