# Marshall 1974X Clone



## chongmagic

Here is what has been taking up my time lately.









						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl


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## cooder

Looking great, just a few more wires to go....! Will it be a head or combo? What speaker choice?
Take a good breath and a cuppa before firing up, double and triple check and so on.
Got a light bulb tester I assume?


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## chongmagic

I don't have a bulb tester yet. I need to get one. It is a combo with a Celestion Vintage 30.


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## chongmagic

Basically I have to add a few resistors and then wire the heater wires. What is your method for twisting wire Cooder?


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## Nostradoomus

Put them in your drill chuck and go slow


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## cooder

Nostradoomus said:


> Put them in your drill chuck and go slow


Yep.
Bulb tester is here with legend Uncle Doug:


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## chongmagic

I got the parts and am building one today, better safe than sorry.


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## Gordo

I built mine in an old computer power supply enclosure.  Kinda looks like a$$ but already had the built in IEC outlet.  Just had to drill holes for the bulb socket (Home Depot) and a pair of switches (On/Off and Test/Bypass).


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## chongmagic

I went by Lowes and just decided to build one to have on hand. 









						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl


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## cooder

chongmagic said:


> I went by Lowes and just decided to build one to have on hand.
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> New item by Jonathan Freeman
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> photos.app.goo.gl


That looks perfect and you really need it! I use it everytime I power up an amp that I have worked on, even if it was just a minor modification. And also when testing second hand transformers or so, recently had it going white hot on a blown second hand power transformer and it showed it's usefullness...


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## cooder

It just ain't 9V DC you know....


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## chongmagic

cooder said:


> It just ain't 9V DC you know....



Yeah I found that out touching the filter caps, just kidding.


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## chongmagic

I just noticed a boo boo, if you look at V4 it is missing pin 1. I will have to get another socket. Faster to just order one than to contact the seller.


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## HamishR

I just twist the filament wires by hand. If you twist them with a drill you end up untwisting a bunch of twisted wire! I like to tuck the twisted bits right into the corner of the chassis.  I also like to put the tube connections to the board underneath the board and up into the turret. You bend a little "V" into the end of the bare wire and it stays in the turret, especially if you have the insulated part go straight down onto the chassis so the wire can't fall out.

But that's just my anal retention rearing it's ugly head!  Have fun - they're a great amp. This is a 50W I built - I love old school Marshalls!


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## TheSin

HamishR said:


> I just twist the filament wires by hand. If you twist them with a drill you end up untwisting a bunch of twisted wire! I like to tuck the twisted bits right into the corner of the chassis.  I also like to put the tube connections to the board underneath the board and up into the turret. You bend a little "V" into the end of the bare wire and it stays in the turret, especially if you have the insulated part go straight down onto the chassis so the wire can't fall out.
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> But that's just my anal retention rearing it's ugly head!  Have fun - they're a great amp. This is a 50W I built - I love old school Marshalls!View attachment 4335


That is some clean work right there!


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## geekmacdaddy

Sweet, Jon!


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## chongmagic

HamishR said:


> I just twist the filament wires by hand. If you twist them with a drill you end up untwisting a bunch of twisted wire! I like to tuck the twisted bits right into the corner of the chassis.  I also like to put the tube connections to the board underneath the board and up into the turret. You bend a little "V" into the end of the bare wire and it stays in the turret, especially if you have the insulated part go straight down onto the chassis so the wire can't fall out.
> 
> But that's just my anal retention rearing it's ugly head!  Have fun - they're a great amp. This is a 50W I built - I love old school Marshalls!View attachment 4335



That looks nice and clean! Awesome work!


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## chongmagic

geekmacdaddy said:


> Sweet, Jon!



Thank you Jeff! I have been going extra slow with this one, double checking at every major step. I am looking forward to finally playing it!


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## HamishR

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack. I think you'll love the 18watter. It's worth taking your time with amp wiring because there is some scary voltage going on - turning an amp on for the first time always scares the begeezus outa me.  I don't know if you've been warned, but sometimes when you turn an amp on for the first time it shrieks like a banshee. This can simply be that the output tranny is connected the wrong way around - all you have to do is swap the O/T leads over at the power tube sockets. They would be the brown and blue wires in your amp.


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## chongmagic

HamishR said:


> Sorry, didn't mean to hijack. I think you'll love the 18watter. It's worth taking your time with amp wiring because there is some scary voltage going on - turning an amp on for the first time always scares the begeezus outa me.  I don't know if you've been warned, but sometimes when you turn an amp on for the first time it shrieks like a banshee. This can simply be that the output tranny is connected the wrong way around - all you have to do is swap the O/T leads over at the power tube sockets. They would be the brown and blue wires in your amp.



You didn't hijack it is all good, I am a complete noob when it comes to amps to I will gladly take any advice.


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## chongmagic

chongmagic said:


> I just noticed a boo boo, if you look at V4 it is missing pin 1. I will have to get another socket. Faster to just order one than to contact the seller.



Pin 1 on V4 is actually not used for anything, but I am guessing it is still better to get a new socket so that the tube will ultimately be held in tighter.


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## MightySmallElectrons

I can’t wait to find out how it sounds...such a dope build!!


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## HamishR

If you look at how the pins in the sockets are held in place you can see that sometimes they will come out rather too easily. I've replaced pins in sockets a few times and bent the retaining bit a little more to help stop it from coming out again.  There is a small section in the middle of the pin which is pushed out to make a kind of clip. you can push it out a little more and it holds in place a bit better. I think i used a pin or something.  it's fiddly!

I like the pale brown Belton sockets for both octals and 9-pins.  Just be careful when you splay the pins on the octals because they snap rather too easily. That's not a problem in your amp because it's all 9-pins, but believe me, if you like this amp it won't be the last you build.     BTW it is a good idea to splay the pins a little - ie bend them away from each other, especially on the power tubes, to help prevent arcing between pins. It also helps prevent them coming out with a tube.


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## chongmagic

HamishR said:


> If you look at how the pins in the sockets are held in place you can see that sometimes they will come out rather too easily. I've replaced pins in sockets a few times and bent the retaining bit a little more to help stop it from coming out again.  There is a small section in the middle of the pin which is pushed out to make a kind of clip. you can push it out a little more and it holds in place a bit better. I think i used a pin or something.  it's fiddly!
> 
> I like the pale brown Belton sockets for both octals and 9-pins.  Just be careful when you splay the pins on the octals because they snap rather too easily. That's not a problem in your amp because it's all 9-pins, but believe me, if you like this amp it won't be the last you build.     BTW it is a good idea to splay the pins a little - ie bend them away from each other, especially on the power tubes, to help prevent arcing between pins. It also helps prevent them coming out with a tube.



I appreciate the advice, thank you so much. I doubt it will be my last amp, but will probably be my last one for a while. I miss building pedals so I have quite a few to catch up on. I just needed a change of pace.


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## chongmagic

Latest and greatest. 









						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl


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## Gordo

Complete noob my a$$.  You're killin it.


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## chongmagic

Gordo said:


> Complete noob my a$$.  You're killin it.



Thank's Gordo, I am addicted to building them now. And learning lots along the way!


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## HamishR

So how does it sound??


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## cooder

Excellent stuff Chong!


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## chongmagic

HamishR said:


> So how does it sound??



I haven't fully fired it up yet, but I will make a sound sample when I do.


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## chongmagic

cooder said:


> Excellent stuff Chong!



Thank you cooder!


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## chongmagic

Fired it up on the bench and it works both normal and tremolo channels.


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## cooder

chongmagic said:


> Fired it up on the bench and it works both normal and tremolo channels.


Woohoo.... nice feeling in'it!


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## chongmagic

Here are some finishing up pics.









						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl
				












						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl
				












						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl
				












						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl


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## TheSin

chongmagic said:


> Here are some finishing up pics.
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> photos.app.goo.gl
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> photos.app.goo.gl
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> New item by Jonathan Freeman
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Fine lookin amp!


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## Barry

Looks awesome, so let's hear it already!


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## chongmagic

This thing is loud and sounds great!


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## chongmagic

Here is a demo:


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## cooder

chongmagic said:


> This thing is loud and sounds great!


Yep, they can move some air.... nice one.


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## Chuck D. Bones

Beautiful!


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## HamishR

Fab.  You should be bloody proud. Nothing better than playing through an amp you built yourself - especially with pedals you built yourself!


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## cooder

HamishR said:


> Fab.  You should be bloody proud. Nothing better than playing through an amp you built yourself - especially with pedals you built yourself!


Yep. So next thing is build a guitar yourself...


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## HamishR

I've done that too!  Well, not from raw timber... But I've made some partscasters from Fender and Warmoth parts.  Hard to make a good Les Paul that way though.


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## Barry

Sounds great!


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## chongmagic

cooder said:


> Yep. So next thing is build a guitar yourself...



Here is a partscaster I built a while back.









						New item by Jonathan Freeman
					






					photos.app.goo.gl


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## Gordo

That looks fabulous.  Amazing how brutal 18w can be huh?

Oh, and bonus points for the cool yellow plug strip.


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## chongmagic

Gordo said:


> That looks fabulous.  Amazing how brutal 18w can be huh?
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> Oh, and bonus points for the cool yellow plug strip.



Thanks Gordo, yeah I love my yellow plug strip super handy.


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