It Lives! Completed my new amp build project, MOD102+

MadAsAHatter

MadAsAHatter

Well-known member
About a month ago I received a MOD102+ amp kit as my next project. It's a Class A Fender Champ style amp with an EL84 power tube instead of a 6v6. Controls are pretty simple; Bass, Treble & Volume. There are a few extras for a mid boost, bright boost, and gain boost. The basic build is just a chassis with some stickers for the control labels. that's not good enough for me so I'm also building the headshell and making a face plate.

I took a week or so to come up with the full deign. The faceplate will be plexiglass painted off-white with decals for the control labels. I'm making the shell out of walnut and bloodwood with maple accents to mimic piping.

This is a basic rendering:
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The first thing I did was screw up the faceplate. Everything was going smoothly until I realized I put the decals on the wrong way. The larger space between words and edge should be on the top. On a good note, it all came out looking nice. Now I just have to redo it the right way.

This is the one I messed up:

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I've been working on the shell the last couple of weekends.

Gluing up the face:
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Face with the outside border glued on:
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Where I'm at ow is having the face trimmed and planed to size, having the sides cut, and gluing up the top and bottom with the maple accents. Next will be plaining it all down and maybe gluing up the box.
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Shell build is slowly coming along. Over the weekend I planed everything to thickness and started gluing it all up. I did the glue up across several days because 1. I only had 2 good corner clamps that were actually 90 degrees (the rest are cheap and slightly off) and 2. It's easier to keep everything in position gluing things one at a time. Keeping the "piping" in alignment would have been more difficult if I tried to do it all in one shot.

First I glued the sides to the bottom and this morning I glued the top on before leaving for work. It's sitting in the clamps right now. If you noticed I purposely left those overhangs so I can go back and trim it flush later.

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I did a bunch of work today and it's final starting to look like something. . The last things I need to do now are drill a handful of holes, do some final sanding and apply the finish. I also need to finish up the faceplate. After that I'll start wiring things up.

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A little bit more done today. I cut the hole for the IEC socket, mounted transformers, tag strips, and hardware, and started a little soldering.

This is the first time I'm doing wiring on tag strips and I decided I'm not a fan. I much prefer turret boards. The little bit I've done so far has been a pain trying to keep it all neat. I've found it easier to take the tag strips out and solder everything I can outside the chassis.

Here's a couple of pics of the competed shell and chassis with things mounted. I haven't put the faceplate on yet. I'll do that last after I have it all wired up so I don't mess it up.

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This is the little bit of wiring I did. It's part of the preamp section. It looks a little messy but all the solder joints are solid.
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MadAsAHatter said:
This is the first time I'm doing wiring on tag strips and I decided I'm not a fan.
Click to expand...
I'm finding out the same thing myself. I have a couple vintage PA conversion projects going on right now that use tag strips extensively, and modifications/rework take more time, effort, and care because of it. Luckily I have some spare turret boards and stand-offs to redo some of the circuitry with.
 
I got a good bit farther than I thought I would today. All of the components have been wired to the tag strips. The last of it will be wiring the tube sockets, and stuff on the front & back panels. I probably could have finished everything today, but had other shit to do today besides build an amp. Life always gets in the way of fun stuff.

This is where it stands now. If I have a chance to do things when I get home from work I shou0ld be able to finish everything by the end of the week.

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that looks really cool...and that headshell is top notch dude. Now what kind of amp is this? tweed or something? edit-just reread the 1st post.....
 
7704A said:
I'm finding out the same thing myself. I have a couple vintage PA conversion projects going on right now that use tag strips extensively, and modifications/rework take more time, effort, and care because of it. Luckily I have some spare turret boards and stand-offs to redo some of the circuitry with.
Click to expand...

This biggest pain has been wrapping leads/wires around the lugs to keep them in place while I soldered. I can imagine the time it would take to undo all that and not F-up everything. On the bright side at least it isn't 100% true point to point with components all tied around each other.
 
JackBootedThug said:
that looks really cool...and that headshell is top notch dude. Now what kind of amp is this? tweed or something? edit-just reread the 1st post.....
Click to expand...

I appreciate the compliment. I really like the way the shell came out. I was worried about how all the seams would look and having minor imperfections in the joints. If I were covering it I wouldn't worry much because that would be hidden. Happy to say that it all came out just right.
 
NowYou'rePlayingWithPower said:
So pretty, MAAH! I came across a ton of flame maple book matched wood and made me think of your bass project.
How's that one been coming along?
Click to expand...

The bass has taken a back seat to this project so I haven't done too much more on it. All the major woodwork is done and the new bridge I ordered came in. So I just a have a few minor things to button up then start staining & finishing. I'll be getting back to it once I'm done with this build.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
This biggest pain has been wrapping leads/wires around the lugs to keep them in place while I soldered. I can imagine the time it would take to undo all that and not F-up everything.
Click to expand...
That pretty much sums it up.
MadAsAHatter said:
On the bright side at least it isn't 100% true point to point with components all tied around each other.
Click to expand...
Yeesh, yeah. I got another project that's PTP... probably going to rebuild that on eyelet boards. Good luck with the rest of the wiring! Headshell looks great.
 
It's Alive!! ALIVE!!!!

I worked on the last of the wiring yesterday and buttoned it all up this morning before work. Powered up on the first go; no explosions, no smoke. At first I was like "shit, it’s not working" because the indicator light didn't come on. Then I remember I hadn't put the bulb in. Duh...

I didn't play it long, just enough to know it made sound. On first impression it sounds good. Definitely in the Fender tone camp. The tone controls and pull knobs are relatively subtle, but enough to hear a difference and give some good variety. I'm not 100% sure if the "mid boost" is actually a boost or if it's shifting the tone stack. I'll have to play with it more.

One thing that surprised me was the loudness. Not that it’s loud enough to keep up with a band or anything. It’s that there's not much of a taper on the volume knob. There's no keeping it whisper quiet. It's pretty much full throttle as soon as it goes past 0.5. And there's not much clean headroom. As soon as it's to volume it's already at the edge of breakup. After that it's just more saturation and the volume minimally increases.

Last thing that was noticeable on first power up was that it's pretty quiet. There's very little, if any noise through most of the volume's taper and minimal hiss as you approach full volume/saturation.

I'll report back with more feedback after I put it through its paces this afternoon after work.

Here it is in all its completed glory.

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