Very nice! I like the suede and Vox grille combo!

I was hoping the chassis was around 25". The combo cab that gabkits built for me is a 2x12 that is originally for the DZ 30 and it is 28" wide, so the SSS chassis should fit. The only thing I would have to change is the valence.

Now I just have to find time to check yours out and then convince Nik to sell me a complete ready to run chassis with the pan, without the head cab

Is that the width of the cabinet or the chassis?

Funny you should mention that. Along with downsizing my board to just a BYOC ESV Fuzz and Boosta Grande in the front, and the space echo and holy grail in the loop, I'm actually ordering the tri boost from BYOC. Switchable Germanium Boost (rangemaster), Silicone Linear Boost, and JFET boost all in one. I think once I get that one of their wahs, and their 2 knob chorus, I'll have all I want. I've been mainly using the normal channel boosted using the Boosta Grande and Mega PAB or fuzz or all of em over the OD lately.

Most def! PM sent to ya

Gregg

If slash if your first big influence, i would say the AFD or the 2550, as Slash did like the 2550 quite a bit. The AFD is more versatile, IMO, though, as channel one has the classic plexi sounds we all know and love so much and with the right settings and pedals can cover alot of ground. Then channel two is pure Slash! Also the AFD has more tweaking options with the peaker switch and the trimmers for the pre amp cathodes...and it runs on 6550's! kick ass! also it has a PPIMV already installed. Very nice!

As far as the Sozo caps, alot of Marshall guys swear buy em, and it's only $30 from Nik installed. it would cost you more to buy em and install em or have a tech switch em out later, so why not go for it?!


Gregg

If only my guitar playing was as good as my knowledge of tweaking these amps  actually, my knowledge is limited to tubes, speakers and a few simple tweaks. if i tried to build one of these or do any major work, i would prolly electrocute myself 

Gregg

yeah the PI trimmer is one of those mysterious doodads, but if you set it right, it can make all the difference in the world, i guess. I set mine by ear to a degree and found that a 7 volt swing (using the multimeter method) sounded pretty good.

In your case, it sounds like your tech is pretty good, so it sounds like your amp is in good hands, and, like you said you can always swap the tubes out later and experiment. It's def not hard if you have a decent digital multimeter, biasing is a piece of cake once you take the time to test and see what your actual plate voltage is to accurately set up the idle bias current. this is very important. mine is usually around 445, a lil lower than spec, and i have seen some guys say theirs is 460-470, so definitely check that first. Also when you switch out PI tubes, it's a good idea to use the multimeter method BEFORE you remove the old one, see what the swing is, and check it again with the new one and adjust as necessary. Again like the ampgarage post pointed out, it is not as accurate as using a scope, but it's better than nothing.

Hope it all comes together for you sooner than later!!

Gregg

Very cool!! Sounds like it is all coming together! I'm getting anxious for my speakers to get built and shipped out. I'm really hoping i made the right choice after reading about and listening to clips of Weber's NeoMag 12. It is supposed to sound even closer to the JBL than the Cali AND you can get with a paper dome and a cloth surround so it won't be so ice picky and will have tighter and fuller low end. I guess i could just order a set of those later if i'm really curious, since that aren't terribly expensive.

I feel like i', thread jaclking 

What did you end up getting for power tubes?

Gregg

Nice selection! I have always been wary of buying tubes off of ebay. partly because they are so many forgeries floating around, and partly because alot of them are untested. the prices aren't too bad on em, which is good, since you won't be out much money, but also makes me a lil wary of em, since usually those run between $50-$80 US, so they may or may not be the real deal, but like i said it's only about $30 so at least you aren't out much.

One suggestion for you, if you haven't bought them already, is that i would just buy a matched pair of the RCA's and run them both in V1 & V2 for now. I was playing through the JC-90 speaker yesterday and found that the JAN 5751, while sounding goo thtough the 1265's by taming the mids a bit, didn't sound nearly as good through the more neutral speaker, just FYI

Gregg

Yeah, I can see where the SSS may not need it as much as the OTS amps, unless you are gonna run effects that need a buffer. The SSS has def got my interest, I may have to look into it come January after I make all my holiday season overtime money and get my money back from Uncle Sam

Sweeeet!!! What tubes did you end up going with? I can't remember if you said or not yet 

Gregg

Any time, man.

As far as tried and true, new tubes, the TAD's have been used with quite a bit of success, in the Ceriatone Community, and in other amps circles as well, as have the Winged C's (SED). I have read good things about the Tung Sol 6L6GC-STR, and that's what i'll be trying next. The stock JJ's can be a good baseline to get to know your amp, and make sure everything is wired properly and functioning correctly.

For NOS, you can't go wrong with RCA blackplates and older GE's, both 6L6Gc's, of course, if you can get em. I have also heard great things about the JAN Phillips 7581A and the Sylvania STR415's which were made for Mesa. They are both very clean, heavy duty tubes which really don't break up, which is great for D-Style amps, as the bulk of the OD tone is from the preamp. They are pricey, though, which is why i have never tried em.

As far as preamp tubes for new production, the Tung-Sol "reissues" are supposed to have great tone, i haven't used em yet, but Chris (SoundPerf) uses em, and if you listen to his clips, they sound excellent! Just be sure to buy em from a dealer that screens em and tests em thoroughly, like Mike from KCA, as they seem to have about a 50/50 failure rate. Pretty high for a new production tube. The Mullard and EH "reissues" get great reviews as well, and each has their own strong suit as far as tone. The Tung-Sol Reissue, the Mullard Reissue, and the EH Reissue are all made by Reflektor/New Sensor in Russia, who also make Sovtek as well. New Sensor bought the rights to those trademarks, and Sveltlana and manufactures all of them. Each one has its own vibe, though so it's not like if you buy an EH it will sound like a Sovtek, etc. TAD tubes are also pretty well regarded, and most fo their stock is screened, picked, tested, and re-labled Shuguangs from China, and have proven to be reliable. Their 7025 is very quiet and stable, and nice for use in C-Lators.

NOS preamp tubes opens up a HUGE can of worms, and there are quite a few choices out there, each with their own voice and drive characteristics, and everyone has an opinion on which sounds best. They can cost anywhere from $28- $200 US a tube. Some of the best, subjective, i know, are right in the middle, around $50-$65 US.

Looking forward to hearing how you like the amp. Hope you get it home and up and running soon, and I hope this info helps!

Gregg

Very cool!!
Yes i got a lil to excited yesterday, lack of sleep will do that to ya 

Just a lil tip for ya, you can always just de solder the leads from the warehouse speaker, and then slide em in to the posts of the EV, which, if memory serves, should have the heavy duty binding posts like a JBL. That can save you a few bucks!!

Looking forward to hearing how the EV sounds in your amp!

Gregg

I really dig that grill cloth. very nice job on that one

The Groove Tubes in question are NOT made in the US. They are select picked Chinese Made tubes, much like the TAD's. Groove Tubes,

of course, was acquired by Fener, which is why almost every new Fender you buy has GT's in it.
Here is a post from TGP on the subject:
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"the Groove Tubes are supposed to be produced on original GE equipment"

The are not produced on the original GE equipment .... and never were. They are made in China and always were made in China.


There is some truth to the statement and some "Aspenism" to the statement.

The original design was followed and the micas were made by the same company that made the originals.

The plate material was at one time a reproduction of the 5 clad plate material formula but a lot of the time when production

needed to continue and the Chinese did not have plate material they used their own.

The grids, winding machines, and grid wire were Chinese.

The tubes were never made on the original machines. Those machines at GT were never used for any production at all.

The tubes orginally were screened "made in USA" but when Aspen was called on it and learned that he could be brought up on charges

for making false claims that line of print was removed from the tubes.

There were a lot of things Aspen told people at GT where initially we believed him. Over the years many of us learned that he was

basically making up his own story. I worked directly with the Chinese factory and saw the 6CA7 failures as well as the 12AX7M

failures over a number of years. I watched the GEs change radiators, use the wrong plate materials and saw other things as well

right down to the wrong bottles. Aspen would generally say he was going to do something about it but in the end the tubes were

just sold and it was hoped that chance would make things right in the future which rarely came to pass. In the case of the 6CA7

and 12AX7M things were not resolved at the time GT was sold to Fender.
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With all that in mind, consider that when I was first getting into tube amps when i was in 8th grade and high school back in the very eary 90's, Groove Tubes was pretty much it as far a source of tubes, other than Ruby Tubes, Radio Shack, and NOS until New Sensor acquired the Reflektor Plant and started pumping out tubes under the Sovtek name, and then under the EH name later on. I was lucky enough to have a stash of NOS preamp tubes, but when it came to power tubes, i either used Radio Shack or Groove Tubes, and i didn't have any issues that i can think of. I think there is alot of negative feelings regarding Groove Tubes amongst those of old enough to remember all the BS that Groove Tubes tried to feed us about their tubes being made here and so on and so forth. Alot of guys wouldn't use em, especially when NOS tubes weren't quite so pricey back in the day.

I can't say for sure which factory in China GT picks their Chinese tubes from, but there have so many mixed reviews on them
compared to TAD who sources theirs primarily from Shuguang, that I never have been tempted to try them. Their russian line of

preamp tubes, however i like for use as a PI tubes and even as good balanced workhorse preamp tube.

That being said, it couldn't hurt to try them. You may end up liking them.

Gregg