Turtlerock Forum

For me Christmas / summer break times are usually a good time to tackle some nice DIY projects..
What's currently on your bench, or on the go at your place ??? !!

(:
Be safe and enjoy, y'all.

I'm building a 2m wide timber rack shelf thing for gadgets like mixers, keyboards and drum machines..
(additional angled tiers still to come above)

Nice, well for me I'm determined to get something DIY actually damn well finished haha

So I'm starting with a Fuzz pedal, germanium transistors, salvaged cast aluminium case - got a fair bit done already but I want to see it actually looking completed, then I'll move onto bigger and better projects (which I have in the pipeline).

Of course all of this will be easier when I don't have to work on the kitchen table (which is also happening).

hehe. Great work, Richard - keen to see / hear how it turns out!

I thought all year that I'd get DIY stuff done in summer but now have a session booked for the first week of Jan then off to SA & then QLD for the rest of the month so that plans gotten blown out the window!

But hopefully going to try and get this list done soon as it's been bugging me for almost a year now:

- 4x SSL 502 & 4x SSL 552 eq's racked in a nice Huon Pine desktop box. Just have to order the balancing cards from Joe & map out the placement for it all. Have done the back I/O plate + PSU but just need to tie it all together!

- 2x 12" speaker cabs for the studio. Have 2 different styled speakers coming from a class A gent Sean Cook off this here forum which will make a great addition to the cab wall. Also I need a practice cab for home so this will suit my small mix room well!

- finally get my ass into gear and buy the parts from Mouser to start my Drip 670. This is an expensive build & super tedious so I don't expect this to be done anytime soon but I'll at least start/populate it.


Apart from that the soundtracs & neve need a recap in some areas + a 1000 other things but that's the life we lead hey

I'm gonna try to build the JLM 500 series comp after holidays. My first gear DIY project.

I just finished my Elam 251 build. Now onto my dual LA3A & 4ch API pres

Lots of things... packing 8 api312 into 500 modules and 4 other mic preamps into 500 modules, 4 discrete harrison mic preamp cards into a 1ru case, racking 3x summing amps with monitor controllers, bunch of isoboxes and an 8 way mic splitter, racking a couple of other vintage mic preamp modules, and if I get that far then I'll fossick through the parts box to see what else can be turned into something useful or something saleable.

Anybody want transformers? I have loads!

I just moved house so I'm going to be setting up a new mixing suite.
First thing is to get my HD system running again.
Then I'll hopefully get to work on my two GPultecs and possibly a pair of JLM LA500s.
Currently eyeing off the Drip BA6A PCB too as I'm wanting a VariMu soon however it's an advanced build and they may not have any in stock... any other suggestions for a thick dirty comp???

I'm looking at wiring in two more rooms to my control room, got most of the bits I need.
Modding/ repairing a bunch of CBS broadcast limiters.
Permanent cabling, mics and speaker for my stairwell echo chamber.
Modding a Yamaha Leslie type speaker for remote speed control so I can alter it from the control room.
Getting a load of Optro 7500 channels strips running.
New rack cabinets.
Air con for the control room.
More baffles.
Unfortunately (fortunately?) I am already booked for most of there rest of summer so no time for any of it!!
But I do have a vision for what it will be like when done, and it is beautiful.
Cheers, Paul

We're in the middle of renovating a house we bought a couple of months back. I have already planned out the converted garage that's about 30 sq metres that I will make my control room, although the missus has these screwed up priorities and reckons we need a bathroom and kitchen before we worry about recording......?
Lounge/dining is a big room (9.5 mtrs long) with a sloped 14 ft ceiling and a big stone fireplace about 3/4's of the way up one end dividing the space. Sounds awesome. Will be hard to fit couches in there around the kit and the hammond, but she will adjust I'm sure.

I am working on this at the moment. Should hopefully be finished in the next couple of days.

Building a chook house in between projects...based on a class A vintage design...
Just finished the first Violent Femmes record in 20 years, which kept me out of mischief on NYE too.

The Tasmanian wrote:Building a chook house in between projects...based on a class A vintage design...
Just finished the first Violent Femmes record in 20 years, which kept me out of mischief on NYE too.

Congrats on the chook house......and looking forward to hearing the new Violent Femmes record when it comes out!

+1 on looking forward to the Femmes record. Been a fan for many a year. Kudos to you Mr T!

I actually took a decent chunk of time off this year, but I did find time to slip this project in for a client in the UK.

Looks great Nick!

The Tasmanian wrote:Building a chook house in between projects...based on a class A vintage design...
Just finished the first Violent Femmes record in 20 years, which kept me out of mischief on NYE too.

What!!! That's cool they,re an old favourite band of mine I look forward to hearing it. When will it be released?

I just finished mixing yesterday, the guys want it out in a matter of weeks - vinyl and digital release.
They still have that great unmistakeable spark after 20 years.
Gordon's vocals, lyrics and performances are amazing!
Brian Ritchie's killer bass playing & hot players.
Recording was all 6 performing live in the same room - honest and full of vibe!

I'll be looking forward to that on vinyl Chris. I'm just finishing of my trio of DIY amps, the last being a 2 stage triode phono preamp with passive RIAA eq and active constant current plate loads and no negative feedback.
This is to compliment the 3.5w / channel directly heated triode class A integrated amp. 2A3 triodes driven by 12at7 triodes, CCS active loads and shottky rectifiers(very fast) oh, and no negative feedback, and an OTL (Output Transformer Less) Triode headphone amp using 6AS7 twin triode driven by 12AU7A and surprise surprise , no negative feedback.
The sound ? The most dynamic amps I've ever heard. Addictive to listen to, hours wasted relistening to hundreds of tracks and hearing definition I didn't know existed.
The headphones Sennheiser HD 250 Mk II though HD 800 would be nicer.

There is a pattern here, All triodes, active plate loads, no negative feedback,very low noise power supplies, point to point wiring.
The "black" is very black, the headphone amp in particular is quieter than any solid state amp I own. I'll post some pictures in a day or so.
And 3.5 W/ channel doesn't sound much ,but on 96dB /w speakers it's plenty loud.

Hi Alistair, I would love to hear (or not hear!?)one of those amps.
Paul

Hi Alistair, I would really like to hear these too.
3.5 watts !! Gotta love that.

The Headphone Amp in its basic form
I used valves and some parts & wiring I had and a Chassis and Transformer from the US.
There is a guy who sells kits and short form parts under the name "Bottlehead"
Worth a look if you like Tube Sound. http://www.bottlehead.com
The Other Amp I built, again using my own valves, Wiring and some other bits was a "Stereomour" integrated amp
The valves I used are from 1953,Philips Miniwatt Dual Plate 2A3 Direct Heated Triodes and a Mullard 12AT7.
These are coupled to the output transformer using a Capacitor (Parafeed) and a choke used as a Plate load.
This allows the output transformer to be smaller as you don't have core saturation problems caused by unbalanced DC on the primary.
It also improves the bass response.
They sound pretty damned amazing. I'm playing CDs off a Revox CD player using Philips TDA 1541 S1 Single Crown DAC (probably the best sounding 16Bit DAC, but that's a whole different discussion)

Nice work Alistair.

Triode headphone amp using 6AS7 twin triode driven by 12AU7A and surprise surprise , no negative feedback.

Any chance of a schematic for that one? Although it may be a bit hard finding a 6as7.

What's the HT runing at?

You can also use a 6080 tube.HT is 170V
I can't post a schematic as it is not my IP.
Kits are available from http://www.bottlehead.%20com

Alistair, I think we might have to get together for a coffee... so we can discuss secret valve business!

Chinagraf wrote:converted garage that's about 30 sq metres that I will make my control room,

Doing a very similar thing here, after realizing I'm not able to do what I want to do, paying at least $1500 in rent every month.
Mine will be a "one room tracking/mixing" scenario, but other parts of the house will be available if needed
Currently enjoying a cold one, after a day's worth of hanging plasterboard, in anticipation of the Aus open final...