# NAD - Phaez Daisycutter 50W



## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

For months I've been searching for a new amp. I wanted something with stellar cleans (Two Rock ish), versatile, nice natural OD, loop, and something that was very pedal friendly. After searching and searching for a new amp and after many emails with Randy of Phaez Amps, I settled on a 50W Daisycutter. It was a tough decision because he has so many different amp flavours. Almost went for a Duophonic Blackface + SIBLY (Marshall) but ended up with the Daisycutter. I needed the extra power for the cleans I wanted, and I already have a stellar Marshall clone (Trinity 18W Plexi). So here is a shot of the front.



I apologize for the poor quality pics but I am a little handicapped at the moment. I picked up the amp at the Fedex depot last Wednesday, 18hrs before my shoulder surgery. Other than putting tubes in it, and turning it on for about 20 min, I haven't been able to play it yet. It's driving me bananas. In those 20 minutes I determined that the cleans were in fact stellar and it took pedals very well. 

I am currently sitting on my couch in a sling with an icing device attached to my shoulder. I am told that it will be 4-6 weeks before I can unhook the sling. Therefore 4-6 weeks before I can play with my new toy.

I plan on building a head cab for it that will match my Traynor DHX212 cab. I also plan on building a Two-Rock style 112.

As you can tell by the pics, I named it the 3rd Rock. Lol. Not that creative I know. Lol.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Congrats!

50 watts sure sounds like a whole lot of power to me.
15 watt amp with the band, 8 watt at home.
The Ghia that I got in recently is a lot of amp for my needs, 18 watts.

What's the tilt and tweak about?

Update with the new head shell when you're done!


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I think the tilt is a brightness control and the tweak is a second gain stage. Dying to play around with it.

50W is in fact very loud but the master and gain controls work surprisingly well to get great tones at low volume.


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## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

Very nice. You have some big iron there. If Randy made it, I'm sure it sounds stellar. Phaez amps are built here in my hometown (Windsor ON). I went to his small shop several times and was going to have him build me an amp.

I tripped over a screaming deal on a Maz 18 jr reverb combo that was less than 2 years old. Randy said that he forgives me on that deal. I know that if I ever get something built new, Phaez is a very good choice. I would consider investing in Phaez as a business venture, but I have been told that I don't understand the way business is done.

Congratulations


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

Congrats... I love my Phaez Corona, and will be adding something Phaez in the Marshall camp.


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## ElectricMojo (May 19, 2011)

Wow, really nice. Congrats!


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Congrats man - great amp! I've been a cheerleader for Randy/Phaez for years. I have one of the original DaisyCutter circuits (2X EL84's) from about 6-7 yrs ago and it's never leaving my clutches - something very special about it. Just got one of Randy's Brink fixed attenuators for my '70 JMP Lead also. Super well-thought out/executed designs at great prices - what more could you want, right?...

Hope you have a quick and smooth recovery on that shoulder so you can play that bad boy soon. Enjoy!!


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Thanks! The surgeon said it was in pretty bad shape. Had to install 4 anchors to keep the stuff he repaired in place. Hard to believe I was doing max bench presses with it only 6 months ago. It's been torn like that for about 20 years. Time to get it fixed.

How do you like the Brink? I ordered one as well but Randy forgot to send me one. I'll have to email him again. He must be busy. A Corona was one of my choices for a duo sonic. I am soooooo dying to play thus thing.



gtone said:


> Congrats man - great amp! I've been a cheerleader for Randy/Phaez for years. I have one of the original DaisyCutter circuits (2X EL84's) from about 6-7 yrs ago and it's never leaving my clutches - something very special about it. Just got one of Randy's Brink fixed attenuators for my '70 JMP Lead also. Super well-thought out/executed designs at great prices - what more could you want, right?...
> 
> Hope you have a quick and smooth recovery on that shoulder so you can play that bad boy soon. Enjoy!!


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Just got the Brink this week and haven't really had a chance to give it a really good go. Sounds promising so far, but should be able to wind up the JMP a bit this weekend - have a new space with a couple of new guys to start working up some material with. I'll let you know, though...


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Great looking amp. Bet it must have some pretty cool sounds in it. Sucks to have to wait - but if you've been waiting 20 years for surgery (which wouldn't surprise me with our medical system), I guess of month of waiting to play will be nothing. Too bad you didn't have some straight guitar recorded - you could reamp through the 3rd Rock and just use the good arm to twist the knobs!

And I know (from experience) the head will look great. Have fun with the build. Look forward to seeing the 'after' pix.


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Followup - Brink is awesome with 50W JMP, two thumbs way up! Knocks down just enough db to get into meat/potatoes gain tones at volumes that're just right for rehearsals/club gigs. Prolly knock too much off for amps <20W unless you wanted to play in your home, I suppose. That or got the 8 into 16 ohm or 4 into 8 ohm versions to reduce the attenuation maybe.

Hope that shoulder's coming along - we want you back in the sandbox and playing your toys again soon... ;^)


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

A little update. I found 50w was waaaaaaayyyy too much juice for home use. I could get a nice clean at a reasonable volume but that's about it. As soon as I started introducing some gain there was no holding it back. Could blow the doors off my house! Lol. 

Randy was was gracious enough to allow me to trade for something with a little less juice. I opted for a 25w D-style amp. So far so good. Sounds amazing and very versatile. Now I have to start planning a cab for it.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

What's that 50's style diner/UFO on the top right?


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## noman (Jul 24, 2006)

sambonee said:


> What's that 50's style diner/UFO on the top right?


Those are toroidal transformers that Phaez often uses in the amp design. I have a similar one in a Phaez amp I owned a while back. Nice amps.[h=1][/h]


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## JeremyP (Jan 10, 2012)

That transformer is crazy looking. Makes me want to hear it big time! 
I have been tempted by the Phaez amps often. This thread is going to push me over the edge haha!


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Yup. That transformer is kind of weird looking but it gets the job done.

Here's something I found kind of strange. When testing it out, I tried it with a sealed 212 and a sealed 112 and it sounded good but not quite good enough. I tried it with a few different speakers in those cabs (greenback, v30, Tone Tubby ceramic, and Celestion 70/80, WGS ET65). None of them sounded great in a sealed cab. The ET65 sounded anemic. I was disappointed because I had bought the WGS specifically for this amp because I had read that it was a great match for D style amps. So I dug up an old junker of a 112 open back that I built years ago from scrap wood (and I mean scrap wood - twisted plywood and left over 2x4s that I trimmed) for an Epi Valve Jr head. Threw in the WGS ET65 and WOW! It sounded awesome. So I'll either be building a new open back 112 or having one made in the near future.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Congrats. Me and another guy in our band are both considering ordering Phaez amps.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

I have a toroidal transformer in my Laney. Same as any other amp really. I think the idea is to reduce stray EMI.


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Stratin2traynor said:


> A little update. I found 50w was waaaaaaayyyy too much juice for home use. I could get a nice clean at a reasonable volume but that's about it. As soon as I started introducing some gain there was no holding it back. Could blow the doors off my house! Lol.
> 
> Randy was was gracious enough to allow me to trade for something with a little less juice. I opted for a 25w D-style amp. So far so good. Sounds amazing and very versatile. Now I have to start planning a cab for it.


Very nice bud! So, how is the playing & shoulder doing?
I have the big UFO in the Ibby as well.
Sound cloud demos to come? Please?


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Cool! Hope you get this rig sorted out. One thing you could try is a mod to the back panel to open it up, assuming that it's removable, of course. Sometimes, speakers just have to breathe...

How's the shoulder, btw? Hope it's a good prognosis...:sFun_dancing:


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Shoulder is feeling better in waves. Other times it crashes and hurts a lot. All to be expected according to the surgeon. I do have 4 anchors in there and my body is having a hard time getting used to them. Prognosis is good, it's just going to take a while. Got out of the shower today and noticed that for the first time in 20 years I didn't have to consciously hold my shoulder in place. Nice feeling - for me. 

I get to play about 10 minutes at a time but fingers still aren't working great yet. Plus the pain meds I was taking caused my hands to peel so badly that the skin would always catch on the strings and either rip off or jam my finger in place. Gross. Weirdest reaction yet to meds.


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## Steve Morse (Apr 14, 2013)

A few months ago I stopped by Randy's shop as it isn't too far from me. Awesome guy building awesome amps. I don't own one yet, built will soon hopefully.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Hey Steve, I thought you were an Engl guy........................;-)

It'd be great to see you on the DP stage with some Phaez!


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

High/Deaf said:


> Hey Steve, I thought you were an Engl guy........................;-)
> 
> It'd be great to see you on the DP stage with some Phaez!


DP on the stage? You guys are some crazy mofo's - just sayin'...:sSc_eeksign:


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## stormbringer (Aug 27, 2014)

Nice amps! What made you switch to the D-style Novadrive (as opposed to the Duo that was under consideration)?


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

stormbringer said:


> Nice amps! What made you switch to the D-style Novadrive (as opposed to the Duo that was under consideration)?


Just wanted to try it really. Some days I still wish I would have chosen the Duosonic - just for the convenience of having the two channels. Plus how can a Blackface circuit and a Marshall circuit in one amp not be awesome! Oh well. No big deal, he still makes them. But, to be clear I am very happy with the Novadrive. 

On another note, I am about to start building the head cab and 112 for the Novadrive. Can't decide on tolex colour though. Having a tough time deciding. I was initially going to go with brown ostrich (but there wasn't enough available) then brown crocodile pattern (still considering it but not sure). May just go standard black. Arghhh!!! 

Suggestions anyone?


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Head cab and 112 build happening now. I'll get some pics up later. The head cab is almost ready for tolex (brown crocodile). The cab pieces have been cut and just require assembly.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Had a couple of hours to spare tonight so I threw together one of the 112's I'm building. It's a Two Rock style 112. It will be finished in brown crocodile tolex.

Since I don't have the tools or jigs I would need for the fancy joints and didn't want to do simple butt joints, I went with biscuits. I also realized a little too late that I should have cut the biscuit slots before screwing and gluing the bracing. Oh well. Live and learn. Had to work around it. Probably won't have any time until Sunday to do anymore work on this. That'll give it lots of time to dry.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Managed to finish a Dr Z style 112 cab today. So the building is almost done. Just have to do the baffles and the back panels then get everything ready for tolexing!



The middle cab is the Dr Z style while the bottom cab is the Two Rock style 112. Looking forward to getting this done so I can get back to playing.

PS - I see this thread is generating a lot of interest. Hopefully all the traffic doesn't shut down the internet. Lol


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Nice work, Ben.

Do the two cabinet designs sound different enough to justify two completely different builds? That seems like twice as much work (from research to construction) compared to building two cabs exactly the same. With my woodworking 'abilities' I could never make two things the same anyways, but it looks like you could.

Also, whatcha loading these with?


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

The major difference between the two cabs is that the TR is completely open back while the Z is convertible. Otherwise not a huge difference but I had extra wood so since I was building 1....I thought I would build 2. 

I have a Celestion Vintage 30 for the Z as well as a WGS Reaper.

the TR cab will be loaded with a WGS ET65.

i have a few other speakers I may try with them just for shits and giggles: Weber Blue Dog Alnico, Weber Blue Dog Ceramic, Tone Tubby 40/40 Ceramic.

just got the baffles and backs cut. Just have to cut the speaker holes now. Everything is looking pretty good so far.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Had a few minutes today and managed to somewhat finish the head cab. I still have to figure out what to cover the valance with. I thought I would have enough tolex but it doesn't look like I will. I'll see when I get the 112 done. I was going to take some progress pics but I was on a roll...


[URL=http://s172.photobucket.com/user/stonge007/media/403d6aa1-3b71-41fe-8e55-bae7dc1a9b2b.jpg.html][/URL]


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

What to do with the valance? Paint some point teeth on it, glue a couple of eyes on the top, and name it Ampligator!


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

That definitely is an idea....Lol.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Well, I'm almost done the TR style 112. Just have to secure the back panel and baffle, do the wiring and install a speaker. Hopefully I can test drive this thing tomorrow. Then it's on the the Dr Z style 112.

I have to say that the alligator pattern tolex is not the easiest stuff to work with. You get a lot of air bubbles that you have to roll out. Luckily I was using the water based, low odour contact cement. It made pulling off and reapplying the tolex a little easier. Clean up was much easier as well.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Very impressive work! Congrats!

Cheers

Dave


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

you could say that that cabinet has a "slithery" tone hah a.

seriously nice work.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Got to work on the Z Cab today. Just have to do the baffle and back panels now. Almost done!!



I gotta say that I'm a little hot and cold on the low odour, water based contact cement. It's a lot easier to spread and clean up is a breeze but I find it a little harder to get the work done. Doesn't seem to stick as well as the smelly stringy stuff! Any other opinions on this?


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Well I have to admit that I've had a bit of a love hate relationship with the Nova Drive. The "drive" part sounds awesome but the cleans were seriously lacking. And since I mostly wanted it for the clean I was kind of disappointed. So I did some experimenting with tubes and found that an EHX 12AY7 in V1 did the trick as far as the cleans go. Still have to check out the dirt and see if it's still good. It's amazing the difference one tube can make!


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

So I my wife bought me an Eminence Cannabis Rex for Christmas and I tried it out in the 112 I built for the Nova Drive. Wow, what a difference that made. With the tube swap and speaker swap, it's pretty much the tone I was looking for. 

Here's a little story. I installed the speaker in my 112 and hooked it back up to the head. I fired everything and got ready for the sound test. I hit an A chord to get things started and the amp sounded weak and anemic. I thought WTF? I tried another cab. Same thing. I replaced the speaker in my 112 to the original. Same thing. I thought "what the hell happened between yesterday and today to kill the tone of my amp!?" So I started swapping preamp tubes and power tubes. No change. I flipped it over and did the chop stick test and examined components to see if anything had failed. Everything looked good. Since I don't have any hair on my head, I felt like pulling my chest hair out! Just when I was about to throw in the towel, I noticed that there was a patch cable dangling from my delay, which I run through the loop. That's when I remembered that I had posted my Reverb pedal in the Emporium and had removed it from the loop.my Turns out I had forgotten to close the loop buy plugging the "return" cable into my delay. Voila, problem solved. There's 1-2 hours of my life I'll never get back because of a minor oversight!


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Stratin2traynor said:


> So I my wife bought me an Eminence Cannabis Rex for Christmas and I tried it out in the 112 I built for the Nova Drive. Wow, what a difference that made. With the tube swap and speaker swap, it's pretty much the tone I was looking for.
> 
> Here's a little story. I installed the speaker in my 112 and hooked it back up to the head. I fired everything and got ready for the sound test. I hit an A chord to get things started and the amp sounded weak and anemic. I thought WTF? I tried another cab. Same thing. I replaced the speaker in my 112 to the original. Same thing. I thought "what the hell happened between yesterday and today to kill the tone of my amp!?" So I started swapping preamp tubes and power tubes. No change. I flipped it over and did the chop stick test and examined components to see if anything had failed. Everything looked good. Since I don't have any hair on my head, I felt like pulling my chest hair out! Just when I was about to throw in the towel, I noticed that there was a patch cable dangling from my delay, which I run through the loop. That's when I remembered that I had posted my Reverb pedal in the Emporium and had removed it from the loop.my Turns out I had forgotten to close the loop buy plugging the "return" cable into my delay. Voila, problem solved. There's 1-2 hours of my life I'll never get back because of a minor oversight!


:applouse:It's only funny because I've done the same thing.


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