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

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11/13/1999 1:30 AM

MJ Harnish

Question for Dr. Z (opinions on caps, etc.) Mike,   You have the reputation of having done quite a bit of experimenting with various components to find the right combo for each amp. I was wondering if you could fill us in on your thoughts, opinions, or experiences on components.     More specificially:   1) Resistors: MF, CF, or CC?     2) Caps: various flavors of OD, oil caps, Polyprop., etc.?     3) Wire: Solid or strand?     We seem to discuss this stuff quite a bit around here and everyone's got a different opinion, but I thought it would be interesting to see what the Dr.'s opinions were...     Thanks.     MJ

 

11/13/1999 4:41 AM

DR.Z

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 7:22 AM
MJ Harnish	Thanks for the insights! I've always marvelled at the pictures of your amps' layouts; nice and neat. :O)     It's interesting that you stick mainly to CF resistors since there's so much hype about CCs being "it." I'll admit that I bought into it at first but now what I mainly find is that CC's are just noisy...     MJ

 

11/13/1999 10:38 AM
Tracy	Dr. Z   Is the solid core wire you use tinned, or is it solid copper. I would like to find some good tinned solid wire if you know of any brands.     thanks, Tracy

 

11/13/1999 6:12 PM
Daver	Re: Question for Dr. Z (opinions on transformers.) DR.Z   Thanks for posting. It's great to be able to quiz one of the "big guys." What are your thoughts one OT design? Do you prefer paper insulation, bobbin or no bobbin, interleaved or not, etc.? Thanks again!   Daver

 

11/13/1999 6:22 PM

Trace

Re: Question for Dr. Z (opinions on caps, etc.) quote: "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."     I completely agree with everything else you said but I have never though to try oil caps like this. I'm not a fan of the Zizz or "hair" either. I'll give this a whirl! Is there any specific brand that sounds better than another to you for this application?     Thanks Dr. Z   Trace

 

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