5F1 Build

[CanadianDave]

This one is still early. In fact, I haven’t started building the circuit yet.

For this amp, my inspiration is coming from Deiter Rams who used to design for Braun, and Love Hulten who designs some insane synthesizers.

I’m planning on fully building the cabinet, then letting that determine how the amp is laid out.




The cabinet is Peruvian Walnut. I’m using flat white acrylic for the panels, which will hide an aluminum chassis from Amazon.

 

[jcpst]

Oh nice! I dig the inspiration with the modular-synth-style walnut cab.

I'm getting started on my first amp build, also a 5F1. But with a 15w output transformer and a 15" Jensen.

I didn't do the cabinet from scratch. My RawCab comes friday. It's pine and I think I'm going to do a varnish instead of tweed/tolex.

 

[CanadianDave]

I’m pretty sure a psychiatrist could give me a diagnosis based on my speaker grill journey.

My first attempt was to design a jig. That was moderately successful.


The second attempt was to use a diagram and hand drill each hole. Much better.


My third and final attempt was to refine the diagram. Each hole was drilled once with a 1/6 drill by hand to make a pilot, then use a 1/4 drill bit in a drill press.

 

[CanadianDave]

Today, inching closer.




My plan is to keep the front panel as clean as possible. Pilot light, volume/ on/ off knob, and a switch that will flip the input between high and low.

As for the input jack, I want to mount that on the bottom of the left side of the cabinet. One, to make it cleaner to plug a pedal board into it, but also to help avoid tipping if this ends up being top heavy.

Long term, once this is all finished and I figure out which pedals play well with it, I want to build a matching walnut/ white acrylic pedal board with 4 pedals built into it.

 

[CanadianDave]

Wrapped this thing up on Christmas Day.

I ended up making a couple mods.

There’s a bright cap mounted on a toggle that’s hidden on the bottom of the chassis.

I’m running with a vintage 12au7 in the preamp. This thing will live in the living room, so I don’t need that much gain on hand.

The biggest mod is the mid cut. Originally I was going to have a switch for high and low inputs. I ditched the low input, and used the hole in the chassis for a framus mid cut on a push pull pot.

Pulled out, it’s classic 5f1. With the mid cut engaged, it’s a whole different amp. The first 25% not only tweets the EQ, it also has a huge impact on volume and headroom. The cut also makes it a much better pedal platform.

Lastly, a side effect of the mid cut is cutting noise. It seems to be cutting the frequencies of the 60 cycle hum and making it a much quieter amp.

 

[CanadianDave]

Here’s the final chassis.

The input is mounted to the bottom left of the cabinet, and a short patch cable connects to the actual input inside the chassis. This keeps the front panel clean, and just seems to make more sense if you’re plugged into pedals that sit on the floor

The next plan is rehousing some pedals into a matching walnut pedal console.

 

[Erik S]

That low input is a really nice design touch.

 

[Gordo]

What a great looking amp!

 

[jimilee]

Freaking killer. One question, is there a logistical reason for putting the input on the bottom of the chassis, or was it aesthetic?

 

[CanadianDave]

Freaking killer. One question, is there a logistical reason for putting the input on the bottom of the chassis, or was it aesthetic?

The actual 1/4” input is on the bottom of the chassis as close to the turret board as possible with the thought that I could minimize the leads inside the chassis and help reduce noise.

I considered it going on the back of the chassis, and that would have probably made more logistical sense, but what can I say… I tend to over think these things.

 

[swelchy]

Damn.. The talent is this group never ceases to amaze me...

 

[andare]

Dude...I am speechless. I have no speech.

 

[giovanni]

Really beautiful work man! Your design is cool!