TH Black Eye (Soldano GTO) prototype build

Bummer. Just checked mine.
View attachment 29961
Just realized I got 6 of the wrong drilled boxes.
Looks like I have 8 enclosures to re-do, so I'll be needing to place a new enclosure order. I'll get them ordered now, I should have them ready to ship out in a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience everyone 😕
As someone who builds a lot of tube amps I'd be a little concerned at running a ribbon cable right on top of a tube! Don't you worry about melted insulation or noise?

BTW I think you have done an incredible job - I'm super impressed and might just buy a PCB when I have more time. Or I might wait until you do a Badcat Two-tone tube overdrive. :) Mercury Magnetics do an AC transformer for a Matchless Hotbox which is almost identical...
These are preamp tubes, not power amp tubes, they don't run very hot. I'm not worried at all. I've done a Matchless Hotbox clone (I think I still have my personal unit somewhere), but I discontinued it as it didn't sell well enough for me to justify the time it took to keep the design updated. I don't deal with transformers and line voltage though, I exclusively use 9-12VDC inputs through an SMPS for pedals. It saves money, saves space, and I believe you shouldn't need a separate power supply for just one pedal.
 
Looks like I have 8 enclosures to re-do, so I'll be needing to place a new enclosure order. I'll get them ordered now, I should have them ready to ship out in a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience everyone 😕.
@vigilante398 You don’t need to send me another box, I will drill the side holes and find a clever way to plug the extra top. Feel free to kick back a few bucks to my PayPal if you like. Order #1349.


In regards to heat and that ribbon cable placement, I remember using the ART MP tube pre decades ago when I first started getting into recording and those never got hot at all, and were cram packed in little foot-pedal like enclosures - at the time I didn’t know any better… - but they never got even warm let alone hot. Since the black eye is all about gain I don’t think noise would be that much of a concern, but I still might run some spaghetti wires vs having a tube that close to a ribbon.
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I just put this together so I obviously haven't had a chance to order it and test the fit, but this should be good for the Black Eye drills. I'm still new to Tayda's drill setup so I haven't played with rounding off the ends of the vent slots yet, but I also kind of dig the sharp look.


EDIT: to clarify my statement of "should be good", I scanned one of the boxes I had milled then imported the scan to Coreldraw and overlaid the CNC file over the scan and plotted the coordinates in there then moved them into Tayda's tool. A bit tedious, but seems to give workable results.
 
Alright, I got a big order of 1590BB in today so I'll get going on replacement boxes for those that I messed up, should ship out sometime this weekend.

On that note the restock batch of Black Eye PCBs I ordered have been shipped and should be here early next week.
 
I went over the board looking for any shorts but didn’t find any. After I got it mounted back up it started working right so who knows lol. There is still a little squealing if the gain is turned up all the way and the volume is at unity. Backing off of the gain a little takes care of the squealing with no noticeable change in tone so I’m guessing it’s normal.

Now that the squealing is gone and it’s being powered correctly it sounds amazing!
Hrm, I'm glad you got yours working. Mine squeals with the gain past noon and I've tried all the suggestions above. I'm using a one Spot adapter. I'm stumped on this one.
 
They are new JJs from the build doc link. 4 tubes in all combinations same results. I'll strip it out and start my first proper troubleshooting thread! I'm scared as frick to open it up. 🤣
As vigilante pointed out, Only handle with one hand with plug removed with a non conductive probe!!!!
 
As vigilante pointed out, Only handle with one hand with plug removed with a non conductive probe!!!!
For shits & giggles, you could try 12AU7's, 12AT7's, 12AY7's or Ecc80 equivalents????
I tamed my Sib Cuda down with 12AT7's as I didn't need all that gain with 12AX7''s!!!
 
Quick question: C1 in the build doc and the link provided in the doc is for a 10uF 250v. But the board shows 10uF 400v. Which one is correct? Will the 250v be maxed out? Apologies if this has already been asked. @vigilante398
 
Quick question: C1 in the build doc and the link provided in the doc is for a 10uF 250v. But the board shows 10uF 400v. Which one is correct? Will the 250v be maxed out? Apologies if this has already been asked. @vigilante398
I'm curious too coz the 10uf 400v from Tayda is 20c & what I would prefer to use!?
It's the same diam but 3mm longer????
 
Quick question: C1 in the build doc and the link provided in the doc is for a 10uF 250v. But the board shows 10uF 400v. Which one is correct? Will the 250v be maxed out? Apologies if this has already been asked. @vigilante398
C1, the 10uf cap. Is that cap ok at 250v rating with ~245v plus heat happening? Should I derate that cap more or is it going to be ok at 250v?

vigilante398:​

Should be fine at 250V, that's what I always use. The heat shouldn't be enough to derate to unsafe levels.
 

vigilante398:​

Should be fine at 250V, that's what I always use. The heat shouldn't be enough to derate to unsafe levels.
Sorry for not getting to this sooner. That's correct, 250V is fine, but 400V is also fine if you have it on hand as they are the same diameter (at least at Tayda). I can tell anyone interested how to mod the power supply to 350V instead of 240V, in which case you would need a 400V cap. But if you're building as-is per the design, a 250V cap is sufficient.
 

vigilante398:​

Should be fine at 250V, that's what I always use. The heat shouldn't be enough to derate to unsafe levels.
I knew I saw something about this but this morning when I looked at the board and saw 400v I thought I miss ordered with the 250v
 
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