[JustinBieber]

   
Isn't carbon wrap usually shinier? Or is it just the angle/lighting?

I got mine in a matte finish. 
 

I have the same soldering iron. That looks pretty cool. What does your base look like? Or if you haven't done it yet, what plans do you have for it? And are you planning to listen to Justin Beiber on it?

I hate that iron. Chisel tip + my clumsiness isn't a great combo. My base is lightly stained ebony. Lol, no Biebs, maybe my first album to listen to once I finish will be L.A Woman. One of my favorites.

 

[moriez]

Originally Posted by JamieMcC /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Hi Maurice
 
Not at the moment but maybe in the future. Things are a little hectic for me the moment I have a couple of other projects under way another Pass ACA amp build and a little ZMR 250 fpv racer due to start (waiting for parts) which I need to finish before taking anything else on. Add into the mix my other half is expecting due in September so spare time will be in short supply for the foreseeable future.

 
Hi. Gotcha and no worries. Was thinking if there's someone who I'd put a project like that in his hands it would be you. Not in the least place because we're relatively close to each other. Who knows what October/November looks like ^^ Fathers need quality time on their own as well!
 
Anyone else of the fanboys thinking about or started building the Crack-a-two-a?

 

[DDDamian]

It looks tempting, but my sights are on the Mainline. I have a very nice Crack and a S.E.X. If the Mainline is even better then wow.

 

[Jeb Listens]

Hi guys, 
 
Just waiting for my Speedball to arrive, but in anticipation I bought a Tungsram E80CC.  My alarm bells were raised a little bit because to my eye the boxes they arrived in seemed like modern reprints - just too perfect and the colours/details perhaps not quite right. 
 
The tubes appear to be genuine as far as I can tell from comparisons with pictures I've seen but if anyone has any of these E80CCs in their collection would you mind taking a quick look at the photos below and just seeing if they check out with yours?  I am probably just being paranoid since, though not dirt-cheap,  they are not exactly the most valuable tubes out there so it's difficult to imagine anyone going to the trouble of producing a fake. 
 
The date code is G6, which according to a table I found = Nov, 1960.   The lamp is shining on the pins - they are not gold, are quite dull and seem consistent with a tube of that age. 
 
Much appreciated!
 
Jeb
 

 

 

[JamieMcC]

  Hi guys, 
 
Just waiting for my Speedball to arrive, but in anticipation I bought a Tungsram E80CC.  My alarm bells were raised a little bit because to my eye the boxes they arrived in seemed like modern reprints - just too perfect and the colours/details perhaps not quite right. 
 
The tubes appear to be genuine as far as I can tell from comparisons with pictures I've seen but if anyone has any of these E80CCs in their collection would you mind taking a quick look at the photos below and just seeing if they check out with yours?  I am probably just being paranoid since, though not dirt-cheap,  they are not exactly the most valuable tubes out there so it's difficult to imagine anyone going to the trouble of producing a fake. 
 
The date code is G6, which according to a table I found = Nov, 1960.   The lamp is shining on the pins - they are not gold, are quite dull and seem consistent with a tube of that age. 
 
Much appreciated!
 
Jeb
 

 

Hi Jeb they look fine to me, I have never seen or heard of fake E80CC. Its one of my favourite Crack input tubes from what I have read they look to have only ever been manufactured by two companies Philips who are also credited for their design (normally found with smooth plates) and Tungsram most commonly found with the holes essentially every other label it  appears is just rebranding of the tubes these two companies produced and can be found branded as CEI, Valvo, Siemens Halske, Telefunken, Haltron, Mullard etc with sellers asking silly prices for the same tube.
 
There were a few variations over the years which have lead to versions like the pinched waist bottle and early foil getter varieties being more sought after.
 
Keep yours eyes skinned and you might even find the holy grail of E80CC the Silver plate silver foil Tungsram

 
 

 

 
You might find this BHF thread interesting
 
http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=5989.0

 

[skeptic]

  ...Add into the mix my other half is expecting due in September so spare time will be in short supply for the foreseeable future.

 
Congrats Jamie - that's wonderful!  Yeah, I daresay your project time will be more limited for a while going forward, but within a few years you'll no doubt have your little one helping you sort your parts and tighten down simple hardware.  There's also nothing like having a great headphone rig to turn to for a little relaxation during the baby stage when he/she does finally go down for the night (or part of it anyway).  

 

[Jeb Listens]

Thanks Jamie and congratulations on the new addition to the family too!
 
That is great information about the E80CC -  I think the tube is genuine- phew.   Lost a little of my faith in humanity after tube collecting over the last couple of years!  
 
That BH thread was a great read.  You know, the calibre of some of the modification work done on the BH forum never ceases to amaze me!  
 
I actually did not realise that the E80CC and 12BH7/A  required some circuit changes.  Perhaps that's something I can look at doing further down the line when I'm fully up and running with the Speedball and have built up some confidence.   The switch mod seem like a really nice solution, though looks a bit daunting right now.
 
Is it acceptable to try the E80CC and 12BH7s with the stock Crack + SB to see if they are to my liking before deciding to make any circuit changes to optimise things ?

 

[JamieMcC]

Cheers,  looking forward to the new arrival as well but not the sleepless nights!
 
Quote:

   
Congrats Jamie - that's wonderful!  Yeah, I daresay your project time will be more limited for a while going forward, but within a few years you'll no doubt have your little one helping you sort your parts and tighten down simple hardware.  There's also nothing like having a great headphone rig to turn to for a little relaxation during the baby stage when he/she does finally go down for the night (or part of it anyway).  

 
I think they should prescribe the Mainline HD800 combo for stress therapy.  I will definitely be using my rig for to help chill out, it works amazingly well.
 

 
Is it acceptable to try the E80CC and 12BH7s with the stock Crack + SB to see if they are to my liking before deciding to make any circuit changes to optimise things ?

 
Your E80cc will work fine with the Crack and Speedball. The resistor mod is basically a little fine tuning its inexpensive and works well.

 

[Jeb Listens]

Great - thanks again, - should be fun times ahead!    

 

[DDDamian]

@JamieMcC - have you paired your Mainline with any orthos? Thoughts with those?

 

[JamieMcC]

  @JamieMcC - have you paired your Mainline with any orthos? Thoughts with those?

Hi I have only tried the HE-6 on it and as expected it doesn't have enough to oomph to drive them well.

 

[DDDamian]

 
Hi I have only tried the HE-6 on it and as expected it doesn't have enough to oomph to drive them well.

Okay thanks - yeah that's a tough nut to crack for any amp.

 

[Mahdi8]

Thanks Jamie and congratulations on the new addition to the family too!

That is great information about the E80CC -  I think the tube is genuine- phew.   Lost a little of my faith in humanity after tube collecting over the last couple of years!  

That BH thread was a great read.  You know, the calibre of some of the modification work done on the BH forum never ceases to amaze me!  

I actually did not realise that the E80CC and 12BH7/A  required some circuit changes.  Perhaps that's something I can look at doing further down the line when I'm fully up and running with the Speedball and have built up some confidence.   The switch mod seem like a really nice solution, though looks a bit daunting right now.

Is it acceptable to try the E80CC and 12BH7s with the stock Crack + SB to see if they are to my liking before deciding to make any circuit changes to optimise things ?

You can use it without modification just keep it mind crack with speedball ia not designed to handle the voltage of e80cc. It runs at a much higher gain and voltage. I have been using e80cc on an unmodified crack with speedball for 2 months with no problem. Then 2 weeks ago the speedball transistor finally gave up and burnt. So something to keep in mind. If you want to use this long term follow the resistor replacement guide in the bottlehead forum

 

[Jeb Listens]

You can use it without modification just keep it mind crack with speedball ia not designed to handle the voltage of e80cc. It runs at a much higher gain and voltage. I have been using e80cc on an unmodified crack with speedball for 2 months with no problem. Then 2 weeks ago the speedball transistor finally gave up and burnt. So something to keep in mind. If you want to use this long term follow the resistor replacement guide in the bottlehead forum

Mahdi - I appreciate the heads-up about this - I hope your Crack is now back up and running!  
 
During those couple of months did you like the E80CC enough to stick with it long-term & do the mod this time?

 

[JamieMcC]

You can use it without modification just keep it mind crack with speedball ia not designed to handle the voltage of e80cc. It runs at a much higher gain and voltage. I have been using e80cc on an unmodified crack with speedball for 2 months with no problem. Then 2 weeks ago the speedball transistor finally gave up and burnt. So something to keep in mind. If you want to use this long term follow the resistor replacement guide in the bottlehead forum

 
Interesting not heard of that before.
 
Thinking about it I must have had at least 1500 hours running the e80cc before I did the resistor mod this would also including letting the amp run 24/7 for a week or so on several occasions whilst evaluating different capacitors.
 
The resistor mod is a no brainer imo it most probably costs about the same as a cup of coffee to implement and when done allows easy switching between 12au7 and e80cc optimum voltages.