Line2Amp - cheap Reamp kit or pre-built

[MatrixClaw]

Got mine yesterday, wiring it up now!

Wish the laser engraved enclosures were included with the DIY version, but I guess I can't complain at $35.

 

[JonWormwood]

Mine had a bad transformer (thin and harsh)

Peterson mailed me a new one, haven't put it in yet to test but it's awesome he did that.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Finally got mine done about 5 minutes ago, got distracted earlier

Can't wait to try it out tomorrow!


P.S. You should really consider changing the instructions - The green wire is far too thick to solder easily onto the tiny inserts on the switch. I wired everything up in about 15 minutes, then getting those green wires took me another 45 minutes and some ingenuity to get them soldered up well. Had I checked before I wired all the other parts up, I would have switched one of the other colors for the switch, because they were thinner gauge.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Finally got mine done about 5 minutes ago, got distracted earlier

Can't wait to try it out tomorrow!


P.S. You should really consider changing the instructions - The green wire is far too thick to solder easily onto the tiny inserts on the switch. I wired everything up in about 15 minutes, then getting those green wires took me another 45 minutes and some ingenuity to get them soldered up well. Had I checked before I wired all the other parts up, I would have switched one of the other colors for the switch, because they were thinner gauge.

sounds like your iron doesn't have enough power, or you don't use flux, or you didn't tin the wire first.

 

[MatrixClaw]

sounds like your iron doesn't have enough power, or you don't use flux, or you didn't tin the wire first.

Admittedly, I'm using a cheap 15/30w switchable iron from Radio Shack, and I used lead-free rosin core solder. I did try tinning the wire first, but the wire physically wouldn't fit into the connection holes on the switch when I did. I eventually had to cut off the tinned portion of the wire and feed it in untinned, because it wouldn't fit in there with the solder on it, even heating it on its way in, and it was still an extremely tight fit without the solder.

Gonna try it today and see if the connections are okay on the ground switch, if not, I'll rewire them with a slightly thinner gauge wire


On another note - What iron would you recommend? I've been looking to buy a good one, so I can start doing some DIY amp builds and mods for fun.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Peterson would recommend the Hakko 888
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Soldering-Station-FX-888/dp/B004M3U0VU[/ame]

I don't do much DIY so my 15W non-switchable RadioShack does fine for light work-XLR connectors, circuitbending, switches. But it doesn't work for thicker stuff like 1/4" cables, the iron cools too fast.

The wire doesn't have to go through the hole, it can lay flat against the lug and soldered over. Let the iron heat up for a good 5-10 minutes, make sure it's clean.
Tin the wire and the lug. Heat up the lug with the edge of the iron-heating with more surface area-till the solder melts, then lay the tinned wire flat on top. It should stick enough to let go and apply a bit more solder to the joint.

Keep in mind the lead-free solder requires more heat to melt properly which makes using it much more difficult.

the Hakko is on my wish list.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

I've got [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC"]this sucker[/ame] and it's great (beats the shit out of any of the Radio Shack stuff, and trust me, I know, I've been working there for the last year and a half )

 

[kylendm]

^
I've got that too and it's excellent.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Can't go wrong with a Weller either.
Will still need a gun at some point if you want to do big cables. Again, can't go wrong with Weller. They last for decades

 

[JeffTD]

I might have to pick one of these up and sell my Redeye once I get my SCA D11 module built.

As for soldering irons, you guys are nuts. I've built an SCA API, Neve, and 4xT15's as well as a stereo 1176 with a 25watt Radio Shack iron.

 

[JonWormwood]

My drummer is crazy weird about soldering. He has some super high end dual gun hakko and a hakko flow gun. Shoots hot air to reflow a board for example.

He just likes to solder. He's building a stereo 1176 without knowing what it does. Knows it's a compressor.

 

[Sloan]

My drummer is crazy weird about soldering. He has some super high end dual gun hakko and a hakko flow gun. Shoots hot air to reflow a board for example.

He just likes to solder. He's building a stereo 1176 without knowing what it does. Knows it's a compressor.

fuuuu best drummer ever.
i wish i had another band member that liked to fix shit too.

 

[Peterson Goodwyn]

P.S. You should really consider changing the instructions - The green wire is far too thick to solder easily onto the tiny inserts on the switch. I wired everything up in about 15 minutes, then getting those green wires took me another 45 minutes and some ingenuity to get them soldered up well. Had I checked before I wired all the other parts up, I would have switched one of the other colors for the switch, because they were thinner gauge.

The ground wire is supposed to be as thick as possible for the application, but I do understand that it's a pain to get through the terminals of the switch. I found that it's actually easier to do without pre-tinning the wire. Maybe I should add this to the instructions

 

[JonWormwood]

fuuuu best drummer ever.
i wish i had another band member that liked to fix shit too.

The other guitarists has a nice hakko gun and he builds his own boosts and shit

He's modding his mp1 with the mk4 mod right now. Can't wait to hear it

 

[hsnyder]

Bought one

 

[hogan666]

me too

 

[xTomx]

Mine came today, I'm building it and testing it out on Monday - will report back!

 

[xTomx]

Built it and tested it - it's very quiet

Anybody else experienced this? I'm using the line out from my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 with the output set to full in Mix Control

 

[Peterson Goodwyn]

Hey Tom, you should lose about 28dB of gain, but it should by no means be too quiet to get a good signal to your amp. If it's REALLY quiet and lacking low end, you may have a bad transformer. If so I'll send you a new one right away.

 

[xTomx]

Hi Peterson - thanks for the quick reply.

There's a pretty good amount of signal but it's quieter than if I were to plug my guitar directly into the amp or pedal (the same guitar I'm recording D.I's with, again with a healthy gain)