Dilletant, Just listened to the songs on myspace. You're a very talented guy. I love the song "Journey".

As I was listening, I kept saying "this guy has been influenced by Pink Floyd, and more so Mr. Waters". Then I decided to take a look at your website and was checking out your photos and saw the concert photos and it was confirmed. Just to let you know, I'm a big fan myself. Your other photos are great also.

Keep up the music production and play that new amp and get it recorded. As you might have read, the OTS's need to be broken in and will sound better and better as you play.

Anyway, love your work. 

The reason I asked is I was considering this same thing. As you know I've been playing through a Vintage 30 and even though it doesn't get much praise here, I can get it to sound decent. Plus supposedly the Vet 30 is voiced a bit differently to smooth out the mid spike.

Something tells me the ET65 & Vet 30 would be a killer combination.

What's the Vet 30 for?

Yeah, I decided to put some of my equipment in the sig lastnight. I just put up the other acoustic I have. It was late and I couldn't remember the exact model number.

But yeah, the Tacoma is a very nice guitar. Solid Sitka top & nicely figured Koa sides & back. The other is a 12 string Seagull. A less expensive guitar, but still a nice guitar.

Cool guys, glad you got it.  It is a subtle thing for sure, but it is noticable.

sonicmojo, the 10th fret B string does seem to be a good spot to get loads of bloom. I don't know if it's the frequency or a very resonant part of most necks.

Todd, very likely our tubes are balance closely and of the same gain. Just guess'n....

I finally got some interest in another amp I'm selling so I can get some speakers to fill my Avatar open back cab. Supposedly this guy will have the money tomorrow. I will have to go a few days without playing the OTS because the speaker I'm using now is in the amp being sold.

I'm gonna be jones'n for a bit. Hopfully WGS speakers have fast shipping.

I didn't get one either....oh well!
Maybe they're just for those who get a complete amp? I have the "too large for most t-shirts" problem also, so chance are it wouldn't fit either.

Glad to hear you got your dream amp. I would love to see some photos when you get a chance. I know what it's like to be busy. I have way more thing I want to do than minutes in the day.

Do you live near Nik or did you take a trip?

Yep, the D-lator is next on my list!! I'm either buiding from scratch or getting the C-lator kit.

Yeah, I don't think it's voodoo. It does take a certain tool & skill set to do it. But after that it's nothing.

I'm pretty sure I have it set where it's best. The only thing is, I hear some clips where the amp is about to feedback or "bloom" at will and what appears to be at lower volume (or gain level). I can't get that happening (atleast not yet) with my amp.

I think I read that the HRM circuit isn't as quick to do this. Is this correct?

I can say I've noticed the more I play it the more it seems to be relaxing and getting closer to the tone of some of the killer clips I hear.

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, before my OTS, Randall Smith & Mesa Boogie was what I though was the "holy grail" of amp builders.

Hey blues, do you use the clean channel or OD channel when rubbing the strings? I guess my question is...overall is there settings aside from presence (ie: gain levels, rock/jazz switch, etc.) that makes it easier to hear the "sweet spot"? I used the OD channel when adjusting, but didn't know for sure what was best.

I'm a newcomer to the "Dumble Way" and probably have about 25 hrs play time on my amp. (HRM 50) I decided tonight to play with the LNFB switch ON and try to get a real grip on this. Like Todd mentioned it's mostly subtle, but like everything else I'm finding out about this amp, all or most of the different switches and settings can have a big effect on another.

One thing I found is that the volume drop going from rock to jazz in clean mode is not there with LNFB switched on. And it opens up the low end really well. In fact a new favorite setting is the clean channel set to jazz with deep on and LNFB. With single coils mostly.

I'm really starting to see the genius of HAD's design. There are really very many voicings available. The way some of the tone switches interact with others is pretty awesome. I've had amps with lots of switches (Mesa Rectifier) but in the end it never really changed much from the overall sound. Not so with these amps.

The only problem I see, is not being able to get to some of the tweaking possibilities quickly. But then again there comes a time when I need to play the darn song and forget about obsessively messing with the amp. 

Ah, the dreaded phase inverter adjustment. The problem with this whole issue is that what really needs to be measured here is AC voltage and not DC. But without a scope it's rather difficult to get good AC measurements. Wiith my balanced tube, getting a DC voltage swing like the manual states and like you're seeing was impossible. Atleast with the size trimmer on the amp. But it's quite visually and measurably noticable observing the AC shift with a scope.

What I did and my only advice would be to put back in the balanced tube and set the trimmer at halfway, then move it CW when facing the trimmer from the PI tube in small increments while strumming a chord with some nice harmonic content going and see if there's a position that makes the chord and then notes ring longer/better. IMHO, it's all very subjective, and if you think the old tube sounds "better" (and where you had it set) then that's what is best.

I have mine set about 1:00 facing the trimmer or 11:00 looking at the trimmer from the front of the amp.

As I was sitting here going over this thread, one thing did occur to me. More important than anything is the fact that you'll be dealing with very high voltages that will kill you. If you haven't dealt with this before (and it's much different then wiring a guitar) it is something to seriously consider. I'm still not saying you can't do it, just that this is probably the most important part of this thread that hasn't been completely addressed.

Even though Nik was able to set the amp up with the trannies he had, the trannies you will have and your mains voltage could be different enough that you'll have to do some tweaking beyond the wiring.

So remember, never stick both hands in the chassis at the same time while powered. And even after the amp is off there are some caps that can hold a dangerous charge well after it is turned off.

And most importantly, if you have even one question about something come here and ask or ask someone else who is capable.

So you're saying that Nik is going to completely build the amp and make sure it's working, then send it to you without the transformers and choke? If this is the case and you know how to solder properly, can make enough sense of the layouts to know where the connections go, and have some knowledge of using a muilti-meter, then you should be able to do it.

Do have any electronics background?

Whoa!...that's simply perfection.

Do you mean posting the cabinet making or the amp?