Deacy Style Amp Build

[JakeFuzz]

Been working on this one for a while and finally got a chance to bring it all together. The very first guitar tone I began chasing was Brian May's solo sound. That boxy, nasally grind that he uses on so many lead parts really appealed to me. I didn't know until later that many of those parts were recorded with a little transistor radio amplifier!

This is built from one of those Deacy schematics floating around the web. I added an input level control to tame the all out fuzz sound. The interstage and output transformers are Eagle brand from ebay. I made my own little vero layout for this and it turned out pretty well. Transistors are an OC81, an AC126 (thanks Rutger!) and two Amperex AC128's for the push pull stage. I also built in a rangemaster that you can switch in and out of the circuit; that uses a CV7003. I salvaged the enclosure from an old univibe build, I believe it is a 1590BB tall that has been powdercoated silver vein by PPP. I found a 9volt DC fan from an electronics surplus store near my place and milled a fan mount for it above the output transistors to cool them down. Very little fan noise comes through with single coils and it is absolutely silent with the buckers. The 8" Crate speaker I got for free from a friend. It had the dust cap crushed inwards so I epoxied a thread to it and pulled it out. Sounds decent for this amp although it isn't the dual range speaker used in the real Deacy. The "cabinet" is an old pear orchard box that I got from a supplier here in LA. I cut it down to size and scroll sawed the bottom to make the baffle. I put a little vintage style drawer pull on the top as the handle. I was going for that old beat up apple crate look and I think it turned out great. All it needs are knobs, I bought two large MXR style knobs but I ordered knurled shaft fit on accident, oops!   

It sounds great. Not super loud but enough to piss off the neighbors at night  . Sounds to me like a fuzz face through a low volume clean amp. Kicking in the booster tightens up the fuzzy low end and makes it crunchy. Cleans up super well and low volume sounds are nice and clean. Ill get a demo up this weekend if anyone is interested in making one! Enjoy.

[DutchMF]

This is a f*&cin' great build Paul!!! It combines a lot of stuff I really love, for starters Brian May's solo sound! The enclosure you made for the amp looks great as well, and the pics you yook of it are awesome! I think an audio sample is in order, but I love it without already! Damn, this is cool.....

Paul

[Govmnt_Lacky]

I love the use of the cooling fan on the enclosure! 

Does it get THAT hot in there? If so... why?

[JakeFuzz]

This is a f*&cin' great build Paul!!! It combines a lot of stuff I really love, for starters Brian May's solo sound! The enclosure you made for the amp looks great as well, and the pics you yook of it are awesome! I think an audio sample is in order, but I love it without already! Damn, this is cool.....

Thanks Paul. Ill try and get a sound clip up soon. Sounds very Killer Queen'ish!

I love the use of the cooling fan on the enclosure! 

Does it get THAT hot in there? If so... why?

Haha, I know. I saw it in the store and knew I had to put one on this. Deacy amp builder's quote the power output at around 1W, at this point there is a lot of current driven through the output transistors and they begin to dissipate heat and heat does bad things to Ge trannies as we know. They get hot to the touch after a few minutes of playing. Most people put on the fin type heatsink sheaths but I felt this was a little cooler 

[lincolnic]

This looks so awesome. Definitely make us a demo!

[G.G.]

This looks so awesome. Definitely make us a demo!

+1 I would love to hear this. Great Job!!

[DutchMF]

Been looking at those pics all night, love what you did here Paul, short on words.....

[Guitarmageddon]

Fantastic!

[pryde]

Really bad-ass, Awesome job!

[stevewire]

Very awesome Jake.  Makes me think about building one of these someday.

[selfdestroyer]

I love the fruit box idea. This is beautiful. I would love to hear some demos also.

[gordo]

There's a certain amount of irony in the "Crate" speaker, given the box it's in.  Very nice job.  Quite an accomplishment getting "rustic" and "face-melting" all into one project.

[Haberdasher]

you are the man, paul
can't wait to hear that clip!

[JakeFuzz]

Thanks guys! Ill get a sound clip up this weekend. I was playing with it more tonight and it is a pretty cool little amp, lots of different sounds with the added TB and volume control. Definitely a solid little practice amp to take places.

[Bret608]

This looks like so much fun--can't wait to hear that clip! I never knew the Deacy used Ge transistors.

Brian May's sound is one of my favorite classics as well. irmcdermott's Fuzzball is the closest I've gotten. Looking at the Fuzzhead circuit, I think it's supposed to simulate a treble booster into a single-ended amp.