I have tried my OTS with a 4x10 with Jensen P10R's. I've not taken it to rehearsal levels yet (tuesday if I get the head cab finished in time), but at home I'm not experiencing the 'piercing' highs reported here that prompted so many of the mods. I am intending to put together a 2x12 with G12-65's or Emi RW&B's in the near future to compare the two. I won't start making any mods to the amp until then.

Hope thats of some use. Speaker choice seems to be so subjective and a minefield for the inexperienced!.

AS a preliminary sortie to see what I could find here in the UK prior to considering doing the mods, I found it really difficult to source what I need. I'm going to have to try and persuade my amp tech to order the parts for me I think.

The guys at Matamp are very helpful. I desperately want a GT1 with powerscaling but its well over a grand and I can't justify that at the moment. The OTS is much more affordable. I'd ask your mate before you go ahead and order since I do know that Matamp are up to their necks in work ( alot like Nik is ). I think Matamp would be very intereested in hearing an OTs is they got their hands on one!

I'd get a 50-100w iron. I use a Weller w100d temp controlled iron . I modified the tip so that I could do fine work with it and this caused a problem soldering one of the last earth wires to the star ground, too much of a heat sink. If you don't tighten the bolt until the last solder joint is made a lower power iron will be fine. Bear in mind all that you spend on tools to complete the job, you'll still have at the end, ready to do the next amp build!!!! yes it is addictive.

Yes I'm in the Uk, Nottingham if thats any use to you. The amp is finished, but the cab isn't yet. I'm hoping to get it done over the weekend, Ive' got all the parts so with the extra day off on Monday it should get done. You're welcome to give it a go if you're close.

Cheers

Hywel Harris

Replied in other thread. You will get the kit quicker than a built amp, but please don't do it to save money!! It'd be better to go to work for an extra 20hours and pay Nik! You will get a lot of pride from doing it though AND you won't be daunted to try out some of the many mods that have been talked about here , afterwards.

The documentation is limited, though there is a parts/packing list which helps to identify stuff based on quantities in the pack, but if I did it again I'd go through it and either identify every item by codes written on them or measure their values with a meter (resistors and capacitors if your meter will do that). In conjunction with the layout its not difficult to determine whats what if you approach it logically (eg. the pot values and whether they are audio or linear).

Best of luck (actually no don't rely on luck!!!)

I asked tha same question (of myself mostly) as all I'd ever built was a 5w single ender from http://www.ampmaker.com/ak01x.asp so I really wasn't veru experienced. I bit the bullet because a. I didn't want to wait 12 weeks and b. I have made a few cabinets before so that aspect didn't worry me.

I think if you approach this logically, get a good multimeter, read this forum (and I mean all of it and make notes), print out the layout AND photos to refer to when building, mark each wire on the layout print as you fix it, and you are reasonably practical minded you'll find it a breeze. I was daunted beforhand but in the end found it straight forward and apart from a fault with the OT wiring color coding (Niks supplier had incorrectly connected the blue to the centre tap when apparently industry standard is red) it worked without problem. What I did do though, since I was wary of doing some damage on power up, was to finish it and then pass it to my amp tech to test it and power it up, for which he charged me the measly sum of £35 ($70) Well worth it for the peace of mind.

It took me about 20hours over two weekends to finish it and I would be much quicker if I had to do it again (you don't know what you don't know when you start). Bone up via the net on reading resistor and capacitor values before starting and that will save you hours.

Go for it. You'll get plenty of help and advice here if you need it and you'll have soemthing to be proud of and amaze listeners aswell, it is a superb amp.

The black cables are the shielded cables from the original trimmer pot (FET and O/D) positions to their new locations on the rear panel.

I'm also thinking about reverb and am interested in a TC G Sharp since i can also then get rid of my chorus pedal off my board (its a Boss and none too clever) , but I'm not sure about mounting it in the front of the cab like eriwebnerr has done , see this thread.

http://ceriatoneforum.com/index.php?topic=330 . I'm trying to think of a way to hide it

I'm also trying to find out more about the G Sharp, until it came up on here I knew nothing about rack mount effects and I've always steered clear of multi-effects units since previous experience has shown them to be tone suckers, admittedly I'm talking of the likes of Zoom, Korg etc, that go in before the amp.

The second link works if you open the URL in Media player Classic and VLC Player, but not in Windows Media player v11. Thank you Billy Gates!

My amp tech told me that if when you turn off, you turn the standby off then count to ten before switching the mains off that should do it. But to be on the safe side get your meter out and see what voltage you've got on the big filter caps.

Nope sorry Jack, I get this.

How do you tune a cab in respect of front facing ports? I'd like to try a closed back ported to the front but wouldn't know how to tune it.

Thanks

Hywel Harris

Jack, would you mind posting as a PDF? Its easier to get a good print.

I also couldn't get the clip to play properly either


Many Thanks

I think Nik is a little reluctant to let anyone get their hands on the original files. When I asked for a .dwg or .dxf so I could print a large version he was a little cagey as to what software he used.

Apparently real suede is not that expensive and you can use PVA to glue it on. I was talking to Jeff Lewis of Matamp  www.matamp.co.uk on a visit a few months back and he said told me about the leather and suede, though aparently its not that durable, especially suede, tolex type hard vinyl is much more durable.

It does take some practice to get the corner mitres correct so I'd practice on some scrap first. The thing about hard vinyl is that you can move it about quite a bit by warming it with a hot air (paint stripper type ) gun, when it cools its will pretty much stay put. The more stretchy stuff won't stay put after it cools, it keeps pulling apart. There are lots of people on t'internet selling 'tolex' that isn't and I don't yet know how you tell, but if when cold you can stretch it much its going to be difficult to work with. Marshall stuff is pretty reliable or so it seems. I also had some black from here http://www.ampcomponents.co.uk/hardware.html which was fine but the red wasn't, I had to send it back!.

I've also had some samples from http://www.allparts.uk.com/coverings-tweed-tolex-c-277_297_446_455.html?p=shop and I intend getting some Fender Blonde, but I'm a bit wary because it does seem quite thick, but it is cheap enough, probably as cheap as anywhere in the UK.

I use water based PVA , mostly, its very cheap since its used in the building trade a lot, approx $30 for 5litres. Being water based you've plenty of time to adjust allowing you to cover a cab, no matter how big, in one piece. I do prime the wood first with a diluted version of the same glue (5:1 dilution) If it dries off in parts you can just wet it with more glue. I use a small decorators roller to apply it to the material. I have had problems however with some material, which had a polypropylene backing and it didn't stick too well with PVA. If I use that again I think it will have to be a thixotropic contact adhesive.