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. |
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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. |
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Liquid Ss Stage III Parts List
Carbon Comp Resistors
R4 220k, R20 220k, 220k
R22 51k, R19 470k
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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
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Coupling Capacitor .022 250v
Cathode Capacitor .22uf, 1uf
Bright Capacitor 560pf
Tube Socket 9-pin Ceramic
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