Metro 50 watt Plexi kit

[StephenRutledge]

Just finished building my 50 watt plexi and happy to report it sounds killer! George at Metro has done a fine job with his kits - I highly recommend.
My build has the optional Allen Bradley NOS carbon composition resistors and Mullard reissue EL34s & 12AX7s (Sozo caps come standard with kit).
So far I've only played it through my brother's quad box loaded with G12-75s. I had channel one on 10 and it sounded huge - can only imagine how sweet it's going to sound through greenbacks.
:rocker

[Spotted Dog]

Looks pretty darn clean!

Hey Stephen, I'm curious, were the instructions clear, do you have prior experience?

[surfnorthwest]

Nice job, those are the easiest kits Metro has to put together but I know I would never have the patieance to do one myself. If that is your first build you did one hell of a job!

I am glad you like it, everyone should have a handwired plexi in their amp collection. Later on try to find an original Mullard to slap in V1, it is worth it in those amps.

[StephenRutledge]

Looks pretty darn clean!

Hey Stephen, I'm curious, were the instructions clear, do you have prior experience?

The instructions were very clear and if I was uncertain on a particular section of the circuit I went to the Metro forum and researched - plenty of support and great information.

Having a bit of confidence with a soldering iron and basic knowledge of components helps - it's not hard and anyone can learn fairly quickly and easily. I have been mucking around with a soldering iron since I was 10 although nothing too serious - just fixing and making guitar leads and in recent times making some pedals (circuit diagrams and ideas from places like http://www.diystompboxes.com/wpress/). Math is not my strong point so I'll never be an electrical engineer... if I can do it i reckon you could too!

[StephenRutledge]

Nice job, those are the easiest kits Metro has to put together but I know I would never have the patieance to do one myself. If that is your first build you did one hell of a job!

I am glad you like it, everyone should have a handwired plexi in their amp collection. Later on try to find an original Mullard to slap in V1, it is worth it in those amps.

Thanks Surf... yeah George's kits are fairly accessible for a novice and the 68' 50 watt plexi build is a good one. I was not in a rush and spent plenty of time working my way through the project. It took me about 2 weeks to finish spending 2-3 hours each evening. Original Mullard in V1... hell yeah but first I've got to get a quad box. I'm thinking a quad loaded with a combination of G12Ms (pre-rola greenbacks would be nice!) and G12Hs. What do you think?

[StephenRutledge]

I need an attenuator also... I was thinking a Weber Mass 150 https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/mass150.htm
What do you guys think?

[surfnorthwest]

No need to get fancy with the speakers with a amp like that, just stick with Greenbacks for that amp and you will be very happy. Also try it without the attenuator I think you may not even need it, but if you do these old plexi type amps keep the their tone better than others when using one. Hell I use a 70 100 watt Superlead in the studio, I just put on my headphones so I can monitor the mic through them and save a little bit of my hearing

[slowpokerhino]

Nice work Stephen!
One of these days I'll get up the courage to attempt the Metro JTM45 build.

[DeanM]

that amp looks cool!! looks like some tidy work! good job!

yeah i think most people could do kits.most the hard work is in the preparation and thats all done for ya. ya get all the components ya need, yer given a layout and detailed instructions! a premade chassis! i think soldering experience would be useful for something like that tho! but i think you guys (slowpoke , spotted dog) should def go for it!!

so yeah kits are easy! the hard part is building an amp from scratch! and the preparation that goes into it! with no layout or instructions or anyting. the weekend just gone was the first time i had a chance to start plannin out my amp even tho i bought the components two about two months ago! the schematic isnt my design. i found it online. BUT it was designed by a guy that specialises in PCB manufacture. he designs the PCBs and sells them to diy people, but i was going the handwired route. so because they are PCB designs there was no turret board layout or anything for it. so i used the schematic but not the PCB, i had to develop the turretboard layout myself this wkend! i ordered all the components myself, €200 worth of parts, back in august.
anyway as far as engineering is concerned, you dont always have to reinvent the wheel. in college for computer programming our lecturer always said there is no point writing a real complex program from scratch when there is hundreds of examples available already written up by someone else! ya just find one that suits and adapt it to your needs or take bits and pieces from several.
so for the layout, the preamp is based on plexi preamps. i looked up layouts for plexi amps and layed out the preamp pretty similarly. a few changes here and there to suit my amp but roughly the same. for the power amp it uses a 6v6 in SE. i looked up similar amps, most werent any use but then found a layout for a Jones Octal One amplifier that looked pretty similar to my PA section. so i took ideas from that and so on. the power supply section i layed out myself. didn use any references. oh and the chassis layout (pots, trannies tubes etc) i had to plan out where all that stuff was goin!!

damn i cant ever remem wer i was goin wit this? oh yeah that sort of stuff you would need some idea what your doin but for a kit all the hard work is done for ya. so if ya can follow instructions well enough it should be fine! and also a lot of fun!

[LivewireBlanco]

Awesome amp man! I enjoy my Metro JTM45 every time I plug in. Seems like it sounds sweeter and sweeter every time.

[StephenRutledge]

that amp looks cool!! looks like some tidy work! good job!

yeah i think most people could do kits.most the hard work is in the preparation and thats all done for ya. ya get all the components ya need, yer given a layout and detailed instructions! a premade chassis! i think soldering experience would be useful for something like that tho! but i think you guys (slowpoke , spotted dog) should def go for it!!

so yeah kits are easy! the hard part is building an amp from scratch! and the preparation that goes into it! with no layout or instructions or anyting. the weekend just gone was the first time i had a chance to start plannin out my amp even tho i bought the components two about two months ago! the schematic isnt my design. i found it online. BUT it was designed by a guy that specialises in PCB manufacture. he designs the PCBs and sells them to diy people, but i was going the handwired route. so because they are PCB designs there was no turret board layout or anything for it. so i used the schematic but not the PCB, i had to develop the turretboard layout myself this wkend! i ordered all the components myself, €200 worth of parts, back in august.
anyway as far as engineering is concerned, you dont always have to reinvent the wheel. in college for computer programming our lecturer always said there is no point writing a real complex program from scratch when there is hundreds of examples available already written up by someone else! ya just find one that suits and adapt it to your needs or take bits and pieces from several.
so for the layout, the preamp is based on plexi preamps. i looked up layouts for plexi amps and layed out the preamp pretty similarly. a few changes here and there to suit my amp but roughly the same. for the power amp it uses a 6v6 in SE. i looked up similar amps, most werent any use but then found a layout for a Jones Octal One amplifier that looked pretty similar to my PA section. so i took ideas from that and so on. the power supply section i layed out myself. didn use any references. oh and the chassis layout (pots, trannies tubes etc) i had to plan out where all that stuff was goin!!

damn i cant ever remem wer i was goin wit this? oh yeah that sort of stuff you would need some idea what your doin but for a kit all the hard work is done for ya. so if ya can follow instructions well enough it should be fine! and also a lot of fun!

Quite right.... it's a paint by numbers kind of thing. Good on you for building from scratch. That takes far more preparation and effort.
My brother has been building some amps from scratch lately which is what inspired me to get the metro kit. His his next amp build is going to be the VM pre amp section - minus effects loop and reverb - with an 18 watter power section. The schematic design is done now he's using an auto CAD type of program to do the turret board layout.

Should be an interesting exercise - I'll report back when he's finished that build and let you guys know of the results.

Good luck with the build Dean :rocker

[Spotted Dog]

I was not in a rush and spent plenty of time working my way through the project. It took me about 2 weeks to finish spending 2-3 hours each evening.

That's a lot less time than I imagined. Do I really want another Marshall? Hmmmm, you got me thinkin'.

Edit: Did I mention those pics are "Blue Steel" fetchin' pornography?

[Supernaught]

At the risk of sounding rude, can I ask how much the whole thing set you back? Or at least how it compares to buying a comparable pre-made one?

[slowpokerhino]

The Metro Basic 50 watt kit is $1050 ($950 for the JTM45). You can pay a little extra to upgrade transformers and such but from what I've read it's not really necessary. Includes head cab & tubes. You can pay an extra $400 and they'll build it for you.
Even at +/- $1500 it's reall not a bad price IMO.

[DeanM]

Quite right.... it's a paint by numbers kind of thing. Good on you for building from scratch. That takes far more preparation and effort.
My brother has been building some amps from scratch lately which is what inspired me to get the metro kit. His his next amp build is going to be the VM pre amp section - minus effects loop and reverb - with an 18 watter power section. The schematic design is done now he's using an auto CAD type of program to do the turret board layout.

Should be an interesting exercise - I'll report back when he's finished that build and let you guys know of the results.

Good luck with the build Dean :rocker

Cool! what other amps has he built do you know?

I thought of doin somethin like that before too!! a stripped down handwired VM!! but i thought that if i was going to do an 18watt version then i would prob be better off going for a more classic 18watt marshall clone. there is a few marshalls i really want! 18watt 1974, jtm45, jmp50 etc but i plan to eventually build them. prob after college or somethin. but the VM i was set on buying. i tought once i buy that then il be happy and i can build other amps when i have time/money.

Yeah the CAD type thing is a layout program. iv used Orcad Layout Plus in college. but iv never used it for home stuff/guitar amp stuff.

thats all pretty cool tho!! def looking forward to hearing how that turns out!!