First build - Metro/Weber hybrid - pics & mp3

[hourglass]

When my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas, I sent her an e-mail with links to the 6M45P and Metro 50-watt plexi kits. I told her to have everybody go in on either one and that was the only thing I wanted.

So, come Christmas morning, the more little ridiculous things I opened (card games, $5 gift cards...) the more I was sure they had gotten a kit. Finally, I got handed a rather large box. However, it weighed almost nothing. When I opened it there was a note inside that said, "We ordered it, but Weber isn't sure when it'll get here."

I spent the next four weeks reading all the forums here and over at Metro. I decided that I'd rather follow a build guide than try to wing it so I figured out what I'd need in order to make that happen.

I wanted to build it to '71 metal panel specs, so from Metro I ordered:

50-watt board (with Sozo caps, Marshall components kit, and mounting hardware)
1 extra Sozo cap (.0022)
Bridge rectifier
6x Old style Cliff jacks
2x 50/50 cap cans & mounts
2x 47uF axial cans
2x Chrome ring for toggle switches
120V marshall indicator
2x Xicon 1K 5 watt resistors
full amp wiring kit (the board kit does not have enough wire for everything, so don't get that option if you order a board)

When I got my Weber kit on 1/22 I dug right in. I found that in order to exactly follow the build guide I need to reorient the preamp tubes, so I drilled extra holes in order to rotate them 180 degrees. While I was at it I drilled holes for both can caps (one up top and one next to the power transformer leaving space for the fuse holder.) When it came time for them, I also needed to drill out all the jack holes to 3/8", but it seems to me I still would have had to do this if I had used the Weber jacks.

The transformers are all Weber. PT is hooked up with the red wires on the rectifier and the blue wire on the switch. That gets my B+ down to around 460VDC. OT is the low headroom one. And when they say low headroom, they really mean it. I have the channels jumped and both volumes are set right between 5 and 6.

You can find pictures of my build here: http://www.guitar-hardware.com/ampkit

I'd appreciate any comments about the way it's put together because I already have the itch to do another and if there's anything I can improve I'd certainly be game to try some things differently.

I posted a quick & dirty sound clip as well. I grabbed the nearest guitar (a custom tele with a hotrails tele bridge pickup) and kinda tuned it, slapped an SM57 in front of my Marshall 4x12 loaded with Heritage greenbacks (which Fido managed to get to me in 2 days, so they were here before the amp was finished), and just played whatever came out. I started with the guitar volume barely open, then about half way, then full open. Any scratchiness is in the guitar volume pot. Of course, the lick from Back in Black just has to come out whenever you plug into a four-input head...

Here's the clip: http://www.guitar-hardware.com/ampkit/AmpKit.MP3

Ryan