Ashdown Peacemaker 40 rebuild/makeover

[copperheadroads]

So i replaced the blown resistor & replaced 3 of the 8 belton tube sockets that hot glue melted into them causing this Amp to have a fairly loud hum .
Now that the amp is up & & in good working condition .I've heard some say it's made in china But I can not find on it anywhere saying made in china .I't has quality parts like Belton tube sockets ,Belton reverb tank & some other quality parts . I will say it is a pretty versatile amp 3 channels ,reverb ,2 master controls ,separate EQ's on each channels ,fx loop ... I don't think absolutely shines at any one tone( Class A output what ever that means more in the vox vibe ) .kind of sterile maybe .I've tried to sell it locally but only had offers for a couple of hundred bucks .
which I'd rather keep or scrap & salvage the 4 el84's & 4 12ax7's .& maybe strip her down & use the trannys ( I don't know what brand of trannys ) & chassis & cab switches to build some sort of 40 watter using a turret board .I not totally sure if i would even go the el84 tube configuration .I have some new sovtek 5881's that a buddy gave to me . going with 2 of the 5881's (modifying the chassis for the keyed 8 pin tube socket will be fine & covering whats not used) should work for a simple tweed or marshall build .I would consider adding an fx loop & the utilizing the reverb circuit the it is probably not an absolute need .
Feel free to comment .

[copperheadroads]

I'm leaning towards taking this amp & using the existing chassis & Trannys using what i can salvage & build a Trainwreck Express clone or making a head & using either this chassis or buying a blank Hammond chassis to build it .
either way I am curious how these stock Ashdown transformers will work for the build . these were powering 4 el84's & 4 12ax7's which they would need to power 2 el34's or 5881's & 3 12ax7's

[loudthud]

The transformer should work fine with EL34, but have you considered the Trainwreck Liverpool ? The same preamp as the Express but with a quad EL84 output stage. These things have a strong tenancy to oscillate, so you better have an oscilloscope. Layout is critical, the OT better be far away from the preamp.

[copperheadroads]

The transformer should work fine with EL34, but have you considered the Trainwreck Liverpool ? The same preamp as the Express but with a quad EL84 output stage. These things have a strong tenancy to oscillate, so you better have an oscilloscope. Layout is critical, the OT better be far away from the preamp.

Thanks .I have thought about the liverpool . but i own 4 other EL84 powered amps & I'm liking the bigger glass .

[loudthud]

One of the keys IMHO to the Express is the somewhat high OT impedance of 6.6K. Not sure what the Liverpool uses for an OT but the PT is 475VCT for a B+ around +330V. My experiments with the Express indicate Ken tuned his transformer selection to the sweet spot and you really can't deviate much and get good results. If you don't know the OT primary Z, measure it.

[copperheadroads]

One thing that i just realized is I may be wrong but this thing may have DC filament instead of AC I wonder how this will effect my plans ? Is that done with a different transformer ?