Tube preamp scheme.

[Passinwind]

I mistook the OP's comment to read that he considered the Alembic F2B or Ampeg SVT Pro to be an example of the "must not be expensive" type. I think you'd struggle to find a tube preamp simpler or less expensive than an F2B. Maybe with no tone controls?

I did one like that, figuring that the active tone controls in my bass might suffice. Link Removed are about as reasonably priced as it gets for such a high quality level. Not sure if any of them will fit in a 1RU case though...

Really beautiful work on yours BTW!

 

[Passinwind]

TBer Passinwind is one of the pre-amp guru's around here, he posts on different builds pretty frequently. Do a search on some of his stuff, then PM him.

Thanks, just posted my best shot at "cheap", but so far my tube builds have all ended up being pretty expensive. I also seem to be on a pretty different page tonally than most tube preamp builders.

 

[xk49w]

I did one like that, figuring that the active tone controls in my bass might suffice. Link Removed are about as reasonably priced as it gets for such a high quality level. Not sure if any of them will fit in a 1RU case though...

Really beautiful work on yours BTW!

Thanks heaps! I thought I'd try the PCB with turret terminals. Next time maybe smaller turrets, maybe with a James stack.

 

[bgavin]

What's your idea of top dollar Bruce? And how custom would it need to be?

Personally, I don't consider turret or terminal board construction to be functionally any better or worse than good printed circuit boards -- especially if they're wired by a beginner's hands. The '85 JCM800s used a printed circuit board, BTW. '85 is right around when Marshall started doing board-mounted pots and jacks too, so your daughter's amps is quite desirable if it's the old style build.

Hi Charlie,

Her amp is dated June 1985, and none of the pots are board mounted.
It's been almost 12 years, so my memory is hazy as to circuit boards or not.
My remembrance is all PTP wiring, but I remember being impressed with it being highly "serviceable".
We had Dr. Rock (Sacramento) do the repairs. His comment was, "Wow, a real amplifier."

As to price, at my age I really don't care what I pay, if I get what I want.
I'm the odd duck who refuses to pony up big bux for a throw-away device that is proprietary and cannot be serviced.
This is akin to tossing out a customer's entire Dell computer because the proprietary motherboard is dead, and cannot be replaced. Been there, done that.