mod 102 kit decision. My first build.

[tonequester]

tonequester here.


It was rught under my nose. There is an earlier post about this $215.00 kit, by Allied Elecronics and sold by several outlets including Antique Electronic Supply(10% off this mointh). The post : MOD 102 S.E.5W. amp kit, started by Casey4s. 8-3-2011 has great pics, gives a good review, and best of all a great demo video
performed by some G.I.T. folks, who put it through a good workout, clean to just overdriven to full distortion. They used a Les Paul and a Tele, and I must say that I was truly impressed by the amps overdriven blues tone. What surprised me was the fact that they were able to get a great clean tone at considerable volume. I;ve already been advised as to the general quality of the major parts, and I'm awaiting some sample instructions at the moment. $215.00 is the best price on a Watter in the Class A,cathode biased, S.E. catagory. I think I've found my first tube amp build(kit). It ain't gonna bring the roof down, but it should be considerably louder than my HT-1R. Any replies are as always welcome. Have a "good 'un".

[tom310]

tonequester here.


It was rught under my nose. There is an earlier post about this $215.00 kit, by Allied Elecronics and sold by several outlets including Antique Electronic Supply(10% off this mointh). The post : MOD 102 S.E.5W. amp kit, started by Casey4s. 8-3-2011 has great pics, gives a good review, and best of all a great demo video
performed by some G.I.T. folks, who put it through a good workout, clean to just overdriven to full distortion. They used a Les Paul and a Tele, and I must say that I was truly impressed by the amps overdriven blues tone. What surprised me was the fact that they were able to get a great clean tone at considerable volume. I;ve already been advised as to the general quality of the major parts, and I'm awaiting some sample instructions at the moment. $215.00 is the best price on a Watter in the Class A,cathode biased, S.E. catagory. I think I've found my first tube amp build(kit). It ain't gonna bring the roof down, but it should be considerably louder than my HT-1R. Any replies are as always welcome. Have a "good 'un".

Man, what a small, small world. I was looking for someone who also built the MOD102 to see if theirs has an audible constant buzz when turned up about half way and I found your post. It's a small world because I live in Olathe. Does your MOD102 have a constant buzz? I'm assuming it's coming from the heater wiring, and I'm trying to find out if it's there with other people's builds as well.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

[tonequester]

concerning MOD 102 kit build.

Man, what a small, small world. I was looking for someone who also built the MOD102 to see if theirs has an audible constant buzz when turned up about half way and I found your post. It's a small world because I live in Olathe. Does your MOD102 have a constant buzz? I'm assuming it's coming from the heater wiring, and I'm trying to find out if it's there with other people's builds as well.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

"A man will promise you everything, and give you nothing. That's the blues." Otis Rush.
Toneuester here. Greetings tom310, pleased to make your aquaintance on the forum. I'm glad that some others are building this kit. My plan is to build one this fall or winter when the weather gets bad enough to keep me indoors. I too, researched all I could on this kit, and found it to be well regarded, and definitely the most economical 1W., Class A, S.E., cathode biased kit around. Each time I have checked, Antique Electronic Supply has had the kit on sale. I'm concerned about the hum problem, and hope to find out, if and when it is located, what the cause is. Talking about a small world, I live in Spring Hill, just about 12 miles south of Olathe, just a 1/4 mile west of 169 highway, on 199th. st. I'm in Olathe at least weekly because Spring Hill hasn't got much more than a Price Chopper, and it's the poorest excuse for one I know of. Good luck to all who try the MOD 102 kit build. I hope that any problems, tips, advice gained by the experience will be posted here, fo the benefit of all concerned. I'm glad to hear that it has a great blues tone, and that it fairs well either played clean or overdriven. I have a 1W. Blackstar HT-1R (hybrid, my third under warranty) that has been a royal pain in the A__. I do NOT know what prompted me to spend over $250.00 for an amp that is never fixed under warranty, but thrown out with the trash, and replaced. From the time one turns in the defective amp for replacement, to when one actually gets the replacement is about 2 months. In a year and a half I've has 3 such amps, and I've spent almost as much time without one, as I have had with one in my possession. The last one came complete with an unmounted speaker, and much crumbled particle board damage on the interior of the cab. I had, had enough of the "waiting game"
and Blackstars lack of concern, poor customer service, so that despite voiding the warranty, which my dealer had again redrawn for a full year, I repaired it myself. In doing so I replaced the stock speaker with a hand-built Weber, and re-tubed it with JJ gold pins, which replaced cheap Sovteks. it did have good tone from the start, and it,s better now. Hoiwever, I've learned my lesson. From now on, it's all-tube for me.
Once again, good luck with your kits and I look forward to hearing how they turned out.I plan to do the same when I begin, proceed, and complete my kit as well. Best Wishes to ALL , from tonequester.

[Chuck H]

Heater noise will be hum. A very low hum at 60Hz. Even power supply ripple sounds more like hum than buzz at 120Hz. Hiss is a byproduct of gain and heat. Hum is generally something to be diagnosed and eliminated. Hiss needs to be evaluated for severity and determined to be excessive or simply an unavoidable consequence. If hiss is excessive troubleshooting could be pursued. But buzz is nearly always electromagnetic noise getting into the amp from an outside source. Sometimes an amp will have a bad ground, poentiometer or is otherwise broken or miswired in a way that floats a gain stage. This can cause the perception of excessive buzz. But the buzz is usually a normal amount for the gain level the amp is attempting with a floating grid. Sometimes buzz can be caused by a noisy preamp tube. If the buzz is from external sources poor shielding for the amp or guitar pickups can make it unbearable.

tom310, here's something you should do. Assuming this amp has a ground fault input (grounded when the guitar isn't plugged in) you can unplug your guitar and turn the amp up to where the buzz is typically problematic. How much buzz is there now? If the buzz is now at an acceptible level then your guitar is at fault. If the buzz remains then there may be a bad tube, a ground fault in the amp, the amp may be poorly shielded or there is some source of excessive electromagnetic noise in or near your home.

[Austin]

Wouldn't it be cool to use this and intrduce your own kind of hum into the heaters on purpose? Say if you could make ac that was an octave higher than the note you were playing, and like a twelve string guitar the hum would be like the ocatve string. Then the more that the heater made you hum, the more the effect.

[Chuck H]

I think it was a post by loudthud...He reported that he tried an old, abused Bassman that had considerable intermodulation between the ripple and the signal. He said the amp seemed to "grab notes and sustain them". That sounds like Panecea to most builders and players!!! Certainly worth exploring. But how to make the effect viable for every note in every key?!? That's the problem as I see it. An amp that sounds great in A due to intermodulation, but sounds dissonant and out of tune in every other key is a one trick poney. I guess it's not THAT tough. For rock and pop we really only need to nail down the keys of A and E! I'm just not sure how to do it yet. That is, isolate the effect or otherwise make it useful rather than detrimental.?.