Picks of the Dave Hunter Two-stroke

As promised, although somewhat delayed, here are some pics of my first amp build, the Dave Hunter Two-Stroke. Click on one of the pics for a closer look at it.

This amp is based off a tweed Fender Princeton (5F2A schematic), but with a couple of changes. For one thing, there's only one input input, with the space for the second input instead used to house the boost/voice switch. The boost/voice switch is itself an addition, and accomplishes it's magic by changing the cathode bias of the preamp to one of three different values.

The two other major changes include using two 6V6s (although ran in parallel, so the amp is still single ended. There's no PI) and using two speakers, a 10" Jensen and an 8" Jensen. This is the original design of the amp that's in Dave's Book The Guitar Amp Handbook - and NOT the version currently being sold as a kit from Victoria, which uses a single 6L6 and a single 12" Jensen.

The main differences being that with being wired for 2 tubes instead of one, you can still use a single 6L6 with the amp (or a few other tube configurations for that matter), but are not limited to single tubes. Having two independently wired speakers allows for multiple impedance/cone combinations for achieving the sounds of different tweeds, or a blend of the two - although during the short time I had the amp I tended to just have them both going as it generated more moving air and therefore more volume. I followed the original plan of the amp mainly because i wanted to follow the book to the letter and learn, but in retrospect I probably should have used the single 12", or used a bigger cabinet and built it with a pair of 10"s. The 8" is a little too farty for my tastes, although everyone who heard the amp agreed that overall it sounded sweet. I do wish I had at least had the sense to record with it a little before I sold it however...

Anyway, that's my first build!