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Newbie question- Ampeg B15N

#101
Welp, I'm working on the brain to put the chassis, etc. in. I thought of something else that I changed up from the original B15 NF schematic: I rewired the standby switch a' la Fender. I didn't like how the signal bleeds through on standby in the Ampeg standby scheme.
 
#102
Hey you all:

I've finally got my B15 NF project done except for some little cosmetic touch ups. It's sounding great!
But I've got a question for anybody out there that has a mid- 60's B15 w/o a bright switch: does the treble knob make much difference in the sound? Working the treble knob on my rig affects the tone only a very small amount and then only from 8-10. Is this normal B15 NF behavior? Thanks
 
#108
Update: I did some ear testing on the amp and have decided to take the two 120K resistors off the SPDT switch in the zugster tone- stack mod and make it a bright switch w/ a 250 pf cap (I will hard wire the one 120K resistor remaining.)
Also I'm going to put in a .1 mfd cathode bypass cap on V1B.
And a couple of days ago I finished the Geofex Vintage AC project so I can hopefully lower my plate voltages done to a more moderate level.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all from the Big Bend of West Texas!
 
#109
Did the .1 mfd cathode bypass on V1 A; the bright switch and brought the plate voltage down with the Vintage AC box. This past Fri. I rerouted some ground wires to fix a parasitic oscillation. So the beast is in pretty good shape although not quiet enough for studio work.
 
#110
Hello all ...

Just finished reading some of the threads on this forum.. WOW I am impressed with the things you all are doing.

I just dug up some parts to sell on ebay,, portaflex transformer etc and was on here reading .

One reply mentioned the B15N with the Altec option... Well I owned one in 1980 or so. Bought it used from a rich kid in Orange, Oh. It came with a white basket Altec.. WOW what a sound. Sold the portaflex :'( ... bought a musicman single 15 ... but kept the Altec.. still going strong in the musicman bass amp.. ;-)

I think I might also like to build another B15n ...

Thanks for the inspiration.

Roger
 
#112
Haven't been on this thread for awhile but I did use my B-15 creation on a blues band pickup gig back in March. It sounded really good although I couldn't bring the volume up much w/o starting to get some distortion on the E string but since it was miked it wasn't a problem. Using the bright switch adds a little noise possibly b/c the switch is not as close to the vol. knob as it should be which would use less wire.
One thing that might help is to buy a better-quality 6SL7 that's been tested in a audio circuit; the ones I've been using have varying amounts of hum and microphonics.
 
#115
Guys, I know this is an old thread, but it has been super useful to me. I have not long got a working cab that still requires finishing with no buzzes, and a lovely smooth response and powerful! Paired with my B2RE it sounds great. Put it together with a test bed driver, but still works well as a cab in its own right, super neat! Couldn't have got this far without this thread. Thanks to all involved! Cheers from the UK!
 
#117
Hey Beans, thanks for the link.

This will be a great help. I love the neatness and compact scale of the Portaflex, Jess really played a master stroke with the annular porting arrangement. Can't seem to post pics from my ipad in this interface, but will once I get a working way of doing so. Anyways I'm off to the London Bass Guitar Show Sunday to stroke a re-issue! :D
 

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