Custom Craig amp build

Sean · 2012-05-02T12:57:12+00:00

So I have approached bottledtone to build an amp head for me. I thought I would start a thread to keep a record of the build. So, until recently, I was using 2 amps, a 100watt solid state Yamaha for my cleans, and the Vox AC4TV for my drive tones. I've sold both as I want a simpler solution...I also want a Craig amp ? So, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to have a 2 channel 15 watt amp where the drive channel could be attenuated. So channel 1 would have the full 15 watts, and channel 2 could be switched to 5 watts for lower volume drive tones. Bottledtone is working on some ideas to do this, but I was wondering if there were any thoughts out there about this?

Sean

Gearhead wrote Speaking under correction:
Reverb, delay: as per your post.
Drive: don't want the original signal anyway imho, maybe matter of taste.
Gate, compressor, flanger, wah, tremolo: don't want the original signal since it counteracts what you are trying to do.
Equaliser: probably going to run into phase issues when mixing back with the original signal.
Chorus: by nature uses the original signal, this is how it differs from a tremolo.
Octaver etc: the whole idea is to add harmonics to the original signal, otherwise you might as well play higher...

Eish! ??? Okay, I don't suppose there is a short answer here wrt my original question? Do I want a mixed fx loop or not?
Would be helpful if bottledtone could comment here, but he's been reprimanded already for posting here.

Gearhead

Okay the short answer is that in my opinion you don't want it, since it will rarely ever add value. You will have to wait until someone else responds if you want more opinions...

Sean

Gearhead wrote Okay the short answer is that in my opinion you don't want it, since it will rarely ever add value. You will have to wait until someone else responds if you want more opinions...

Thanks man

AlanRatcliffe

Basically you're talking either series or parallel FX. Some FX have to have series (Compressor, EQ, wah, etc) while the ones that will work in parallel (reverb & delay) normally allow you to mix the bypassed signal within the FX unit anyway. So under normal circumstances you almost always want a series loop.

The single advantage of a parallel loop is it allows you to keep the uneffected signal path shorter. Not a huge issue if you are using decent quality effects in the loop anyway.

TomCat

To me series Effects would be essential....Parallel....Nice option to have but not essential......

Sean

Received a little update from bottledtone today ?

shaunf

Wow, that is quite something to behold!

I see he is using those Illinois Capacitor MPW caps. I bought a whole lot of them when I rebuilt my Marshall, and did some experimenting with the while I was doing some learning and practicing on the old turret boards and I really liked the sound of them , compared back to back with a bunch of other types, including some NOS Mullard mustards. The IC's were a little brighter, clearer sounding than the mustards, and very musical. Is this Benjamin's usual coupling cap of choice, or is this simply his choice for this particular amp?

Sean

shaunf wrote Is this Benjamin's usual coupling cap of choice, or is this simply his choice for this particular amp?

Yes, it's Benjamin's cap of choice. He actually wanted to use Orange Drops on the clean channel on this amp, but physical space was limited. He prefers Orange Drops on fiberboard designs.

Nicholas-L

Sean it's looking good ? ? ... Definitely seems like an amp to bring the walls down

Sean

More pics of the guts ?

shaunf

Absolute art! :applause:

Norman86

now we just need sound clips ?

Manfred-Klose

thats some neat wiring!!!!

Sean

Norman86 wrote now we just need sound clips ?

Sure ? I want to do it properly though, and get some decent recordings done. I'll hopefully be able to do so next month or in December.

Nicholas-L

And how you like it so far? ?

Sean

Nicholas L wrote And how you like it so far? ?

Haha, I wanted to try and avoid giving my opinion on the amp until I've had a chance to record it and post the clips. As the owner, I can post all sorts of superlatives, it's not going to mean much without clips ? I've only had the amp for three days now, and I've not been able to spend near as much time playing it as I've wanted to. But what I will say is that Bottledtone gave me exactly what I wanted. I'll give you a quick answer to your question for now: I'm liking it a lot! ?

Nicholas-L

That's the only answer that matters ?

StefStoep

I was in the lucky position to be with Sean when he saw and heard it for the first time! And i won't be as modest as Sean, I absolutely love this amp. It is everything that I want in an amp. It is for sure the best sounding amp that I've ever played on. And it looks just as awesome as it sounds, I really love this amp (I needs it ...... My precious!!!!!).
We played on it with 5 different guitars, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, MIM Strat, Epiphone Dot and of course Sean's Rattocaster. The most amazing thing was the tone that was brought out of each guitar with their own characteristics.

The best anwser to how good this amp is what I told Sean after playing on it for 10min, "This amp makes me want to play more guitar"

Gearhead

Lemme chip in here a bit. Sean played the amp with only 1 of 2 12" speakers in at band practice. We sounded so much better as a band it was amazing. I am looking forward to the time that Sean will have put in the other speaker (should fill out the lows quite a bit) and will have found his favourite settings on it.
As it is, the cleans are Fender cleans no doubt. I will reserve judgement on the drive until I have heard more of it whilst not being busy trying to play my own parts right.

Sean

Just some clarification: when I picked up the amp, it had one of Bottledtone's Vintage 30's alongside the Jenson. So that's what StefStoep heard. I put the Greenback in yesterday, so Gearhead will get the full experience next week ?

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