Mojave Amps

One of my buds blew a tube in his Peacemaker and asked me to change all his tubes and rebias. I've never messed with one before and all I can say is that this is another great amp. It is a one trick pony and you really have to use a hotplate on this one because it is stupid loud! Anyway, this gets those nice squishy plexi tones that are good for early Van Halen tones.

Those amps are built so well - I've looked into getting one before but it was too much $ and not enough versatility. Post some more amp porn if you get a chance!

Btw have you had any experience with Metro Amps? I've been thinking about building one of their JTM45 kits.

Charlie said:

Those amps are built so well - I've looked into getting one before but it was too much $ and not enough versatility. Post some more amp porn if you get a chance!

Btw have you had any experience with Metro Amps? I've been thinking about building one of their JTM45 kits.

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Yes, they are very good clones. the kits are fun and have a lot of upgrades if you want to spend a little extra. I will be building a 1959 circuit for a friend real soon that I am going to do some extensive mods to. I'll post as it comes together..... and yet, I still love my Boogies..... 8)

Definitely post some pics!

I love me some amp porn!

:twisted:

Charlie said:

Definitely post some pics!

I love me some amp porn!

:twisted:

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BTW the mods I will be doing are the mods that "Rockstah" posted at the metro forum.

ursinus said:

Charlie said:

Definitely post some pics!

I love me some amp porn!

:twisted:

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BTW the mods I will be doing are the mods that "Rockstah" posted at the metro forum.

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Cool! I'm not sure which mods you are talking about but I'm always visiting the Metro forums and I know the guy you are talking about. Well I don't 'know' him... but I read his posts there all the time. I've been jonesing hard on another diy amp kit. I'm running out of BYOC pedals to make!

I dig mojave's, because they are built like 20 minutes from my home, and my local store is one of the very very few dealers.

ursinus said:

Charlie said:

Definitely post some pics!

I love me some amp porn!

:twisted:

Click to expand...

BTW the mods I will be doing are the mods that "Rockstah" posted at the metro forum.

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Are you talking about the PPIMV/2203 mod? I just read a thread over there about that and I'm really interested in how it turns out. Please post pics and stuff when you are done!

Charlie said:

ursinus said:

Charlie said:

Definitely post some pics!

I love me some amp porn!

:twisted:

Click to expand...

BTW the mods I will be doing are the mods that "Rockstah" posted at the metro forum.

Click to expand...

Are you talking about the PPIMV/2203 mod? I just read a thread over there about that and I'm really interested in how it turns out. Please post pics and stuff when you are done!

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Yes, the Post Phase inverter MV, the lower values on the filter caps, the conversion of the 1959 pre-amp to a 2203, etc...

Those clips of Rockstah playing Van Halen tunes were awesome..... :shock:

ursinus said:

Yes, the Post Phase inverter MV, the lower values on the filter caps, the conversion of the 1959 pre-amp to a 2203, etc...

Those clips of Rockstah playing Van Halen tunes were awesome..... :shock:

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Yes, they are! I have to say that's the closest I've heard anybody getting to the early VH sound. I'm interested in hearing other people's clips with amps built to the same spec as his.

Get this, one of my friend's friend wants me to convert his Peacemaker to this spec. I really tried to convince him to get a kit instead, but he insists, so I am going to start tomaorrow. I'll post the step by step process with pics...... 8)

ursinus said:

Get this, one of my friend's friend wants me to convert his Peacemaker to this spec. I really tried to convince him to get a kit instead, but he insists, so I am going to start tomaorrow. I'll post the step by step process with pics...... 8)

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:shock:

Huh?!? That's probably going to lower the value of that amp. Oh well sounds like you gave him the right advice and if he won't listen....

As promised, here are the before and after shots of the guts:

Berfore:



After:



Yes it sounds great, too bad I have to return it to the owner.....

Looks awesome!

What mods did you do to it?

I always loved the construction of those amps. So well done.

Charlie said:

Looks awesome!

What mods did you do to it?

I always loved the construction of those amps. So well done.

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Converted the preamp section to a 2203 spec, almost. Kept some of the peacemaker specs between V1b to V2A and V2 to V3. Kept the tone stack as is. Added a post phase inverter MV, changed the mains caps and grid filter caps. Eliminated the "Bass" preamp circuit entirely whose knob became the normal master volume. The old "power scaling" knob is now the PPIMV. I got to A/B with an unmodded Peacemaker today and this modded one kicked it "butt" for those early VH1 and II tones..... I think I may make myself one too..... 8)

Hey Charlie, do you by chance hang out over at 18watt.com? It's a really cool place to go if you're into building/modding amps. They have several offshoots that deal with Push-Pull or Single Ended amps as well.

I just finished building this guy a few weeks ago, and I've been able to do from creamy cleans, to mildly crunchy and all the way into Mesa territory with it.

That thing looks awesome! You've posted it before haven't you?

I'm registered at 18watt I need to hang out over there more though. I also spend a bit of time at the Metro amps forum.

I've had the bug to build another amp for a while now I'm about to pull the trigger on an Allen Amps kit. Probably an Accomplice or a Brown Sugar. Still trying to make up my mind.

I don't remember if I've posted here or not. I know I posted it over on 18watt a while back. I'm totally adicted to building amps. For me, it's a major destressor and it's all kinds of fun!

I've been bitten by the DIY bug too. My next project is a dee-lite kit that one of my friends had, but never built.

My next project will be a single ended head with an EL-34, but I'm undecided as to whether the front end will be Hiwatt or Plexi.