Liquid Ss III
Using a modified Matchless Hotbox circuit this amp has two channels. (Clean & Crunch).

Preamp out, so it can be used as a pedal in front of another amp. (This is a treat even just using the clean channel).
Matchless Bass & Treble Tone Stack. (Combined with the two channels this adds a nice pallet of tones to the amp).

If you print out the Schematic you can then highlight connections that you make in the circuit.


The tag strips will support the filter capacitors and the rectifier, put them in position and drill mounting holes. Tag strip 1 will be where the negative leads from the filter capacitors are connected.   I have woven a piece of wire on this tag strip to connect all the pins together.   The #1 lead connects to the negative pin on tag strip(3) that the rectifier is mounted on.  The #2 lead will connect to the sleeve/ground on the output jack.   Tag strip 2 is where the positive leads from the capacitors connect. The positive end on the capacitor is the end with the black insulated cap, the negative end is the silver metal cap. 

On Tag strip 2 R12 a 2.2k resistor goes between Node(A) & Node(B) and R13 a 4.7k resistor goes between  Node(A) &  Node(C).
The Schematic is wired different to above picture, either way will work fine.

The rectifier is mounted on Tag strip 3. On the top of the rectifier you will see the markings for - & +, and S & S. The negative leg of the rectifier will go to the pin on the tag strip that bolts to the chassis. The positive leg of the rectifier will go to the pin on the tag strip where   Node(A) connects. The two Sides marked S & S is where we connect the Toroidal transformer secondaries, so connect these two legs of the rectifier to two pins of the tag strip that are beside each other.

Connect the two twelve volt windings from the Toroidal Power Transformer in series by joining the yellow and black wires together.  The red wire will go to the centre pin on the on/off switch and the orange wire will go to the centre pin of the 2.5 mm power jack. To complete the primary circuit the outside pin of the 2.5 mm power jack will connect to the outside pin on the on/off switch.

AC comes out of the two blue wires from the Toroidal Transformer secondaries. At Node(A) where the rectifier connects it is rectified to approx 130 volts DC loaded(tubes in and connected) or (160volts unloaded).


The red wire from the Output Transformer connects to the plate of the power tube. The Blue wire (brown in the pics) connects to  Node(A) Via the 3PDT toggle switch. R12 is connected to the middle of this brown wire and to the screen grid pin(6) on the power tube. The yellow wire connects to the tip of the output jack Via the 3PDT toggle switch and the black (Common) wire connects to the sleeve/ground on the output jack.

The 3PDT toggle switch on one node switches the power on/off to the power tube and on the other two nodes switches the signal from the preamp to go to the output jack directly or through the power tube and output transformer.  So when the power to the tube is off the signal goes from the preamp to the output jack. The signal comes from the 3PDT into the power tube at pin 2.  The signal from the preamp, (centre pin on the DPDT) is connected to the centre pin on the 3PDT. The bottom pin of this 3PDT pole is connected to pin 2 of the power tube.  On another pole on the 3PDT toggle switch the tip of the output jack is connected to the centre pin, the bottom pin is connected to the yellow wire on the output transformer. The top pins of these two 3PDT nodes are connected together.

A 67 ohm Carbon Comp Cathode resistor connects from pin 1 on the power tube to ground.  A 470k grid leak resistor connects from pin 5 on the power tube to ground.

The white twisted wires are connected to the Heaters, pins 3 & 4 of the power tube socket and to the centre pin on the on/off switch and the centre pin of the 2.5 mm power jack. Pins 3 & 4 on the power tube are connected to pins 4 & 5 of the preamp tube.    R16 & 17 two 150r resistors connect to the heater pins to form a Virtual centre tap to reduce hum, they could be connected to ground but are connected to the cathode pin on the power tube with the cathode providing an elevated DC Voltage.

Node(B) connects to pin 6 on the Second preamp socket directly and to pin 1 through R23 a 100k resistor. 
A red wire connects pin 7 to pin 1. The signal comes in at pin 2 and the output goes to the tone stack from pin 8.
Node(C) connects to the plates on the First preamp socket through plate load resistors, R3 & R4.

The signal from the input jack comes in through R2 at pin 2 and out at pin 1 to C1. 
The picture above shows C1 connecting to the input of the gain pot, this is later changed and C1 is connected to the centre pin of the DPDT toggle switch.
The volume pot connects to one of the outside pins of the DPDT toggle switch so the gain pot will only be on the gain channel.  
From the DPDT toggle switch the signal can go through C16\R25 or through the gain pot into the second stage at pin 7. 
The signal then goes out of the second stage at pin 6 through C2 and into the second preamp socket at pin 2.



The control grid has a big influence on how much current flows in the 12AX7 Tube,

As the voltage at the grid goes more negative the current through the tube decreases until no current flows and the anode current is cut-off. The grid voltage may continue to swing more negative, the tube will remain in cut-off and the output waveform will be clipped. Depending on the circuit a 12AX7 will cut-off anode current when the grid is around - 4 volts, the grid may go to - 8 or - 12 volts, but current stopped flowing in the tube at - 4 volts, and the output waveform started clipping.  Biasing a tube closer to cut-off Distortion results in less power dissipation and is called cool biasing. 

As the voltage at the grid goes more positive the current through the tube increases until maximum current flows. Grid current Clipping occurs when we try to drive the grid beyond 0v.  Electrons being drawn from the cathode get attracted to the grid rather than the anode causing a forward grid current into the grid. This current causes a voltage drop across the resistance that is in series with the grid, making it hard to drive the grid beyond 0v.  It is the grid signal that is being clipped, while the tube amplifies what appears on its grid normally. The grid voltage may continue to swing more positive, no more current can flow and the output waveform will be clipped. Biasing a tube closer to Grid current Clipping results in more power dissipation and is called warm biasing.

To set the bias point of the grid to - 2 volts relative to the cathode. the Control grid is held at 0 volts via the grid leak resistor and 2 volts is applied at the cathode via the cathode resistor ( Cathode Biased).

An AC sine wave swings both positive and negative relative to the bias point, so if the signal is 3 volts, on the up-going signal the voltage at the grid will be 1 volt and on the down-going signal, the voltage at the grid will be at - 5 volts. 4 volts peak to peak is enough to swing a 12AX7 from cut-off Clipping to Grid current Clipping.

Liquid Ss Stage III Parts List

Carbon Comp Resistors
R4 220k, R20 220k, 220k
R22 51k, R19 470k
2W Metal oxide Resistors R12 2.2k, R13 4.7k
Metal Film Resistors R9 1.6k, R12 1.6k, R21 1.6k

DPDT Toggle Switch
3PDT Toggle Switch
Coupling Capacitor .022 250v
Cathode Capacitor .22uf, 1uf
Bright Capacitor 560pf

Tube Socket 9-pin Ceramic