Think your old vinyl is too scratched to play? Think again.
I highly recommend building a clone of the Dallas Rangemaster, they're dead simple and sound cool.
I called mine "Element 32", think back to chemistry class... OK I had to look it up too ;)
I used a NOS Valvo OC44 device, paper caps and carbon resistors...
Here's Number 2, using Sprague Bumblebee and Vitamin Q capacitors.
Numbers 3 through 7, a run of what I call the "Glass Boost" version, because they employ glass-sealed military signal caps.
Here's the schematic, and my prototype/test platform for auditioning parts, the "Oil Rig".
Here's a sound clip of the Element 32, done with the 55 Junior and a Microbaby into a reissue Celestion Blue.
I scored an old Klemt Echolette tube tape echo from the mid 1960's... got it up and running, and thought it would be interesting to compare it with my blue SIB! analog Echodrive, which uses a tube plus "bucket-brigade" analog circuitry for its delay.
Here's a picture of both units...
...and some mp3s: Echodrive and Echolette
Here's a handy tool that helps simplify, speed up, and open up new possibilities when matching speaker cabinets to amps. Let's say you have an amp with selectable output impedance, and two 8 ohm speaker cabinets. This device allows you to audition both cabs in series for a 16 Ohm load, in parallel for a 4 Ohm load, or one on its own for an 8 ohm load, very quickly. Use two cabinets with an amp that has only one speaker output, or run a cabinet along with a resistive load to match a fixed-impedance amp to a cab with a different impedance. You can even experiment with reversing the polarity of the load to complement your amp, without opening any cabinets or desoldering.
A picture of the one I built using a Hammond 1590NI enclosure (it's a little deeper than your average stompbox)... a picture of the wiring, using 16 gauge silver-plated teflon wire and swithcraft jacks with shoulder washers to isolate them from the case, and the schematic.
Just do me a favour, if you build yourself one, be "Slow But Sure" when wiring it and using it. One hurried mistake could damage your amp and/or potentially cause a safety hazard.
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