MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
I finished the build the day it showed up in the mail.
It's always exciting to build one of @vigilante398 's tube projects. And they just keep getting better and better.
Nathan knocked another one out of the park with the Ambassador. Based on a Matchless Hotbox.
It's essentially a 2 channel preamp/overdrive and true to the Hotbox spec's the "clean" channel is an "always on" type of thing. The footswitch controls the gain channel.
You can use it as a dirt box or use it as a full preamp into a power amp or into the return loop of an fx loop.
I tried it in the effects loop return on all my amps and it seems to do better with an amp that has a dedicated master level for the output tubes. My Marshall Origin 20H has that and the Ambassador sounds pretty awesome through the EL34 power section.
It also sounds pretty killer as a standalone dirt box.
One mod that I added was a true bypass toggle so I can take the circuit completely out of the signal chain. (Many thanks to @music6000 who drew me an "idiots guide diagram".......
). It works like a charm.
The clean channel has a single control for level and it adds some nice tube warmth and sparkle. It's got a ton of output too and can drive an amp all by itself pretty nicely.
The overdrive channel has dedicated level and gain controls as well as a two band EQ.
I used JJ12AX7's. This thing freaking RAWKS!! It's got as much gain as the Black Eye but it's got a lot more low end than the BE.
So when I got the board the other day, I painted the enclosure and started working on the board as the paint was drying. Nathan has got these DIY boards really nailed and the build went so fast that before I knew it I was ready to box it. I "should" have waited a couple more hours at least but I got too impatient and very gingerly boxed it, and in the process put a bunch of fingerprint in the finish of the enclosure.....bahhhhh.
After testing it for function and playing it for a bit, I took it back apart, sanded the enclosure back and repainted it.
This is another one of those "using up the partial cans of rattle can paints on the shelf". The base coat is gold. Then I misted it with brick red, added a little blue, then a bit more gold, a bit more red, and a bit more blue. Then topped it off with a clear gloss. Then I let it dry well this time
Turned out a pretty interesting color.
For the demo I used my red strat with the latest pickup configuration that I posted about here.
Thanks @vigilante398! Another great project!
It's always exciting to build one of @vigilante398 's tube projects. And they just keep getting better and better.
Nathan knocked another one out of the park with the Ambassador. Based on a Matchless Hotbox.
It's essentially a 2 channel preamp/overdrive and true to the Hotbox spec's the "clean" channel is an "always on" type of thing. The footswitch controls the gain channel.
You can use it as a dirt box or use it as a full preamp into a power amp or into the return loop of an fx loop.
I tried it in the effects loop return on all my amps and it seems to do better with an amp that has a dedicated master level for the output tubes. My Marshall Origin 20H has that and the Ambassador sounds pretty awesome through the EL34 power section.
It also sounds pretty killer as a standalone dirt box.
One mod that I added was a true bypass toggle so I can take the circuit completely out of the signal chain. (Many thanks to @music6000 who drew me an "idiots guide diagram".......
). It works like a charm.The clean channel has a single control for level and it adds some nice tube warmth and sparkle. It's got a ton of output too and can drive an amp all by itself pretty nicely.
The overdrive channel has dedicated level and gain controls as well as a two band EQ.
I used JJ12AX7's. This thing freaking RAWKS!! It's got as much gain as the Black Eye but it's got a lot more low end than the BE.
So when I got the board the other day, I painted the enclosure and started working on the board as the paint was drying. Nathan has got these DIY boards really nailed and the build went so fast that before I knew it I was ready to box it. I "should" have waited a couple more hours at least but I got too impatient and very gingerly boxed it, and in the process put a bunch of fingerprint in the finish of the enclosure.....bahhhhh.
After testing it for function and playing it for a bit, I took it back apart, sanded the enclosure back and repainted it.
This is another one of those "using up the partial cans of rattle can paints on the shelf". The base coat is gold. Then I misted it with brick red, added a little blue, then a bit more gold, a bit more red, and a bit more blue. Then topped it off with a clear gloss. Then I let it dry well this time
Turned out a pretty interesting color.
For the demo I used my red strat with the latest pickup configuration that I posted about here.
Thanks @vigilante398! Another great project!
