I listen to Jazz, Blues, Rock, Metal... I like instrumental pieces more than ones with lyrics for some reason, as long as it's not too depressing and/or boring (Joe Satriani's Dreaming #11 comes to mind)

I loathe rap however don't want anything to do with it... I can't stand computer music with excessive bass beats. I like to go to a death metal event for the chance to mosh pit but as for listening, no way... used to like speed metal but got tired of it... alot of them are boring and are really nothing more than simple riffs thats played too fast.

Your avatar looks like a cartoon version of Herman Li...

So what's with those speaker cables that costs more than the most expensive amp Nik offers on his website (pre-built including tubes too)? Are they really worth the price? I mean I glanced at a few hi-fi shops around here and the prices of some of the stuff are just totally out of this world, and makes me think how does those store sell anything..

Maybe someone can provide a schematic on how to do a cascading preamp gain. I am sure it's not much more than 10 dollars worth in caps and resistors... like you can modify a JCM800 or plexi or this...

You can also wire a resistor from one of the leads in the filter cap to ground and the cap will drain automatically when turned off. Leave the standby switch to on it will help the cap drain as well. You can probe for DC voltage by sticking the black probe to anywhere in the chassis and the red probe to the leads. I had Nik do this on my Plexi 50 clone and usually there are no more than 17 volts in the system after about 3 minutes from power down.

You might want to look on the US customs website for whatever tariff that may be imposed. However in my experience (I am in Taiwan) I am never charged tariff on any postal air shipment... but these amps are just parts and it could be declared as such so kinda hard to impose any kind of tariff on this unless its an insane amount...

I been looking at the dumble too as I really want a clean amp as well. I have a Plexi 50 right now by the way I replaced the phase inverter to a 12AT7 for more clean headroom but distortion doesn't sound as good in that case... so I guess its hard to have one amp that can have both. While the dumble looks complex the turret board is pre assembled you just need to wire the tranny and all off board stuff like sockets and pots together so it's probably not that hard if you can break the work into sections. I am sure an Industrial Ed teacher will help you out in that case too... You only need to watch out for high voltage so keep the amp unplugged and wear shoes while messing with the amp, and drain the filter cap too (check with a multimeter).

Maybe you could leave out the extra stuff like foot switch until you get a working amp.

Or if you want something with good clean tone look into Fender, they are simple.

As for soldering trem claw to a ground wire, you need a pretty hot iron (40 watt or so) and I bought some solder that says its for soldering to stainless steel, it works pretty good once I heat up the claw pretty good and it takes less than 5 minutes. Regular 40/60 rosin core solder works too. I heard acid flux solder is better for something like this (which I suspect is what this stainless steel solder is) but people also said that acid flux isn't good for electrical connections... I don't know I've been using this stuff and hasn't had problems.

If you want to build an amp from Kit#2 start with Fenders, they seem pretty simple. However it seems the price difference between 2 and 3 is dependent on the complexity of the amp, that means an overtone special is 300 dollars more while a Fender bassman is only 60 bucks more. Just be careful and make sure you print out the diagram (and make sure they are correct) on a large sheet of paper (A3 or above) so you can have it with you for references. Print in color, it really helps! I had a print shop print me a large copy of the layout and laminated it so I can plan modifications.

I am sure Nik will build you anything if he knows how (or provide a schematic)...

I think we need a 100 watt twin reverb.

I found a plan for a tube reverb unit on 18watts.com, perhaps you can let Nik see the plan and see if he can supply the parts. I think I will do that too it looks simple, a few resistors and caps here and there and a few tubes. I hope I can tie this into the existing power section however without blowing stuff up. I need a reverb transformer too I hope Nik can supply that... Will also need a small outboard chassis with punchouts for 2 tubes... (I will also add a buffered loop)

I think this project might not cost more than 100 dollars with all the parts and stuff (including reverb tank)

Certainly cheaper than a ElectroHarmonix Holy Grail pedal.

Yea, I wished I was back in the States... in Taiwan expensive amps are like a "dont touch" item, they wouldn't let you even touch it let alone play it. That's assuming you can actually find them... (all I found are JCM800's)

Build your own cabs... you can probably find plans on the internet then just buy the wood and if you don't have a tablesaw or don't have space for one ask the lumber yard to cut it to size for you... there may be a surcharge but thats cheaper than buying a tablesaw and making enough space for one.. Then just put it together and cover it with leather.

Can't do that because no one offers a used 412 cab (in fact a used Marshall 1960a 412 cab cost about 600 dollars in Taiwan...) anywhere since the amount of people in taiwan that actually uses or wants a 412 cab is minimal, its essentially a niche market here (most music shop owners I talked to said this) due to the crowded living condition... so the few who wants it will have to buy it from those music store (1200+) or build it themselves. I wish I could find a used cab on the internet for 200 but that just doesn't exist here... There are a few custom builders who will build one for about 400 excluding speakers.

I don't need clamps to glue a 412 other than a few C clamps for the brace though, I used wood screw to clamp a butt joint, it works pretty well as long as the top board has a larger hole so the screw doesn't bite. Other builders used a much more primitive method (white glue and nails) and it works but long term reliability remains to be seen... He didn't tolex the cab though, just painted it black.

4x12 cab, straight

Is there any plans for various speaker cabs on the internet? I think I would like to build my own cab but I need some dimension so I can ask a lumber store to cut it to size for me (I don't have a table saw...)