WOW. Missed the PRF and figure the best way to jump back into the game is to make a current version of this thread and catch everyone up on the last year(?)'s worth of builds. Sorry for the big ole pic dump....
PEDALS
Optical Compressors:
Vertical and horizontal layout Custom Drives (klone):
Powerful Boosters:
Vintage style MkII Tone Bender w/AC125 transistors:
Rangemaster for my guitar player. He's a tremendous musician but a straight up technical nincompoop so i've been slowly building very simple gear and placing it in his hands to get him to sound great. This through a 20 watt 1x12 plexi combo and he cant go wrong:
Custom work. DOD 210 preamp (always on) into a DOD 250 overdrive:
Triple true-bypass looper:
Moon Unit delay & verb:
All red Balls Super Black (maybe for a PRFer? Not sure):
UTILITIES
Direct Box. Nothing fancy, standard 'motown box' passive DI. I used Hammond PTs for these and apparently forgot to dust before I took pics:
AMPS
K-15. First combo amp with a scratch built cab that i'd ever done and it worked well and I ironed the kinks out. It was for a friend that got a good deal in exchange for his patience. High-ish-gain 1x10 circuit that follows the basic Trainwreck Express/Liverpool format with my adaptations as needed. 2xEL84 for ~15 watts (a LOUD 15 at that) going through a Celestion Greenback.
Also for the bike-minded folks among us, I took it for a spin to my practice space so I could lay into it off an attenuator. Fit it into an old Timbuk2 messenger!
BR-20. 6G3 Brownface Deluxe style in a head with modern conveniences. Externally adjustable bias, switchable impedance, half power switch, and a couple of other tricks to keep the bias-wiggler tremolo running noise free.
T-100. Its basically a half-power Sunn Model T. All the Sunn sounds but lighter, more compact, and a *slightly* more reasonable power level. 2 x 6550. Still loud as hell, but the intent was mostly for loud cleans and it has plenty of that:
BF-15. 2 x EL84, 15 watt amp with preamp in the 60's Fender vein. Lots of clean, lots of chime, and grit if you wanna crank it. 1x12 combo with a Jensen C12N. Added post-phase inverter master volume to keep it chill when needed:
BF-15+. Very similar amp to the one posted above but with a tip in the other direction. No master volume, but an added and switchable Rangemaster/Ballsmaster style boost to the front end. Plays the same as if you had a RM pedal or amp-top unit in front of the input, but all internal. Transistor is a Soviet MЛ38a.
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
2I appreciate your commitment to perfboard and hand wiring. In days where even the smallest builders are getting short run PCBs made, it really gives me the warm feelings of a hand-crafted thing.
Last edited by benadrian on Tue May 04, 2021 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
3HA, thanks. I'm a true luddite with this shit but the maintainability that comes with handwiring is something i'm pretty adamant about.benadrian wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 12:39 pm I appreciate your commitment to perfboard and hand wiring. In days where even the smallest builders are getting short run PCBs made, it really gives me the warm feelings of a had-crafted thing.
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
4Ahh. I really missed this thread. Great to see what you've been up to. I took up building pedals from PCBs this pandemic, and now appreciate your craft even more. Now, I actually understand how they work, and I can geek out on the parts inside, etc.
Those combo amps got me hot and bothered. Beautiful work as always Tony!
Those combo amps got me hot and bothered. Beautiful work as always Tony!
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
5I need none of it, I covet all of it.
Salut, Dr. Balls.
Salut, Dr. Balls.
Formerly known here as chumpchange
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
6Wow look at all the shit Dr Balls gets done when this forum is down!
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
8I am about to start on a copy of the SunnBeta Bass preamp, so you could say I am headed in that direction.
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
9Your shit always looks so great. All good ideas, controls simple but comprehensive, pretty design, uncluttered layout. A genuine pleasure to window-shop all your gear.
Re: Balls Effects / Balls Amplification
10thank you, sir!steve wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 11:35 am Your shit always looks so great. All good ideas, controls simple but comprehensive, pretty design, uncluttered layout. A genuine pleasure to window-shop all your gear.