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Just built a Spitfire clone from some spare parts sitting around (and some new parts, unfortunately.) I did all of the routine checks pre-power up, caught one bug where I went from memory rather than the schematic, and it just worked the first time. Awesome.
It uses a star grounding scheme, which I was a bit nervous about at first (always used buss grounding before). But the end result is extremely quiet. It also has a Master volume, and I have to admit...I like it. I can keep it at relatively low volumes and yet still get some nice breakup. No substitute for fully opening the master volume, but it's nice to have the control.
Played it at rehearsal tonight for about 4 hours. This thing is totally awesome! It has most of the dynamics of a 5E3 and even more harmonic complexity than a 5E3 has. It has a very tight response, probably due to the uber stiff power supply (5ar4 + 108 MFD of filtering + 10H choke.) It seems to have more sustain than anything else I have played. Couple that with a semi-hollow guitar and you are in controllable-feedback heaven!
I now have a dilemma, which might only be solved by running my 5E3 and the Spitfire side-by-side. This has none of the fatness of the 5E3, which I missed. But what it lacks there it makes up for in cut. I guess my next project should be a splitter so I can run em both.
Building it, I had visions of Hiwatt style wiring. In the end, it became as neat as I could manage without taking an excruciatingly long time meticulously bending each lead and wire at precise angles and so on. I took pictures, but I really kind of suck at that. One that didn't totally suck is attached. Yes, those are my feet.
After playing it, the 6G3 sounded downright trashy. Going to dismantle it and convert it to something more worthy of the iron. 5G9? hmmm....
It uses a star grounding scheme, which I was a bit nervous about at first (always used buss grounding before). But the end result is extremely quiet. It also has a Master volume, and I have to admit...I like it. I can keep it at relatively low volumes and yet still get some nice breakup. No substitute for fully opening the master volume, but it's nice to have the control.
Played it at rehearsal tonight for about 4 hours. This thing is totally awesome! It has most of the dynamics of a 5E3 and even more harmonic complexity than a 5E3 has. It has a very tight response, probably due to the uber stiff power supply (5ar4 + 108 MFD of filtering + 10H choke.) It seems to have more sustain than anything else I have played. Couple that with a semi-hollow guitar and you are in controllable-feedback heaven!
I now have a dilemma, which might only be solved by running my 5E3 and the Spitfire side-by-side. This has none of the fatness of the 5E3, which I missed. But what it lacks there it makes up for in cut. I guess my next project should be a splitter so I can run em both.
Building it, I had visions of Hiwatt style wiring. In the end, it became as neat as I could manage without taking an excruciatingly long time meticulously bending each lead and wire at precise angles and so on. I took pictures, but I really kind of suck at that. One that didn't totally suck is attached. Yes, those are my feet.
After playing it, the 6G3 sounded downright trashy. Going to dismantle it and convert it to something more worthy of the iron. 5G9? hmmm....
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