Crap

The flanges on the output tubes have to be moved to the inside of the chassis to look like the original amps, so I get to break out the solder sucker and redo last nights final steps.

Love the smell of solder

After I installed my citcuit board mounting bolts I realized the 2008 version of the instructions does not exactly match my 2007 kit.  Windows 7 is not able to read the CD-ROM (and it cant seem to read a bunch of my other old cd's) so I am hoping there is no huge differences.  This was just a minor change in bolt placement.



Next up was firing up the solder station and completing the heater windings.  No real issues, just not exactly certain how to optimize the use of the two hole lugs.  I think once I've built one of these I would know which lugs get loaded with additional connections and which ones you can just solder to the top hole.

Finally the grounding wire to chassis lug and filter cap and Step 3 is now complete.

Completed Steps 1 & 2

I had cataract surgery last week, and so far its been pretty straight forward.  My main thing is infection, so I am really careful about getting any dust or contaminants in my eyes.   In other words, no shop time.  But I think this will be fine and my eyes are ok as long as I don't strain them for hours on end.

I dug out the old boxes from the basement and opened everything up on the kitchen table.

Looks  like Clark did my packaging in 07, and all seems well.   Really very, very well organized with each smaller plastic package labeled clearly, and the labels match the instructions.  The transformers had set for so long that some of the packing newspaper had stuck to the plates, so I carefully scrubbed on that with a damp abrasive pad.

The first two steps were completed with minimal problems.  There was a bit of confusion of how to place the two transformers and choke so that the wires were pointing the right way, and also making sure all of the wiring was pulled through cleanly.  The grommets are a pain, you just have to push them all the way in, and then they pop out when you are pulling the wires through anyway.  The good news is they are easier to get back in place the second (or third) time around.

This is everything through both Steps 1 and 2, and including installation of the 32uf can cap in Step 3.

Finally opened the box.......

This kit was purchased back in January of 2007 and I just never got around to opening it up.  I also picked up a 18 watt kit around the same time and did a bit of work to it, but never completed the project.  I originally started that one because I felt it was the cheaper of the two, and less complicated, so if I was going to screw something up that was the better option.  But the instructions and support from George and the rest of the people over at MetroAmp are the best.  And I am thinking that doing the assembly on the JTM45 kit will be much more enjoyable.

At the moment I have a 2x12 cabinet completed and my plan is to match up this amp to some type of offset head cabinet, sort of a quasi replica of the original Marshall offsets.