Bottlehead Crack build log: Completed



Bottlehead Crack build log: Started building

I got sick of trying to figure out a powder coater and trying to find a mill, so I just started assembling last night.  I spent about 6 hours putting it together.  I was so tired when I was finished I could barely keep my eyes open or even mentally focus to find a power cord.  The only thing I didn't finish was wiring in the power button.  When I fired it up the tubes glowed, but no LEDs lit up.  I looked at the schematic and figured that there was no high voltage being supplied to the tubes, so I tested the supply.  Nothing.  I traced my wiring and noticed that I forgot to solder the wirewound resistor lead to 13L.  I soldered it up, fired it back up, and everything lit up like it should.  I plugged in my headphones and there was a pretty loud hiss going on, but after a minute it quieted down completely.  It sounds slightly better than before due to the Speedball.  It's been months since I've heard it, so it's impossible to be certain what difference it made.  I only got to snap one picture of a bunch of stuff mounted to the top plate.  I ran out of #4-40 torx screws, so I am going to wait until I receive the rest of them to take the final pictures.  I regret going with this silver-plated stranded wire.  Even tinned, it was a pain in the ass to wrap around terminals.


Bottlehead Crack build log: PCB mounting

I went ahead and made an order to McMaster-Carr yesterday and I got my hardware today.  Part of the order was to replace the standoffs that came with the Speedball to hex-shaped jawns.  The ones from the Speedball I drilled out and turned into the short spacers you see between the PCB and transformer bracket.  Now all that awaits is trying to find a powder coater with the color I want and someone who will let me use a mill with my bit for a few minutes.


Bottlehead Crack build log: End mill

7mm end mill for the Neutrik indent.  7mm is the exact radius of the corners.


Bottlehead Crack build log: 9-pin CNCed bracket

I got the tube socket bracket from the machinist and polished it a little.  It was machined by Accurate CNC Services in Idaho.


Bottlehead Crack build log: Speedball assembly complete

I got the board in the mail yesterday.  I really enjoyed putting this together, and I was skeptical of the posts for the heat sinks being able to be soldered.  I also took a picture of the on/off circuit PCB and the Alps PCB I made.