Awesome, this is good stuff.
I finally got some more parts from the shop yesterday to be able to mess with switching the master volumes for both channels. This will let me rig up a test with the two channels and then I can get to work on making it footswitchable. The clean pre-gain will controll how much gain you want and you will still be able to get it a little crunchy an then the master volume will let one adjust overall volume to equal the drive channel. Should be cool!
Peavey Windsor Project [Clipz + Pix]
Moderated By: mods
Great progress on your side! I see what you want to achieve.Sloan wrote:Awesome, this is good stuff.
I finally got some more parts from the shop yesterday to be able to mess with switching the master volumes for both channels. This will let me rig up a test with the two channels and then I can get to work on making it footswitchable. The clean pre-gain will controll how much gain you want and you will still be able to get it a little crunchy an then the master volume will let one adjust overall volume to equal the drive channel. Should be cool!
I have a slightly different approach but the end result will be similar.
I have to buy some components that I need to go further.
The coil of the relay I was using went south with a nice little puff of white smoke. Was a 5 volts one and supply was a bit strong, lol.
Need a new 12 volts one and some various 1 to 10 watts resistors.
By the way, what is your opinion on the quality of these Peaveys?
The Windsor is terrible. I understand why they sell them that cheapo.
I am going to think about a signature!
They're definitely not handmade, but they seem ok. I did have some problems with some of the contacts on the pcb getting hot and kind of detaching. That kinda sucks, but is not a huge problem. The design is very simple like the jcm800 so with the cheaper pcb, components i can see how they were able to successfully produce it for so cheap. It really makes you wonder why no other company has made a JTM45/JCM800 clone like this before.Zorglub wrote:By the way, what is your opinion on the quality of these Peaveys?
The Windsor is terrible. I understand why they sell them that cheapo.
Hi, all,
I will start a new thread dedicated to the Windsor Studio mod soon.
The Windsor head and the Studio are very different actually.
They basically share only the 2 first stages and most of the power supply.
From there, there are many differences.
I have been working on a radical mod and I am almost there.
Some half of the circuitry has been changed.
All mods can be done by point to point wiring on the upper side of the pcb board. No fuss, no mess.
I now get a very wide palette of tones from very clean and bright to heavy distortion.
The tone stack has benn "unlocked" thanks to a better impedance matching: it is now driven by a cathode follower.
Now, my Strat sounds like it should be: twang and quank hehe. The LesPaul is also happy, from clean to fat ass brown.
I have added another tube to drive the power stage.
I have ditched the El34 and put a 6550 in there instead. What a difference!
The "new" amp is more powerful and can be used at rehearsal and medium-sized club level.
I have still to fine tune a couple of inter-stage links and the boost filter. Not a big deal.
Stay tuned!
I will come back soon with picts, detailed description and soundbits
I will start a new thread dedicated to the Windsor Studio mod soon.
The Windsor head and the Studio are very different actually.
They basically share only the 2 first stages and most of the power supply.
From there, there are many differences.
I have been working on a radical mod and I am almost there.
Some half of the circuitry has been changed.
All mods can be done by point to point wiring on the upper side of the pcb board. No fuss, no mess.
I now get a very wide palette of tones from very clean and bright to heavy distortion.
The tone stack has benn "unlocked" thanks to a better impedance matching: it is now driven by a cathode follower.
Now, my Strat sounds like it should be: twang and quank hehe. The LesPaul is also happy, from clean to fat ass brown.
I have added another tube to drive the power stage.
I have ditched the El34 and put a 6550 in there instead. What a difference!
The "new" amp is more powerful and can be used at rehearsal and medium-sized club level.
I have still to fine tune a couple of inter-stage links and the boost filter. Not a big deal.
Stay tuned!
I will come back soon with picts, detailed description and soundbits
I am going to think about a signature!
I see what you mean...Sloan wrote:Very cool, thanks for the update.
I haven't been able to work on my head the past week or so.
Spending nights tweaking the thing is no good for productivity at work
I am getting great cleans now, punchy and all.
I have a problem though...
There must be a dry solder point somewhere in the pcb because there are intermitent (?) changes in the signal level where it falls back to uber-uncontrolled crap-dirty.
There is a parasitic oscillation in the preamp which comes in and fades away randomly.
Time to hook up the oscilloscope to track the faulty point.
The little guy is damn loud when it agrees to work and the Strat really cuts through.
I believe the mod will be applicable to the Windsor head without that many difficulties.
In the end, it will be some kind of hybrid between a Marshall 2203 and a Blackface Twin.
I am going to think about a signature!
OK, I will go on on Sloan's thread because my mod can be adapted to the Windsor head and maybe others.
So, here is the stock circuit board before the mod (forget about the couple resistors and straw wires that are not relevant anymore):
The three picts below are shots of the current state of the mod:
It is almost finished.
The result is a more powerful amp, with a lot of headroom for cleans, better tone stack, more punch, twang and quak, very dynamic.
I will upload some soundbits and some details about the mod.
The most important changes:
- put an 5751M in V1 position (less gain, less microphony), this really makes a difference
- raise the plates supply voltages for more headroom
- rewire V2 to a cathode follover to unlock the tone stack
- change coupling circuitry between V1a and V1b
- put an additional ECC83 (V3) with adjustable gain as driver tube to compensate for the loss of gain in V2
- ditch the stock EL34 for a Tube Amp Doctor 6550 and change the screen resistor accordingly
- various tweaks to the power supply
The amp is now really loud and could certainly cut through the mix over a 'healthy' drummer
99% of the mod is directly wired on the upper side of the pcb.
Stay tuned ...
So, here is the stock circuit board before the mod (forget about the couple resistors and straw wires that are not relevant anymore):
The three picts below are shots of the current state of the mod:
It is almost finished.
The result is a more powerful amp, with a lot of headroom for cleans, better tone stack, more punch, twang and quak, very dynamic.
I will upload some soundbits and some details about the mod.
The most important changes:
- put an 5751M in V1 position (less gain, less microphony), this really makes a difference
- raise the plates supply voltages for more headroom
- rewire V2 to a cathode follover to unlock the tone stack
- change coupling circuitry between V1a and V1b
- put an additional ECC83 (V3) with adjustable gain as driver tube to compensate for the loss of gain in V2
- ditch the stock EL34 for a Tube Amp Doctor 6550 and change the screen resistor accordingly
- various tweaks to the power supply
The amp is now really loud and could certainly cut through the mix over a 'healthy' drummer
99% of the mod is directly wired on the upper side of the pcb.
Stay tuned ...
Last edited by Zorglub on Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
I am going to think about a signature!
It is just like the Windsor head.
Two 12AX7s in the preamp.
The third one in the Windsor head has no gain actually. It is the usual phase inverter to drive the push-pull power stage.
The big difference between both preamps is in the location of the tone stack and the auxiliary circuits.
In the Studio, the tone stack, the effect loop and the reverb are located between V2a and V2b.
In the Windsor head, the tone stack and the effect loop are located after V2b.
My guess is that they changed the location in the Studio because of the reverb.
The reverb is built solid-state around an IC and a bunch of passive components and probably does not deliver the level of signal required to drive the power stage.
They needed V2b to re-boost the signal and drive the power stage with the right impedance and voltage swing.
Otherwise they would have had to add another tube which would have killed the goal to sell a simple, low-cost training/recording amp.
Overall, the design is mostly OK for the original purpose yet not very efficient and with no headroom to breath.
The mod "opened it up" if that makes sense. A lot of headroom for cleans now.
Two 12AX7s in the preamp.
The third one in the Windsor head has no gain actually. It is the usual phase inverter to drive the push-pull power stage.
The big difference between both preamps is in the location of the tone stack and the auxiliary circuits.
In the Studio, the tone stack, the effect loop and the reverb are located between V2a and V2b.
In the Windsor head, the tone stack and the effect loop are located after V2b.
My guess is that they changed the location in the Studio because of the reverb.
The reverb is built solid-state around an IC and a bunch of passive components and probably does not deliver the level of signal required to drive the power stage.
They needed V2b to re-boost the signal and drive the power stage with the right impedance and voltage swing.
Otherwise they would have had to add another tube which would have killed the goal to sell a simple, low-cost training/recording amp.
Overall, the design is mostly OK for the original purpose yet not very efficient and with no headroom to breath.
The mod "opened it up" if that makes sense. A lot of headroom for cleans now.
I am going to think about a signature!
Yep, exactly 
Go grab the Valveking schematics over there:
Valveking
Look how they move the tone stack around between the two channels: Fender to Marshall, HeHe!
Look also at the effect loop and reverb location.
I have recorded two sound clips.
Beware, I am a poor guitarist
These are to give an idea of the clean tones with a LesPaul.
The first clip has been recorded just on the border of the power amp break with a hint of reverb (3/4 master volume up with power sponge full on)
The second clip is dry and cleaner with still a slight hint of power amp break, power sponge full on.
The titles of the clips are self-explanatory. Both recorded through the DI output right into the computer's X-Fi sound card.
Edit: new clips next post!
Go grab the Valveking schematics over there:
Valveking
Look how they move the tone stack around between the two channels: Fender to Marshall, HeHe!
Look also at the effect loop and reverb location.
I have recorded two sound clips.
Beware, I am a poor guitarist
These are to give an idea of the clean tones with a LesPaul.
The first clip has been recorded just on the border of the power amp break with a hint of reverb (3/4 master volume up with power sponge full on)
The second clip is dry and cleaner with still a slight hint of power amp break, power sponge full on.
The titles of the clips are self-explanatory. Both recorded through the DI output right into the computer's X-Fi sound card.
Edit: new clips next post!
Last edited by Zorglub on Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
I am going to think about a signature!
Hi all,
I think the mod is finished.
Here are new pic and sound clips.
Forget about the previous clips, as there were still some spurious oscillations in the circuit.
This has been fixed.
First, a couple shots at the pcb board with key changes located.
All additional components have beed secured in place with some silicone goop.
Close up:
Then the clips. All clean bits recorded with a microphone close to the cabinet.
Recording at moderate to loud room level, hardly acceptable in day time for a short while. Would be a no-go later in the evening
The mike is a voice microphone, not an instrument recording one.
Remember, I am a poor player on the learning curve, so only the tone matters.
Controls settings for all clips: preamp 2, bass 7, mid 7, treble 10, master volume 2.
Power sponge was off.
clip0
clip1
clip2
clip3
I think the mod is finished.
Here are new pic and sound clips.
Forget about the previous clips, as there were still some spurious oscillations in the circuit.
This has been fixed.
First, a couple shots at the pcb board with key changes located.
All additional components have beed secured in place with some silicone goop.
Close up:
Then the clips. All clean bits recorded with a microphone close to the cabinet.
Recording at moderate to loud room level, hardly acceptable in day time for a short while. Would be a no-go later in the evening
The mike is a voice microphone, not an instrument recording one.
Remember, I am a poor player on the learning curve, so only the tone matters.
Controls settings for all clips: preamp 2, bass 7, mid 7, treble 10, master volume 2.
Power sponge was off.
clip0
clip1
clip2
clip3
Last edited by Zorglub on Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I am going to think about a signature!
-
JamesSmann
- .
- Posts: 11873
- Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:15 pm
+1. Especially for a tube amp. the stock speakers may a bit on the whack side..for 400 bucks you get an all tube half stack? bonerars.jcyphe wrote:http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=485059
$399 1/2 stack package deal seems way cheap.
jcyphe wrote:http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=485059
$399 1/2 stack package deal seems way cheap.
That looks neat.
I am also considering cutting the cabinet to turn it into a head.
This little amp is incredibly versatile and a fantastic base for mods and tweaks.
I noticed the Blue Marvel is getting better and better as it starts breaking in.
By the way, the pictures and clips in my previous posts are again there.
My isp was not happy with the traffic and cut access to my ftp. Poor SOB
Soooo... I bought a domain name with plenty of storage space and 100 GBytes bandwidth per month which should be more than enough to start with
I am going to think about a signature!