Another Completed Crack

[EvilMose]

Hello everyone!

I recently purchased a Crack kit with the Speedball upgrade. My first experience solder slinging, and it was an absolute blast. I think I am hooked. Kind of shocked that it worked on the first attempt - this is more of a testament to the thorough, clear instructions than anything else. I also took my time and did not try to cram the build into a single sitting.

The exterior needs a coat of varnish or something; does not quite look right at the moment. But the sound is awesome!

Question about the Speedball kit - is there a guide or somesuch on how to repurpose this kit if so desired? I love it as part of the Crack, but let's say I want to build another amp requiring a CCS - I no longer see this as a standalone kit, so could you make the guide available from when there was such a kit?

Cheers!

 

[JC]

Good for you!

I know you can still buy these:

http://www.bottlehead.com/store.php?crn=224&rn=448&action=show_detail

Would they help?

 

[Paul Joppa]

Our standard PC board has morphed over the years to cover an enormous number of possible applications. That's the economics of PC boards - they will go down to a few percent of the one-off cost if you buy thousands of identical boards, so we've tried to do everything with one board.

The result is that a full manual on the applications and limitations is an intimidating task. I have several outlines and partial drafts on my hard drive, but never enough time to put it all together.

The very latest version, v4.4, is used in the Paramount "soft-start" upgrade kit, and I hope it will eventually replace all other versions as we revise the kits one by one. It has two identical sides, each with a C4S current source and a separate hybrid shunt regulator section. And it can be cut in half, which is what you see in the SEX upgrade picture (though that's actually an earlier version of the PC board).

Assuming no further unexpected changes are needed, I hope this version will be stable enough to write a manual around. Considering the labor involved, we might have to sell the manual for $100 and give away the boards with it! (that's a joke, guys  :^)