Has anyone built a Weber 6a14HP kit?

[ripple]

Wondering if any TGP'ers have built this kit (higher powered Princeton Reverb)?

To date I've built 5 amps:
5F1 Champ
5E3 Deluxe
5F4 Super
Marshall 2061 Lead Bass
Marshall JTM-45 (my favorite and main gigging amp)

I'm looking to build something with reverb and tremolo, and have all but decided on a stock Princeton Reverb clone, however the Weber 6a14HP really intrigues me.

I'm curious as to the increase in clean headroom and overall volume versus the stock circuit, and if the amp retains the original Princeton character/flavor with the change to 6L6 tubes and larger trannies.

Does the increase in power overmatch the small combo size? Would it be more prudent to build as a head than a combo?

Any insight/opinions are appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[oldhousescott]

Yes, I've built one as a 1x12 combo, and it's my favorite grab-n-go amp. With the larger cabinet, 12" speaker, and 6L6 tubes, it has more grunt than a straight PR. As far as clean headroom and volume, I couldn't say as I rarely run it as loud where that would come into play. The quality of the cabinet and parts are top notch, although I did upgrade the OT with a David Allen unit. I swapped the speaker from the Sig12B (the supplied speaker at the time I ordered the kit) to a Jensen Falcon. I like the Sig12B a lot, but I wanted something more American than British sounding. I see now they offer the 12F150 which would work great for the classic Fender sound.

 

[pdf64]

An issue may be that whilst the OT is beefed up, the PT isn't.
My experience with a 6A20HP is that it's fine if run fairly clean and I preferred the tone with 6L6 type tubes to 6V6, even with a DR OT in place of the stock Weber type.
I think that the amp had a different character with 6V6 compared to 6L6GC (6V6 seemed too fizzy for me, though I love them in smaller cathode biased amps).
However if the power amp is run with 6L6GC under heavy sustained overdrive, the power transformer gets hot and mine eventually failed.
I ended up fitting a Vibrolux equivalent PT from Mojo and a Hammond Bassman equivalent OT, which have worked out great.
I originally got it as a combo but have moved to using all amps as heads, as the intense vibration from the speaker in a combo seems to cause previously good tubes to become microphonic.
Plus I'm getting old and combos are more arkward to lug around.
Pete

 

[ripple]

Thanks for the replies Scott and Pete. A loud, clean, grab & go combo is exactly what I'm looking for. I would also choose the 12" speaker option for this build.

Scott you mention the larger cab and 12" speaker: did you special order that, or does Weber provide a larger cab (than a stock PR cab) with the 6A14HP kit?

Pete, do you have a suggestion for a more beefed up OT to swap in? Would I be looking at say a Vibrolux or Bassman spec OT, or would that be overkill?

I'll likely go to Heyboer directly as they've been great to deal with in the past, but I'm not sure what would be best model OT to request.

 

[oldhousescott]

Ripple, here's a picture of my build. You can see the cabinet is taller than a standard PR and maybe a smidge deeper. The picture came out more yellow, but it's really blonde. The area where it says OLDHOUSE is blank on the faceplate as supplied. I have a buddy with a vinyl cutter and he did the logo and clearcoated the faceplate for me.

 

[oldhousescott]

Sorry, meant to say that's the cab size you get when you order the 1x12 combo.

 

[ripple]

Scott - that is a beauty! Love your logo also.

I'm definitely going with that cabinet/speaker option. Perfect size footprint for my needs.

Thanks again!

John