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Post new topic Tweed Tremolux project
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Author Topic:  Tweed Tremolux project
Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 2:46 pm    
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Working on a new project. Bought a 1955 small box cabinet, serial number in cabinet is 00260. Dated cab to 1955





The cabinet went thru a flood in Nashville some years ago. The owner had a new cabinet build by Armadillo amps

the cabinet came with no tweed, original grill and poor repair work on the bottom

After three days of work I had the cabinet repaired
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 2:50 pm     More to come
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Will post more tomorrow. Can’t get pictures to load correctly from iphone
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Bill A. Moore


From:
Silver City, New Mexico, USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 3:25 pm    
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That looks like a fun project Ken!
I suspect it won't take much to remove the lower panel, but I don't have the means to cut another to replace it!
I hope to build a Tweed Pro, or Super someday.
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 3:37 pm    
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Lower panel under all that needed very little repair. Someone had no idea what they were doing
Still can’t post photos from phone
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Jerry Jones


From:
Franklin, Tenn.
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 4:10 pm    
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Ken, Make sure your images are not HEIC which is native to new iPhones these days. Convert to JPG and you'll be fine..... been there!

Look forward to checking out your cabinet restore..... JJ
_________________
Jerry Jones
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 4:12 pm     Ready for tweed.
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Thanks for that tip
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 5:56 pm     Cab
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Tweed on. Ran out of glue to do the lower back panel





Ready for finish. Will be amber shellac

Chassis almost done. Used a 5F11 chassis as the original 16” 5E9 chassis is not available. The Weber chassis is 18.5” wide. Will be using one of those for a 5G9 Tremolux for another customer soon

Main difference in the 5F11 chassis is that it was a single channel chassis
One volume control and 3 inputs. I used a double one meg audio pot to allow control of the two channels via one knob

Input 1. Full gain channel 1
Input 2. Lower gain channel 1

Input 3. Full gain with bright cap channel 2
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 6:03 pm     Chassis
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After much research I have found a power transformer that meets the specs of the original and fits the 5F11 chassis. Has 150ma B+
325-0-325 volts AC
Uses a 5Y3 only rectifier. With the 50 VDC drop of the rectifier I should be very close to the original B+ needed for the 5E9A Tremolux
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Larry Dering


From:
Missouri, USA
Post  Posted 27 Feb 2024 6:48 pm    
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Ken, cool project that you no doubt will make it like new again. Thanks for sharing the pictures and progress.
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2024 5:46 am     Grid stoppers and screen grid resistors
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Going to add 1.5k grid stoppers to the 6V6 tubes
Looking for a little advice on the screen grids. There are no 470 ohm resistors there. The screen grid voltage is after the 2.5k B+ dropping resistor. Therefore it is at a lower voltage than the plates of the tube

Any idea if the 470 screen grids are really a good idea?? I’m sure it would lower the idle current a bit on this cathode biased circuit
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Mark Perrodin

 

From:
Tucson Arizona, USA
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2024 5:54 am     tweed
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Ken,
you do beautiful work. i hope that you will post some sound clips when you are done. it must be extremely satisfying to have the skills and knowledge to accomplish this. well done.
mark
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2024 6:08 am     Amp
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Thanks so much. Hoping to get some feedback from some of our tech friends on the forum. We have some folks here with far more knowledge than I have about design and such
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Larry Jamieson


From:
Walton, NY USA
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2024 6:40 am    
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Beautiful work, Ken! Amp looks like new and I'm sure it will sound good when you have it finished up.
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 28 Feb 2024 7:40 am     Amp
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Thanks so much. I can’t wait to hear it.
Been over ten years since I built a lot amps. Shocking at the price increases
I had a spreadsheet from 2012 to build a Tweed Tremolux
Shocking when I updated the cost to current pricing!!

Who knows. I might have a batch of these if it turns as good as I’m hoping
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 9 Mar 2024 8:22 am     Chassis built
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Got the chassis done. Got a great power transformer that can handle up to 250ma B+ current. Sounding great. Going to change the cathode bias resistor from 250 to 300 ohms. Pushing a bit too much current thru the power tubes at present

Getting started on the 5G9 chassis build soon
Using the Weber chassis for that. Mercury Magnetics is custom building the power transformer for that build to get back to the original voltages needed


Here’s a shot of my 5E9



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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2024 11:41 am     Almost done
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Just waiting for the speaker. Sounds great thru the shop test speakers. Two 16
Ohm Fender speakers in parallel




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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2024 4:31 pm     Grill
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That’s the original grill cloth. Also had to go from 250 to 470 ohms to get the bias correct. Running right on spec now
Great video by Uncle Doug on YouTube where he
Is working on a 1955 Tremolux. He had to go to a 500 ohm resistor to get the bias corrected as well

Should have the speaker next week
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