It may be hidden in the 49(!) pages of this topic but does anyone sell these all put together for those of us with ZERO soldering experience?

Matt Heaton & the Electric Heaters
Boston's Premier Surf/Noir Combo
http://www.heatonsurf.com

Now I is my reverb almost finished, what's missing is the handle and I have to order handle. Mabye I put gold piping around the cabinet front but I'm not sure about that, I chooses the creme and black tolex so the reverb will match both blonde anc black amps.

This is what it looks like, here also with a modyfied Marshall Class 5 that's been converted to a head and a homemade 1X12 speaker cabinet.

Last edited: Dec 17, 2015 06:39:25

Use wood glue and screws. Maybe some small wood blocks in the corners. It will be sturdy enough.

Latherman87 wrote:

Does anyone have any plans or ideas for a simple but sturdy cab for the tank and controls? I don't want to have to do the finger jointing and all that jazz,but want a wooden box. But I know just screwing the corners together won't be sturdy at all.....suggestions? I like the toolbox idea but I want it to look more traditional.

I do not finger join my cabinets to speakers, amp heads, combos and reverbs, just wood glue and screws. The diffrerence between the fifties and sixties is that wood glue is much better to day than back in the days. There's no problem to get a good cabinet if you have straigt pices so the glue get's good contact with the pices you shall join.

Wow I'm a slow typer.

bjoish wrote:

I like using cheap pine shelves. I have used finger joints, dowels and just glue. Glue joints seems to work ok for small cabinets.
Aluminium plates are easy to drill and bend to a chassis.

I read on your site that it can give off a bit of heat.....would it get hot enough to melt plexiglass? Also is that what those "heat sinks" are used for? To control the heat? I have no idea what they are haha so forgive me for my lack of knowledge here. Thanks in advance!

If you want the ultimate,you gotta be willing to pay the ultimate price.

Brett

bjoish wrote:

Latherman87 wrote:

I read on your site that it can give off a bit of heat.....would it get hot enough to melt plexiglass? Also is that what those "heat sinks" are used for? To control the heat? I have no idea what they are haha so forgive me for my lack of knowledge here. Thanks in advance!

The R4 and R5 versions of the circuit board is smaller and designed to use the metal chassis/box as a 'heatsink'. The MOSFET transistors on the back of the board is mounted against the metal surface (using isolating tape) to lower the temperature. The output amp is class-A, so the quiescent current is quite high.

So in short....I should just mount it to a metal surface to help dissipate the heat as best as possible?

If you want the ultimate,you gotta be willing to pay the ultimate price.

Brett

hi!

So in short....I should just mount it to a metal surface to help dissipate the heat as best as possible?

yep - without grounding it - i made a separate heat sink from brass ...
yours
wolfi

http://www.surfgrammeln-san.org
https://www.facebook.com/BaluUndSurfgrammeln
http://greencookierecords.bandcamp.com/album/coming-out-soon-los-chicharrones-del-surf-10

I have completed my Surfy Bear Reverb build. It is yet another red metal toolbox build. I've had this toolbox for many years. Its handle broke off, so I was just using it to store odds and ends until I saw Surfgitar's build on page 6 of this thread and knew it had a new destiny.

Many thanks to Bjorn for his wonderful creation. I have really enjoyed assembling my reverb and it was pure joy when I plugged it in and it worked. The sound is true spring reverb heaven and it's a real godsend for the budget conscious! I've had so much fun playing through it that I've had a hard time putting down my guitar long enough to write this up.

Here are some pictures of my build in progress along with some notes:

About my level of skill: I rarely solder anything and have only rudimentary tools for small fix-it chores around the house, so if you are interested in building a Surfy Bear, but feel a lack of experience is holding you back, I say give it a shot. You can do it. For me, drilling the holes in the steel toolbox was a bigger challenge than the soldering. I have spent some time doing electronics projects with an arduino, so I am familiar with electronics concepts and using a multimeter, but the arduino doesn't require any soldering and, for the the Surfy Bear, I only used the multimeter to check voltage, polarity, and continuity.

Tools used:

40 watt Radio Shack soldering iron
Digital multimeter
Small wire stripper
Diagonal wire cutter
Needle-nose pliers
Black & Decker 18V cordless drill with bits as follows:
9/32” bit for 3 potentiometers, 6mm shaft.
3/8” for 2 6.35mm 1/4" Mono Chassis Socket / Jack.
3/8” for RCA in/out connectors.
15/32” for 1 DC power supply connector, 2.1mm pin and my on/off switch.

Hammer and punch (I used a large nail) to start the holes in the toolbox. The steel of the box was too tough for me to actually punch through, but I put in enough of a dent to guide my drill.

Small file – to smooth the edges of the drill holes.
I bought the laminated vinyl faceplate sticker from Bjorn's website. He has a good tutorial for how to position the faceplate and drill the holes.
X-acto knife to cut vinyl away from holes
Helping hands with magnifier (indispensable, unless your are an octopus)

Since it had been at least 5 years since I had soldered anything, I decided to buy an $8 Velleman MK103 Sound-To-Light Unit to practice on. It took a couple of hours to complete, but when I was done it worked and I felt ready to to take on the Surfy Bear.

From Amazon, I bought a BUD Industries AC-1402 Aluminum Chassis, 4-1/2" Length x 3-1/2" Width x 1" Height for $3.53 to screw the R5 board to for heat dissipation and to provide a place to attach the RCA jacks. By bolting it to the toolbox lid, it also allowed me to keep the wires for the controls and jacks short. I used quick disconnects on the DC inputs to allow me to quickly remove the entire chassis unit from the toolbox for working on it at my workbench (or in my case, kitchen table) or even to transplant it into another cabinet if I ever decide to.

Also from Amazon, I bought an Accutronics 4AB3C1C Reverb Tank Sold by AmplifiedParts for $29.90 including shipping. This is the vertical mounting model and I thought about using springs to suspend it in the toolbox, but I decided to keep it simple and bolt it directly to the toolbox, using a sheet of packing foam I found around the house to provide some cushioning. I can always try to suspend it later, but it is fine as is for use in my man cave. And while it is not going to be transported very much, I have ordered an amplifier handle to replace the missing one.

For a power supply I re-purposed one from an old Linksys EA3500 Wi-Fi router. It provides 12 VDC at 2 Amps. It has a positive tip. It looks to me like earlier versions of the Surfy Bear (R3 and earlier) use a negative tip, but the R4 and R5 use a positive tip, so it was good to go as is, but as Bjorn says, always check your polarity to make sure.

For knobs I used Musiclily Plastic Pull on Amp Big Chicken Head Control Knobs for Electric Effect Pedal Guitar Parts,White (Pack of 12) Sold by: Musiclily Direct from Amazon, $6.37. They fit, but not tightly. They are fine for casual use, but they can be pulled of easily. But, hey, it's a pack of 12, so I've got spares if I lose one. I ordered them December 13 and they arrived by December 21 from China. This was well ahead of the January 4 – 19 delivery dates they promised.

Building this reverb was a lot of fun and has given me a wonderful piece of gear for playing surf music. I've finally got some authentic drip!

-Tim
MyYouTubeChannel
My Classic Instrumental Surf Music Timeline
SSS Agent #777

Last edited: Dec 27, 2015 11:26:30

Thanks, JOBeast! Your success with your craftsman build was one of my inspirations.

And I'm not one to judge... We all need a handy place to store our, ahem, "medicine."

-Tim
MyYouTubeChannel
My Classic Instrumental Surf Music Timeline
SSS Agent #777