# Clubman Pleximaster Amps



## pleximaster

I have had the pleasure of having Johan Segeborn demo some of my own amps I build under the Clubman name. 

Clubman 18 Tremolo
Clubman 30 Custom
Clubman 18 Baby blues 

I started some time ago as Tom Hinson and I were discussing the vintage Marshall that Marshall didn't build in the 60´s for us living in the 2020...

We wanted to use old reused parts, old look and feel but for todays player... that is pretty much the concept. Also because it takes many hours sourcing parts and then often you have to restore and clean I can not mass produce these and only want to do one offs. Then its interesting, fun and satisfying for me to do these.

The designs are taken from all over the place and I think of it as building Lego taking one block here one block there. So IP is all open source. Apart from the Fender Bassman and JTM45 base I like to acknowledge some important inspiration. I am also a big fan of Ken Fischer and his Trainwrecks.

https://robrobinette.com/Amp_Stuff.htm
https://mhuss.com
18watt.com
https://www.tdpri.com/forums/amp-central-station.11/
https://el34world.com
https://forum.metropoulos.net

Therefor I like to share the amps I have build and "Designs" (not really everything has been done before the Fender Bassman stole its design from a 1940´s radio amplifier...) here.

With schematics, layouts and part lists as well as a forum do discuss and ask questions. Hopefully you will help me further improve them and we all have fun time together!  





Johan Segeborn has been so kind to agree to make I build DIY video of the Clubman 30. So I have build a second one of these to document the process. Also our own Neil Keeling has promised to help out to make professional schematics.

the very best regards plexi


----------



## Russ P

Awesome. I'm very excited about this. I'm new and just signed up here because of this thread. A question that will surely come up will be about the valves. I assume that you're using NOS valves. Have you tried new valves? What are your recommendations?

I can’t believe that you’re actually doing a video build as well. That’s incredible news and far more than I expected. Thanks for doing this.


----------



## pleximaster

Here are the pics of the original Clubman Custom 30 and the second one that will that will be featured in an upcoming build video. As you can see they are miser imaged fronts do do differences in the old chassis. Transformers differs also but they sound very similar to each other when using the same sets of valves...

More to come here

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

pleximaster said:


> I have had the pleasure of having Johan Segeborn demo some of my own amps I build under the Clubman name.
> 
> Clubman 18 Tremolo
> Clubman 30 Custom
> Clubman 18 Baby blues
> 
> I started some time ago as Tom Hinson and I were discussing the vintage Marshall that Marshall didn't build in the 60´s for us living in the 2020...
> 
> We wanted to use old reused parts, old look and feel but for todays player... that is pretty much the concept. Also because it takes many hours sourcing parts and then often you have to restore and clean I can not mass produce these and only want to do one offs. Then its interesting, fun and satisfying for me to do these.
> 
> The designs are taken from all over the place and I think of it as building Lego taking one block here one block there. So IP is all open source. Apart from the Fender Bassman and JTM45 base I like to acknowledge some important inspiration. I am also a big fan of Ken Fischer and his Trainwrecks.
> 
> https://robrobinette.com/Amp_Stuff.htm
> https://mhuss.com
> 18watt.com
> https://www.tdpri.com/forums/amp-central-station.11/
> https://el34world.com
> https://forum.metropoulos.net
> 
> Therefor I like to share the amps I have build and "Designs" (not really everything has been done before the Fender Bassman stole its design from a 1940´s radio amplifier...) here.
> 
> With schematics, layouts and part lists as well as a forum do discuss and ask questions. Hopefully you will help me further improve them and we all have fun time together!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Johan Segeborn has been so kind to agree to make I build DIY video of the Clubman 30. So I have build a second one of these to document the process. Also our own Neil Keeling has promised to help out to make professional schematics.
> 
> the very best regards plexi




For final voicing of the amps the preamp valves are important. Some amps tend to prefer slightly microphonic valves in V1 and V2 to become real "nasty" others dont. V3 I almost always use new valves that I select depending on the "mood" of the power amp. When I build the baby Blues we planned to put in some great Mullards yellow labeled old ecc83s in all positions. However ended up with using new Chinese made valves as the mallard tended to be too noisy and a bit too microphonic for that amp. I put that same trio in the Custom 30 and they sounded great in that amp. So selecting valves is bough important and fun part of amp building. Tube-rolling rules! 

plexi


----------



## paul-e-mann

pleximaster said:


> I have had the pleasure of having Johan Segeborn demo some of my own amps I build under the Clubman name.
> 
> Clubman 18 Tremolo
> Clubman 30 Custom
> Clubman 18 Baby blues
> 
> I started some time ago as Tom Hinson and I were discussing the vintage Marshall that Marshall didn't build in the 60´s for us living in the 2020...
> 
> We wanted to use old reused parts, old look and feel but for todays player... that is pretty much the concept. Also because it takes many hours sourcing parts and then often you have to restore and clean I can not mass produce these and only want to do one offs. Then its interesting, fun and satisfying for me to do these.
> 
> The designs are taken from all over the place and I think of it as building Lego taking one block here one block there. So IP is all open source. Apart from the Fender Bassman and JTM45 base I like to acknowledge some important inspiration. I am also a big fan of Ken Fischer and his Trainwrecks.
> 
> https://robrobinette.com/Amp_Stuff.htm
> https://mhuss.com
> 18watt.com
> https://www.tdpri.com/forums/amp-central-station.11/
> https://el34world.com
> https://forum.metropoulos.net
> 
> Therefor I like to share the amps I have build and "Designs" (not really everything has been done before the Fender Bassman stole its design from a 1940´s radio amplifier...) here.
> 
> With schematics, layouts and part lists as well as a forum do discuss and ask questions. Hopefully you will help me further improve them and we all have fun time together!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Johan Segeborn has been so kind to agree to make I build DIY video of the Clubman 30. So I have build a second one of these to document the process. Also our own Neil Keeling has promised to help out to make professional schematics.
> 
> the very best regards plexi



The Clubman 30 sounds awesome! They all sound awesome!


----------



## Russ P

Had to reply as I have nearly the very same amps: '87 JCM800 2205 / '19 Studio SV20H


----------



## Russ P

I have a '87 JCM800 2205 and my brother - who's really into valves - was pulling his hair out because I wasn't interested in changing the valves - he was sensitive to a certain harshness to the amp. So I eventually took all the Marshall branded ones out. I now have a NOS Mazda in V1 and a Groove Tubes in V2 as well as JJ output tubes. So I didn't end up going as crazy with NOS valves as in some of my other amps. Essentially just the V1 - which is the most important especially as I prefer not to the use the boost channel. A little goes a long way! And everyone is happy now.


----------



## pleximaster

What I find especially interesting of having built two Clubman 30 with the 98 % the same resistors and capacitors but different transformers they sound very much the same when you use the same valves valves, moving the valves from one amp to the other. This design seem to be very much affected by tube/valve rolling. I think its the Trainwreck similarities that makes it so, being very temperamental.

The two outputs transformers can't be more divers. They are both brom early 60´s but that's it.

One is the original OT that comes with the Concord Linear 30 very low budget then and you can find this complete amp on UK Ebay for around 100 pounds. It is a LoFi linear transformer very small and is rated to produce 30 watts but I guess it won´t actually deliver more that just about 20 watts. Single iron core, plain paper insulation, not much varnish can be seen...

The other is a Partridge linear C-core transformer. The Rolls Royce of transformers back then (And now?) fully varnish C-core high quality steel laminations dual waxed paper insulation...

Despite the different OT they sound very similar. The Linear OT is a bit dirtier and is more compressed and the Partridge has a tad more headroom and more definition.

I think its a bit like the differens between the Radiospares Deluxe transformer and the later Drakes in JTM45s. The RS being the HiFi OT and the Drake the LoFi. But the difference is not as big between the Linear/Partridge as the Drake/RS.

Will make sound clips

plexi


----------



## thetragichero

pleximaster said:


> For final voicing of the amps the preamp valves are important. Some amps tend to prefer slightly microphonic valves in V1 and V2 to become real "nasty" others dont. V3 I almost always use new valves that I select depending on the "mood" of the power amp. When I build the baby Blues we planned to put in some great Mullards yellow labeled old ecc83s in all positions. However ended up with using new Chinese made valves as the mallard tended to be too noisy and a bit too microphonic for that amp. I put that same trio in the Custom 30 and they sounded great in that amp. So selecting valves is bough important and fun part of amp building. Tube-rolling rules!
> 
> plexi


only thing i can suggest is to not use a mallard if you play a strat
too much "quack"


----------



## pleximaster

Oh sorry Mullard (Autocorrect and fat fingers on a iPhone don't work.) 

plexi


----------



## pleximaster




----------



## pleximaster

*Why vintage parts in new builds... "Clubman" life hacks part 1*

Some general "Clubman" life hacks (Just learned the word Life hack from my you daughters... back in the days we called it experience...  ) 


I like to use vintage parts an I have some type and brand preferences. Some people will argue that a resistor is a resistor and it have a certain value that's it end of the discussion. However even if I don't want that discussion in this thread (PLEASE) I just want to tell you my opinion and why.

The type of resistor and capacitors do affect sound at least that is how I experience it.

Why would that be? A resistor have a certain resistance and a capacitor a specific capacitance 

However a resistor also have a capacitance and the same for capacitors they actually have a resistance as well.

On top of that the values of a resistor that we measure with our meters actually vary under load in a performing amp. The recover is depending on how it is constructed (metal film, carbon composition ect) 

So a new carbon composition resistor will sound the same as a vintage one? No since the material and and manufacturing is different today than 40-50 years ago. The carbon puder used is much more refined today (not at all as as much impurities than in the old days. The manufacturing process has also improve the parts are more consistent parts to part and also within the part itself. This effect the performance of a part. 

Why do we prefer the sound of vintage parts. It is like with Grandmas pancakes. I think of her pancakes as the best I ate. Because these are the first pancakes I had and I ate them in the cosy environment at my grandparents. These pancakes set the standard by which all other pancakes compared with. These pancakes defined what pancakes would taste and feel like any other pancake would be different from these. 

Same with sound the guitar sound was defined my vintage Fender and Marshall amps and Strats Les Paul and teles. These defined the guitar sound and any other sound will be different from these. It takes a lot of time to change our mind about sound. 

my philosophy 
Best plexi


----------



## BygoneTones

All sound awesome.


----------



## _Steve

Thread subscribed. Excited for more!


----------



## tomsvintage

Hat's off to pleximaster for all he does . all he is and his dedication !!!!

Here are some videos of the Clubman 18 tremelo version. The cab is also built by pleximaster loaded with a Celesion alnico T0731.

This amp setup is all I need to play with no pedals !!

I agree with Bygone Tones as all the Clubman series sound great 











https://youtu.be/N0MOMPHPkQc


----------



## LP Freak

You you build and sell these? Where do I find more info?


----------



## pleximaster

At the moment I am realizing I am working on too many different Clubman projects at the same time...

I hope to finish the Clubman 30 layout this week (Need to find time... I sit front of a computer all days so continuing doing so in the evenings is not exciting... )

Here are some projects going on... different stages... Will document the Teal Baby Blues Amp and cab and send it to Justin Shaffer in the US...

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Will turn this old 4x12 PA speaker cabinet into some Clubman headboxes...




disassembled...



Three head boxes on the way...


----------



## neikeel

Your wife must be very understanding.............mine is to an extent!
Schems to you or post here?


----------



## pleximaster

Yes please upload the schematics here!!!

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Here is a first draft made (one of my first attemption of a layout sketch...) of the Clubman Custom 30.

It was initially inspired by Mark Huss T-Rex (check www.18watt.com) amp and evolved into this by me adding various build blocks from other creations.

sound is also influenced a lot by the vintage parts used and the combination there of.


----------



## pleximaster

The Clubman “Clean-mean mod”...

Cathod resistors and bypass caps.
Here are some of my thoughts on this topic

The classical Cathode resistor of a JTM45 and early plexis are 820 ohms and later marshall added 2,7k resistor on the bright channel. Initially a 250uf bypass cap was added to the normal channel to filter which frequencies would pass (later 330uf and 470uF). The bright channel on the lead models in late 60´s stated to sport a 0.68uf on the bright channel.

In many of my Clubmans I have used a different combination that seems to work extremely well when you want to have the amp gain and tone controlled via the controls of the guitar (One of the ingredients, I will come to others later) is to increase the Cathode resistor a bit to 1.5k and use a 22uf bypass cap. I don't know who started this idea but I think Ken Fischer was one of the first ones. You will let most frequencies pass linked to the 1.5k spectra. To balance this I usually increase the bright channel mix capacitor to 680pf (Usually 556pf) and the tone stack treble capacitor to 680 (classic JTM 250uf) if you want a bright cap on a channel I use 100pf.

As I am a firm believer of the variations I sound of vintage parts I have a special favorite combo for Cathode resistor/cap

_Eire_ carbon composition resistors are super sounding to my ears. How ever a bit noisy, (some noice is good and make nice dirt to the sound) the "bad" noise however decrease (at least to me) with increasing the size (Wattage) of the components. Therefore I like to use oversized vintage parts and not just "standard" 0.5Watt resistors.

Then I like to join these 1k Eire carbon resistors with German made _Roe_ 22uf 100V capacitor. This is a good way to start in my experience.

Other favorit vintage parts are the molded coupling capacitors made by Dubilier often branded _RS_ and sold by _Radiospares_. But that's another post...


----------



## pleximaster

I will soon post a layout of the Baby Blues Teal amp which is a modified JTM45 with a 6V6 power section.

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Here is one upcoming model inspired by https://robrobinette.com/ low wattage SLO amp


----------



## pleximaster

Last test before departure! Gonna miss this one!  Gain is only changed in this clip using the volume of the guitar.

Edit: This is what I mean with the “clean-mean mod” using the 1.5k and the 22uf cap together with the 680pf... see prior post.

plexi


----------



## neikeel

Lenny, you should have the big shock of white hair to complete the mad professor look. 
These creations are amazing and do sound good. I will post schem on the Clubman 30 tonight.


----------



## pleximaster

neikeel said:


> Lenny, you should have the big shock of white hair to complete the mad professor look.
> These creations are amazing and do sound good. I will post schem on the Clubman 30 tonight.



I am definitely want to be the "Mad Professor" I take it as a complement. I only have a PhD degree and not a professor...  And I am staring to get som grey hair... mostly on my kin as up on the head there is more baldness than on the moon! 

Thanks for the help on the schematics!

plexi


----------



## neikeel

Here is the hopefully correct version, kudos to Pleximaster and the gents acknowledged in the pic. Please let me know if there are any errors and I can do v4!!


----------



## _Steve

Thanks for posting this stuff!

Power section looks interesting. Could someone please explain it a little to me? Is it an Ultralinear setup?


----------



## pleximaster

neikeel said:


> Here is the hopefully correct version, kudos to Pleximaster and the gents acknowledged in the pic. Please let me know if there are any errors and I can do v4!!



Super thanks to Neil and James for making this professional schematics!

best plexi


----------



## pleximaster

_Steve said:


> Thanks for posting this stuff!
> 
> Power section looks interesting. Could someone please explain it a little to me? Is it an Ultralinear setup?



I have used the chassis of old hifi mono block DIY kit amps from the 60´s. The Linear Conchord 30 which are ultra linear designs. Here are the layout of the original concord. Power section is taken from this amp.


----------



## pleximaster

I am always ahead of myself and I am already in progress with some new Clubman concept amps (Using vintage parts and the "steal" the best design blocks from different amps and put it in a box of my liking... .) 

- a reverb 18 dual channel amp...
- Sort of Low watt SLO amp
- And a "Dumble-Dore Special"  (I have never seen or played a real Dumle so I will look at schematics and the listen to recordings on the net and try to find the sound I like)


----------



## shakti

Wow, I've been lazy on the forum lately and missed this. Very valuable info, many thanks to Pleximaster! I will probably start to stow away some parts here and there to do one of these eventually.


----------



## junk notes

pleximaster said:


> The Clubman “Clean-mean mod”...
> 
> Cathod resistors and bypass caps.
> Here are some of my thoughts on this topic
> 
> The classical Cathode resistor of a JTM45 and early plexis are 820 ohms and later marshall added 2,7k resistor on the bright channel. Initially a 250uf bypass cap was added to the normal channel to filter which frequencies would pass (later 330uf and 470uF). The bright channel on the lead models in late 60´s stated to sport a 0.68uf on the bright channel.
> 
> In many of my Clubmans I have used a different combination that seems to work extremely well when you want to have the amp gain and tone controlled via the controls of the guitar (One of the ingredients, I will come to others later) is to increase the Cathode resistor a bit to 1k and use a 22uf bypass cap. I don't know who started this idea but I think Ken Fischer was one of the first ones. You will let most frequencies pass linked to the 1k spectra. To balance this I usually increase the bright channel mix capacitor to 680pf (Usually 556pf) and the tone stack treble capacitor to 680 (classic JTM 250uf) if you want a bright cap on a channel I use 100pf.
> 
> As I am a firm believer of the variations I sound of vintage parts I have a special favorite combo for Cathode resistor/cap
> 
> _Eire_ carbon composition resistors are super sounding to my ears. How ever a bit noisy, (some noice is good and make nice dirt to the sound)* the "bad" noise however decrease (at least to me) with increasing the size (Wattage) of the components. Therefore I like to use oversized vintage parts and not just "standard"* 0.5Watt resistors.
> 
> Then I like to join these 1k Eire carbon resistors with German made _Roe_ 22uf 100V capacitor. This is a good way to start in my experience.
> 
> Other favorit vintage parts are the molded coupling capacitors made by Dubilier often branded _RS_ and sold by _Radiospares_. But that's another post...


 It would help to record the amp both before and after; I think I am fooling myself and hear differences with various physical size electrolytic cap(s) on a 1968 1959 SL/A preamp board.
e.g. To use two individual caps, or using a single dual cap. Not as practical having two large caps on the preamp board, but whatever the reason, I prefer the way two individual caps sound over the single dual type used in the same position with the same spec.. If they are the dual, then again, prefer the larger dual cap.
Without any recordings to go by, I cannot say that there is any difference using a physically larger part than a smaller counterpart of the same value & spec; we are back to the snake oil..


----------



## pleximaster

junk notes said:


> It would help to record the amp both before and after; I think I am fooling myself and hear differences with various physical size electrolytic cap(s) on a 1968 1959 SL/A preamp board.
> e.g. To use two individual caps, or using a single dual cap. Not as practical having two large caps on the preamp board, but whatever the reason, I prefer the way two individual caps sound over the single dual type used in the same position with the same spec.. If they are the dual, then again, prefer the larger dual cap.
> Without any recordings to go by, I cannot say that there is any difference using a physically larger part than a smaller counterpart of the same value & spec; we are back to the snake oil..



It is not a modd in the "before and after" sense , I mean it is a design choice using the combo Cathode resistor 1.5k and use a 22uf bypass cap (compared to 820 ohm och 250uf).

Second
Then the use of a 1 watt Eire carbon resistor and Ero 22uf are just my favorite of choice due to my personal experience. Snake oil or not... I leave that to others to decide. The I don't think just changing a few resistor could really make a very noticeable audible difference but adding all together using all old oversized resistors, all vintage wires (the copper of the old wires have different impurities like iron that effect the electronic properties) Old capacitors like the moulded RS or Mustards and old transformers and so on you have a real audible difference in my opinion.

I just wrote down how I build these Clubman´s as people asked me to. I encourage people to experiment themself and further develop this concept.

best regards plexi


----------



## pleximaster

In parallell I am building another Clubman and I will use this huge C-core vintage ex military power transformer made by This will be English Electric (Partridge) 

It has 9 outlets HT lines between 0-347V! It will be very interesting to go through them and find my favorite setting between browner sound and more headroom as affected by the B+ of the amp.


----------



## pleximaster

Here is a picture of the progress of an other one off Clubman...



Clubman Captain 18 Reverb

I am making it for CptZar here on the forum. 

He is a pilot Captain ‍ 

plexi


----------



## CptZar

Prefect amp! Can't wait.

Thank you Pleximaster.


----------



## gossard

Hi! My GOD!!! I'm so happy that you are doing this Pleximaster.. sharing all this information and being able to have the time to do this.. Thank you very much in advanced and greetings from Portugal! I just wrote you a message on the Johan video at Youtube and also on your own YT page and Clubman video (there I'm @escritaemdia user).. but then I google this clubman amp name and yours and it was showing up immediately this thread.. which was great! I never build nothing on this calibre (only small repairs and pedals), but I'm planing too as its very healthy to have hobbies and to share knowledge about gear/amps as you're doing... So, I'm excited to follow this and have access to the Clubman 30 layout/diagram that you're preparing with the help of somebody, right?
Another thing, If I manage a Linear Conchord amp basically i can use almost everything from it building something like this right? Or did you use only the OT and PT of it?
I don't want to write a long post here, so I'll keep an eye on this and hopefully you're going to post new updates on this and shed us some light on this awesome project 
thanks pleximaster, really!


----------



## gossard

Sorry... What a lame i was.. I didn't realise there was a second page with so much more information and photos and the schematics... FANTASTIC!!! Thanks Pleximaster and all the gents involved.. I need to get my hands on some parts and spares and all that I can grab! 
Pleximaster, is it possible to use the chassis of the liner conchord to build this custom 30 of yours or its mandatory to get a new one or a larger one?


----------



## pleximaster

The amplifier Linear Conhcord 30 (also other similar models) were made as DIY kits and also fully build amps from early to late 60´s. They came with various variations and some chassis are even mirrored when it comes to the placements of the controls. Holes like inputjacks are sometimes on front, sometimes on the side and some on the back. Therefore you need to modify this chassis a bit to make a clubman out ot it! The reason I like it is because you came (or at least up till resent could find these amps with valves for around 100 British Pounds on eBay UK) and with both Mains and Output transformers. You could definitely just use the transformers and use any chassis like a bland aluminium one (that are more easily modified) and you could optimize the layout for the clubman and have more space to put stuff in. 

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Added an extra preamp on top of the SLO circuit. New KT66 outputstage... 

PS dont build it like this with the live wires hanging out like this its dangerous...


I spent a 17 hours consecutive rebuild run of this amp and lost my judgement ... 

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Got a nice comment from Dan Frank here on the forum saying I was very innovative running two preamps in parallel with mix blend options. However the truth is it was not planned like this. It was a mistake.

This mistake makes this amp sound, react and play in a wonderful way. I am personally very excited. (Awaiting something to explode, cause it’s too good to be true...)

The blend thing was unintentionally as I tried too make workable switching between the preamps. As I was testing many different solutions live I realised that one of my wrongly wiring ideas actually was much better sounding than the individual ones and made several totally new options when mixed!!!

it’s leaking between the channels and I don’t actually know where this leakage happens yet. But I will leave it as is.

I will put the parts into the chassis and it will be a tight fit. To save some space I will replace two of the three vintage toggle switches with new mini DPDT switches

The two preamps are a slightly modded SLO Soldano preamp from the RobRbinettes SLO Nakid 6v6 design

the second preamp is a mix of the Clubman baby blues teal amp and the Clubman Custom 30 preamps... with my fave cathod 1.5k/22uf
Which makes things go from mean to clean with just the guitar knob.


Power stage now a KT66 ca 30watt amp specially made for the old transformers I had (thanks Neikeel and Dan Franklin for input and help)

I used a heater elevation as RobR have in his SLO Nakid design


plexi


----------



## pleximaster

I started some wire dress... on the crazy one!


----------



## StingRay85

Wow! Imagine the poor tech that has to troubleshoot this infamous Pleximaster amp in a few decades. He will scratch his head a couple of times


----------



## pleximaster

StingRay85 said:


> Wow! Imagine the poor tech that has to troubleshoot this infamous Pleximaster amp in a few decades. He will scratch his head a couple of times



I have thought exactly the same...


----------



## pleximaster

After I have shortened the leads and cramped all into the chassis the hum and noise is gone

BUT...

...instead I got some squealing and oscillation to high gain, high Treble and presence. Rather typical as the magnetic field of certain wires interfere with each other when too close together. 

To fix this one can use shielded wires. The reason I don’t do this to begin with is that they cancel out some frequencies (over tones) that is contributing to the sound. So I want so dampen the amount of overtones with as few shielded wires as possible. These overtones are part of old school amps, but when we drive them into high gain we can have these issues. 

Many modern high gain amps have shielded wires through out and tend to sound sterile despite valve construction

Other ways to deal with oscillation issues are 

wire dress 
often short leads are preferable 
Keeping heater wires separately 
3-d orientation of wires not just 2dimentions

one can also dampen frequencies with resistors in certain places 
Or adding coupling caps over some resistors
But that is a chapter of its own 
But for instance you can put a hiss cap on the NFB resistor to cancel out some high frequencies 40-120 pf

The first wires I usually replace with shielded wires are the input stages on the first gain stages (pin 1 and pin 6)


----------



## neikeel

All the solutions are correct, of course, the issue I see in your photograph is wires clumped in parallel close proximity. Sometimes you need social distancing and wires crossing perpendicularly. Grid stoppers on the socket are sometimes needed.


----------



## pleximaster

neikeel said:


> All the solutions are correct, of course, the issue I see in your photograph is wires clumped in parallel close proximity. Sometimes you need social distancing and wires crossing perpendicularly. Grid stoppers on the socket are sometimes needed.



I the last pic you mean Neil! You are absolutely right I just took the pic right after I replaced the regular wire with shielded ones on this socket. For not burning the remaining wires I had pushed them down and clumped them. Also having the short leads its hard not pull the wires moving the board for taking the pictures! 

But "Social distancing" is a good word here. 

The wire going into pin 3 I also usually 3-d orient upwards... 

I take a new pic!  

Thanks Neikeel for pointing this out! 

plexi


----------



## neikeel

Is it quiet now?


----------



## pleximaster

I haven't had time too fire it up yet...  did the soldering last night family a sleep... now in Zoom meeting... so test tonight! 

Are the wires better on "Social Distancing" now? 

Best plexi




pleximaster said:


> View attachment 80978





neikeel said:


> Is it quiet now?


----------



## pleximaster

Here is more about the Conchord Linear amps... That I used for chassis and transformers.
http://www.chambonino.com/work/linear/info1.html

If you cant find one you can use for mains transformer any clone 1202-55 type (Marstran, Merren audio, Heyboer, Metro, Tubampdoctor and other they all have one as its used in multiple JTM45 clones)

And for OT transformer ≈30 watt, 5-7k primary impedance Ultra Linear taps around 43%
(4) 8 and 16 ohm secondary. Look at hifi and audio output transformers


best plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Yes! Now its squeal free too!

To eliminate the last touch of squeal I had to put a shielded wire between the Master volume and the treble pot

plexi



neikeel said:


> Is it quiet now?


----------



## Seanxk

Have you come across the Stern Mullard 5-10, I've got one somewhere, quite small output but is running 2 x EL84 an EF86 & an ECC83 with EZ81.

http://www.valve-radio.co.uk/literature/stern-mullard-5-10-amplifier-and-control-unit/


----------



## pleximaster

Seanxk said:


> Have you come across the Stern Mullard 5-10, I've got one somewhere, quite small output but is running 2 x EL84 an EF86 & an ECC83 with EZ81.
> 
> http://www.valve-radio.co.uk/literature/stern-mullard-5-10-amplifier-and-control-unit/
> 
> View attachment 81026



Those were very common during the 60´s premed or as DIY kits. I got a few old build instruction pamphlets of "Mullard amps" including the 5-10

cool little amps! 

plexi


----------



## Seanxk

I'm not sure but I seem to remember mine has Parmeko OT & PT, must dig it out.


----------



## pleximaster

Seanxk said:


> I'm not sure but I seem to remember mine has Parmeko OT & PT, must dig it out.



In the Mullard 5-10 amp build instructions they list multiple transformers by several manufacturers suitable for the builds.

plexi

There are also variations of transformers on the Linear amps...


----------



## pleximaster

Finally some progress of the Captain Reverb 18 Clubman...


----------



## pleximaster

Building a 2x12 cab for the Captain Reverb 18 from an old Vox PA 4x12 column...


----------



## StingRay85

pleximaster said:


> Got a nice comment from Dan Frank here on the forum saying I was very innovative running two preamps in parallel with mix blend options. However the truth is it was not planned like this. It was a mistake.
> 
> This mistake makes this amp sound, react and play in a wonderful way. I am personally very excited. (Awaiting something to explode, cause it’s too good to be true...)
> 
> The blend thing was unintentionally as I tried too make workable switching between the preamps. As I was testing many different solutions live I realised that one of my wrongly wiring ideas actually was much better sounding than the individual ones and made several totally new options when mixed!!!
> 
> it’s leaking between the channels and I don’t actually know where this leakage happens yet. But I will leave it as is.
> 
> I will put the parts into the chassis and it will be a tight fit. To save some space I will replace two of the three vintage toggle switches with new mini DPDT switches
> 
> The two preamps are a slightly modded SLO Soldano preamp from the RobRbinettes SLO Nakid 6v6 design
> 
> the second preamp is a mix of the Clubman baby blues teal amp and the Clubman Custom 30 preamps... with my fave cathod 1.5k/22uf
> Which makes things go from mean to clean with just the guitar knob.
> 
> 
> Power stage now a KT66 ca 30watt amp specially made for the old transformers I had (thanks Neikeel and Dan Franklin for input and help)
> 
> I used a heater elevation as RobR have in his SLO Nakid design
> 
> 
> plexi



When looking for inspiration for a new build, the SLO-100 caught my attention on the site of Rob Robinette. Seems like you made the simplified version of it. I was gonna install the preamp including FX loop into a Sound City 6xEL34 power section (adapted to 4x EL34). My first idea was a two channel high gain amp with separate preamp volume control, but since the SLO is so well documented (I'm not so experienced) I think I will also do an attempt at using it as a starting point


----------



## South Park

I built a slo 50 clone from a PTP lay out from a watt audio circuit lay out. You can use 40 watt fender transformers . You don’t need the Chanel switching stuff just jump the channels you need a scope for this . The FX works great . One of the best high grain circuits around


----------



## StingRay85

That looks nice South Park, I read a couple of times that you also made a SLO. Looks like a master build. What do you mean with "you need a scope for this"?

The channel switching, I assume you are referring to the footswitch?

I'm starting off from a Sound City 120 chassis, where I gut the entire preamp up to the coupling caps between PI and power section. I will turn it into a British SLO with EL34, mustard caps, Partridge transformers and Mullard tubes


----------



## South Park

It did not put in a foot switch. The voicing is nothing like a Marshall more like a fender . And the feel is tight you don’t get that power surge like in a Marshall . The gain is off the charts you can’t use all of it . I like the idea of using el34s . This amp has so much gain you don’t want to change to much in the preamp . I have two slo 100 chassis I might build one with kt88 tubes .


----------



## pleximaster

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254807069979?ul_noapp=true

Here is a lot for 3 Linear Conchorde amps on eBay (UK only sale) 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254807069979?ul_noapp=true

Best plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Hi guys! 
I am a back I hope ) ) I got into some mood dip and haven't been really present here. 

However now I feel like I got some more energy and its fun with amps again...

Will continue to finish some Clubmans now.


Here is some pics


----------



## neikeel

Glad you are back !


----------



## pleximaster

Redesigning the reverb on the Captain amp, wading another valve...


----------



## pleximaster

Finally got "tummen ur röven" as we say in Sweden finalizing three totally different Clubmans. The Captain Blue, The MusicLocker Orange and the BluesMaster Croc... 

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

MISS POST!


----------



## StingRay85

Wow, nice! What kinda valves on the Captain Blue? Is that 2x EL84 and maybe an EZ80 rectifier tube or something?


----------



## Matthews Guitars

You do amazing work. If you are interested, I would be happy to make some custom front and back panels for your amp, in either metalface (JMP style) or plexi style. They don't have to be gold. Even the aluminum panels don't have to be in a brushed finish. 

I'd just need layout specs and sample artwork to start. 

Going into plexi style panels is a new move for me. I've been doing pretty good on the metalface Marshall restoration panels for almost a year now.


----------



## pleximaster

For the Clubman Bluesmaster Croc speaker cab I am making custom speakers (Just as I did for the Baby Blues 18 watt amp and speaker cab. Using old Celestion frames and NOS Pulsonic cones and spiders and stuff... these ones will be similar to vintage G12H 25 watt speakers (yes 25 watt) with paper old coils...

plexi


----------



## shakti

Is there anything you can’t do? And NOS Pulsonic cones to boot...where on earth did you find those? Just admit it, there is a time machine in your garage!


----------



## Matthews Guitars

I want to know that too. Where in the world did you come up with NOS Pulsonic cones, and if I may ask, how many more do you have and would you be interested in parting with one or two?


----------



## pleximaster

Old replace shop in Denmark that closed many years ago. I got tons of parts and about 20 dismantled Marshall amps...

I only have 3 cones left. I have learn how to successfully just replacing the coils on burned out old speakers. Without removing cone, spider etc. So no need to fully recone old dead speakers. 

No amp parts in the garage, then my wife would see how much crap I have, I hid them all over like it was drugs... 


The whole clubman concept is to clear out all parts that I have. A lot of parts are not "Marshall" parts but gold very high quality stuff. So I want to have used up the stuff so the kids to have to clean out when I am gone...  (Toss it in a container...)

I will also make some Clubman guitars with similar concept.



plexi


----------



## StingRay85

Decades from now, "plexi" will be remembered as if he was a legend. "Did he really exist? Yes he did kids, and he was awesome"


----------



## pleximaster

shakti said:


> Is there anything you can’t do?




Thanks... 
Actually I am pretty good at renovate and build houses as well as gardening (https://www.facebook.com/humlebacken /) . This is a 1700-hundred style conservatory/orangery I build by hand... Store citrus trees here during the winter and we have it as a summer dinging room in the summer... (I even made the lion heads on the pillars...)


----------



## _Steve

pleximaster said:


> I hid them all over like it was drugs...



hahaha. love it!


----------



## pleximaster

To be able to put in another potentiometer in the Clubman captain I am modifying an old dual pot so the inner pot is turned by a wheel (A drilled through knob) and the outer pot is regulated by the regular knob.

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Some Clubman’s...


----------



## pleximaster

Yes! Rob Robinette website is such a great inspiration! I got so many ideas from looking there. I learned so much!!! Fantastic that he gathered and shared all that information.

yes I build the SLO Nakid it sounds great but the extra added channel I redesign. Rob told me that the main thing was to recreate the lead channel and the extra “clean” was more or less just a drawing made with the extra gain stage and space left in the amp

But such a great design of a small SLO he made.

I have borrowed quite a few ideas into some of the later Clubmans above. Like the position of a cold clipper Soldano style... very useful for getting a lot of smooth distorted tones at lower volumes.

plexi 



StingRay85 said:


> When looking for inspiration for a new build, the SLO-100 caught my attention on the site of Rob Robinette. Seems like you made the simplified version of it. I was gonna install the preamp including FX loop into a Sound City 6xEL34 power section (adapted to 4x EL34). My first idea was a two channel high gain amp with separate preamp volume control, but since the SLO is so well documented (I'm not so experienced) I think I will also do an attempt at using it as a starting point


----------



## pleximaster

StingRay85 said:


> Wow, nice! What kinda valves on the Captain Blue? Is that 2x EL84 and maybe an EZ80 rectifier tube or something?



2 EL84
1 EZ81 rectifier
6 Ecc83
1 Ecc82 for reverb driver


----------



## pleximaster

I am tstill working on this amp with the guts hanging out in too longlegs to make access easier but it makes it noisier and dangerous as well. Sapped myself a few times... not recommended but this build has just grown from a rather simple modded versions of a 18 watt with a simple reverb and ended ups wi three channels and a full fender style reverb with mix, dwell and and separate reverb volume. The two master volumes and built in attenuator... A crowded amp...


----------



## pleximaster

Just made a pair of Custom made speakers for the Croc Clubman amplifier. I use an old Celestion G12H frame.

- NOS Pulsonic cones
- 5 ridge Spiders (instead of 6 which is common for greenbacks)
- 25 watt coils from 69-70
- cloth dust caps

I made some similar like these before and was very pleased with the results. Will be fun to hook them up tho the amp


----------



## pleximaster




----------



## neikeel

Fantastic work.
I've got some T1886s in one of my 4x12s they are G12H30s. They come with 4 ridge spiders. They do sound very good, maybe a little looser than normal G12Hs. Has a 45/100 dual OT iplugged into it at the moment 

Oh and doping or no doping?


----------



## pleximaster

No doping as it makes it a vintage touch! I prefer undoped.





neikeel said:


> Fantastic work.
> I've got some T1886s in one of my 4x12s they are G12H30s. They come with 4 ridge spiders. They do sound very good, maybe a little looser than normal G12Hs. Has a 45/100 dual OT iplugged into it at the moment
> 
> Oh and doping or no doping?


----------



## pleximaster

The Clubman Captain Reverb that is coming along (see early test of the amp a few posts up) 

The simple 18 watt project with a simple one valve reverb has turn out of control  and now have there are three channels (plexi, JTM and Soldano), full 2 valve reverb with mix, dwell and reverb level. two TMB two stacks 10 valves in all, 4 transformers, 13 knobs... so I figure why not put in an attenuator as well... 

The amp now have over 4 times as many parts as a regular Marshall... in half the size of a 100 watt chassis...

Building a resistor based "bedroom/wife switch" that kills 90% of the power (See RobRobbinettes site)

will be cool... I hope... and together with the two master controls... hopefully get good bedroom sound... 
My fave Clubman yet though...

PS. Wires are not dressed yet due to the fact I need access in this crowed amp as I am still redesigning it. It will be a night mare for anyone that wants to blue print this mess... Hahaha!


----------



## adew1

@pleximaster Those speakers - amazing work!


----------



## pleximaster

The attenuation mode or “wife switch” is pretty cool the rest of the family was a sleep and I played with great sustain and good sound. Of cause a bit different as you don’t move as much air, don’t get the interaction with the room and the sound don make you pants flap. But it was fun to play!!!

I needed to use the master volumes on each channel to get it real bedroom. The amp sounds better with the masters a bit more open so I’ll try to increase the resistor load some more. The power resistors didn’t get warm at all at these levels so I could definitely let them work more


----------



## pleximaster

This is what I ended up with... 

"the Wife Switch" ! 





Benefits of the Wife Switch

- reduces volume
- reduces tensions between guitarist/partner
- generates heat!


----------



## shakti

Fascinating to see your work on those speakers. I just reconed a pair of Cerwin Vega ER123s using aftermarket parts which had to be custom fitted, and without previous experience it was a nerve-testing experience but they came out great. Wish I had seen how you inserted the tinsel/pigtail wires, that seems a very secure way to do it.

Also interesting to see that those spare cones came without doping. Do you know when they are from? The alnico voice coil and spider I sent you should fit very well with an undoped cone like that. 

Just out of interest, what do you use for doping? I have used a Pattex glue with some success, it’s runny enough that you can spread it out thin, and it cures clear and soft/rubbery.


----------



## pleximaster

For doping... easy to remember the name these days...




the way to fit "tinsel/pigtail wires" is the old way to do it before they started to add a small copper rivit in the cone with a small hole in it were you insert the wires. 

The silver plated wires are newer thicker and more durable than old thinner style copper wires

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Its kind of boring making back panels to amps head boxes so I tend to do it last...

to make it more fun I try to do them individually and with a character for the amp it self

Here is the back panel for the Captain amp. A bit of 50’s and 60’s aviation feeling and the two round ventilation holes are suppose to mimic the rings jet engines.


----------



## CptZar

Absolut stunning work!!!!


----------



## adew1

What a cool head design! Love it.


----------



## pleximaster

Slowly this build is coming to the end...

it started out just being a upgraded 18watt with simple one valve reverb but ended up being a three channel amp with full reverb and build in attenuator. 
The chassis is far to small for the build so it’s really crowded and since I been redesigning it along the way (being hard to reach various places) hitting wire insulation and not getting perfect solders have made the progress very slow...

plexi


----------



## dinkyguitar

Great job on the amp


----------



## pleximaster

The Croc Clubman is soon up and running tomorrow?

this is an updated Clubman 30 with a custom speaker cabinet and custom coned speakers.

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

The Croc Bluesmaster 30 has gotten its custom coned speakers. These are Celestion frames with vintage spiders and dust caps as well as NOS coils and pulsonic Cones from the 60’s.


----------



## pleximaster

In the midst of the "ColorRun" of the three Clubmans I am already planning a Stereo Combo Clubman amp with stereo valve reverb. It suppose to connect a mono guitar that gets its signal split and with a slight phase shift going into two totally independent preamps and power amps. So intotal you will have 8 transformers on this...    (Just because I can and want to try...) Variations in the parts will also contribute to the Stereo effect as voltages and currents will vary slightly. Using dual gang pots only one knob controls for instance the treble on both amps.

CRAZY! 

plexi


----------



## Torren61

It's so crazy, it just might work. Oh, now I want one.


----------



## shakti

Insane! I am loving this. I know there’s already a Swedish Mad Professor amp brand, but you really deserve that name.


----------



## neikeel

pleximaster said:


> In the midst of the "ColorRun" of the three Clubmans I am already planning a Stereo Combo Clubman amp with stereo valve reverb. It suppose to connect a mono guitar that gets its signal split and with a slight phase shift going into two totally independent preamps and power amps. So intotal you will have 8 transformers on this...    (Just because I can and want to try...) Variations in the parts will also contribute to the Stereo effect as voltages and currents will vary slightly. Using dual gang pots only one knob controls for instance the treble on both amps.
> 
> CRAZY!
> 
> plexi
> 
> View attachment 88367
> View attachment 88368



OMG - is there no limit?


----------



## pleximaster

This is possebly the parts layout I will cut for... Dual aluminium thickness to keep up with all transformers. The two small reverb transformers I hope to fit inside. Added a filament transformer and a few valves... Go figure..


----------



## pleximaster

The chassis i drilled finished! Hope it’s a ok layout. Had to do comprises as the space was tight. Two more transformers will be mounted inside (small reverb transformers)

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

I am using two old RS standard MTs in this one driving the rectifier and the power valve. 
They are both drop through but I needed the space inside so I made a he stand up by adding new covers on them with feet. 

they didn’t look old as the rest of the used and reclaimed parts so I wanted to age them. Getting ride of Crome is hard but...




Very shiny


----------



## adew1

This is taking relic'ing to a new level! I admire your commitment. 

I imagine that once fully loaded, two people will be needed to lift the thing, no?


----------



## pleximaster

I never made a combo before...  this is the enclosure for the stereo amp. I want it to look real old school outside too. No fancy colors and shiny hardware. All stuff recycled.

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Testing this Captain Clubman with 3 channels and a reverb. It started out as a much simpler amp (it was to be a regular 18 watt Marshall inspired amp with reverb (Marshall did offer a reverb version in the 60’s but they are rare) Since the chassis is so tight and the layout evolved over time (not optimal) it has some humming issues I am trying to address.. meanwhile I call it the “Clubman Hummingbird Captain...”  

I will test a few things like elevated heater and humdinger and DC and wire dressing...

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Added this simple circuit to elevate the heaters from ground approximately 70 volts in the power section and the hum was drastically reduced (the 50 Hz hum comes from close located parts and wires due to “the evolution” from a simple design amp to something more complex by adding more and more parts in a small chassis)

The hot channel with a touchy cold clipper still has a hum that is a bit too much for my taste. I will therefore turn the heater 6,3 volt AC into 6,3 volt DV in the preamp section. This in hope to get it nice and quite with in my tolerance. The cold clipper channel is a high gain channel and I use vintage parts like old carbon composite resistors that sounds good but are a bit nosier. Some carbon c had to be replaced though through the “evolution”.

The two resistors and the cap are inserted between a humdinger potentiometer (virtual ground) and the B+1.


----------



## Brek

Really cool concept dude, i see most of the heads are quite compact so might be hard to make look right, but could you make an offset head?


----------



## pleximaster

Now its only the reverb that is humming! Same typ as Fender Princeton (I don't know if they are noisy by design)


----------



## tomsvintage

pleximaster said:


> Now its only the reverb that is humming! Same typ as Fender Princeton (I don't know if they are noisy by design)




Pleximaster is building the "Swiss Army Knife" of tube amps !!!!


----------



## neikeel

I found a couple of mods to decrease noise on my hot rodded Princeton
cap on the 220k to ground by the jacks. Grouped grounds etc
I’ve still got some hum and ghosting (despite choke and extra caps).


----------



## pleximaster

neikeel said:


> I found a couple of mods to decrease noise on my hot rodded Princeton
> cap on the 220k to ground by the jacks. Grouped grounds etc
> I’ve still got some hum and ghosting (despite choke and extra caps).



Thank you Neil for the tips. I found similar tips on the TDPRI forum and have added a cap (don't remember the value now and I also added a choke. Still humming... that's why I like to try AC heaters as the hum seems to be a 50hz frequency noise.

However I have ran out of space in this small chassis long time ago...   

I have two preamp heater circuits so I need two individual DC/AC converters. Takes out space…



best plexi


----------



## pleximaster

Two AC circuits soon to be hooked up!

Not the prettiest installation but the chassis soooo tight!

hope it will work though 

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

I hooked up the AC heaters and the 50Hz when away. There are still some noice that comes from the Reverb circuit its self. I never built or worked with a valve reverb amp before (Except the small tanked JCM800 duals and they are quite noisy as well. I guess we are very used to quite digital reverbs nowadays so you tend to hear any noice related to the reverb. I have some touch up on and tube rolling to do on this amp but then I will finally call it finished!   

It has been ab tripp with this ones it expended from this idea to make some sort of 18watt clone with reverb bout it ended up in three channels full reverb and built in power attenuator. It was beyond my abilities when I started but I have learned soooooo much! so it was worth the challenge!

If I were to do it again (Which I won't!  ) I would use a bigger chassis and better layout. Now it was so crowded so it you were to do some soldering inside you ended up messing up another wire...

The amp now contains more than 5 times as many parts as a regular Marshall....
Mostly old vintage reused parts that have somewhat higher probability to be faulty...

I almost took me a year... but there have been several other amp built and renovations in parallel. (Compare with a regular off the shelf JTM45 kit from Tube Amp Doctor (I did for a friend) with all parts nicely put together and so they didn't need cleaning and desolering as in my Clubmans. The kit took me under 5 hours to finish... I kind of know the JTM amp by now... 

Hope to do a real demo of this and the two other latest amp.


----------



## pleximaster

It turned up a bit too cray due to space issues. But it works! ))


----------



## pleximaster

The Croc 30 Bluesmaster is finally finished! Working fine now. It is quite similar to the other Clubman 30 that we posted a schematics on earlier in this thread but a bit tamed (Less ADF, more traditional Marshall) and a few additions like heater elevation, changed NFB and custom build 2x12 cab with custom made speakers.


----------



## pleximaster

Finished the Orange one! The blue next…


----------



## pleximaster

The blue one up for final touch… I hope…

just realised I forgot mounting brackets…

then tube rolling…

if anyone wants to make a schematics on this one feel free! As I told Jan I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here!!!




plexi


----------



## neikeel

pleximaster said:


> The blue one up for final touch… I hope…
> 
> just realised I forgot mounting brackets…
> 
> then tube rolling…
> 
> if anyone wants to make a schematics on this one feel free! As I told Jan I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here!!!
> 
> View attachment 91378
> 
> plexi


If you send a layout then we can write a schem.


----------



## pleximaster

Blue is done…


----------



## pleximaster

neikeel said:


> If you send a layout then we can write a schem.




Thanks a lot Neil! 

There is no layout at all, I build this in my head (Rainman style) and it evolved over time. 

I am not quite sure I could make a layout since wiring is now so tight you can’t lift things without unsolder some stuff!

there are also components facing downwards underneath the component boards (to be able to fit stuff. It was supposed to be a simple amp but ended the opposite

it will be a bitch to service!!!

I see what I could do! 

plexi


----------



## Matthews Guitars

If you brought that amp to MOST amp techs, as soon as they took it out of the chassis and got a look inside, you'd hear a sound like breaking glass as some part of their mind snapped. It does look rather challenging to service, should it ever need it.

However it's very neatly done, logically laid out, and has extremely high component and build quality. I'd expect it to last for decades without needing any service other than regular maintenance, tube replacement, and eventually, capacitor replacement.


----------



## pleximaster

Trio of Clubman amps and one matching Clubman Lester (all maple hollowed out body, Honduran mahogany and Brazilian rosewood, reused vintage parts like the amps)

plexi


----------



## shakti

It’s really impressive that you’ve done all of this basically from scratch. An inspiration to all of us! Now we’d love to hear the guitar and amps together.


----------



## Matthews Guitars

I couldn't help but notice that Johan's latest video, of a 4x10 Bluesbreaker, featured three of your amps on display. 

That's a nice plug for you all by itself!


----------



## pleximaster

Johan recorded the clubmans as well…
and tested this 68 bluesbreaker while visiting 

check out his YouTube channel. 




Matthews Guitars said:


> I couldn't help but notice that Johan's latest video, of a 4x10 Bluesbreaker, featured three of your amps on display.
> 
> That's a nice plug for you all by itself!


----------



## Matthews Guitars

Yes, I saw the Clubman video. Excellent!

I am sure tha Johan intentionally did that last video with your amps in the room to give them some publicity. Out of all the amps he has available to him, he picked yours to share the stage with. I think that says a lot!


----------



## pleximaster

Demo by Johan Segeborn


----------



## pleximaster

I


----------



## shakti

Very nice! How do you like the sound of that Les Paul build?

The video is great too, very nice to see you talk about the amps. Johan makes a lot of great videos, but something about his playing makes all amps sound a bit same-y. It’s not a dig on his recording or playing, really, as I hear the same phenomenon with my own recordings. Youtube compression doesn’t help. But we can hear enough to say they sound great!


----------



## pleximaster

The Les Paul still have some settling in, fine tuning and fret dress left. I just realized a wire for the ground have broken when I put in and out the electronics though the very narrow hole in the pickup cavity... (You cat see things like this without control cavities... 

But it really sound very good actually. Very distinct. when compering it with a couple of old Les Pauls with PAFs the old ones actually seems dull and the all maple body much more in your face, more high mids that cut through. It is not as forgiving as the old guitars when you play sloppy. It is very direct sounding how can I explain it... I have a pretty hard attach on the strings while playing (Thats one reason everything I play sounds the same...  ) So if I want to play a phrase more dynamic I have to be much more gentle in the soft/smooth parts then I am used to. Its easy to just go too much at once. 

It sustains much longer also. 

The neck is made out of old Honduran Mahogany and fretboard from Brazilian Rosewood. I got a few board Bras from a late guitar builder estate. (Acustic guitars). I kept the slightly thicker boards cut for acoustic guitars compared to Gibsons electric guitars. (Gibsons old arch tops before WW2 and some during the 40´s had this thicker fretboards) The thicker rosewood makes a stiffer neck with snappier sound I think. I made the radius compound and the neck dont have any binding so I could round the edges to suite my hands as if I played it for 20 yers plus.

At present "honeymoon" it is a fave

Best regards plexi




All electronics goes in here....


----------



## pleximaster

And shakyi 

Here is the upcoming all maple hollow chambered guitars Lester, Vester and Ester. 

might build a Les Paul style long scale bass but I haven’t figured out a good name for it “Bester”?

plexi






shakti said:


> Very nice! How do you like the sound of that Les Paul build?
> 
> The video is great too, very nice to see you talk about the amps. Johan makes a lot of great videos, but something about his playing makes all amps sound a bit same-y. It’s not a dig on his recording or playing, really, as I hear the same phenomenon with my own recordings. Youtube compression doesn’t help. But we can hear enough to say they sound great!


----------



## pleximaster

Just opened a Clubman group on Facebook where we can discuss Clubmans and home-brew amps and guitar under the concept of "modernizing the the vintage gear we love using vintage NOS and reclaimed parts". 

Discussion, help eachother find parts, trade parts, build instructions ect

https://www.facebook.com/groups/995797861258483

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

I have been mostly on FaceBook with my Clubman builds as they are becoming less connected to Marshall amps 

For instance I now also make my own Clubman pickups and guitars and here is a quick clip of pickups, guitar and amp together.


----------



## pleximaster

For those who are interested...

I know I said there wouldn't be another Clubman amp in a while... Ups I did it again...

Here is another Clubman I am currently working on. It was very much inspired Ken Fischers Trainwreck Express but have evolved into something else. Now it has a choke, a low voltage vintage Radiospares MT 275-0-275volt and a 100watt JCM800 OT. However it runs on only 2 EL34s and Output is about 22 watts. Then there are more variations on the preamp (more Marshall land) and power section compared to the original Trainwreck but it is definitely not totally my own design and therefore I like to honor Ken Fisher by naming it "ClubWreck" so the connection is obvious. This is the first test run in a 4x12 cab, had only tested it for sound in a small 1x10 speaker in my small soldering room. Iphone recording so bare with me... 

All different sounds are made only by changing controls and pickups on my Les Paul with PAFs 7.2-7.73k


----------



## tomsvintage

Well done !!!! Each Clubman guitar and amp has it's own personality , features and super attention to detail !! I love my Clubman 18 and am looking forward to playing the Clubman Tiki SG through it


----------



## playloud

pleximaster said:


> For those who are interested...
> 
> I know I said there wouldn't be another Clubman amp in a while... Ups I did it again...
> 
> Here is another Clubman I am currently working on. It was very much inspired Ken Fischers Trainwreck Express but have evolved into something else. Now it has a choke, a low voltage vintage Radiospares MT 275-0-275volt and a 100watt JCM800 OT. However it runs on only 2 EL34s and Output is about 22 watts. Then there are more variations on the preamp (more Marshall land) and power section compared to the original Trainwreck but it is definitely not totally my own design and therefore I like to honor Ken Fisher by naming it "ClubWreck" so the connection is obvious. This is the first test run in a 4x12 cab, had only tested it for sound in a small 1x10 speaker in my small soldering room. Iphone recording so bare with me...
> 
> All different sounds are made only by changing controls and pickups on my Les Paul with PAFs 7.2-7.73k




Something really caught my ear with this one! It's especially apparent during the 'Back in Black' riff. There's a flavor of 'chaos' - the _good_ kind of chaos - that I haven't heard before (unique overtones?) I think you might be onto something here....


----------



## pleximaster

playloud said:


> Something really caught my ear with this one! It's especially apparent during the 'Back in Black' riff. There's a flavor of 'chaos' - the _good_ kind of chaos - that I haven't heard before (unique overtones?) I think you might be onto something here....



If you want it to sound full you need chaos and noice. If its to "clean" - "digital" it will sound flat. I got more distortion than ACDC here but they have that craziness going on in the middle part of the riff, let some extra stings get involved to and let the amp go into overdrive as input increases


----------



## playloud

pleximaster said:


> If you want it to sound full you need chaos and noice. If its to "clean" - "digital" it will sound flat. I got more distortion than ACDC here but they have that craziness going on in the middle part of the riff, let some extra stings get involved to and let the amp go into overdrive as input increases



Exactly! It sounds 'complex' in the same way a fast tape delay or vocal doubling does. I absolutely love it.


----------



## pleximaster

This is the Clubwreck amps new head box.
As the chassis didn't have the same proportions as my "standard" Clubmans I have to make a different head box så its not 19´as the others. It is deeper taller but more narrow.

Old front gold panel from Old hifi so it looks real vintage, old Buldin 50-60´s chicken head knobs, Old handle from 60´s record player in fake croc skin. Reused gold piping. old Rendar input jack, old bulgin switches, Old RS indicator lamp.

I am making a 2x12 cabinet for it, not yet covered. All made of old plywood from Selmer 63´PA cabs. Cabinet will have a slide open in the back like the captain amp and the side handels also work as soundports.

Reused basketweave cloth on the cab with a thin black cotton weave behind to filter of high ends

I made 3 sets of speakers for speaker cabinet that Ill will try out this weekend I hope. I got a lot of work at the university and I sneak out to build things now in the middle of the night (my wife thinks its to much at the moment)

Thhe speaker cabinet, I had to trim down the initial depth as the cab became a bit too bass heavy. But theoretically when calculated the volume it should not be. By theory and and real life dont go hand in hand and I suspect it is the resonant plywood that is part of this. (Old plywood have glue that gets hard and crystalize new ply wood have glue that stays flexible)

I thought a lot about design on this head (Tolex wise) as I didn't want the narrow and taller head box look like Frankensteins forehead. By dividing the front in several fields and the two colors the green takes up the focus and have well balanced proportions. The black the becomes like a stand alone logo sign for the Clubman.


----------



## pleximaster

Bedroom volume.

I was trying to demo the different volume settings in the amp 1 - 10 - 18 watts. But the iPhone compressed it so you don’t really here the difference. However it gives a ok perception of how little the tone differs (of cause you not moving as much air and don’t get that natural distortion in your ears  The volume is controlled by a master that is switchable on and off totally bypass and an built in resistor based attenuator also switchable total bypass The amp is actually around 22watts but there are two power resistors in the cab as well to burn some use off. 

Pleximaster


----------



## pleximaster

I use my building of guitars and amps as a therapy/distraction

Sometimes I need distraction from my other distractions so I have multiple projects in various stages

this one came about after I made more and more complex amps and wanted to go back old school

this is a JTM with Ken Fischer ideas!
will be around 25 watts depending on valves I chose

old RS mains, old RS choke 10 H and old Drake hifi OT (slightly modded)

A PlexiWreck!!!




View attachment 97817


----------



## pleximaster

Clubman Clubwreck



plexi


----------



## pleximaster

I made another set of speakers (I use old broken Celestion speaker frames and combine coils, cone, spiders, dust caps, doping… to get different sounds. It is the speakers we are actually listening to. 

the same Clubman Clubwreck amp 

compare with video above 

plexi


----------



## pleximaster

PI slammer mod.

This is a fun mode that I came up with (Some people probably already done this for aged but it is new to me and I installed it in the the Clubwreck amp above.)

If you have the classical Marshall style LTP (long tail phase inverter) and add a capacitor ≈0.1uf to the first 1 meg resistor you get a real big boost into the circuit that really slammes the whole thing. Pretty cool stuff especially if you want an amp to work more withe the power section

PS I borrowed the layout pic from https://robrobinette.com



Like this in real life


----------



## proxy

Have you considered to make Forte 3D style cabinet?


----------



## pleximaster

proxy said:


> Have you considered to make Forte 3D style cabinet?



They are very interesting design evolution from the 60´s HiFi cabs... I might 

plexi


----------



## john l

Hey everyone. Great thread. I dont post here much anymore but I wanted to pop in and say how absolutely awesome I think the amps you build are.... absolutely killer as are your methods and concepts of building. Would love to own one. High fives to you from the States.


----------



## pleximaster

john l said:


> Hey everyone. Great thread. I dont post here much anymore but I wanted to pop in and say how absolutely awesome I think the amps you build are.... absolutely killer as are your methods and concepts of building. Would love to own one. High fives to you from the States.



Thanks for the kind words John!

If you are interested you are welcome to look at my Facebook page with Clubman amps and guitars. It is a noncommercial page I just post the things I create. I have these projects as "life therapy"!    

https://www.facebook.com/groups/995797861258483

best plexi


----------



## john l

pleximaster said:


> Thanks for the kind words John!
> 
> If you are interested you are welcome to look at my Facebook page with Clubman amps and guitars. It is a noncommercial page I just post the things I create. I have these projects as "life therapy"!
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/995797861258483
> 
> best plexi



You're very welcome. Ill definitely check it out.


----------



## pleximaster

Here is my first Guitar built an all maple body with sound chambers. Played clean and dirty trough the Clubman Captain amp.

plexi

more info
https://www.facebook.com/groups/995797861258483


----------



## ELS

Heard you needed schematics, I reverse engineered the 18watt baby blues from johan's video, I've attached the schematic to this post.

I couldn't see the value of the bypass caps for the preamp tubes, so the value maybe isn't right, as well as some other things, most notable perhaps the negative feedback resistor color codes weren't really visible... I thought I saw a yellow stripe there so I assumed it's a 47k
oh and also the negative feedback filter node dropping resistor, since it was covered in wax.

wanted to ask what the purpose of the 10k resistor across the output connection, only reason for it that I see is to protect against really high voltage spikes when no speaker is plugged in, but then it's much better to just short the output instead, using the same type of connector as for the input jacks.

also a total of 100uF filter caps for a tube rectifier is too much, you risk blowing the bonding wires in the tube, esspecialy with the standby switch the way it's wired.


----------



## pleximaster




----------



## tomsvintage

Watching this now !! I'm glued to the story and enjoying the process and humor  It's amazing how much work that goes into making this fantastic guitar !! One of the many things I love about this story is how pleximaster used his grandfathers tools during this build


----------



## playloud

pleximaster said:


> .



This was fascinating (well the original link at least). Thanks so much for making this and congratulations on the end result. Loved the rhubarb part!

I'm curious about the chambering method (Johan's note at 7:48 caught my attention too). Is there somewhere we can read about this in more detail?


----------



## pleximaster

playloud said:


> This was fascinating (well the original link at least). Thanks so much for making this and congratulations on the end result. Loved the rhubarb part!
> 
> I'm curious about the chambering method (Johan's note at 7:48 caught my attention too). Is there somewhere we can read about this in more detail?



We didnt go into details on the the chambering. 

I had an idea how to increase the overtones in the guitar and approached scientist at the university's math department with the idea. They developed AI algorithms to calculate shape and location depending on a whole bunch of parameters. I am chasing tone but they are chasing patents  and a patent has been filed based on the idea on how tone chambers act in this semi hollow construction and around the algorithms developed to calculate these. 

I got a question on the YouTube clip about tone coming from mainly the pickups or the guitar itself this is what I wrote there;

"...the acoustic tone is very different from a solid one, it is more acoustic to to the whole guitar. It is hard to tell the exactly what each part contribute with. My philosophy is that you model and shape the tone of a guitar by the way the strings vibrates from and then make the instrument vibrated (neck and body) these vibrations then going back in a feedback respons to the strings enhancing or canceling different frequencies (aka overtones). So construction and parts as well as variations in material all contribute to the feedback vibrations that go back to the strings shaping the way they vibrate. The pickups then "pickup" they way the strings vibrate and is the source of electric signal that we then can amplify in our amps and then listen to from the speakers connected. This is a difference from the acoustic guitar where the vibrations our ear hear are the result of the string vibrations-body neck interactions and feedback to the guitar body directly which acts as the speaker equivalent. --- for you how are familiar with tube amps one can make a parallel to the NFB loop (Negative feedback loop - presence control) which regulates the amount of signal bouncing back fro the speakers to the amps power stage. The NFB varies depending on load and how hard the speakers are driven for instance. This is a reason attenuators sound different with pure resistans or with reactive load.. But this is another topic..."

plexi


----------



## playloud

pleximaster said:


> We didnt go into details on the the chambering.
> 
> I had an idea how to increase the overtones in the guitar and approached scientist at the university's math department with the idea. They developed AI algorithms to calculate shape and location depending on a whole bunch of parameters. I am chasing tone but they are chasing patents  and a patent has been filed based on the idea on how tone chambers act in this semi hollow construction and around the algorithms developed to calculate these.
> 
> I got a question on the YouTube clip about tone coming from mainly the pickups or the guitar itself this is what I wrote there;
> 
> "...the acoustic tone is very different from a solid one, it is more acoustic to to the whole guitar. It is hard to tell the exactly what each part contribute with. My philosophy is that you model and shape the tone of a guitar by the way the strings vibrates from and then make the instrument vibrated (neck and body) these vibrations then going back in a feedback respons to the strings enhancing or canceling different frequencies (aka overtones). So construction and parts as well as variations in material all contribute to the feedback vibrations that go back to the strings shaping the way they vibrate. The pickups then "pickup" they way the strings vibrate and is the source of electric signal that we then can amplify in our amps and then listen to from the speakers connected. This is a difference from the acoustic guitar where the vibrations our ear hear are the result of the string vibrations-body neck interactions and feedback to the guitar body directly which acts as the speaker equivalent. --- for you how are familiar with tube amps one can make a parallel to the NFB loop (Negative feedback loop - presence control) which regulates the amount of signal bouncing back fro the speakers to the amps power stage. The NFB varies depending on load and how hard the speakers are driven for instance. This is a reason attenuators sound different with pure resistans or with reactive load.. But this is another topic..."
> 
> plexi



I won't ask for more details, given the patent but - as someone who works in AI and studied math - that is really exciting. I know there is a lot of deep mathematics (and open questions) related to the sound of instruments.

Interesting analogy with NFB. I'll have to think about this some more. I'm beginning to see why your first attempt was so successful!


----------



## pleximaster

Strings, hands and playing techniques

Primary the tone of a guitar starts by the way the strings vibrates on the instrument. Different strings, hand and playing techniques is the obvious first step in one can identify as parameters that effect tone. Material of the strings, palm muting or fingervibrato techniques are examples.



However as strings vibrate they make the instrument itself starts vibrating (neck and body). These vibrations are then going back in a feedback response to the strings enhancing or canceling different frequencies (aka overtones). Put a guitar on a table or a piano and get it to act as a resonator, the overall overtone spectra will change.



Shape, materials, density weight….



So construction and parts, as well as variations in material, all contribute to the feedback vibrations that go back to the strings shaping the way they vibrate.



(For you how are familiar with tube amps one can make a parallel to the NFB loop (Negative feedback loop - presence control) which regulates the amount of signal bouncing back fro the speakers to the amps power stage. The NFB varies depending on load and how hard the speakers are driven for instance. This is a reason attenuators sound different depending on the design with pure resistance or with reactive load. But this is another topic...")



Sound Chambers- We didnt go into details on the chambering. But I can tell you this. I had an idea how to increase the overtones in the guitar. I therefore approached scientist at the university's (Where I work) and reached out tho the math department with the idea. They developed an AI algorithms to calculate shape and location depending on a whole bunch of parameters. I am chasing tone but they are chasing patents.    So a patent has been filed based on the idea on how tone chambers act in this semi hollow construction, as well as IP properties around the algorithms developed to calculate these.



In my opinion, I am convinced that the overall overtone spectra is influenced by these tone chambers and is increasing the guitars resemblance to an acoustic guitars and its acoustic properties.



Tone Bones – another thing I am experimenting with in my guitar builds are something I nicknamed Tone Bones. It is an enhancement/ reinforcement of the area around the neck joint and neck tenon. On this guitar it is a small mahogany block glued over the neck tenon. This piece of mahogany is made of denser mahogany then the guitar neck.



In later builds I have started using the even harder and denser rose wood. And in one a “floating one”, just mounted between the neck and the guitar body but leave some gap to neck joint.



The idea of the tone bone is the violins Sound Posts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_post and the way they help transfer vibrations.





String vibrations are picked up by the pickups..

The pickups are the way that string vibrations are picked up on an amplified guitar. The combined “siluett” of all the string/body/neck vibrations is the source for the electric signal that we then can amplify in our amps.



Electronics

The electric signal is influenced by the properties of the pickup, materials, magnets wires winding… it then usually passes through electronics like potentiometers and tone shaping capacitors. On the way to the amp some people may also have effect boxes that really changes the tone but lets leave that out now.



Amp

The signal coming out from the guitar out put passes through a cable into our amps. The amp can then have multiple ways to modulate the tone. The amp then drive the speaker/speakers. As mentioned above there is also feedback from the speakers back into the amp so you actually have tone influencing signals going in both directions, especially this can be significant in tube amplifiers, NFB.



Speakers and tone

I guess no one argue against that different speakers can alter the tone and sound. Not only the speakers element them selves but also the cabinet they are put in an the various properties, materials and construction play a huge role. It is the speakers that we listen to on an amplified guitar. This is a difference from the acoustic guitar where the vibrations our ear hear are the result of the string vibrations-body neck interactions and feedback to the guitar body directly which acts as the speaker equivalent.



The room and tone

The statement above that it is the speakers we listen to is not totally true. We hear the speakers interaction within the room it is played. Tone is different in a small room and big room ect. You get feedback and cancellation of various frequencies depending on the room you play in.



So it is very complicated and I guess my chase for tone can continue for my life time… 



plexi


----------



## pleximaster

playloud said:


> I won't ask for more details, given the patent but - as someone who works in AI and studied math - that is really exciting. I know there is a lot of deep mathematics (and open questions) related to the sound of instruments.
> 
> Interesting analogy with NFB. I'll have to think about this some more. I'm beginning to see why your first attempt was so successful!



There is a clip of me playing this guitar with clean settings on one or two pages back and you can hear it has other clean tones more to an acustic guitar than a regular solid Les Paul (or standard hollowed out)


----------



## Amadeus91

@pleximaster I just wanted to say how utterly impressed I am by you,
Your dedication to detail and aesthetics are awe inspiring.
It is often said that an amp or guitar is more than the sum of its parts,
you pleximaster also fall into that category.
Much respect..........


----------



## pleximaster

Amadeus91 said:


> @pleximaster I just wanted to say how utterly impressed I am by you,
> Your dedication to detail and aesthetics are awe inspiring.
> It is often said that an amp or guitar is more than the sum of its parts,
> you pleximaster also fall into that category.
> Much respect..........


Thanks that warms my  heart!


----------



## pleximaster

Amadeus91 said:


> @pleximaster I just wanted to say how utterly impressed I am by you,
> Your dedication to detail and aesthetics are awe inspiring.
> It is often said that an amp or guitar is more than the sum of its parts,
> you pleximaster also fall into that category.
> Much respect..........


Amadeus if you are interested I describe my projects here on Facebook "Clubman amps & Guitars". it is not a promotion och commercial site as I dont sell these. I am doing this as may personal "therapy"  and love to discuss gutars and amps and how you fine the perfect tone for yourself.









Clubman Amps & Guitars | Facebook


Pleximaster - the tone seeker... This is my quest on finding the ultimate amp and guitar tone based on the classics - Can it be improved? :) This is a non commercial group page for discussion of...




www.facebook.com


----------



## pleximaster

A bit more guitar than amp...  but I play my Clubman Tiki SG in a clubman amp! 

I made the pickups in this one especially for the multiple switching options and it also feature a master volume


----------



## Marcomel79

Hey @pleximaster do you use nos parts for your amps or do you recycle parts? Either way your work is very inspiring! Greetings from Norway!


----------



## Whatwhatringrang

Cool stuff and the grill cloth/logo on that amp looks great! You should make a double neck 6/12 or something else different like that. Maybe in a Les Paul body. It is fun to think about this stuff. Or put a b bender on it lol.

I agree That’s what music is great for …therapy for sure. Its a great gift and nice way to express what you want to say.

Just something I notice which is on the electric guitar body resonance thing. I tend like guitars plugged in better that do not resonate as much with the low bottom strings In particular. For instance Some of Historics really sound really loud resonance when unplugged which sounds cool till you plug it in . However its on the low a and low e string. Other guitars too I notice it. I perfer When plugged in the guitar that does not do that. So many variables impossible to say and also how we hear/like to hear.

I never quite understood why Gibson had the tuners on there stuff the way they do. What i mean in from the tuner to nut they have extreme bend type thing like this /// ? Maybe it has something to do with angle on headstock? Something I never really looked into .

Seems like you would have to have to nut cut perfectly right and slippery enough so it does not catch and go outta tune. Even then maybe not ideal.

Still I wonder why they never Fix ,improved or corrected it if it needs correcting on a guitar that goes out of tune fairly easily ? Or just so that can not be as big a issue . Just so maybe they are easier to hold tuning when playing. Then again nobody where seriously bending flat wounds back then anyhow.

I think you can almost make guitars to perfect/cookie cutter like some of three letter named ones made today. Play 10 of the import then 10 of the core Domestic and they all sound 99% identical . In one way amazing and great right out of the box. However I think imperfections is something that Is missing those type of guitar. The quirks can be what gives it character and a interesting voice.


----------



## pleximaster

Marcomel79 said:


> Hey @pleximaster do you use nos parts for your amps or do you recycle parts? Either way your work is very inspiring! Greetings from Norway!



More than 90% old parts! 

plexi


----------



## Marcomel79

pleximaster said:


> More than 90% old parts!
> 
> plexi


Cool! I just finished building a micro jtm45 also from 95% recycled parts. Here is the link to my thread if you care to take a look.

Marco





Building a Micro JTM45 From Radio Scraps


Im getting ready to build a micro jtm45 from Rob Robinette. The amp is actually called a Bassman Micro but the only difference with mine is a 12ax7 in V1 instead of s 12au7. A few months ago i built a Fender Champ 5F1 also from old radio scraps and it sound fantastic. So i decided to build...




www.marshallforum.com


----------



## pleximaster

Whatwhatringrang said:


> Cool stuff and the grill cloth/logo on that amp looks great! You should make a double neck 6/12 or something else different like that. Maybe in a Les Paul body. It is fun to think about this stuff.



Funny thing I think I still have a sketch of a 6/12 double neck Les Paul style guitar I draw in my early twenties long before I started to build guitars...


----------

