My IronHorse amp build is on the bench

MadAsAHatter

MadAsAHatter

Well-known member
Key started working on my amp build about a week or so ago and sent me some progress pictures. I'm really getting excited now & can't wait until it's finished.
If anyone's interested here's a link to the website:

https://ironhorseamps.com/

In this pic mine's the one in front just being started.
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Start of the board & transformers
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Board, Transformers and other components mounted.
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I decided I wanted to pitch in and be part of the build so I'm making the headshell myself. I still need to layout & cut where the top vents will go, attach the bracing and drill a few more pilot holes. After that I can start covering it.

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I've progressed a little further on the head shell and started wrapping it a few days ago. I get a couple of hours in the afternoon to work on it so I've only gotten the sides done. I should be able to get the rest of the main shell this weekend. I'm waiting until I get the amp before I finish the front face. I don't want to have it all done up only to find out I mis-cut the opening.

A little more work has been done on the amp, but Key's attention got diverted to troubleshooting something that sounded off with a build he's finishing up to donate to the Alice Cooper Charity event. I can't bitch too much that I got slightly bumped for charity though.
Key did tell me that he has let one of the guys (Diego) he's been training take the lead on my build while he watches over. So all the wiring in the pictures is his work. I think he's doing well for a trainee... A hell of a lot better than I could do.

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I finished up wrapping the main part of the head shell not long after the previous update, but apparently forgot to post pictures. I also made a bar to go across the back side and protect the tubes. All that's left to do on the shell is cut the opening in the face and cover it. Like I mentioned before I won't do that until I have the amp so I can make sure all lines up properly.

The amp is nearing completion also. I added a couple of weeks to the build time when I asked about making other things foot switchable halfway through the build. Key was able to do it but had to put in a little extra work to incorporate the extra relays. He sent a picture yesterday of the insides. He said all that's left was a couple of wires to solder, give it a final once over before a test run, and wait for the face plates to come back from the print shop.

Needless to say I'm full of anticipation.

Here's the shell fully wrapped.

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The amp as of yesterday with knobs test fit.

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And a rendering of the front plate.

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Congrats! Very cool choice of tolex. And nice work on the headshell too.
Looking forward to seeing the finished result. :thumbsup:
 
What are the details on this amp? Like what is it similar to?

Your tolex job looks killer!
 
Thank you for the compliments on the tolex. I was a bit nervous doing the 2 tone worrying the cuts would be all jagged and sloppy where the ends meet. I surprised myself with how well it came out. All the seams are straight and tidy.

Devin said:
What are the details on this amp? Like what is it similar to?
Click to expand...

As far as what this sounds similar to, I won't be able to fully answer that until I have the amp in hand and can reference it to something. Overall the core sound for the Copperhead is 70's to 80's British/Marshall. The clips on his home page are of the Copperhead. It a combo of his Heritage (clean Fender) and Prophet (hot-rodded Marshall) designs. Key described it as being able to go anywhere from near pristine clean to melt your face off distortion. Depending on what you request he said the amp can be geared more in either direction. I asked for mine to have the vintage British mid range punch that could cover mostly 80's type hard rock, thrash, & power metal but also push into more modern metal territory.

For the specs in no particular order:
  • Single channel path switching
  • 40 watts, 2- EL34's 3- 12AX7's and Schumacher transformer
  • Gain & volume for both clean and dirty paths
  • High voltage effects loop that can be jumpered for a 6db boost
  • Standard Bass, Middle, Treble EQ
  • A Brite cut knob on the power section... It was described as at 10 it like it's not in the circuit and lets the highs run through. You roll them back to taste as opposed to a presence knob where you boost them.
  • Master output - He said it's not actually a master volume. I don't know the technical details of how it works, but Key said it will affect the touch sensitivity depending on how it's set. The schematic shows it placed post phase inverter.
  • 4 gain stages
  • 2 switches that toggle (I forget exactly what) to kick in a boost in the first 2 gain stages. Or one may be a boost and the other brings in the 4th gain stage. I need to double check on that. (labeled Rock & Crunch on mine)
  • Toggle for mid frequency & a bit of gain boost (labeled boost)
  • Toggle for a cathode capacitor for a boost and added clarity on the high end (labeled Edge)
  • Since I hardly ever play full clean I also requested for a tweak the clean path gain structure to not clean up all the way. To have it start somewhere at a dirty blues sound that could clean up a little with the guitar volume.
A couple of other options that are available that I didn't include on mine
  • Pentode/Triode mode switch
  • Resonance control
  • Can be fitted for 6L6
  • Pre EQ tone control
  • Other tweaks such as changing component values that would affect overall sound.

Lastly Key said since it can be fairly customizable if in the first couple of months you're not fully satisfied with the sound you can send it back to him for tweaks and adjustments with no charge (unless it becomes a major overhaul).
 
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That tolex is great, looks killer, really like it. Just two notes. I have mentioned some probably not the best soldering already on the second pic, if resolution allows me to judge, but I could be wrong. And I would check the front panel design. Some texts are misaligned (i.e. Lead Clean), green lines not centered on other objects... Needs review, as it is visible already on smaller resolution.
 
mcstinger said:
That tolex is great, looks killer, really like it. Just two notes. I have mentioned some probably not the best soldering already on the second pic, if resolution allows me to judge, but I could be wrong. And I would check the front panel design. Some texts are misaligned (i.e. Lead Clean), green lines not centered on other objects... Needs review, as it is visible already on smaller resolution.
Click to expand...

One of Key's trainees, Diego is doing the bulk of the work so some of the solder joints may not be 100% on point in that picture. Key has already said he would go back through and clean up any soldering as necessary when he does his final inspection.

When I first talked with Key about building he told me Diego had been with him for 4-5 months, was progressing really well, was at the point to take the lead on a build under supervision. He asked me before hand if I was okay with that before it was started and would make sure all was up to spec before the amp was sent out. For someone still learning it looks pretty good; for sure much better than any work I could do. If it were me, it would be a big rats nest of wires and solder everywhere. :LOL:

Some things are misaligned on that plate image because I accidentally posted a draft version without realizing until you pointed it out. This is the right one with everything lined up correctly

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Well, going to be your amp :). If mine, I would check that panel again ;). It's true, that I am completely sick from seeing something a bit misaligned, lines not being horizontal, uneven distances of objects and so on.
 
motorboy1 said:
They are out of TucsonAz. Cool my state. Not alot, if any demos out there. Post some when you get it.
Click to expand...

I just finished resituating my main 412 with new speakers and bought some new mics so I'm eager to try them out with this amp. I'll definitely post some clips.

There really isn't much out there other than what's posted on his site. Key is a really cool dude though. I'm in Louisiana. He offered to send an amp to a local music store on good faith if I wanted to try one out before committing to buy. Unfortunately all we have in this area is GC so we weren't able to do that. But that offer alone gave me a good vibe that his builds should be legit. If you're interested in getting one I'm sure he'd send one out to a local music store for you to try. If you're close enough he may let you outright borrow an amp for a weekend to try.
 
@Devin I have to admit, your teeth are far better than mine :cool:

@MadAsAHatter Few imperfections here, lazy to mark them all. Line thickness, alignment, objects centering... These could be visible on real amp. I would match the colors of lines to the tolex color Edit: or knobs color. But as I wrote, it will be your amplifier.

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My build is nearing the finish line. Key decided to put a bigger power transformer & choke on it the other day. He said he wasn't comfortable with the original one that it may have been too small.

Sent me a message this morning that he fired it up and all ran good. He just wanted to do a few tweaks to the clean side and was waiting on the front & back plate to come back from the print shop.

Here's the latest pic with the larger PT.

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The amp is pretty close to 100% complete. I'm hoping it will be shipped out to me one day next week. There were a couple of delays that pushed completion date back a couple of weeks. There was an issue with the holes on the plates not lining up right and they had to be printed a couple of times. And the trainee that was building my amp apparently decided this wasn't for him and left before fully finishing up my build. So Key had to figure out where the guy left off and is taking extra time up look over everything and make 100% sure all is up to spec. The good news is all looked proper on initial inspection, turned on without an issues, and one of Key's buddies played through it a bit the other day.

Here pics of the front & back plates installed.

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