Thinking to dip my toes into a speedball build

[Nathan]

Hi all- happy day after Thanksgiving!

So not that I've had my Crack over 6 months, thinking of adding a Speedball. I have two reservations-

1) I like my Crack quite a bit and wondering if it's better to leave well enough alone

2) there are so many threads about problems with Speedball build problems. I'm sure it's not an inherent issue with the Speedball upgrade, but rather an issue about build technique.

#1 I need to resolve for myself, but as for #2, would appreciate some insight of pitfalls to avoid when building a speedball.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Strikkflypilot]

1) Very easy to uninstall if not to Your liking ~ 15minutes plus voltage test.

2) Check that all components are installed the right, then double check, triple etc... Also, check all soldering points for conduction.

You'll be fine! Good luck!

 

[Nathan]

Measure twice cut once- got it-

There's a "Black Friday" 15% off deal going- not adverse to saving a few bucks-

 

[Natural Sound]

From what I've read a lot of the issues have to do with the insulators that isolate the transistors on the large heat sinks. Some people have left the insulator off and it causes a short. This is because the metal tab on the transistor is electrically connected to one of the legs (the collector?) of the transistor. The other issues usually wind up being parts that are installed backwards (LED's, Transistors, diodes). If you take your time and follow the well laid out instructions you should be fine. Bottlehead manuals are excellent. But you need to follow the instructions. If you have a question along the way ask it here. And finally, don't make any assumptions.

IMO the speedball is the best upgrade for the Crack amp. Way better than any capacitor or boutique parts can deliver. Get it, you wont be disappointed.

 

[i luvmusic 2]

Read the manual first,be familiar with the parts orientations,dry fit all the components,match the pictures on the manual,double check everything then start soldering.You should be good,Good Luck! 

 

[Nathan]

Bought it, built it, liking it. I did consult the forum once as one pair of transistors did not match the instruction manual's description thus the part orientation described in the manual was not possible, but 1- the forum addressed that one part, and 2- the orientation was, at least to me, intuitive. All initial voltage checks were good.

No build issues- the instructions are easy but I always find Teflon wire to be harder to strip with my fancy auto sizing auto grabbing wire stripper. Just used razor blade on this build to strip the wire after a few failed attempts with my gizmo. I also had to redo a few wires as after soldering seems they broke off.

I did deviate slightly from the manual- I found it easier to insert the 4 wires into the main Speedball board with the board not secured to the standoffs. Once in, I screwed the board down, then soldered. I also raised the main board ever so slightly using one rubber washer on each stand off. I also found I needed to use a longer #4 machine screw at the octal position in order to engage the standoff. The 2 washers and the one screw costs a whopping 69 cents from a local hardware store. A desolating vacuum would have been very nice but the desoldering braid also worked.

The only thing I did find annoying is that things are on a smaller scale withe the Speedball boards compared to the Crack build and these 54 year old eyes don't see small things as well as they used to. When I was into coin collecting (teenager) I didn't need a magnifier to see mint marks clearly. Heck, I had no problem seeing VDB on pennies. So what I found annoying is that my eyes aint 18 any more. Oy.

 

[Paul Joppa]

I have 4 diopter close focus lenses that flip down in front of the 2 diopter reading glass part of my bifocals. Focus at 6 inches, but I can see EVERYTHING!  :^)  Old age and craftiness, you know.

 

[John EH]

And that's just it, you only read the problems here because the successful first time builders have no compelling reason to post.  Granted anyone can have technical issues but there are probably many many more successful builds than there are technical issues and if you notice on this board almost 100% of those technical issues get sorted out.

Don't be afraid at all to install the Speedball. 

 

[Nathan]

It's installed and working properly. No smoke, strange noises, excessively hot parts.

I do think a post about a succesful build is compelling as otherwise this board becomes nothong but a place to moan, groan and bitch about things.

I love reading about, say, various tubes people have found and like. I enjoy reading about what headphones work well with a Crack. I like seeing pictures of a fresh build, so much so that I am toying with the idea to buy a second base and finish it quite differently from the base I have.

There's enough crumby stuff happening in the world- let's hear about some good stuff too!