wanna see my crack?

[es347]

..sorry couldn't resist    The enclosure furnished with the kit has been painted by my Amish cabinet maker.  He also built a lovely cabinet from cherry wood.  Looks great eh?  Too bad the &%#@ thing doesn't work...

I had the plate and xfmr cap powder coated and you may notice the Neutrik jack.  If nothing else it looks cool...

 

[Paul Birkeland]

  Looks great eh?  Too bad the &%#@ thing doesn't work...

I heard a rumor that somewhere on the internet, there is a technical help forum for people who need a hand getting their kits working

(The wood/plate look great!)

 

[es347]

Grainger Morrison graciously went thru the kit after I got as far as the base kit...no Speedball...and found that one of the primary leads on the xfmr was broken.  BH replaced it and Grainger went ahead and installed the Speedball upgrade.  He had it working but when I received it today it was dead in the water.  Something must have happened in shipment.  I'll have a local tech go thru it to see what's up.  Very disappointing to say the least but Grainger was very gracious jumping in to lend a hand..

 

[mcandmar]

Love the wood base, those joints are perfect.

Your front tube isn't fully inserted by the way, in case that's your issue.

 

[es347]

..that's as far as it will go even with great...scary great, force 

 

[Doc B]

Looks like that tube socket could very well be the problem. Pull it out and inspect the holes to see if something is stuck down inside one, like maybe a little piece of wire.

 

[es347]

I straightened out a paper clip and inserted it in all the holes and two have something blocking the path.  I'd bet it's solder but it seems even though its in there contact should be made.  Besides, Grainger had it working before shipment and those holes had to have been blocked then as well...

 

[Mike B]

Clear the holes.  Don't worry about what was working when.

If the tube wont fully seat, you have a problem.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I'm sure you could send it back to Grainger and have him look it over.

-PB

 

[Grainger49]

Now that I found the new forum, It did play quite well with my, new to me, Yamaha HP-1 headset.  The bass was less than accurate because they are low impedance.  But they are all I had on hand.

If some solder wicked down and into the 9 pin socket before replacing the transformer it was re-wetting some tube pins.  But it worked before and after the Speedball upgrade, well two weeks after the Speedball upgrade.  (My fault!)

So it seems that shipping is the problem.  Two more trips won't make it better. 

I would be happy, and eager, to talk with the tech when he goes to look at it.  He's got my telephone number.

 

[Grainger49]

I got word today from the tech that the power supply resistor was not soldered.  It worked here so it must have been touching reliably while I had it. 

I replaced the transformer graciously supplied by Botthehead and it fired up and worked.  I put in the Speedball with the MJE350s in backward.  PB pointed me to this and sent replacements.  (I also seem to have allowed some solder into the 9 pin socket, it was blown out)

So I am told that this weekend it is being returned to the owner who is anxiously awaiting it.