A couple of years ago I had an idea to build a tube reverb without the expense of special transformers. Here in England, tube (more correctly 'valve') transformers are pretty expensive and I wanted to see if something useful could be had from easily-available parts. Here's the schematic exactly as-built. It works very well, though I've yet to sort out switching the reverb on/off. I tried the usual method of grounding the input to the recovery tube, but this introduces too much noise.
The transformer is a low-cost toroidal - just because that's what I had to hand.
The TIP35C was used because it just happened to fit the spacing of my tagboard. Only the MOSFET needs heatsinking. The tray I used is from a mid-90's Marshall and I've tried a half dozen different other types and they all worked well. I'm not sure if the circuit will drive a Fender-type low-impedance tray, but the drive from the MOSFET is very strong.
I know there are lots of design flaws, and room for improvement, but it works much better than you'd expect.
Here's the final build, apart from finishing the case off;
The transformer is a low-cost toroidal - just because that's what I had to hand.
The TIP35C was used because it just happened to fit the spacing of my tagboard. Only the MOSFET needs heatsinking. The tray I used is from a mid-90's Marshall and I've tried a half dozen different other types and they all worked well. I'm not sure if the circuit will drive a Fender-type low-impedance tray, but the drive from the MOSFET is very strong.
I know there are lots of design flaws, and room for improvement, but it works much better than you'd expect.
Here's the final build, apart from finishing the case off;
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