Park 50 copy

What people are working on at the moment
PeteC
Old Hand
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:08 pm
Location: Next to a field in North Yorkshire

#1 Park 50 copy

Post by PeteC »

Hi all,
thought the guitar players here might appreciate this one.

just finished my latest project - which is a copy of a late 1960's Park 50 watt guitar amp.

Combination of new old stock and new components ,
and using some of Mike's Living in the Past transformers too.

Sounds great - but had to fit a post-phase inverter master volume to keep the volume controllable - this thing is insanely loud without the Master Vol.

All handmade including the chassis, circuit board, and cabinet.

Just need to finish the plexi Park logo and its done !

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g159/ ... onci6q.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g159/ ... 2djnwn.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g159/ ... n796qj.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g159/ ... insfkr.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g159/ ... 4r29nk.jpg

cheers
Pete
Life is two shirts
Cressy Snr
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 10552
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 12:25 am
Location: South Yorks.

#2

Post by Cressy Snr »

That is stunning work Pete.
Fantastic! :D 8)
User avatar
andrew Ivimey
Social Sevices have been notified
Posts: 8307
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:33 am
Location: Bedford

#3

Post by andrew Ivimey »

A true labour of love, very impressive. But heres a thing... when I went on photobucket ( and Im very deep in Spain) to view this painstaken maestro piece it was labelled Pedro Cortez- as eni fule no thats not a very Leeds name! ;-------)
Philosophers have only interpreted the world - the point, however, is to change it. No it isn't ... maybe we should leave it alone for a while.
User avatar
IslandPink
Amstrad Tower of Power
Posts: 10041
Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 7:01 pm
Location: Denbigh, N.Wales

#4

Post by IslandPink »

Top notch !
"Once you find out ... the Circumstances ; then you can go out"
PeteC
Old Hand
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:08 pm
Location: Next to a field in North Yorkshire

#5

Post by PeteC »

Ha, Andrew ! well spotted...

...and I just got back from a short trip in Mojacar yesterday funnily enough !

thanks for the kind comments everyone.

Cheers
Pete
Life is two shirts
RobW
User
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:51 am
Location: North Wales

#6

Post by RobW »

Really nice work and great photos.

Rob :)
RobW
User
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:51 am
Location: North Wales

#7

Post by RobW »

Hi just noticed that you have 470k grid stoppers on valve two. I've got 270K on mine and have been toying with the idea of upping to 470k, is there a great difference in the sound?

Cheers Rob :)
PeteC
Old Hand
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:08 pm
Location: Next to a field in North Yorkshire

#8

Post by PeteC »

Hi Rob,

I used the value from the Marshall model 1986 Bass as I'd liked the Kossof sound and also watched some clips of JD Simon on Youtube playing through a 1986 and loved the tone.

I haven't tried 220K mix resistors instead - I might try strapping a couple of 470K's across temporarily to see what it sound like with a lower value.

I don't like preamp sections to get too fizzy though - preferring the distortion to come from the PI and power tubes ideally, and I thought perhaps the 220k's would not attenuate the preamp signal enough. I like more bottom end to the tone as well and thought this might come through more.

Worth experimenting. The amp is a beast anyway ...I did some recording last night using my 94 McCarty and its a perfect match !
Cheers
Pete
Life is two shirts
RobW
User
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:51 am
Location: North Wales

#9

Post by RobW »

PeteC wrote:Hi Rob,

I used the value from the Marshall model 1986 Bass as I'd liked the Kossof sound and also watched some clips of JD Simon on Youtube playing through a 1986 and loved the tone.

I haven't tried 220K mix resistors instead - I might try strapping a couple of 470K's across temporarily to see what it sound like with a lower value.

I don't like preamp sections to get too fizzy though - preferring the distortion to come from the PI and power tubes ideally, and I thought perhaps the 220k's would not attenuate the preamp signal enough. I like more bottom end to the tone as well and thought this might come through more.

Worth experimenting. The amp is a beast anyway ...I did some recording last night using my 94 McCarty and its a perfect match !
Cheers
Pete
Bit of a JD Simo fan myself and of course Kossof. Not sure if lowering the value is a good thing, I think I'll try 470k in mine to cut the treble down a tad as it is a bit toppy and Marshall ended up using that value. I've changed valve one to a 12AY7 to cut down on the gain on the this one and it has made a huge difference, much fatter sound, I think it has about half the gain of a 12AX7. The early Bassman circuit used it, so it made sense to me. Most likely it's a similar effect to using 470k resistors.

What speakers do you use with yours?

Cheers Rob :)
PeteC
Old Hand
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:08 pm
Location: Next to a field in North Yorkshire

#10

Post by PeteC »

Hi Rob,

yes the 12AY7 can be really good in V1. I built a clone of the Fender Pro ( 5EA i think from memory ) and it had a 12AY7 in V1. That was a very nice amp.

For speakers - I am using either a diy 4x12 with 2 V30's and 2 G12H's or a DIY 1x12 Thiele ported cab I found people raving about on the Ampgarage Dumble forums. I tend to like the thump of a 4x12 really even though its not very practical.

Are you using a master volume on the amp ? - I think the Lar-Mar PPIMV is really good for lower vols and gets out of the way completely when the amp is full up ( which is not often enough ! )

Cheers
Pete
Life is two shirts
RobW
User
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:51 am
Location: North Wales

#11

Post by RobW »

PeteC wrote:Hi Rob,

yes the 12AY7 can be really good in V1. I built a clone of the Fender Pro ( 5EA i think from memory ) and it had a 12AY7 in V1. That was a very nice amp.

For speakers - I am using either a diy 4x12 with 2 V30's and 2 G12H's or a DIY 1x12 Thiele ported cab I found people raving about on the Ampgarage Dumble forums. I tend to like the thump of a 4x12 really even though its not very practical.

Are you using a master volume on the amp ? - I think the Lar-Mar PPIMV is really good for lower vols and gets out of the way completely when the amp is full up ( which is not often enough ! )

Cheers
Pete
Hi, no I dont have a master volume on this one, but I have tried it temporarily with one and I liked it. I use it with an attenuator at the moment, and that seems to work well at lower volumes.

Re PPIMV, I have tried that on an 18 Watt and it does work well but I dont think Iall put that with this one.

Which do you prefer the Vintage 30s or the G12H or are they mixed?

Cheers Rob
User avatar
jack
Thermionic Monk Status
Posts: 5493
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 8:58 pm
Location: ɐılɐɹʇsnɐ oʇ ƃuıʌoɯ ƃuıɹǝpısuoɔ
Contact:

#12

Post by jack »

Lovely job - just looks superb !
Vivitur ingenio, caetera mortis erunt
PeteC
Old Hand
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:08 pm
Location: Next to a field in North Yorkshire

#13

Post by PeteC »

Thanks Jack,

Rob - I like both and its the blend which is good. I often mic both up and record a blend of the two - if I can sort the phase issues out! (I'm still very much learning how to record well in my small home studio)

I'd really like a cab loaded with 4 old G12s but had a couple of V30s spare from another project.

They are great in 1x12 cabs i think but can be a bit forward with some amps.
With my Dumble ODS clone they are too brittle and middley - the ODS needs a very hifi speaker or a very inefficient one to sound good i think !

But to be honest - "its all good" as far as I am concerned.... and we are lucky to be able to mess with all this stuff !!

What you building next ? - I have just received all the parts to build a 1176 compressor for the studio, so that will keep me busy for a while....

cheers
Pete
Life is two shirts
RobW
User
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:51 am
Location: North Wales

#14

Post by RobW »

PeteC wrote:Thanks Jack,

Rob - I like both and its the blend which is good. I often mic both up and record a blend of the two - if I can sort the phase issues out! (I'm still very much learning how to record well in my small home studio)

I'd really like a cab loaded with 4 old G12s but had a couple of V30s spare from another project.

They are great in 1x12 cabs i think but can be a bit forward with some amps.
With my Dumble ODS clone they are too brittle and middley - the ODS needs a very hifi speaker or a very inefficient one to sound good i think !

But to be honest - "its all good" as far as I am concerned.... and we are lucky to be able to mess with all this stuff !!

What you building next ? - I have just received all the parts to build a 1176 compressor for the studio, so that will keep me busy for a while....

cheers
Pete
Hi Pete to be honest it's more of a case of what do I need to get rid of. My house is full of broken and repaired valve amps which I got cheap off ebay, but after saying that I am currently drawing up a list of parts for a 1987x which I think is a very similar spec to the park you built.

I've ordered a G12M to try in conjunction with one of my Vintage 30s as they are a bit ice picky on the bright channel with the JTM45 clone, although I am using the volume by-pass cap which doesn't help. I have tried it without it and then it was too dark with some guitars especially the SG. Am considering putting the cap on a push pull volume pot to put that problem to rest.

Your 1176 compressor project sounds interesting. I should focus on something like that myself. Is it transistor?

Cheers Rob :)
firehazard
User
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 9:04 pm

#15 Re: Park 50 copy

Post by firehazard »

Hi,

very neat build. It's great to see projects I understand on this site.

How big is the treble bypass on the volume pot?

I have a mid 70's 1959 and the PPIMV is kind of essential :shock:
Post Reply