Tubular Audio

11/21/2022

I love doing little bespoke pcb projects especially for old gear. The mashup of old and new feels cyborg-y 🦾. These are going in .evian’s MCI JH-416 console which pairs nicely with a JH-16 tape machine. Both these machines live up at in the Catskills 🍂

07/20/2022

Assembling the first pcb revision of the new fuzz pedal. A couple of tweaks later… and REV2 will be the production version!

12/14/2021

Recently I completed a pedal-design commission for ! I’m super proud of how it turned out, so check out their page if you want to get in a preorder. The pedal is a two-in-one with a overdrive front end followed by a soft clipping boost that can be engaged with a secondary footswitch.

10/05/2021

MRL Calibrated to +5 operating level, aligned the tape path, head azimuth, record bias…. This thing sounds amazing! I love tape #32

10/05/2021

Racked up these ADM1500 EQ’s for yesterday! Funky things have no publicly available pin-out so had to use some good ole fashioned intuition (op amp data sheets and PCB tracing) to figure out that these run off +/- 18V and need a two-row EDAC connector to make the proper I/O connections, as well as where to make those connections. These have some super gentle EQ positions, less audible Q-factor than a 33115 for sure though I didn’t run any sweeps. And of course most importantly they look sick as hell 😉

08/31/2021

Any haters out there?

08/25/2021

Finally finished another Ampex 60(1) dual channel mic pre built to my specs. The design is based on the OG 601, but utilizes a White cathode follower to drive the output trafo. When making these dual-channel, a gut renovation is a must, in my opinion. Now it has 80dB gain, +22dBu output (before clipping), line pads, phantom power, Hi-Z input, and selectable metering. While I’m not usually a component snob, the input and output transformers really make this 601 what it is, and I’m not sure if or when I’ll ever have the parts to make another!

07/10/2021

There’s something so satisfying about re-coning a 60-something-year-old speaker. While speakers seemed mysterious to me for so long, they’re really not bad once you get the hang of them! This one’s an Oxford 8EV-29, common in tweed-era champs. Keep on rockin lil dude 🥲 (Owner: )

07/08/2021

Beautifully minty Gibson GA-6 with a poodle wrap on the bench at today for a capacitor update and health checkup! Seems like it’s been in the box since it left the factory floor in ‘56

11/02/2020

Bonus pics from my last post showing some of the prototyping and building process. I ended up scrapping the homemade switchboards due to difficulty in soldering switches reliably to both sides without plated-through holes. But my prototype op-amp board works great! It takes in 5-12VDC and spits out +/-15VDC for a fancy special op amp. This allows the op amp to push out +22dBu (very ). Last pic is of the newest version which will sport 4 channels and is currently being produced over in China by . thanks for reading!

11/02/2020

I have to say I’m really proud of this one. It feels like the culmination of 3+ years of honing my craft! I installed two hifi OpAmp-buffered direct-outs with dedicated +/-15V supply to this Ampex MX-10 tube mixer which effectively expands its functionality to a 4-channel mic pre. In addition, I installed four custom-designed switchboard PCB’s to select phase, pad, and 48V phantom power (with indicator LED!). The +/-15V supply and 48V phantom supply are independently generated by super efficient switched-mode PSU’s that boost/buck the 12VDC heater supply, which I upgraded using a state of the art LDO regulator and fancy low-Vf Schottky diodes. The high voltage supply was also improved with long-life electrolytic caps and a much tighter layout, resulting in a vanishingly low noise floor. I know modifications can sometimes lower the value of vintage gear, but my goal here was to so seamlessly integrate these mods as to do no harm or even increase the value of this MX-10. All I know is the owner is very happy (so I am too)!

09/25/2020

3m follower face reveal

09/22/2020

Made some not-so-small investments for working on 1/4” reel-to-reel decks so hit me up if you’ve got one that needs some TLC!

09/15/2020

Very well behaved amp conversion! I like to add a bass cut switch since the overdrive can be a bit woofy without it. Also DC preamp filaments and new filter caps!

09/10/2020

Cute lil drawing of the Tandberg factory at the back of the manual

07/30/2020

Out w the old, in w the new! Replaced bad 2520 discreet op amps in a customer’s API 550b with two RED-25’s and they work, look, and sound phenomenal.

05/21/2020

Some details for the nerds!!

05/19/2020

Testing some vintage 12AU7 Telefunkens I found in a customer’s Ampex reel-to-reel! They live up to the hype and measure fantastically well on my homemade curve tracer (uTracer 3+). Plus a bonus Bugler from Holland!

03/25/2020

Rev3 sneak peak

03/11/2020

My filmo-amp uses a high wattage dropping resistor rather than a 5Y3. I think this gives a bit more flexibility than tube swapping (470ohms for a 5Y3, 150ohms for a 5AR4) and saves on the extra filament tap and heat, not to mention it takes up a lot less space! Now if only they made legit mounting brackets so I didn’t have to bend my own

03/09/2020

I’m no good at keeping surprises 🙄

03/01/2020

Weird that this exists now

02/29/2020

Another Walter Becker amp. The Gibsonette Tremolo GA-8T. It needed a full recap and new coupling cap in the trem circuit. I also slowed it waaaay down since it was like a ring modulator at max speed. The last one I looked at also had this crazy tremolo, so I think this was the intended effect! Still... I think the future owner will appreciate the more useable trem speed. @ Retrofret Vintage Guitars

02/27/2020

Revision 1
Anyone want a hand-made guitar amp modeled after a filmosound amplifier?
@ Brooklyn, New York

02/03/2020

The irony here is that someone already designed and sells these on eBay, but I had no clue when I CAD’d them up. Nonetheless, a really great exercise in testing my PCB fab skills

12/13/2019

RIP TO A LEGEND⠀
I had the privilege to work on Walter Becker’s Brown-Panel Super the other day. It already had new electrolytics, but the harmonic tremolo was a little weak due to some leaky paper caps, as well as the shortcomings of this early circuit — SN1005 model 5G4. Using some simple circuit analysis, I was able to tweak it further and allow for some pretty extreme settings at full intensity, and more useful settings over the full range of the intensity pot. ⠀
⠀

08/31/2019

Wowee today I sold my first hand-built preamp and I am so thankful! My mission is to make lasting pieces of gear that are unique and purposeful. The journey has begun ... ?
!

08/27/2019

Gut shot from my Ampex 601 redesign. Soundin so sweet 😭

08/26/2019

Selling a beautiful refurbished workhorse 94 Twin-Amp! Some tearing of the tolex on corners, but functionally in great condition. Shiny new grille cloth. Hmu for details ;)

08/25/2019

Just added to the lineup! A really cool vacuum-tube microphone preamp. Check it out ~~~

An Ampex 601 tape record/playback amplifier converted to a dual microphone preamp with line input, transformer-balanced i/o, 75dB of gain on tap, and 48V phantom power. 1 unit available for local pickup in BK, NY. Email or call for inquiries