So illness has kept me out of the shed working on my build(s).... hence I've dragged some stuff into my lounge room to help pass this lock down time. .... Yup, the better half left me half way thru last year, so the lounge is mine now to do as I will.
Hmmm.. this amp is now over 3y old. as is the cab I built to go with it... and apart from numerous tests and short runs I haven't given this rig a real "lets see what it can do" run.... and today that all changed...
To reiterate, the amp is basically a VOX AC15 circuit with Marshall 18W power and output transformers, mounted in a Jaycar steel enclosure. The cab is a 2x12" bass reflex box 30x60x80cm made with 17mm form ply from the big green shed, loaded with a V30 and a G12H75 Creamback. I chose form ply cos I did not want to have to paint it black and form ply has a seriously durable surface, and it was cheap.
The amp on its own nothing plugged in fully wound open on 10 is near silent. Cleans are super nice. The gain can be wound up to a medium 12AX7 crunch. Flat out being the master Vol on 10 the headroom flattens down to quite a soft feeling compression, in that everything past 7 only adds compression not more volume. The tremolo and remote pedal works exactly as it should. In a tiny bit of a steam punk move I put a wire cage over the tubes to keep prying fingers away from the hot tubes, and so you can still see the glow of the tubes from any angle which I feel is a cool thing.
In the photos you can observe a curious thing.... the bass control is fully wound back. The cab generates a LOT of bass, which means the amp does not need to push the bass, which leaves a shit tonne more energy for the upper frequencies.... For only 15/18W Damn can this rig get loud, and add the RAT it has sustain for days....lol ... more than plenty for a practice/rehearsal room rig.
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