Two variacs for dummies...

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white noise
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by white noise » Thu Jan 21, 2016 6:18 pm

JimiJames wrote:aw yeah! She's gonna' replace my Voltage Meter Guardian;
He seems to have lost control at the helm with excessive wire issues and can no longer fend off the Plexi demons...
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This is a pretty handy little voltmeter. Just plugs in any wall outlet or receptacle and displays your voltage in real time...
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They come in low & high voltage models, and from what I can see these are built pretty well for what they are. At less than $5.00 U.S. I'll be ordering a few more. Save your money and have patience. I ordered from overseas, otherwise they are nearly double the price.

Very Cool Jimi!

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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by jnew » Thu Jan 21, 2016 6:41 pm

Yeah. I like that too. :wink:
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by mr.twistyneck » Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:52 pm

Yes, they are sweet. I have two of them, one to monitor the input voltage and one to monitor the voltage coming out of the variac.

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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by JimiJames » Sat Jan 23, 2016 2:47 am

yeah man, they're pretty cool Twisty. 8)
Brought it with and used it on the last rehearsal. The bonus was how easily the display could be read and monitored if you were in a club setting. Simple, practical and inexpensive. Order has been restored.
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white noise wrote:Very Cool Jimi!
jnew wrote:Yeah. I like that too. :wink:
:thumbsup:
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by Robocop101985 » Tue Jan 26, 2016 12:53 pm

Any new clips or ideas...?

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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by erupturchops » Thu May 18, 2017 12:03 pm

Has anyone had any issues with running the Variac between the amp and cab? Nothing blowing up?

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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by jnew » Thu May 18, 2017 12:10 pm

Been doing it for probably over a year now. No issues. :thumbsup:
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by JimiJames » Fri May 19, 2017 10:52 am

erupturchops wrote:Has anyone had any issues with running the Variac between the amp and cab? Nothing blowing up?
jnew wrote:Been doing it for probably over a year now. No issues. :thumbsup:
:rock:

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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by jnew » Fri May 19, 2017 11:59 am

Great pics. Tell me about that Destroyer/Explorer on the wall. Cool guitar man. :thumbsup:
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by JimiJames » Sun May 21, 2017 3:36 pm

Thank You, kindly.
It's a poor man's Ibanez Destroyer; a ri 1958 Korina in Black.
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I wanted to changed out the knobs to the cooler Ibanez Castle knobs, but then I saw these on eBay, and they look great ! The smaller Grover kidney-beans I really like. Ibanez V2 in the neck from an RG 550. I have an Ibanez Gibralter bridge leftover from another project that I wanted to further "Destroy" this Explorer, but it feels & plays great and didn't want to mess with that mojo. It's a keeper.
With the help of Strat78 and a SUPER70, I quickly learned about Ibanez wiring that I didn't care for, and rewired the circuit to the user friendly Gibson. New pots switch & caps were standard S.O.P.
The pointy pickguard adds some mageek sprinkles, y'all be the judge... :-D

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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by jnew » Sun May 21, 2017 10:11 pm

It's cool man. I had one of those and with a nice setup, they do play quite well. Great job with it. :thumbsup:
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by whopperplate » Mon May 22, 2017 2:42 am

Awhile back I wanted to try this trick out, but I was afraid to commit my hundred watt amp to the trial, So I tried Using the variance on my 18 watt Marshall clone. I thought it sounded amazing, until it blew the output transformer :palm: . I am not sure how I hooked it up wrong if I did, and I continue to use this variac to this day as a functioning line voltage control so I am sure I goofed it somehow. It's one of those variacs with posts for both the input and the input and output, so the chances of wiring it incorrectly are tenfold, even though I double triple checked the wiring...who knows. Reading about it makes me want to try again, but I am obviously hesitant.
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by jnew » Mon May 22, 2017 10:38 am

Can you show pics of the variac? I am curious about this case because even if you cross the + and -, it would only mean that the speakers in the cab would push and pull opposite directions. It would still work and the load to the transformer and tubes would not change. Speakers would only be 180 degrees out of phase. Not an issue other than personal preference, if you could hear a difference. And a big IF at that. :scratch:
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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by Berlin » Fri May 26, 2017 8:22 am

JJ...
That sounds killer man! Is your super 70 potted? And speaking of potted/potting/pots- are you using a 250k/300k or 500k?
Great set up my friend-
She's a beaut!

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Re: Two variacs for dummies...

Post by whopperplate » Fri May 26, 2017 3:51 pm

I will post a shot of the variac asap :thumbsup:
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