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The Latest "Coppertone" Adventure

Started by Gerry Rzeppa, June 22, 2014, 07:23:10 PM

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Gerry Rzeppa

Hello, fellow amp enthusiasts!

A guy over at The Amp Garage saw one of my amps on eBay and asked me to post a build log on that site. Unfortunately, I didn't have a build log. So I built a similar (but different) amp and documented the whole saga in the attached PDF -- thought maybe you folks might be interested too.

Thanks.

phatt

 :lmao:, A truly dedicated effort even if only for the novelty value of having something completely different, Good on You. :tu:
Phil.

Roly

Hi Gerry, welcome!


Thank you - love it!   <3)
If you say theory and practice don't agree you haven't applied enough theory.

Enzo


J M Fahey

I think it is absolutely wrong   ;)

A picture shows somebody testing for resonances by putting his head inside the cavity and clicking his teeth, rattling them, or some other scientifically accepted means of mechanically creating acoustic white noise (or pink, if he addded a little Ketchup), but he absolutely disregards his introduction in said cavity of a Ballistic Enhanced Acoustic Resonator Device (a.k.a. B.E.A.R.D.)   which of course damps and kills all resonant peaks, making the test useless.

So, I hate to say so, but *it´s all wrong* , only option is to tear it up, junk the parts in the closest junkbin and start again from scratch.

Sorry pal !!!

Gerry Rzeppa

Absolutey right, Mr. Fahey, I forgot all about the beard. Don't even know it's there since I trimmed it down to keep the mice in check (see photo of previous state).

Can't junk the parts though -- the thing sold this very day ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/181438758231 ). But as for starting again from scratch -- that's already happening. Stay tuned...

J M Fahey


Gerry Rzeppa

In case anyone was wondering, the Coppertone 5c1 sold on eBay last week for $355. Here's an unedited review from "MadMatt", the winning bidder:

There it is sitting outside my door. No knock on the door or doorbell ring. Thanks UPS! I open the carefully and creatively packed box. Inside are the aforementioned swimming pool noodles and red rubber balls. My son will be happy with those! It appears to have arrived safely with the exception of one copper elbow fitting becoming separated on the base. I popped the pipe back in without incident.

Yep, She's pretty to look at!. A real work of art. But how does she sound? I plugged in the extra long power cord, plugged in my ESP Vintage Plus Strat loaded with two single coils and a JB Humbucker into the hi-gain input and flipped the power switch on. I gave her a couple minutes for the tubes to get warmed up and started dialing up the volume to about 5. I strummed through some open and barre chords plugging some accent notes. First impression was "nice!". I switched through all of the pick up configurations. There were no bad tones. I crank the volume a little more to about 7. This is where she starts to come alive! This is sounding phenomenal. Warm, responsive, and articulate sweet notes are filling up my apartment. This is when I started smiling Smile I play through several chord progressions and lead runs and it just sounds fantastic! Then I crank the volume to 10. I wasn't expecting this. The amp turned into a full naturally overdriven beast. At this point, the amp was actually too loud for my apartment. The tone did get a little too bright for my liking on 10 but that was quickly remedied by trying out the Lo-gain input.

Do you know why this amp doesn't have any tone controls? Because it doesn't need them! It's got a pure, unmolested tube driven tone and it's magic to my ears.

Not that i was skeptical buying this amp without any possible way of hearing what it sounds like, but It was a bit of a gamble. A gamble where I definitely came out a winner. Gerry, you outdid yourself on this build and I couldn't be happier. Feel free to use any part of my review as an endorsement to your future builds. I have been playing and buying various guitar gear since i was 14 and I'm now 46. After over 30 years, I know good tone when I hear it, and I am hearing it!

Something that might help your auctions in the future would be to record some of the tones your amps are creating and put them up on Youtube. This would give the potential buyers a feel for what they are buying other than the obviously beautiful aesthetic.

Thanks for the great amp. I will treasure it for many years to come.