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previous: MJ Harnish Mike, You have the reputa... -- 11/13/1999 1:30 AM

Re: Question for Dr. Z (opinions on caps, etc.)

11/13/1999 4:41 AM
DR.Z	Re: Question for Dr. Z (opinions on caps, etc.) MJ, Let me begin by saying, their is no magic componant that's going to turn a poor design into a classic. I really don't buy into alot of the hype that a certian type of part, wire, pot, or tube is the holy grail. If you have seen the inside of my amps you will see a large variation of componat types. When building a mass produced product one must take into concern, safe engineering practices. I use flame proof metal film high wattage resistors in my power supplies. In my reverb sections I use Metal film 1/2 watters for low noise. Generally I like 1 watt Carbon Film for most other applications. I find that Carbon Comps have a nice responce as bias resistors in low voltage applications, and I do prefer then as slope resistors. I try to attack each section of a design and optimize that certain circuit. As for caps I use the same thinking, I like polyester film caps for there slower responce in tone stacks, polyprops for input stages for their faster or more dynamic responce. I use oil filled in the 66's finals, because I found they reduced the ZIZZ or hair on the notes when the amp was max'ed, really smoothed the drive signal out. If I want zizz I'll use a Fuzz Face. As for wire I use solid core. I have heard all the talk about less phase cancellation with solid, but I have never had the time to build up an amp with stranded and one with solid and do a comparision. My experience in Electronic goes far back to the days of wire wrapped backplanes. I used the same principal with turret pins wrapping the componats leads and solid wire, then soldering only for mechanical integrity. 20 ga solid wire is great to work with allows for very neat bends and positioning, and when your trying to build an amp a day every little bit helps. DR.Z

11/13/1999 4:41 AM

DR.Z

Re: Question for Dr. Z (opinions on caps, etc.)

MJ, Let me begin by saying, their is no magic componant
that's going to turn a poor design into a classic.
I really don't buy into alot of the hype that a certian
type of part, wire, pot, or tube is the holy grail.
If you have seen the inside of my amps you will see
a large variation of componat types.
When building a mass produced product one must take into
concern, safe engineering practices.
I use flame proof metal film high wattage resistors
in my power supplies. In my reverb sections I use Metal film
1/2 watters for low noise. Generally I like 1 watt Carbon Film for most other applications. I find that Carbon Comps
have a nice responce as bias resistors in low voltage applications, and I do prefer then as slope resistors.
I try to attack each section of a design and optimize
that certain circuit.
As for caps I use the same thinking, I like polyester film
caps for there slower responce in tone stacks, polyprops for
input stages for their faster or more dynamic responce.
I use oil filled in the 66's finals, because I found they
reduced the ZIZZ or hair on the notes when the amp was
max'ed, really smoothed the drive signal out. If I want
zizz I'll use a Fuzz Face.
As for wire I use solid core. I have heard all the talk
about less phase cancellation with solid, but I have never
had the time to build up an amp with stranded and one with
solid and do a comparision. My experience in Electronic
goes far back to the days of wire wrapped backplanes.
I used the same principal with turret pins wrapping
the componats leads and solid wire, then soldering
only for mechanical integrity. 20 ga solid wire
is great to work with allows for very neat bends and
positioning, and when your trying to build an amp a day
every little bit helps.

DR.Z

Replies:

MJ Harnish Thanks for the insights! I've alwa... -- 11/13/1999 7:22 AM
Tracy Dr. ZIs the solid core wire... -- 11/13/1999 10:38 AM
Daver Re: Question for Dr. Z (opinions on transformers.) -- 11/13/1999 6:12 PM
Trace Re: Question for Dr. Z (opinions on caps, etc.) -- 11/13/1999 6:22 PM