My name is Nikki, 42 year old girl (yes, I am still a child.. lol..) living in Portland, Oregon. I am new to the forum, and new to amp building. I saw other people do intros, so I figured I would do one too! I am a paraplegic (T6 Compelte) as the result of a motorcycle accident in 2001 (race mod'd Yamaha R1), and have extra time, and will be recording music I am writing.. and will need a few good amps for it (great amps would be even better!). I have spent a couple hours each night for a week or so going through threads, listening to clips, doing research, etc. Completely amazed by the friendly atmosphere here! Other forums are.. (sigh). Thanks ahead of time to George M. for what he provides, and to all those who have made this place what it is!
Going to be buying a kit, most likely the Plexi 100. Want to go for the 12xxx/68 sound, but I am also leaning heavily toward a late 70's JMP 2203 type. Based on research, I know I will want the 2203 front end (ala late 70's, cascading gain, complete with PPIMV... unsure of which design). Never built an amp before, never biased an amp, or even done anything with a tube amp other than play through one. I have worked on electronics stuff before, including my own guitar/bass tech work. The high voltage thing scares me a bit, but I guess it cannot be much worse than tapping into the mains in night clubs
I have an old Sound City L120 head, and figure building a Marshall type might help enough to get brave and rewire/rebuild it, while building this one from a well designed and documented kit (plus all the mods and work everyone here has done) will provide me with an amp that I can tailor for myself.I have read through alot of threads here, and Mark's (rockstah's) stuff is nothing short of amazing. I wish I had the money to simply beg him for a build. But, I also really want to understand how my amp is working, so building it is my true desire (first and foremost). His Plexi mod'd to 2203 (this thread: EVH Tone Right Here ) is one example.. the "bedroom volume" one is pretty impressive also, among many others on his soundclick and myspace pages. Not looking for a specific sound, but ballpark to start would be really nice. Plexi is a bit lacking gain-wise for me, and those mod clips sound great. Not doing high gain metal, and Mark almost has the tiniest bit more gain than I might want.. but would be nice to have it if i want! I typically use 1x12 or 2x12 EVM-12L loaded cabs, sometimes a hybrid 4x12. Would be cool to find a nice higher watt 12" that is Greenback-like, but without the breakup (please do not shoot me for that!
). Jake E Lee, I guess EVH.. and drawing a bit from some of the older Judas Priest and Iron Maiden stuff (but a bit.. thicker?). Typical hard rock from the late 70's and early 80's. Not worried about cleans. Main concern is a one trick pony (with various shades of that Marshall color).I am on a budget, and my tools from playing in bands and doing FOH (including tech work.. except tube amps) are fine, except for my multimeter (after almost 25 years of abuse, it is.. inaccurate
), and i guess my soldering iron could use replacing. Would love to stay under or around $100 for both, but I guess it might be worth stretching the budget. Suggestions? Any other tools I might want to look out for? Good supply for wire, clips, etc? I am long winded (I know, "girls never shut up!
), but will try to make my future posts a bit shorter. I just wanted to add that the reason I ended up here is interesting (to me at least!). I bought a Carvin Legacy half-stack after I was injured, but hardly played it. About 5 years go past, and I had only played through it a dozen times or so, firing it up every few months to keep it alive. Two months ago, I fired it up, and the volume was really low. Raised it ALOT, and still low. Uh oh. Take to local amp guys, and they say it is the output tube board, but Carvin will not sell them a replacement. I call Carvin, and they say my amp is an old rev, and I have to send it to them to be repaired. Frustrated, I sold my Mesa 2:Ninety, and Marshall 800 (horizontal, beat up, never sounded that good), and swore off tubes. Bought an Axe FX Ultra, and based upon all the rave reviews.. well, needless to say, I am here. Only tubes sound like tubes. Those poor little electrons don't have a chance in other environments it seems. So, I figure instead of simply grabbing an amp off of ebay, why not build one? The PCB (and worse) mess in the "modern" amps simply.. well, ugh. Learn, and then hopefully be able to tweak it for ME. Not tweak it for Steve Vai, or Slash, or EVH, or anyone else.. for ME. I am going to play my songs with it, so why try to sound like someone else playing them? Besides.. even when I played through the Legacy, it sounded like me. Just wasn't comfy.. know what I mean? When I play, I like it when it feels like the guitar, amp and cables and all are simply extensions of me. Part of me. I have a nice folding conference style Office Max table with green felt on it (6' long, used it for playing D&D..lol! Yeah, total geek), and a nice space cleared for it. Need to find a decent digital camera to take pics when I begin this adventure. Sorry for the length, but I wanted to say Hi, little intro, and look for any tips/suggestions before starting. Waiting for the refund on the Axe FX Ultra to go through, and then it will be ordering day!
Hello again, and Thanks!!!
nikki
), or simply empty one room completely ( into the second). While grabbing books to look up some info, found mold. Pulled book shelves, and discovered one entire corner area (blooming out about 5-10' in each direction) is infested with black mold. Hoping it is limited to this one area, and that we wont be forced to relocate... waiting on the landlord. Obviously build plans have screeched to a halt... along with everything else.