Wow this is one fantastic amp. I've just finished the combo (blonde tolex, chrome hardware) all except the grille cloth, got to order that tomorrow. I've paired it up with a G12-65 for now and it sounds so rounded and well balanced. EF86 gets gnarly (nicely of course) when wound up but I can't really do that for long its sooo loud.

It is a very transparent amp, shows up all your playing inadequacies (hence why i won't be posting any clips anytime soon!), but responds so beautifully to picking dynamics. I am going to have to become a better player to do this amp justice I think.

Search for replies by Pickmaster. One of his mods included a 3 way bright switch.

Yes John I shielded my strat with copper. I've actually got 2 sheets on order for my next project strat, I'll try a bit and see how well it sticks to the cab. Like most of us the amp is in and out of the cab on a regular basis and now the tinfoil is ripping and needs re-doing. I used 3M spray mount but its not really up to the job, maybe a contact adhesive would be better.

Thanks for that. I've just built a DC-30 and I occurred to me that since its quiet outside of a cab then the shielding might be unnecessary. I never did find a source for nice thick foil. I used kitchen foil and it rips too easily.

Every Fender I've had has had aluminium foil  glued to the cab above the amp presumably to cut interference. I did it on my OTS when I built it. Does Nik do this on the ones he builds? Any self builders left it out? Is it necessary?

Cheers

Hywel Harris

How about a hybrid with one preamp a la OTS and another MArshall preamp. so we could have Fender and Marshal in the same box. That would be really versatile.

Yes thought so , thanks

How long within that month have you had the amp actually ON. This amp needs a good burn in.

Leave it ON, not just on standby with master at least 12:00 and both volumes 3:00 for 48 hours. then try it again.

Not yet, but stay tuned I will do in the next week or so. My Dc-30 is very new, not burned in yet as soon as I get my ears tuned to its natural sound I will start using pedals, Klein and FX etc.

Well after about another 6 hours burnin the hiss has nearly all gone! What was causing that I wonder. Still get some when its on full whack but normal volumes its quiet. Not played it again, leaving it another 6 hours before I do.

IS that the Marshall JTM60 grillecloth? Looks nice.

After  6 hours of burn in I really can hear a difference. Its brighter and more articulate. might be my imagination but I think its louder aswell. Will give it another burn in tomorrow.

I wish someone could quantify this 'burn in' process, whats happening?, why? and how long does it need?

You need speaker cable not guitar cable. 2x 1.5mm sq conductors will be fine. In fact I have used 2 core mains lead before  I knew any better!.

You will solder the cable to the same male jack socket as a guitar lead and you should solder  the wires at the speaker for security. Make the cable a decent length, about 18" longer than it needs to be for the amp in the combo. This will help when you want to use this speaker for another amp or head or if you ever want to put an attenuator in the line.

You will plug this cable into the main speaker outlet and set the impedance equal to the impedance of your 12" speaker.

I would be very interested to see a modded layout for this feature.

I rather think this amp will be my next build.

New layout attached. Hope its self explanatory. Most awkward bit is maintaining the continuity of the shielding earth back to the star ground terminal.

If I was doing one again I think I'd put the bypass on the front panel and maybe the footswitch socket aswell. No need to lean over the back then when using it without the footswitch and it would allow you to put the rack unit under the OTS. Initially I didn't want to do this because it would mean that the bypass condition would have had another foot or more of cable in the loop. In retrospect this was probably being over cautious and it would most likely be fine.