turretboards parts

[Cole]

So i'm thinking of taking the easy road and buying all the components from turretboards

and putting them in. I was wondering how much the gain increase with the marshall is. I

like the amount of gain the stock Vj (V3) has but i want the vintage marshall sound. also

how bright and gainy does the vox make it. My fav amp to play through at my GC is a vox

AC15 but it is a little bright. I don't know which to try. i love playing through voxes but

all my fav bands use marshalls. I like both. opinions please.

[TWANG]

when I crank the tweed tone wide open on my marshall turret board amp, it's way the heck too bright for most settings if not all.

I can't think of a time I do that.

 

Never done a voxy mod since I get so many highs out of this I don't feel I need it.

[layboomo]

Hi Cole, I'll give you my $.02 on the voxy vs marshall modded valve jr since I've done both several times. The bright quality of the voxy mod which gives it that chimey tone can also choke out too many lows for some people(me included). I usually adjust the voxy cap value to get back some of those lows. As Twang has pointed out the marshall mod with a tone control should be plenty bright for anybody IMHO. There is also a misconception that buying a turretboard is the "easy" way out to mod a valve jr. It still requires soldering and the ability to follow a schematic and layout. The SAME quality tone can be achieved from a modded PC Board as a turretboard and Much less expensively. I just don't what you to think the turretboard drops right in without soldering....it doesn't. We stress Safety First when working on tube amps.....and it's no joke! There are high voltages present that can kill so if you are not comfotable working around those voltages....Don't. The best thing to do is read as much as you can to get familiar with the basic circuit and the best place to do that is in the FAQ section over at sewatt.com.

[Cole]

instead would it be easier to put in a bitmo spanky kit and do the british version (kranky

i believe). I don't know if i want to overhaul the whole thing just yet as i like how it sounds

stock (V3 head) but i know it could sound better easily. Another thing when i get the bitmo

i will buy the tubes on the tubestore website (Tung-Sol 12AX7 and JJ EL84) and put the tubes

from my head in my V1 combo that i'm trying to sell to get a V3 combo to mod more than my

head to get comftorable modding.

[Eracer_Team]

turret board does sell a board that will fit the old stand-off locations and tube location of Rev1 chassis but maintains all the same traits as the rev2 turret board. I know I have one (but like was said; there is a little bit of work to do before you can get it running).

If you have a Rev1 combo (a real rev1 combo) then a turret board is an option over ‘fixing’ some of the deficiencies in the rev1 board.

You may in fact have a rev2 board in your combo which brings around the fact that a little reading can get you a long way on it without resorting to buying a rev3 combo/head.

Reading the fact that you would be interested in getting the Bitmo products leads me to believe that you wish to work on your own amp (or at least get someone that can work on you amp.) This would put you in the category of “would-be” modder; safety rules apply even to those of us that have had our fingers in the box for some time.. we still can get zapped the same as a novice (dead is still dead).

The Bitmo products have been around for some time and Bruce has contributed to this and other forums for a long time. We as a group respected Bruce by not directly disclosing how he achieves his mod’s

But; If you search here and at sewatt you will see that Bruce has released at least one of his tone controls to the public. And with a little more reading you will find the other controls and more that don’t have jazzy names to them but can tune the amp any way you wish.

 

Are you sure that you have a ‘real’ rev1?

if you are not sure how to proceed, I would recommend not doing anything until you read some more of the past post and some of the links in the VJ 101 sticky note at the top, even if you don't want to attempt anything. nothing beats information.

[Cole]

I'm pretty sure it is a V1(04066217). it only has a 4ohm output and it sounds significantly

worse than my V3 head and cab. if it is V2 what would i need to do to get it up to par with

my V3. I would rather just sell it and get a V3 combo. I am going to order the bitmo spanky

(british version) tungsol 12AX7 and JJ EL84 for my head. this is all the modding i will do for

a good while. then if i can get a V3 combo i will mod it more with a spanky (the fender version)

and maybe a tone control and a gain control. I want the combo to be fendery clean and the head

I will use with my attenuator to be marshally or voxy for my dirty tones. then after i am more

comftorable inside the amp from doing the combo i may add a tone and gain control to the

head also.

[Eracer_Team]

Tricky on just the s/n Cole; probably a rev1, Does your combo have the black lines running mid-face plate through the center of the input and volume, or do you have the Valve Junior name and black graphic lines running across the top?

if the graphics runs center of the volume and input it is truly a rev1.

 

Tough call to sell a Rev1 to gain funds to buy a rev3; only 1 rev1 on fleabay right now for $58usd... since you already have a rev3, not sure why you want another stock rev3 with just a mod or two...

 

Sounds like if it was me I'd keep it and use it as a learning too, since you have a good rev3 head and speaker to play with.

Just my 2cents

[layboomo]

As ET said if it's a true ver 1 it may be better as a learning tool....those things hum like a bastard too! AC heaters on a pc board are the reason. You'll know it by the hum if it's ver 1.

[Cole]

I know i'm ordering the tubes and the spanky for my V3 head. How would i get the V1

combo up to par with the V3. what are the essential mods to do for now. one i need to

do which i've heard is easy is add the 16ohm output. what else is essential for the V1.

On the combo there are 2 lines running through the valve junior name at the top not

through the volume control. To my ears it doesn't hum that bad unless it is sitting next

to the head when both are on but i'm sure thats common. V1 or V2???

Also should i put the spanky and new tubes in the combo if it is V2 because i like th head

as is i just know it could be better.

Thanks!

[bluefoxicy]

Honestly? Just order a board from WTA/TurretBoards, with V1 layout, and replace the existing board, get new components too. Replace the OT too, with a Hammond 125DSE (ESE if you want massive clean headroom). Drill 2 more holes (titanium boride coated bits) in the back and add 2 jacks, 8 and 16 ohm wired (simple enough, wires are color coded and the ground goes to the black wire). The OT will get you beyond V3 spec; you can build the board stock.

 

This will cost you roughly $40 (OT) + $42 (board) + $42 (components) == $122, plus shipping ($15 overall in the end). That's the cost of a stock V3 and you're not getting more than that for selling your V1. Sell the original board and OT on ebay if you want, maybe you can get $15-$20 for each. You'll come off with a thick plexiglass board, better components, better layout, and better OT than a V3 stock.

 

I would use double turrets rather than eyelets, but that's me. Also, I advise you to not use the layout they give you to spec; instead of soldering R1 to preamp 2, solder it to R2/input. That means, instead of as shown below, connect the side of R1 meeting R2 and pin 2 to the side of R2 that meets the blue wire:

 

http://www.turretboards.com/layouts_schematics/vjr/marshallized_mod.pdf

 

Gil earlier recommended grounding R16 and R17 to the Cathode, rather than the ground shown there. I like this, but I recall reading something about failure cases from shorting the filaments to the cathode (it's not a short, it has resistors between; still...). I also like to ground the input jack to C3- (C4- is the same joint), isolate from the chassis if possible.

 

You may, of course, build your amp any way you want; but if you plan to mod it, you will probably destroy the stock board fighting with the epoxy or just find it far easier to use a fresh board. The WTA/TB boards use a physical layout that minimizes inter-component noise (Maxon AD-9 pedals use a similar layout methodology for the same reason) and are easy to solder around on repeatedly without destroying them. The Hammond OT uses better materials and more metal than a V3 stock, so distorts less.

 

Also WTA lets you buy individual components instead of their VJ kits, so if you want to plan a specific mod then go for it.