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| | |-+  Just got my HRM Bluesmaster 50w kit! (and build pictures)
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Author Topic: Just got my HRM Bluesmaster 50w kit! (and build pictures)  (Read 30914 times)
sduck
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« on: October 29, 2010, 12:57:58 AM »

And it arrived amazingly fast - shipped on Monday, arrived on Thursday.

Here are some excited unboxing photos - I'll add build pictures as I go along (if I remember!)

Edit: as of December 2011 the account where I hosted the pics is closed - if there's much demand I'll repost them here as attachments.

Edit: Here I am in February of 2013 replacing the pictures. Go figure.


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« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 05:42:06 PM by sduck » Logged
sduck
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« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2010, 03:55:22 AM »

Got to spend some time this evening doing some of the basic assembly, plus just sorting through the parts trying to get a feel for what's going to be involved.

I've been building modular synthesizer modules for many years, so so far this is fairly similar to certain parts of that process.

Only problem so far - the hole for the slo-blo fuse on the back panel didn't line up with the hole in the chassis, so I had to do some dremeling. I wasn't as careful as I usually try to be, and managed to carve a little gouge in the back - nuts.  Undecided



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« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 05:42:51 PM by sduck » Logged
mcinku
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« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2010, 11:46:28 AM »

Awesome, I wish I had a kit waiting for me to be built.

 Wink
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sduck
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« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2010, 12:42:19 AM »

Ok, I think at this point I have all the preliminary hardware installed.

Some observations - to persons starting one of these kits - despite what my pictures and various other picture sets I've seen show, do NOT install the front and back panel hardware first! Install all the tube sockets and little stuff that goes around the edges of the bottom first. Trust me on this - you'll thank me later. The knobs and such, especially on the back really get in the way of installing stuff, especially the tube sockets. I ended up removing stuff to make it easier. BTW the tube sockets are just a pita to intall anyway.

I highly recommend the use of Loctite Blue thread locker. While the lock washers will probably do a good enough job on their own, these amps typically get used in high vibration situations, and any extra little protection helps. The blue version of Loctite is basically a kind of glue that never really dries, so the screws are removable down the line if need be.


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« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 05:44:18 PM by sduck » Logged
sduck
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« Reply #4 on: November 03, 2010, 03:26:19 AM »

Soldered in the heater wires. Not a very neat job, at least compared to some of the pictures I've seen. I'm planning to glue them down a little neater.



* ampkit 010.jpg (209.92 KB, 1024x768 - viewed 646 times.)
« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 05:44:50 PM by sduck » Logged
mcinku
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« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2010, 07:28:33 AM »

Heater wires are probably the hardest thing to do when wiring the amp (at least for me).... and to do it as neat as Niks guys can do it.... that's another story all together.  Huh?

BTW have you seen this...
http://www.brown-note.com/heaters/
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hywelg
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« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2010, 09:09:18 AM »

I had problems doing my first build, until I put the two wires in a vice and spun the other ends with a drill. Whilst still under tension I then used a hot air gun to soften the plastic and when cool they stayed tightly wound.
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mcinku
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« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2010, 09:16:06 AM »

Whilst still under tension I then used a hot air gun to soften the plastic and when cool they stayed tightly wound.

Now that a piece of info I didn't know before.... thanks
 Wink
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sduck
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« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2010, 03:44:46 AM »

Wow! Thanks for the link and the info. I think mine will look a lot better once I get them glued down. I did spend several days pondering how to do it - in the short time I've been researching this I found several conflicting things about the importance of neatness. And I thank all the people who have posted pics of their builds - I would have been clueless about the heater wires without them.

Tonight I wired up the input jacks. I flipped them around to the outside so there was more room to work on them and keep the spacing right.



Finished -


and a shot of my garage workbench - pretty scary stuff, but consider that I've been cranking out synth modules on this bench for 7+ years, more than 70 of them so far - I know where everything is!


(btw, if you're at all curious about these synth modules I'm talking about, pics are here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sduck409/)



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« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 05:46:09 PM by sduck » Logged
fatfretter
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« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2010, 05:36:00 AM »

WOW! Nice photos. Your a detail guy.  I just bought a new OTS HRM complete with Cabinet from Nik. Wont get it until december sometime. I guess they have an internal pot I can tweak to change gain or drive intensity.    These amps sound great on you tube videos and the price was right. Im 55 and play a strat. I like SRV. and Robben ford.  It will be interseting to see if I can coax some bluesy SRV tones out of this thing. Im sure I will be happy if its just too brown soundin for that cause I love Robben ford sound too. I got cheap and ordered a Warehouse et-65 nstead of a celestion g12 h65 at 1/3 the cost of a celestion. Good luck in your build and will keep an eye on your progress.
jack
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sduck
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« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2010, 04:48:31 PM »

I finished wiring the switches, volume and tone pots. I was going to get some of that thin heat shrink to put around the cap and resistor leads like in the pictures, but the place I get that from was closed, and I figured that if I'm careful I won't actually need it. Note that I wired the deep switch upside down - I pondered how to do this; whether to flip the whole thing 180 degrees, but then figured I could just mirror image it as the 2 poles are connected anyway whichever way the switch is set.



I started connecting the coax wires to the pots. I've worked with coax for years, and it's one of the most annoying kinds of wires to deal with. I was wondering how I was going to make good durable connections for this situation, and found the pictures showing this add-on ground wire method, which as far as I'm concerned is genius.



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« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 05:47:21 PM by sduck » Logged
sduck
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« Reply #11 on: November 10, 2010, 04:16:24 AM »

Today, installed the voltage regulator. This was easy - splay out the legs until they're just far apart enough to fit in the 3 bottom holes of the stand thing, stick the whole thing in a helping hands jig, and solder it on. The spacing for both holes works out perfectly this way. I may have put too much loctite on this one - this part will get hot, I'll need to read up on how loctite reacts to heat - I may need to clean it up a bit.


Finished up the wiring on the pots - all that's left now is the wires that come from the various boards.


I finished up the this thing a few days ago - I don't know what it is, but it's there. I'm unsure about the spacing needed for the cabinet screw that comes through right above it - I'm going to have to check that before final assembly - don't need parts shorting to ground that aren't supposed to.




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« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 05:48:21 PM by sduck » Logged
exocet
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« Reply #12 on: November 10, 2010, 10:28:40 PM »

I don't think that Locktite was the way to go on the voltage regulator. Heat sink compound (sticky white paste) would be more appropriate for something that gets hot - it helps to transfer heat from the component to the chassis. Other than that, nice looking build.
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bluesfendermanblues
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« Reply #13 on: November 10, 2010, 11:58:29 PM »

I don't think that Locktite was the way to go on the voltage regulator. Heat sink compound (sticky white paste) would be more appropriate for something that gets hot - it helps to transfer heat from the component to the chassis. Other than that, nice looking build.

You're right about using white cooling paste instead, but on the other hand, the 7812 hardly get warm because the total wattage of two relays (both OD and PAB) will draw 0.04W.
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Respect for the big guy's work....we're at this part of the forum because of HAD's amps.
sduck
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« Reply #14 on: November 11, 2010, 05:27:41 AM »

Thanks, guys. So - should I take it off and clean it off, throw some heat sink gunk on there; or will it not get hot enough to matter one way or the other? Basically, what I'd like to know - how hot does it get? I presume you guys have one of these - if at all possible - turn it on, let it run for 20-30 minutes, and touch the chassis outside of where this device is, and tell me how hot it gets. If it feels like it might be about 120 degrees F or higher (hot tap water temperature) I'll definitely clean it off.

BTW, I didn't mean to get the loctite all over the place like that - I thought I had just put enough for the threads of the screw, but it seeped all over the place. Tricky stuff to use sometimes. (sorry, had to find out what that button did)

Also BTW, I really appreciate people jumping in and catching things I might have done wrong - there's a lot of little stuff that can be done wrong, and I'd like to catch it before I power it on for the first time!
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