[Paladin79]

Weller has a large variety of tips, I build Coaster amps using them as well as Cracks, and other through hole soldering.

 

[Paladin79]

i just ordered a new weller. ill give it a shot. never a fan personally but i know they are workhorses. i love my hakko tips. lol this job is still better then i usually see im very ocd with stuff like that so i habe to get it perfect like component spacing and height off the board etc otherwise im not a happy camper lol. i def appreciate the offer. lmk if u ever want to sell one off also would love a backup

What I have are not as fancy as new Wellers but I will look around my shop this weekend, I bet I have two or three new on the box and I used to buy tips ten at a time so I could include some of those. If anything fails other than the transformer there are parts available, heaters, switches, handle sets. etc.

OCD is not always a bad thing, some of my best employees are like that, their tools are well laid out, their work is precise and their work areas are clean. Sometimes their food cannot touch other food and they have to eat all of one item before starting on the next but that has little to do with work habits lol.

For those of you not familiar with the Coaster amp, you can build it as a hybrid headphone amp or never install a part and use it for a drink coaster. Made by Schiit corp more as a novelty than anything else but a fun, one day diversion. Mounting them in a suitable container takes some serious thought.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

Yeah I had to use this old ancient thing that the tip was a mess on I tried cleaning it but it was as good as it was getting lol. It's a pos lol. It's the one I use for literally anything except soldering usually haha

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

Minus some of the leads not trimmed fully u can still do a decent job with a junk gun though. Is it as perfect as I would have liked no. But it's not bad. just no smd stuff with it lol. that would not work. lol

 

[CAPT Deadpool]

I've got one coaster built, working on a second.

I'm also about 50% through on a Crack 1.1

I used a cheap ~20-30 Weller for the first coaster. I bought a Weller 1010NA and switched from 60-40 to 63-37 and I think things are working much better. Now if I could only pay attention enough to avoid singeing nearby wires' insulation on the Crack (will be replacing those later).

 

[Paladin79]

You did the harder build first so the Crack should be a pleasure for you to build. Eventually you will learn about wire placement and keeping the soldering iron from touching things it should not. There is a reason only five of us have the Coasters going so far, I would suspect the Crack is among the largest selling kit amps out there.

Having seen some of Th3Drizzl3's work I would not have a problem owning something he has built, and I have seen plenty of soldering.

 

[CAPT Deadpool]

Luckily as the son of an electrician I should have no trouble at all getting a little scrap 20AWG to replace the singed wires with. His company keeps reels of the stuff and the lengths I need are literally trash for their purposes. I've worked with him on large cables like 500 MCM in a drydock.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

im using silver wire for this crack because i have some left in small pieces that would have prob been tossed but i like to keep a small scrap bin for wires this size.

 

[Quadfather]

My bottlehead crack, with a Tung Sol 5998, and a Mullard CV4003 with a Dale stepped attenuator is getting no use. It is in mint condition. What is the typical price that would be fair in the classifieds? Both tubes were procured, and tested from tubedepot and new old-school tubes

 

[Paladin79]

I do believe HeadFi has restrictions on what you can charge here, kit price plus maybe some parts or some such. Lesser builds than what you have are on EBay for $730 as I recall. You could probably get more there IMHO.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

it always amazes me when i see what some people pay for a slightly modded crack on ebay.

 

[joaogma]

Hello guys!

Would anyone advise me for getting a Speedballed Crack for hiphop listening? Is there any deep bass roll off with the stock tubes? Should I go SS for this particular genre?

I'm really considering getting one for my HD650

Thanks in advance.

 

[Paladin79]

Hello guys!

Would anyone advise me for getting a Speedballed Crack for hiphop listening? Is there any deep bass roll off with the stock tubes? Should I go SS for this particular genre?

I'm really considering getting one for my HD650

Thanks in advance.

The Crack is an excellent amp for HD650's I have to admit I do not listen to any hiphop but I like it with other music genres. (I do not listen to rap either but each to their own.) I am terrible at describing things like bass but I do have several class A solid state amps and I am more partial to the bass of the Crack.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

Hello guys!

Would anyone advise me for getting a Speedballed Crack for hiphop listening? Is there any deep bass roll off with the stock tubes? Should I go SS for this particular genre?

I'm really considering getting one for my HD650

Thanks in advance.

imo the speedball makes the amp much better. some dislike it though. i had another crack (one i didnt build) i used it with my 6xx's all the time. sounded great, imo the speedball makes the backround even more quiet, makes the amp sound faster, have more impact, its more resolved.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

so heres a question before i finalize this thing the 9 pin front socket is your a bit loose under the mounting ring? i have it as tight as it will go and the 9 pin really moves around a good amount in the hole like if i shake the plate the 9 pin rattles? the other socket is nice and snug without being to tight. im torn on the top plate finish still.

i have not fully snapped in the switch or the wall sockets yet so i can easily get them out. im thinking a orange or titanium chrome vinyl over the top or polishing it or an actual hammer type finish (you can achieve this in the aluminum but it takes a long time and is super tedious i have a friend who is a blacksmith who showed me this type of finish before) or leave it bare just because i like the look. hmmmmmmmmm. lol i was going to just anodize it at first but now im undecided haha

i do have a custom real carbon fiber top plate being made for the second kit i have here that should be interesting. ill have to run a ground for everything since the top will not be metal though