Guitar Gear Forum

Only have these two pics so far. Been reading/researching things quite a bit, and it's been helping get things organized in my brain. I keep thinking I want to drill holes for the mods I'm considering (so I'm not introducing metal shavings down the road), but I'm also fairly certain I should build up the kit as-is, so I have a "known" benchmark and working unit before I start introducing new variables.





Mods I'm seriously considering (mostly output related):
* external bias test points (would really like to be able to measure plate voltage from the outside as well - is that a 'thing'? )
* bias balance pot
* Metropoulos effects loop

Mods I'm considering testing out before committing (drilling holes):
* Pentode/Triode switch
* Cold clipper cathode switch




We're gonna clean up the garage/bench areas this afternoon and get things set up so we can start building for real. Pics of the kit/parts will be posted asap.

Got a different build going for Father's Day













Pretty amazing level of detail in this thing. The guitar in the kit is a little misshapen, but it's gonna be a cool addition to my lego display. Love regressing into a kid again!!!

Regression is a lifestyle that should be thoroughly embraced!!!

Legos with your son will always be fantastic!

so much awesome up in this thread !

Wait till you see the badges I’m gonna make

Tortuga wrote:Got a different build going for Father's Day













Pretty amazing level of detail in this thing. The guitar in the kit is a little misshapen, but it's gonna be a cool addition to my lego display. Love regressing into a kid again!!!

Dude!!! I have this exact Lego Kit that a friend of mine gave me as a gift for my birthday this year! Been meaning to put it together for quite some time now.

Lego is where my amp building skills max out

Tortuga wrote:

rugbyguitargod wrote:Glad it went to a good home!! I just didn't have the time/resources to build it and a Helix LT is right up my alley! Can't wait to see the progress and who knows, maybe one day I get a chance to play it at an ampfest or something?!?!

This will happen. Let’s invade Jer’s place in NV!!!

Hell yeah! Let’s plan something.

GuitarBilly wrote:Lego is where my amp building skills max out

Yeah, at least I wont get electrocuted building the Lego amp. Or would I?

itchyfingers wrote:

GuitarBilly wrote:Lego is where my amp building skills max out

Yeah, at least I wont get electrocuted building the Lego amp. Or would I?

Gotta pay $50 for the tech to tape your sack for you beforehand

damn...that's a cool lego kit..... never would have expected them to go as far as the tubes!

I love how the rectifier tube is different from the power tubes

rugbyguitargod wrote:Dude!!! I have this exact Lego Kit that a friend of mine gave me as a gift for my birthday this year! Been meaning to put it together for quite some time now.

Get on it, Steve... no time like the present for makin' memories with your kid(s)

GuitarBilly wrote:Lego is where my amp building skills max out

Lego my eggo

...yeah, I've been waiting all day to say that one. Dad jokes 'R me

JerEvil wrote:

Tortuga wrote:

rugbyguitargod wrote:Glad it went to a good home!! I just didn't have the time/resources to build it and a Helix LT is right up my alley! Can't wait to see the progress and who knows, maybe one day I get a chance to play it at an ampfest or something?!?!

This will happen. Let’s invade Jer’s place in NV!!!

Hell yeah! Let’s plan something.

I'll start looking at my calendar. I'm way overdue for a NV trip with my GF, and late summer sounds like IT

itchyfingers wrote:

GuitarBilly wrote:Lego is where my amp building skills max out

Yeah, at least I wont get electrocuted building the Lego amp. Or would I?

Just be careful with where you put teh penor

rugbyguitargod wrote:

itchyfingers wrote:

GuitarBilly wrote:Lego is where my amp building skills max out

Yeah, at least I wont get electrocuted building the Lego amp. Or would I?

Gotta pay $50 for the tech to tape your sack for you beforehand

So... got the (real) kit out to the garage and started laying things out a bit. The kit looks great, and Steve did a great job packing/shipping it to me. Total pro job



I'm super-happy with the quality of everything I've checked out so far, and am pretty sure this is gonna be a killer build... I'm sure enough of you know me well enough to know I overthink and obsess about the craziest shit sometime, but there's one thing I'd change about the kit if I could, and seeing it this way has really got me thinking...



I think the 80s aesthetic is cool, but it's more modern than I'm really wanting - a late 70's JMP-style, which is really better suited to the dark green vintage look of my 1960AX cab

...like this:



Decided to take a long-shot tonight, and contacted Mojotone to see if there are any options available. You never know...

Got on the phone with a good guy over at Mojotone. They’re considering doing a cabinet swap. Would love for this to work out

Tortuga wrote:Got on the phone with a good guy over at Mojotone. They’re considering doing a cabinet swap. Would love for this to work out

you need to swap out the chassis too. The 800 chassis is not compatible with the JMP headshell. The power and standby switches would get covered up by the JMP baffle.

Quit fucking around and build that thing

GuitarBilly wrote:

Tortuga wrote:Got on the phone with a good guy over at Mojotone. They’re considering doing a cabinet swap. Would love for this to work out

you need to swap out the chassis too. The 800 chassis is not compatible with the JMP headshell. The power and standby switches would get covered up by the JMP baffle.

Called Mojotone - sounds like they're considering swapping out both the cabinet and chassis/panels for me. Should have this answered today, and may be getting everything I'd want for just the cost of shipping the return items to them, plus the time delay.

fretless wrote:Quit fucking around and build that thing

I'm not fucking around. This is JMP, yo - worth the wait. Hoping to have it running by the time you guys get over here next month

Already plotting everything out and reading/researching everything I can to do this right.

Welp… hammer fell on that plan… sounds like the cabinet swap is a no-go, due to possible changes since the cab was built that keep them from reselling. Oh well… they were pretty cool about the whole thing.

So, I’m just gonna start building…

…and may build my own cabinet later down the line. Been wanting to learn how to do tolex anyways, and this would be a good opportunity.

The cabinet you have can easily be modded, you just have to make new front and back panels.

You will need the smaller chassis though.

Woah wtf that Fender Lego kit is super fucking rad

Devin wrote:Woah wtf that Fender Lego kit is super fucking rad

So much fun to build... Amp is done now

So... now I'm back in the grounding rabbit hole

Seeing loads of advice out there on the "bast" way to ground things in the amp. I'm wrestling with overthinking the whole thing vs just doing what Mojotone prescribes (basically, using the chassis as a multi-point circuit grounding path, with pots all grounded on their backsides). There's a "Larry" grounding scheme (apparently some guy named Larry came up with a multi-point chassis grounding layout that defies the "norms" of ground loops) and something that really does interest me that Triode kits show on their wiring diagram, which seems to "float" the primary circuit ground off the chassis and use just a single grounding point for the mains input, like this:



I'm trying to hunt down pics of the various 2204 builds, and am having some luck...

@Bill - any chance you have any gut shots of your Ceriatone 2204 you could share?