Much more fun playing fuzzguitar......

[VacuumVoodoo]

Add-ons are almost as nice as options.
Then there are the infamous Upgrades!
Lets not go there!
As originally deduced, many gear whores have already accumulated more than their fair share of cabinets.
I own a marvelous 4x10, and more than a few 1x12 and 2x12s with various speakers, even a 1x15. I do like 4x12s, but just can't lift them anymore.
Although I originally preferred combo amps, I now find its more fun and versatile to play mix and match with a variety of speakers and heads without having to bother opening cabinet backs and soldering. I have also come to the point where I prefer the sound of a dedicated cabinet to most of the ones designed as combos.
That is not a criticism or lack of faith in your combo cab design- it certainly looks to have great potential for its intended application.
Buts its nice to have the option of a head for those of us who already have more than enough speakers and cabinetry to choose from.

Speaker in combo version will be wired internally via a jack socket. When you plug external speaker into the socket it will automatically disconnect the internal speaker.
FX loop option X is not yet fully evaluated therefore availability at later stage. Installation will be straight forward, no soldering required, only a Philips screw driver.
I am adapting FX Loop from Tubewonder, the serial/parallel thing that can be used as solo boost if no effects are in the loop. I won't release it unless it works perfectly with this LBA.

The head will look something like this: (click image for larger view)

[VacuumVoodoo]

Guys,
too many details to finish in a short time. Updates will be forthcoming, don't give up

I was asked if the knobs we're using are the same as on classic MXR stuff. No, they're not. Yes, they're expensive since they're manufactured only on special order in Germany. We did look at a lot of knobs and these stood out.

MXR knob

MXR.jpg (5.02 KiB) Viewed 594 times

The Knob

A1321060.jpg (12.93 KiB) Viewed 594 times

[Donner]

speaking of knobs what does the and knob do ???

[VacuumVoodoo]

speaking of knobs what does the and knob do ???

Glad you asked. There's a story behind the "&" knob. If you remember from earlier posts, when defining this project we allocated one knob each. After I built the proto of tube output stage and power supply I sent it to Bjorn to do his preamp magic. During all this time we discussed progress on the phone daily, we live some 500km apart so meeting in person was impossible. At one time we needed to simulate the complete circuit. You'd say what's the problem, scan the paper drawing and email it. Well, we don't do scans. Bjorn directed my hand and pencil over the phone: draw a NPN transistor, draw a resistor connected between this and that etc. You get the picture.
Anyway, everything went well until Bjorn came over Friday May 9th before the Fuzz Show. This was the first time we both could evaluate the proto together. That's when we noticed too big a difference in tone balance between clean and distorted sound.
Up with simulation SW, tweak frequency response, implement in the proto, run down to the bomb shelter to test the sound, iterate a couple times, have a whiskey, look at the watch, it's 1 in the morning. tone balance "in between" makes both clean and distortion sound dull. More tweaking, revert two steps. Sit down on the balcony, more whiskey, argue for the first time. In the end we come to a conclusion: this thing needs an arrangement that will change tone balance when switching between clean and distorted. This is first time we argue, Bjorn says a switch is all that is needed, I vote for a knob to allow variable tone balancing.
More simulation. Argue a little more. Play some more and listen. Thers's something in the upper treble in distortion that's irritating. Balcony, more whiskey. I suggest we put a "whacabaccabubba filter" in the preamp section. Bjorn goes: "Nobody has ever put a "whacabaccabubba filter" i a fuzz-pre, we need to try it" - the irritating undertone is gone. Still need to do the clean/distorted balance thing. A compromise is reached: put the damn knob there but it will only be active in distortion mode. Overall timbre is affected to some degree by the "More" knob and when it comes to distortion it's like whiskey. Some like it neat, some like it on the rocks. But none of us like it watered down. So the "&" knob is a rather delicate midrange tone balance active only in distortion mode. At one end it's "Smoooo...th" and "RRR...ough" at the other. around 3 in the morning we finally got it RRR...ight".
In short: we put in the third knob so we would have something to argue about. A project without arguing won't be the best it can be. No blood or whiskey was spilled during argument and testing in the bomb shelter. Seven hours later the Fuzz Show opened.

[Donner]

ah great story Alex, thanks... wish all arguements could be settled with a knob

Rrrr adjustment or Arguement knob

More Arguement or Louder Arguement


the distortion could sound like the solid state pre arguing with the tube power section

[Cobra]

I think the MXR style knobs are a good choice, but knobs can be changed to taste after the fact.
From the head drawing, it appears as though the original plan of a metal cage has been changed to a more traditional tolex covered wood head enclosure, which I think is a great idea!
Better protection and better cosmetics... IMHO...

[VacuumVoodoo]

As Cobra says, knobs are a matter of taste and you can change them to anything you like.

I gave up on the head with metal cage for a number of reasons. It initially looked like a good option to keep the cost down but in the end the opposite would happen.

The design goals for the head were:
- correct upright chassis mounting i.e tube pointing up
- same front panel layout as in combo i.e input on the left
Seemed smart that a metal cage would simplify things....NOT! Those two requirements are conflicting.
It would require a fully mirrored front panel and inverted chassis for the head and in turn would make the circuit prone to oscillations. We had this problem in the prototype when it became a short wave radio transmitter on 16MHz. FCC would just love it.

So, here comes biggest sacrifice: give up the No.1 rule of tube pointing up in amp head. Yes, it did hurt my pride some
Now, we just can't have a metal cage in the bottom that will make the whole think look like an upside down mini THD by Heathkit, can we? Guess not...

That's why a more classic head design came about. Same chassis as in combo, you can have one amp and two cabs and move the chassis between them.This in addition to being free to replace the knobs with whatever you like except chicken heads. There's a small beak on the knobs we've chosen anyway.

BTW just this week I located a small stash of NOS Tesla and Polam tubes this amp runs on.
Will negotiate price coming week. Fortunately this tube is not yet a hot item in guitar amps although some other guys have recently given it some attention. I better start hoarding now.

Ok, I worked this weekend, what fun did you guys have

[Robapov]

i have been playing my Honey Bee Deluxe all weekend...getting ready for rothbury music fesitval in Michigan...everything sounds like its going good and i am very very excited about this!

again thanks for the updates, really appreciated

[nichcope]

getting ready for rothbury music fesitval in Michigan

I wanted to go to Rothbury sooooooooo bad, super great lineup!!!!! Have an awesome time!!!!

[VacuumVoodoo]

Guys,

the list is full as of this writing. Pricing and shipping will be forthcoming in a few days. All figures are in.
However, experience tells me that there'll be dropouts as is usual with gear lists. So it's possible to sign up for reserve spots.

Happy 4th July to all our American friends !