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Janky-A Rigs of Doom

#941
Bass Jones said:
Update: I went the long way around and made a cover out of perf aluminum and flipped all the components so they stick out the top. They're mounted on heavy duty standoffs so it's all secure. It was a lot of work and I would never do it again but it turned out...uh...unique!

Not exactly something I would gig with...just a weird conversation piece. I was going to paint the cover black but now I kind of like the white (it came primed).

View attachment 4068904
Click to expand...

This is brilliant. One of the coolest things I have ever seen on TB, bar none. Seriously. Your, sir, are a genius of jank. Need soundclips!
 
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#942
Bass Jones said:
Update: I went the long way around and made a cover out of perf aluminum and flipped all the components so they stick out the top. They're mounted on heavy duty standoffs so it's all secure. It was a lot of work and I would never do it again but it turned out...uh...unique!

Not exactly something I would gig with...just a weird conversation piece. I was going to paint the cover black but now I kind of like the white (it came primed).

View attachment 4068904
Click to expand...
Very cool!

But I'm afraid you're going to have to leave this thread. Not janky anymore! :laugh:
 
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#943
mexicanyella said:
Man, 19"? Build a scrap plywood head shell for it!

Or if you have access to a rack case, cheap, mount it in there. Homemade rack ears!

If you have tools to work a piece of punched steel mesh into a protective "lid," you could go for something on the Ampeg B15 head—Vox Night Train head spectrum.

Or some plywood end caps...big old SS
Verellen Meat Smoke type enclosure.
Click to expand...

Great ideas, I've been working up something with a few of those elements for a tube practice amp I've been building for myself during lockdown. Case from Ho Depot plywood, scrap pile wood fascia plate, $2 wood trim pieces via an Ebay discount voucher, HD 1X3 maple dimension lumber handles, and the power amp board and power transformer were surplussed NOS repair stock parts too. It's no Choadhammer, but by my standards I did cheap out on quite a few things for this build. I even went with an obscure preamp tube and got a few at two bucks a pop, still in their 60+ year old original packaging. I'm reluctant to post a pic though, because it's not really all that Doomy. :cool:
 
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#945
mexicanyella said:
Awesome, and thanks for updating! That's like taking the 1950s lab-gear aesthetic of an old Ampeg flip-top and cranking up the visual intensity. Kind of giving viewers an unapologetic face full of solid stateness. That finned heatsink/power amp module thing sticking up is hilarious and cool.

You should gig it, though.
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Thanks, that funky power amp sink makes it, IMO!

My other idea which would have been way easier than flipping everything was to leave it all sticking out the bottom, add a simple cover, then add some vintage metal "hairpin" legs coffee table style. I might try that next time I end up with another head rescued from a combo.
 
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#946
Bass Jones said:
Thanks, that funky power amp sink makes it, IMO!

My other idea which would have been way easier than flipping everything was to leave it all sticking out the bottom, add a simple cover, then add some vintage metal "hairpin" legs coffee table style. I might try that next time I end up with another head rescued from a combo.
Click to expand...

I like it...or maybe some Z legs kind of like an old Vox Continental organ.

I have the chassis and guts from an old Dean Markley guitar practice amp, a K-20. I don't like it for guitar that much, but it sounds pretty cool for bass at low
levels and its 4-ohm output agrees with my bass cab. Your project is reviving my interest in housing that somehow for a home and recording amp head. Stay tuned, maybe...I have a janky bass (@Downunderwonder, can I say that?)
that is ahead of it in line...
 
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#947
mexicanyella said:
I like it...or maybe some Z legs kind of like an old Vox Continental organ.

I have the chassis and guts from an old Dean Markley guitar practice amp, a K-20. I don't like it for guitar that much, but it sounds pretty cool for bass at low
levels and its 4-ohm output agrees with my bass cab. Your project is reviving my interest in housing that somehow for a home and recording amp head. Stay tuned, maybe...I have a janky bass (@Downunderwonder, can I say that?)
that is ahead of it in line...
Click to expand...
It was determined by unpopular postings that janky basses may only be seen and heard, but not discussed in any way in any thread.
 
#948
Five String said:
This is brilliant. One of the coolest things I have ever seen on TB, bar none. Seriously. Your, sir, are a genius of jank. Need soundclips!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I need to do a little work on it before I post any clips (also I suck at playing). I'm getting a little bit of distortion even when the "distortion" effect if off.

I found the service manual and there are some internal trim pots. The test voltages were way off and I was able to get them closer but not quite where they're supposed to be. May be time to start testing components... Or just leave it as is. Sounds kind of cool and raunchy.
 
#952
Maybe it's not too late to consider a different covering material. Got any shag carpet remnants? That came out of a van, with tinted bubble side windows, header side pipes and some airbrush work on the sides?

Go to the oracle of Chöadhammer. Come back inspired. Build.

Got any torn Carhartt-type winter work clothing? I covered a motorcycle seat in Carhartt once. It never tore, but you didn't want to sit on it when it got wet...
 
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#953
Glad to have found this thread! My rig came together slowly as I tried to do things on the cheap and was even unwilling to pay money for preamp pedals. So it started with a Vox Pathfinder as a preamp for a Peavey. Max 300 I got cheap. That worked well so I bought a Vox MV50CL as a preamp, because it was cheap and smaller and I thought I could likely add another cab to go with the Peavey. The MV50CL worked well
IMG_20200711_1542474.jpg
as a preamp, but the cab not so much. Eventually the Peavey blew up - the tech said it wasn't from using other amp as preamp - but I had accumulated a couple of Eden 110 cabs as part of my cab extension product. Since I only had the two Vox amps left I decided to combine them and see how they sounded and they were great! So I sold the Edens and that covered the costs for a Traynor 1510 cab. Then I got a Vox VX50BA for free from a nice fellow and I use it combined with the other set up so I have a bi-amp thing going on. I have some boost pedal and the Pathfinder into the MV50CL boosts the signal too. The VX50BA is only used for dirt and the other for a clean signal. It sounds great!

Here it is!
 
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#954
Doctor Intrepid said:
Glad to have found this thread! My rig came together slowly as I tried to do things on the cheap and was even unwilling to pay money for preamp pedals. So it started with a Vox Pathfinder as a preamp for a Peavey. Max 300 I got cheap. That worked well so I bought a Vox MV50CL as a preamp, because it was cheap and smaller and I thought I could likely add another cab to go with the Peavey. The MV50CL worked wellView attachment 4082555 as a preamp, but the cab not so much. Eventually the Peavey blew up - the tech said it wasn't from using other amp as preamp - but I had accumulated a couple of Eden 110 cabs as part of my cab extension product. Since I only had the two Vox amps left I decided to combine them and see how they sounded and they were great! So I sold the Edens and that covered the costs for a Traynor 1510 cab. Then I got a Vox VX50BA for free from a nice fellow and I use it combined with the other set up so I have a bi-amp thing going on. I have some boost pedal and the Pathfinder into the MV50CL boosts the signal too. The VX50BA is only used for dirt and the other for a clean signal. It sounds great!

Here it is!
Click to expand...

Very cool! :thumbsup:
 
#955
Doctor Intrepid said:
Glad to have found this thread! My rig came together slowly as I tried to do things on the cheap and was even unwilling to pay money for preamp pedals. So it started with a Vox Pathfinder as a preamp for a Peavey. Max 300 I got cheap. That worked well so I bought a Vox MV50CL as a preamp, because it was cheap and smaller and I thought I could likely add another cab to go with the Peavey. The MV50CL worked wellView attachment 4082555 as a preamp, but the cab not so much. Eventually the Peavey blew up - the tech said it wasn't from using other amp as preamp - but I had accumulated a couple of Eden 110 cabs as part of my cab extension product. Since I only had the two Vox amps left I decided to combine them and see how they sounded and they were great! So I sold the Edens and that covered the costs for a Traynor 1510 cab. Then I got a Vox VX50BA for free from a nice fellow and I use it combined with the other set up so I have a bi-amp thing going on. I have some boost pedal and the Pathfinder into the MV50CL boosts the signal too. The VX50BA is only used for dirt and the other for a clean signal. It sounds great!

Here it is!
Click to expand...

So what power section is actually driving the Traynor 1510 cab?
 
#956
mexicanyella said:
So what power section is actually driving the Traynor 1510 cab?
Click to expand...
The MV50CL. My pedal board goes into the VX50BA which lines out to the Pathfinder and the Pathfinder is a preamp for the MV50CL. There is no EQ from the VX50BA to the Pathfinder, and the Pathfinder is connected to MV50CL via the headphone jack. I tried replacing the Pathfinder with a few pedals as an EQ - including an Ampeg pedal and the YYZ pedal - but they were not as good. The amp is quite loud and keeps up with my 6'7" drummer and two guitarists. The Pathfinder boosts the signal, as well as a compressor and I have a TC Spark if I need it.
 
#959

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#960
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