It's ALIVE!

[GrindCustoms]

For those who are following the devellopements of the tubey stuff we are working on, this is the reward of all the effort put into these.

For more info and updates, check out this thread, details about some modification to circuit board and all that are also included so i keep the build thread lighter.
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=16944.0

With this built i've been able to physically confirm the Cleggster PSU wich from a 9V source delivers 190V to the tube plates, no starving tube plate design here.
We where also running a GB on the PSU for those who missed it, it ends tonight a 12:00.
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=17202.0

And confirm our first preamp pcb layout, the STM800, a JCM800 preamp in a box.

Onto pictures!



Shielded wire have been used for all the ins and outs, quite happy of how i managed to setup that and keep it clean for the main in and outs.



The little blue pads you see between the heatsink and PowerMosfet or Vreg and enclosure are thermal pads, they increase the heat sinking efficiency in a dramatic manner, very glad i discovered that.



Tube socket wiring, went with the rail method for the tube grounds and heaters. Simple to execute and efficient, also tried to keep a star grounding pattern through out the build.



And...what it looks like outside.





Bypass status LED are located in the tube socket, so when active a nice blue glow goes through the valves. I've used NOS RFT ECC83 for this one, quite my favored 12AX7 tube for marshall stuff, the growl in low end and tightness of the mids is slacker than compared to JJ i.e.

In another of my builts i have long grey plate RCA wich are very gainy and sound very compressed.... a different flavor.

Cheers!

Rej

[cooder]

Fantastico!

[gordo]

This is completely mad.  Nicely done Rej, this is very exciting stuff.

[GrindCustoms]

Thanks guys, it's indeed very exciting... not that i did'nt like to build them PTP.... but this was very fun to work with.

There's still some pieces of the puzzle missing to make these even more builder friendly...like the OptoShield Bypass system..... but it still was very rewarding to fire this up and not set my appartement on fire.

Pedal have been under power and load for almost 6hours now..... if it stays on for 12hours in a row with no failure, i'll call this a Win!

[Leevibe]

RAD!! In every way. I love the concept and this is so nicely built! I dig all the white wire and the bus wire filament rails look so sweet.

[lincolnic]

This is so awesome. You guys are heroes!

[chuckbuick]

Great work, Rej.  That's a bitchin' project.

[Guitarmageddon]

+1 What a beautiful build!
Am I right in thinking the shielded wire passes through the board, with the shield soldered on the front and the core soldered to the rear? I haven't seen that before, that's hip!

[GrindCustoms]

+1 What a beautiful build!
Am I right in thinking the shielded wire passes through the board, with the shield soldered on the front and the core soldered to the rear? I haven't seen that before, that's hip!

Thanks Ben, you're right!

Inspiration for that was taken from my SLO preamp board, though it only add plating on one side and was a 1 layer board so the fixture was'nt standard for all the needs on it. Improved the concept a bit and after some hand drawings and explanation Jason nailed it, it was great in theory and it turns out to be very handy in practice.

[alanp]

I'm a horrible cynic. The only thing I've heard of to improve heatsink efficiency is a peltier converter, and I'm not sure they come that small.

But other than that, I'll say that this tempted me to buy a set of boards...

[GrindCustoms]

Close up of the Shields.

I'm a horrible cynic. The only thing I've heard of to improve heatsink efficiency is a peltier converter, and I'm not sure they come that small.

But other than that, I'll say that this tempted me to buy a set of boards...

With either the thermal pad or grease the unit is perfectly running. I mean.... my other STM800 just have a similar heat sink as pictured here on it...  And i've got many hours through it so far.

Send me a PM about the boards, it might worth the shot.

[selfdestroyer]

Very cool, congratulation guys. This will be a cool project for sure.

You guys going to sell it in a package?

Cody

[GrindCustoms]

Very cool, congratulation guys. This will be a cool project for sure.

You guys going to sell it in a package?

Cody

Thanks Cody

All the preamps and project that we'll be produced by us will come as the PSU in PCB/Component package and the other hardware, cable that are necessary to put them together.

Using the STM800 as an exemple, the shield holes are made to work with a certain diameter cable and tolerance to heat due to the mounting method suggested. So these kits will likely come with all the appropriate resistors, bus wire, capacitors and the Belden shielded cable. If there's interest i could include the tube sockets, but many type can be used depending of the mounting style you wish to use.

For those who wants to build this as a pedal, because the production pcbs will also be suited for full amplifier use, an optical bypass pcb will be available for these projects only. Needed some utility aspects on that switch setup that is not available elsewhere, so we've made one. Have'nt got the proto yet.. because they would be in this built, soon as they come in i'm swapping the 3PDT of there. Juan could explain better than me the reason why that switching is favored over all the others, so i'll leave it like that for now.

[selfdestroyer]

Very cool, congratulation guys. This will be a cool project for sure.

You guys going to sell it in a package?

Cody

Thanks Cody

All the preamps and project that we'll be produced by us will come as the PSU in PCB/Component package and the other hardware, cable that are necessary to put them together.

Using the STM800 as an exemple, the shield holes are made to work with a certain diameter cable and tolerance to heat due to the mounting method suggested. So these kits will likely come with all the appropriate resistors, bus wire, capacitors and the Belden shielded cable. If there's interest i could include the tube sockets, but many type can be used depending of the mounting style you wish to use.

For those who wants to build this as a pedal, because the production pcbs will also be suited for full amplifier use, an optical bypass pcb will be available for these projects only. Needed some utility aspects on that switch setup that is not available elsewhere, so we've made one. Have'nt got the proto yet.. because they would be in this built, soon as they come in i'm swapping the 3PDT of there. Juan could explain better than me the reason why that switching is favored over all the others, so i'll leave it like that for now.

So cool, look forward to a kit of this 800 but I will have to wait until I get a few other projects off my bench. Been a crazy month so far with builds.

Cody

[kothoma]

Wow! What a great project!