Henning Bottle Rocket Amp... UPDATED 1/22!

[Anonymous]

sweet.

Steve

 

[V2a]

Looks great, Steve.
How much space will there be between the input jack and the closest side of the 'front face' of the cab (rather than the side of the chassis)? Hopefully that makes sense

 

[Anonymous]

Looks great, Steve.
How much space will there be between the input jack and the closest side of the 'front face' of the cab (rather than the side of the chassis)? Hopefully that makes sense

3/4". Why do you ask?

Steve

 

[V2a]

Looks great, Steve.
How much space will there be between the input jack and the closest side of the 'front face' of the cab (rather than the side of the chassis)? Hopefully that makes sense

3/4". Why do you ask?

Steve

I'm designing a new front panel of my own, and my initial spacing put the AC rocker switch only 0.50" from the side. I was hesitant to move it over since everything else is equally spaced, but since the switch is all by its lonesome on one side of the amp I don't think it will be visually displeasing.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks great, Steve.
How much space will there be between the input jack and the closest side of the 'front face' of the cab (rather than the side of the chassis)? Hopefully that makes sense

3/4". Why do you ask?

Steve

I'm designing a new front panel of my own, and my initial spacing put the AC rocker switch only 0.50" from the side. I was hesitant to move it over since everything else is equally spaced, but since the switch is all by its lonesome on one side of the amp I don't think it will be visually displeasing.

Yeah, you should be fine!

Steve

 

[peterc52]

Why are you direct mounting the tubes into the pcb this time?

 

[Anonymous]

Why are you direct mounting the tubes into the pcb this time?

Did you not read my first post? Here is what I wrote:

"Now one of the things I wanted to do to reduce labor cost and simplify the builds was to PCB mount the power tubes (my preamp tubes have always been PCB mounted). Some people complain about PCB mounted tubes, but I think this approach will satisfy everyone. Below are some screenshots I captured from the 3D model to show how these will be done. The green board represents the PCB and the grey is the amp chassis.

So, as you can see, the long leg Belkin socket is soldered to the (green) PCB and there is a hole cut in the PCB on each side of the socket. A 15mm standoff will be screwed to the PCB. When assembling the amp, the standoff comes up to the chassis as well and the standoff is screwed onto the chassis. This way, it is ROCK solid AND I can easily take out the board without having to unsolder the octal sockets. Pretty cool, huh? PCB AND chassis mounted. I'll still be using 1/8" thick boards, so this ought to work well. I'll use metric screws and spilt washers on this. This design will allow me to use the same pcb to chassis spacing as the Cherry Bomb (same PEMs ~15.956mm).

BTW - those long Belkin octal socket legs will be trimmed after soldering. Not gonna leave all that leg on the PCB - we'll keep it neat. "

Steve

 

[TrueTone500]

Why are you direct mounting the tubes into the pcb this time?

Did you not read my first post? Here is what I wrote:

"Now one of the things I wanted to do to reduce labor cost and simplify the builds was to PCB mount the power tubes (my preamp tubes have always been PCB mounted). Some people complain about PCB mounted tubes, but I think this approach will satisfy everyone. Below are some screenshots I captured from the 3D model to show how these will be done. The green board represents the PCB and the grey is the amp chassis.

So, as you can see, the long leg Belkin socket is soldered to the (green) PCB and there is a hole cut in the PCB on each side of the socket. A 15mm standoff will be screwed to the PCB. When assembling the amp, the standoff comes up to the chassis as well and the standoff is screwed onto the chassis. This way, it is ROCK solid AND I can easily take out the board without having to unsolder the octal sockets. Pretty cool, huh? PCB AND chassis mounted. I'll still be using 1/8" thick boards, so this ought to work well. I'll use metric screws and spilt washers on this. This design will allow me to use the same pcb to chassis spacing as the Cherry Bomb (same PEMs ~15.956mm).

BTW - those long Belkin octal socket legs will be trimmed after soldering. Not gonna leave all that leg on the PCB - we'll keep it neat. "

Steve

Well done!

By example, my '98 Guytron GT20 uses 100% pcb mounted sockets, and operates flawlessly. Henning's design goes above and beyond anything I've seen in the way of pcb mounted.

True opine - nothing scripted.

 

[Anonymous]

Finally... My chassis guy came through.

Screw ups have still happened. My silkscreen designer totally screwed me. Even though I TOLD HIM OVER AND OVER that no text could be on the chassis within 5/8" of the left and right side, sure enough, as you can see in the pics, the text goes to almost 1/4" from each side. THIS means that the head shells, which were almost finished, need changes or else some of the text on the left and right (front and back) of the chassis will be covered by the head shell. Going to the wood shop to get this addressed today. Why the F can't people just get shit right after I asked a MILLION times... Lesson learned. Get the chassis done first and then the head shell... DO NOT try to be efficient...

Also, there was a screwup on the PT leg holes as well, which required me to route the hole bigger to fit the chassis. This appears to have happened because one measurement is not in the design file and instead of asking me, the fabricator just made an incorrect assumption and proceeded. Pain in the ass, but I've dealt with it... Will fix this by adding the dimension for the production run.

Everything will work out fine, just need some tweaks to the headshell...

Anyway, here are some pics of my work assembling prototype one of the Bottle Rocket. This is a flat black, slightly textured chassis that may or may not be production.

Chassis AND PCB mounted power tube sockets fit perfectly!

Oh, and here is the white chassis. Looks great, I think:

And here's a pick of the prototype Bottle Rocket with it's big brother, the Cherry Bomb!

Steve

 

[IndyWS6]

Sweet

 

[crankyrayhanky]

cool!

 

[gibson5413]

AWESOME!!!! I can't wait!

 

[suhrimmetal]

Finally... My chassis guy came through.

Screw ups have still happened. My silkscreen designer totally screwed me. Even though I TOLD HIM OVER AND OVER that no text could be on the chassis within 5/8" of the left and right side, sure enough, as you can see in the pics, the text goes to almost 1/4" from each side. THIS means that the head shells, which were almost finished, need changes or else some of the text on the left and right (front and back) of the chassis will be covered by the head shell. Going to the wood shop to get this addressed today. Why the F can't people just get shit right after I asked a MILLION times... Lesson learned. Get the chassis done first and then the heartless... DO NOT try to be efficient...

Also, there was a screwup on the PT leg holes as well, which required me to route the hole bigger to fit the chassis. This appears to have happened because one measurement is not in the design file and instead of asking me, the fabricator just made an incorrect assumption and proceeded. Pain in the ass, but I've dealt with it... Will fix this by adding the dimension for the production run.

Everything will work out fine, just need some tweaks to the headshell...

Anyway, here are some pics of my work assembling prototype one of the Bottle Rocket. This is a flat black, slightly textured chassis that may or may not be production.

Chassis AND PCB mounted power tube sockets fit perfectly!

Oh, and here is the white chassis. Looks great, I think:

And here's a pick of the prototype Bottle Rocket with it's big brother, the Cherry Bomb!

Steve

That looks great Steve!! Love the white. Getting closer... which means I have somehow got to get the funds!!

 

[rottingcorpse]

God, I love your amp threads. Again, another classy looking amp.

 

[maddnotez]

Awesome to see this kind of progress and she sure does look nice.

I question the fabricator and the silk screen designer. While it seems like an easy fix it also seems like it is a pain in your ass. I can tell with the detail of this amp that you might lean towards the perfectionist side of things. (which is a great thing IMO)

I guess what I am saying is why not go elsewhere? Maybe they had one hiccup out of a thousand so it might be no biggie and also prototype vs. final product can be fixed ect.

Maybe they are giving you the best deal that can be had but if they are not up to snuff and giving you heartache then surely they have a competitor?

Either way it looks good to me man, curious to hear this although I have already heard the Cherry Bomb and know it is a cool amp.

Nice job man.

 

[gtr31]

Looks great Steve ..
not sure if this was asked but what is your idea on front panel

just tolex or a smoked plexiglass??

 

[Anonymous]

God, I love your amp threads. Again, another classy looking amp.

Thanks man!

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Awesome to see this kind of progress and she sure does look nice.

I question the fabricator and the silk screen designer. While it seems like an easy fix it also seems like it is a pain in your ass. I can tell with the detail of this amp that you might lean towards the perfectionist side of things. (which is a great thing IMO)

I guess what I am saying is why not go elsewhere? Maybe they had one hiccup out of a thousand so it might be no biggie and also prototype vs. final product can be fixed ect.

Maybe they are giving you the best deal that can be had but if they are not up to snuff and giving you heartache then surely they have a competitor?

Well, you have a point, except for this. This is the first product I've ever received from this fabricator. They made a mistake they shouldn't have because they should have been able to automate the design into their machine from the SolidWorks file I provided, which was correct. Not sure how it screwed up... This one thing can be fixed for production and the rest of the work is spot on. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a fabricator, who will do (relatively) small runs like I do and will be a one stop shop for fabrication, painting and silkscreening. I found one in SoCal... and I'm using him now. You'd also be shocked at how many of these guys shy away from amp builders because they get screwed over by them! Man... I've heard some stories...

For the Cherry Bomb, I used someone out of state and that is it's own nightmare.

On the silkscreen design, they got the Cherry Bomb perfect. I don't know how they screwed it up, but I just got back from the wood shop doing my head cases and we've worked it out. I feel I was VERY explicit with the designer, but he screwed up. I think they deserve another chance....

This is really why you do prototypes in the first place... working out the kinks...

Either way it looks good to me man, curious to hear this although I have already heard the Cherry Bomb and know it is a cool amp.

Thanks man - this one will definitely be different. Heavier...

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Looks great Steve ..
not sure if this was asked but what is your idea on front panel

just tolex or a smoked plexiglass??

There will be openings front and back that will have grills to let the amp breath... I'll post pics when they finish them up. I should have them in 2-3 weeks. They are gonna look COOL!

Steve

 

[Shawn Lutz]

It looks great, both colors. I can't decide which one is cooler as they both are.

Bummer about the silk screen and xformer hole too small. No one seems to care these days or take pride in their work....if you want it done right, you gotta do it yourself more times than not.