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Greetings!
#1
Greetings everyone,

Name is Yann, french canadian from some lost city in the (relatively) northern part of Quebec. I'm a mining technician specialised in CAD modelisation and planning and I currently work in a gold project in Nunavut (fly-in / fly-out on a 14/14 schedule). Been playing guitar for a little over 10 years, mostly in metal bands but have failed to even release a single record.


Now as far as amp build goes, I'm an hobbyist with very little background in electronics. I bought my first kit in 2012, a Weber 8CM100 kit, and learnt everything by readings various books (I own some but not all of TUT books) and youtube video (Uncle Doug to name one of my favorite). It took me 2 years to complete this first amp, used it for a while with my band and helped the other guitarist who bought a Weber Halle at the same time I got my 8CM100 to get his amp to work too. So far, here's a list of the amps I've built or rebuilt:

- Weber 8CM100 (rebuilt from scratch, added a clean channel and extra gain stage, master volume, depth control and shitload of switches)
- Weber Halle (added a PPIMV)
- Weber 6M45P (added a PPIMV, Plexi/JCM switch)
- '73 Traynor Bassmaster (rebuilt from scratch, amp was in a real bad shape)
- Bruce Egnater's 50w Boutikit (stock)
- Ceriatone HRM100 MKII (added LP's Master Volume, external HRM tone stack mod)
- London Power 3 Channels (current project)

So thats that, I've also built a couple of pedals and put together 2 guitars from kits. I really enjoy building stuff, but I can't really say that I'm an expert when it comes to the theory around amplifiers, I learn what I need when I need it and go with the flow I guess.

Cheers!
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#2
Hi Yann

With all those amps it is important to power them up regularly to keep the electrolytic caps healthy. Electros are formed by voltage and need regular application of voltage to continue life as a capacitor.

Note that it is NEVER of benefit to use a higher-voltage-rated electrolytic cap than is needed by the circuit. If you place a 400V cap in a 50V circuit, over time that cap reforms to be good for 50V. Maybe it was what you had at the time? If later you need a high-voltage cap for a new circuit and pull this one out, you MUST start up the new circuit with heavy current limiting or the cap will fail. At this point in its life it behaves like a 50V cap and must be reformed to its original rating.

Note that you cannot do the opposite, trying to reform a 50V-rated cap to 450V.

The "NEVER" above refers to voltage and reliability benefits. Sometimes you might choose a higher-voltage cap because its physical size provides a different sonic signature than a smaller cap with appropriate voltage rating.

Have fun
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A warm welcome to tube amp modding fans and those interested in hi-fi audio! Readers of Kevin O'Connor's The Ultimate Tone (TUT) book series form a part of our population. Kevin O'Connor is the creator of the popular Power Scaling methodology for amplifiers.
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