Progress Report

[Paul Birkeland]

Hello Smash Customers!

We plan to begin shooting the manual for the Smash tomorrow or Monday (depending on when the chassis plate for the manual arrives).

The manual shooting will progress to a point, then we'll be waiting for a board order to arrive, at which point we can wrap up the manual.

-PB

 

[mpeg2]

Paul: in the past, when I built BH projects, I got a soft copy of the manual to print and read through in preparation for building the kit when it arrives. For those of us that have preordered, is there any way to get an advance copy of the manual when it stabilizes?

Rich

 

[Doc B]

Hi Rich,

The manual is pretty much the very last thing to be completed, that is to say just about the minute the manual is complete we will be shipping those orders.

 

[mpeg2]

Thanks - worth a try.

I can still work on making a base & turn some knobs in the interim.

  Rich

 

[Cleet]

Doc

Is there anyway to get the base and the chassis plate out earlier? I prefer to paint the chassis and always tend to screw it up as I am way too impatient to start assembling.

I have found this super cool red glitter paint - "Cherry Bomb" by Krylon that I would like to use. Yeah I know ...  :

I'm thinking it's probably going to beefit from a metal primer and possibly a clear coat afterward.

And then the base so I can punch a couple of holes (before paint) to screw down the chassis onto the base.

Regards
Cleet

 

[fullheadofnothing]

No. The more complications added to shipping, the longer it takes for everyone, especially on the first run of a kit. At this point we don't even know what the last piece to roll in will be, but chassis plates are a strong possibility. In other words, we might ship your plate the day it comes in, or a full kit the next day, but while packing a run of many other customers kits, and add the complexity of packing yours different from the rest.

 

[Grainger49]

    .  .  .    I have found this super cool red glitter paint - "Cherry Bomb" by Krylon that I would like to use. Yeah I know ...  :    .  .  .   

Cleet

That sounds too cool.  I don't know what I'll paint but I have to make a trip to Home Depot now.

 

[Doc B]

Guys and gals we really appreciate the enthusiasm to get going on this new kit. Since day one at Bottlehead we have tried to keep our customers in the loop about new developments as they happen, and over the years we have worked hard to speed up the product development cycle to keep the time from the announcement of a new product to delivery as short as possible.

When a new kit starts packing we have to be extra careful to make sure we don't leave something out. And so we set up those first kits to go out all together and very carefully double check against our bill of materials and brand new packing list. That way, in the best case everyone gets a kit exactly as we planned, and at worst we have maybe a simple assembly manual typo or a part adjustment that we can easily take care of in as expedient a way as possble.

So please bear with us just a little longer while the four of us trade our daily production and our new product developent hats back and forth for a couple more weeks to get this puppy out to everyone as efficiently as we can.

 

[Cleet]

    .  .  .    I have found this super cool red glitter paint - "Cherry Bomb" by Krylon that I would like to use. Yeah I know ...  :    .  .  .   

Cleet

That sounds too cool.  I don't know what I'll paint but I have to make a trip to Home Depot now.

Hey Grainger, be sure to check out "Bronze Blaze" and "Shappire Shimmer"! LOL.

 

[pred]

Hello Bottlehead,

Any ideas when can we expect the package in the post? 1month since order seem like the ethernety 

Regards,
Pred

 

[fullheadofnothing]

The manual is being wrapped up. I will start kitting bags for the first run today or tomorrow. We are still waiting on chassis panels before we can ship any. Additionally we have several backordered items for this kit. We always ship in the sequence that orders are received. In other words, the early guys will ship first. I believe parts on hand will get the ones ordered over the first weekend out as a first batch (i.e. if your order date is April 21 or prior), playing catchup on later orders as our backorders come in.

As for the wait time, we are actually doing quite well. Dan estimated 6 weeks on April 18. 6 Weeks from then would be next Friday, May 30. We will almost certainly ship out the first kits on the day the chassis panels arrive. My hope is that will be before next Friday, but it is somewhat beyond my control.

I have attached the picture of the bottom side of the completed preamp. We haven't had this shot before as there were some key differences between the prototype and the one built for the manual.

 

[mcandmar]

I like the little filament supply PCB, neat idea

 

[Brent]

Excellent! That looks like it will be a pretty straightforward build. I am looking forward to getting my kit, whenever it it ships.

 

[marantzfan]

The manual is being wrapped up. I will start kitting bags for the first run today or tomorrow. We are still waiting on chassis panels before we can ship any. Additionally we have several backordered items for this kit. We always ship in the sequence that orders are received. In other words, the early guys will ship first. I believe parts on hand will get the ones ordered over the first weekend out as a first batch (i.e. if your order date is April 21 or prior), playing catchup on later orders as our backorders come in.

As for the wait time, we are actually doing quite well. Dan estimated 6 weeks on April 18. 6 Weeks from then would be next Friday, May 30. We will almost certainly ship out the first kits on the day the chassis panels arrive. My hope is that will be before next Friday, but it is somewhat beyond my control.

I have attached the picture of the bottom side of the completed preamp. We haven't had this shot before as there were some key differences between the prototype and the one built for the manual.

Is that CAT5 used for wiring the terminals?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

A particular grade of CAT5 is used for wiring to and from the RCA jacks.  It's good sounding wire, pretty space efficient, and much easier to work with than any other shielded cable we have used so far.

-PB

 

[pred]

Thanks,

Looking forward to it

BTW is it possible to know are you using 4p 3 switching positions for the selector? Furthermore,  can you share the value and the type of pots for balance and volume? I would like to get some shunts and elma's to pimp the pream righ from the start  8)

Pred

 

[Paul Birkeland]

BTW is it possible to know are you using 4p 3 switching positions for the selector? Furthermore,  can you share the value and the type of pots for balance and volume?

Yes, there is a 4P3T selector switch, a 100K logarithmic level control and 100K linear balance control.

We will also make the BeeQuiet available for this preamp as a level control upgrade.

-PB

 

[Cleet]

Is the regulator there for the filament voltage? Does it run very hot?

I'm worried my "Cherry Bomb" paint may not stand the heat all that well. Maybe I can use a heatsink rather than bolting it directly to the chassis?

Thanks
Cleet

 

[Paul Birkeland]

It dissipates under 2W during normal operation, which is somewhat toasty, but it shouldn't bother your paint.

Overheatsinking of the regulator may lead to operational issues.  The regulator actually needs to be a little toasty to operate optimally. 

 

[Cleet]

It dissipates under 2W during normal operation, which is somewhat toasty, but it shouldn't bother your paint.

Paul any concerns that the paint may inhibit sufficient heat dissipation? I'm unfamilair with the glitter style pain I am considering, but it may have insulative properties a little higher than the run of the mill indoor gloss paints.

On the whole it looks like a nice spacious layout. Lots of room for some exotic caps and a choke or two.
thanks

Cleet