# Bad Cat Black Cat gut shots!!



## warplanegrey (Jan 3, 2007)

I was in the mood to take a few gut shots of my 2001 (Sampson era) Bad Cat Black Cat, so here they are!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Much appreciated.

I always enjoy these pics.

Cheers

Dave


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## warplanegrey (Jan 3, 2007)

If anyone wants the original high-res 10.2MP sized pictures, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send them off.


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## Were We Brave? (Oct 29, 2009)

Wow, very interesting... So they're just floating, hanging from the leads?

I haven't seen that many guts, but this is the first time I see something like this. It DOES make for a clearer, much easier to follow signal flow...


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## Alistair6 (Jul 9, 2007)

im always impressed when i see the insides of a sampson design.. has anyone tried to count the zip ties? lol


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Alistair6 said:


> im always impressed when i see the insides of a sampson design.. has anyone tried to count the zip ties? lol


47........Do I get a prize?

Cheers

Dave


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

warplanegrey said:


> If anyone wants the original high-res 10.2MP sized pictures, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send them off.


:wave: THANK YOU!



Alistair6 said:


> im always impressed when i see the insides of a sampson design.. has anyone tried to count the zip ties? lol


kkjuw ZERO!



greco said:


> 47........Do I get a prize?
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


kqoct I said Zero. I am not sure what is being seen as zip ties, but I do see that the wiring is bundled in black stitching. Cable stitching is not done anymore, really a lost art in electronics which is sad. I was more surprised that the threading wasn't a tan waxed chord but looks more a glossy black nylon, as that is what I have seen more typically used


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

I used to have a 40's Bogen Radio that was wired in a similar way to this amp.

Very robust construction method but can be hard to work on. Garnet amps use this technique as well (but without all the bundled wires and plastic sleeves on the component leads)

Thanks for posting the pic...


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Yup, in the 1950's sleeves on leads was very selective. Only where there was solid risk of lead-cross-touch.

I think if I were to build this amp today I would do the sleeves on all leads like this. There is a lot of lethal voltages in there and I would not want to risk a Judge thinking I didn't take "all reasonable steps" to prevent a person touching something super hot.


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks for the gut porn!!!


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

keeperofthegood said:


> Yup, in the 1950's sleeves on leads was very selective. Only where there was solid risk of lead-cross-touch.
> 
> I think if I were to build this amp today I would do the sleeves on all leads like this. There is a lot of lethal voltages in there and I would not want to risk a Judge thinking I didn't take "all reasonable steps" to prevent a person touching something super hot.


Not to mention that the sleeves look cool :smile:


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

keeperofthegood said:


> ..... I am not sure what is being seen as zip ties, but I do see that the wiring is bundled in black stitching. Cable stitching is not done anymore, really a lost art in electronics which is sad. I was more surprised that the threading wasn't a tan waxed chord but looks more a glossy black nylon, as that is what I have seen more typically used


Keeps...I looked at that and wondered if the wires were bundled (I have an old textbook that goes over bundling in detail). 
Then I thought....Nah...probably not....nobody does it now.

I like the sleeves also. Our (old) local electronics shop has sleeve tubing...I just might buy some.

Cheers

Dave


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## ghiastrat (Sep 17, 2008)

Thx ... great pics:smile:


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## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

Wow, this Sampson guy makes real art.

I made a point-to-point amp about a year ago (because the turretboard material was taking too long to arrive), and I will never do it again. People come up with layouts for a reason. I had a lot of problems with bad noises that I don't ever want to have to deal with again.

But, apparently you know what you are doing if you started Matchless and Bad Cat. Mine doesn't look nearly as tidy or beautiful


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

bcmatt said:


> I had a lot of problems with bad noises that I don't ever want to have to deal with again.
> 
> Mine doesn't look nearly as tidy or beautiful


I think your amp looks great for PTP...were you eventually able to get rid of the "bad noises"? 
Did you determine the specific cause(s) of the noises?

A bit kkjwpw... Sorry to the OP

Cheers

dave


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## warplanegrey (Jan 3, 2007)

Haha, I don't care if this thread goes off topic.


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## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

greco said:


> I think your amp looks great for PTP...were you eventually able to get rid of the "bad noises"?
> Did you determine the specific cause(s) of the noises?
> 
> A bit kkjwpw... Sorry to the OP
> ...


Well, yes and no. It turns out that some unpleasant fizziness was actually a bad speaker that I just discovered. Aside from that, I also had to drastically reduce the gain between a couple of preamp stages on the high gain "T-Rex" channel in order to eliminate an oscillation that it seems was a layout/lead dress issue (that I can't rally fix unless I start over). So, the amp is stable now, but the T-Rex Channel is hardly any hotter than the normal channel now. So, humbuckers are now needed for any significant amount of distortion.
Luckily, my brother-in law uses an LP (who it is for).

So, it is sounding good now (except for an occasional staticy sounding crackle due to I don't know what). But to really get the amp how it is meant to operate, it really should be gutted and rebuilt with the appropriate layout.
I can't push around wires to experiment because it is mostly actual capacitor leads coming off of tube sockets.

So, yes, let this be a warning for all. But thanks for saying it doesn't look too messy.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

kqoct I am not "new" to electronics, more I am coming back to them after a forgotten unforgettable cranial event. In doing so I have read on lots and lots of tube amps, DIY, and audiophile sites the past few months.

Apparently, when wiring the filaments, the wires should not be near or parallel to either the grid or plate wires, and efforts should be made to keep the grid and plate circuits at right angles to each other :bow: 

Of course that leads to building your amp in 3D 





XD and I know, neither amp here follow those rules XD


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## blackcat (Sep 13, 2010)

Hey Warplanegrey,
Did you replace the filter caps in the black cat? I have an 01, and mine just have numbers handwritten on them with marker. No labels. The tone caps say matchless, like yours. I am thinking it may be time to replace them, but I want to hold off as long as possible. Any info here would be a great help...


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## thehoj (May 12, 2009)

I was going to ask a question along these lines.. More-so just curious what brand of filter caps were used.. I can't make out what they are.



blackcat said:


> Hey Warplanegrey,
> Did you replace the filter caps in the black cat? I have an 01, and mine just have numbers handwritten on them with marker. No labels. The tone caps say matchless, like yours. I am thinking it may be time to replace them, but I want to hold off as long as possible. Any info here would be a great help...


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

GONE


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## blackcat (Sep 13, 2010)

*01 Black cat guts*

I will try to post a pic of mine soon. They did look like IC's..


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## blackcat (Sep 13, 2010)

Has anyone seen electrolytics like these? I think this was the 26th one made in 01.. James H. told me it was one of the 1st they made.
http://www.proxypresentations.com/IMG_0166.JPG
http://www.proxypresentations.com/IMG_0163.JPG


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