The Amp Formerly Known as Bandmaster is Complete!

The amp is done!

I need some better pictures but hopefully you'll get a good idea of how it looks.  You can click the pictures to see larger versions.

I have this newfangled digital camera I got as a present and I'm still coming to grips with it.  I realized I've been taking most of my shots with it set on the 24mm focal length.  That's why the pic on the right is distorted a bit and makes the cabinet look like a trapezoid shape.  It is not, trust me.

Here's what it looks like from behind.  I'm pretty happy with how the color of the tweed came out.  I will get some shots of my Vibrolux clone and my '56 Princeton together to compare the shades of tweed.

Here's the control panel.  I did the artwork and had BMP Lasers do the engraving.  It's reverse-engraved plastic.  One thing I discovered is it scratches very easily.  I'm not sure if I'll use plastic on the production versions or not. 

About halfway through the build I started to realize that just because the classic tweeds had chrome panels didn't mean this one has to.  That realization has freed up my thinking a lot.  There are a lot of clones out there - why slavishly stick with the exact same cosmetics?

Another angle of the controls.  

From the other side.  I want to plug into it now!

I did the art for the logo and BMP laser-ed it up.  BMP is terrific to work with.  They work with a lot of amp builders, including some big-name boutique places (and tiny ones too).

Tube chart, stuck on the inside of the cabinet.

We only use prime transformers!

This is attached to the inside bottom of the cabinet.

Beauty shot of the guts.  The Weber speaker is simply amazing. 

From the secret stash of Vitamin Q capacitors.  These contribute a lot to the tone, which is very liquidy-smooth and three-dimensional.

These are the real deal.  US-made Tung Sol 5881 output tubes.  Please do not confuse them with the reissues. 

The date code "322-429-3" translates to:

322 = Tung-Sol
4 = 1964 (It could theoretically be either 1954 or 1964, but the 5881 was not around in '54)
29 = 29th week
3 = Shift (most likely 1 = day, 2 = night 3 = graveyard)

A NOS 5U4 from the secret stash. 

I will do sound clips soon!