Cathode Follower Billm

Billm Audio
Small amps, big sound.

The Cathode Follower Mod
or, what does this mod actually do?
Almost everyone who has looked into the heart of a Blues Junior has noticed that extra half of a
12AX7 thats just sitting there, doing nothing. There are lots of things it could be doing a second
input, a line input, another gain stage. Or take a page from the venerable Fender Bassman, and
use it as a cathode follower. The cathode follower is a non-gain stage that separates the
preamplifier from the tone stack.
Why would you want to do that? The tone stack, with multiple paths to ground through capacitors
and tone control potentiometers, places a rather heavy load on the previous preamp stage. The
preamp stage is high impedance and does not drive a load all that well. The cathode follower has
very low input capacitance and very high input impedance, so it is a very light load for the preamp
and a better match impedance-to-impedance than preamp-into-tone stack. On the other side, it
has very low output impedance and is a powerful current source, so it can drive the tone stack
effortlessly.
So why wouldnt you want to do this?
The biggest reason is that it doesnt sound all that different. The theoretical bark is worse than the
actual bite, and despite all the impedance mismatches, lots of signal gets through to the tone
stack. So you have to question whether its worth the effort. On the other hand, nobody ever
accused a Bassman or a Marshall (which copied the circuit) of sounding bad.
Mark Huss did this mod on the green board Blues Junior years ago. He has instructions and some
sound clips on his site:
http://mhuss.com/BluesJr/index.html
At a customers request, I recently re-engineered and adapted the mod to the cream board. Its
not all that difficult. Heres how, below. Ive also re-engineered Husss mod for the rev. C and D
cream board. Photos are at the end of this page.
Pagina1 di 22 Billm Audio Cathode follower mod for Fender Blues Junior
12/04/2014 http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=141
This is the circuit were trying to create. I cut-and-pasted another tube section into the Blues Junior schematic.
Its laid out just like the schematic for the Bassman, and its technically a DC-coupled cathode follower. The half-
tube connected by the colored lines is the unused half of V2, designated V2A. The only additional component,
other than the wires, is the cathode resistor. Although its unmarked on the schematic, its 100K, just like the
plate resistor of V1A. This may seem strange if youre used to cathode resistors in the 1K-2K range, but the high-
potential balance between the plate and cathode is essential to the cathode followers operation.
The voltage drop across the cathode resistor raises the cathode to a high voltage that gets modulated by
whatever signal appears on the grid. Unlike amplification stages, the cathode follower does not change the
phase of the signal. What goes in is what comes out.
V2B, by the way, is the tone stack recovery amplifier.
(Note: If youve changed the plate resistor to some other value, as with the high-voltage preamp, the new
cathode resistor needs to be the same value.)
This is the stock circuit board. The first step is to clip both ends of this jumper, close to the board.
This jumper is very convenient for our purposes; its the path from the output of V1A to the tone stack. Well feed
the cathode follower from one end and feed the output of the cathode follower to the tone stack with the other.
Its essential to clip components when desoldering them on printed circuits because the leads are typically bent
onto the trace on the back of the board. Trying to pry or wiggle the entire part loose while keeping the solder
molten is an excellent way to tear the solder pad from the circuit board.
Ive removed one of the stubs from the jumper and am about to remove the other. A solder sucker is the best
way to do this because you dont have to linger on the joint and it cleans out the stub and the excess solder.
This trace brings filtered high voltage from the X point of the power supply to the plates of V2 and V1, but only
half of V2 is suppliedno sense in sending power to an unused portion of the tube. Ive marked the best place to
tap into the supply.
I used a #60 drill in a Dremel tool fitted with an inexpensive accessory chuck. The chucks are readily available by
mail order and in home centers and hardware stores.
If you drill at low speed (I use a variable-speed foot controller), you have excellent control over the drill. If you
start at high speed, it could skitter off over the surface of the circuit board.
We also need a place for the new 100K cathode resistor. I created a pair of holes, one that connects to the new
wire that will go to the V2A cathode, one that connects to the diamond-patterned ground area on the circuit
board.
Scrape away the green coating so you can make a good solder connection. A 1/2 watt resistor is a perfect fit
between these two points.
The brown wire will go to V2As cathode; the yellow wire (green on the schematic above) goes to the grid.
But first I had to remove the ground connections between pins 1, 2, and 3 of V2. If a tube section is unused,
good design practice is to short all of the elements to ground so there is no chance of parasitic oscillation or
other electronic weirdness.
Always test with an ohmmeter to make sure there is no hidden thread of copper connecting the pins.
Ive desoldered pin 1 here. Theres a nice pocket right next to the socket pin. When I desolder the other two, Ill
be able to poke the ends of the wires down along the pins and solder them securely.
All finished! The new 100K cathode resistor is under my thumb; sorry for not having a clearer view. The red wire
carries the plate voltage, the yellow wire connects the plate signal from V1A to V2A, and the brown wire carries
the signal from the cathode to the tone stack.
You can see how the cathode follower essentially replaced the jumper wire, with the addition of plate power and
the 100K bias resistor.
Rev C and D green board cathode follower:
On the rev C and D green board, the layout isnt nearly as convenient as that of the cream board. The first step is
to tap into the trace from the plate of V1A to the grid of V2A, our cathode follower. Huss did this on the tube
board; so did I. The yellow wire runs from pin 1 of V1A to pin 2 of V2A. Note the cut traces between pins 1, 2,
and 3 of V2A. including the ground.
The trace where the red wire goes into the circuit board is power to the preamp. We tap into it and send it to pin
1, the plate of V2A. The trace just above it is ground. One end of the cathode resistor goes into the ground trace.
The other end is in an open area of the board. holes for the brown wire and the black wire shown in the next
picture are drilled next to the lower end of the cathode resistor and all three are connected together.
The black wire sends the signal developed on the cathode into the Blues Junior tone stack. Note that the trace
between the black wire and the plate side of R10 is cut. Thus V1A receives power from R10, but the signal from
V1A never reaches the tone stack. Instead, the yellow wire (above) carries it to the grid of V2A to drive the
cathode follower.
One final thought:
The 12AX7 in V2 may not be the best choice for a cathode follower, since the 12AX7 is designed to be a high-
gain voltage amplifier. Its not designed to supply significant amounts of current. It also has high internal
impedance, which is part of the problem were trying to solve in the preamp/tone stack interface.
The cathode follower, however, is a current amplifier, not a voltage amplifier. Other tubes in the 12A*7 family are
better suited to deliver current, most notably the 12AT7 and the current-driving champ, the 12AU7. They have
lower internal impedance and are designed to deliver significant amounts of power. Putting a 12AU7 or even a
12AT7 into V2, however, would reduce the gain of the tone stack recovery stage, exactly like turning your master
volume down halfway or more. Thats a bad idea.
Theres one tube, however, that is ideally suited for V2 in the Blues Junior: the 12DW7, also called an ECC832.
Its a hybrid tube; one half is that of a 12AX7 and the other is a 12AU7. Its specifically designed for tasks that
require an amplification stage and a driver stage. Fortunately, the triode on pins 6, 7 and 8 is the high-gain
12AX7 side, a perfect match for V2B. The section connecting to pins 1, 2 and 3 is the 12AU7 side, perfect for a
cathode follower.
Whats the Difference?
So does the cathode follower actually sound any different? My customer was looking for more touch-
responsiveness and feels that cathode follower tone stacks deliver this. I couldnt say for sure, but I felt that the
follower gives the amp an additional measure of clarity, especially in the bass. I havent done an analysis of the
tone stacks impedance, but it stands to reason that the modded tone stack, with the increased bass and mids,
loads the preamp more on the low end. As a result, you get unequal amounts of distortion on the low strings vs.
the high strings. Remove the load on the preamp, and everything evens out. This is not an easy mod to switch
on and off, so I couldnt do A/B comparisons. But Ive heard enough Blues Juniors that the tones are pretty much
engraved into my brain. This mod slightly increases clean headroom; the amp takes pedals better.
Swapping the 12AX7 for a 12DW7 (actually a JJ ECC83 and a JJ ECC832) did make a small additional
improvement, but it may just have been the small, but audible difference between the two 12AX7 stages in V2B,
the tone stack recovery stage. Then again, the internal capacitance of the 12AU7 stage and the 12AX7 stage is
different enough that it could also affect tone.
My conclusion: If you make the effort to do this mod, you should try a 12DW7 or ECC832 to see if you get
additional benefit.
61 Comments
1. Scott Pope says:
January 20, 2009 at 11:06 pm
12DW7?! All right! Old Ampeg tubes are NOT dead after all! Im actually going to have to get
one now. Now I know why my old SVT head that had been modded from 12DW7s to all
12AX7s in the front end, ostensibly to make it easier to get tubes in a pre-internet world in
those years of wandering through the desert tube-wise, after most of the USA & UK tube
factories shut down, but before overseas factories got their act together, sounded a little
more harsh than others. I have known for years about the gain stage differences in 12A*7
tubes, but didnt know about the current characteristics. Did I say Im now going to have to
get one?
2. Scott Pope says:
January 28, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Update: the 12DW7 came in. Along with the tube, I got a 47pf capacitor, and modded C2 to a
pair of jumpers to a DPDT mini switch installed next to the input jack so I can have a
switchable bright and brighter switch with a choice of the stock 100 pf or a total 147 pf.
With this configuration, and the preamp tubes going 5751, 12DW7, 12AT7, and this bright
switch in, I am getting a rich, silky, clean sound with just the right sparkle that is almost
identical to a 1978 Fender Silverfaced Vibrolux I bought brand new and had to sell a few
years ago to make a house payment when I was between jobs.
bill says:
January 29, 2009 at 11:58 am
Note: Scott has a green board and the capacitor in question is the bright cap on the
volume control that keeps trebles alive when you play at low volume. The effect of this
pot diminishes as you turn up the volume. The equivalent pot on the cream board is C3.
3. Ron says:
February 4, 2009 at 6:01 am
Without making this mod. Would you still suggest the 12DWY or go with the 12AT7 in the V2
position? I have a non-mod Blues Junior and was looking to change V1 to 12AY7, V2 & V3 to
12AT7. Your thoughts and suggestions please. Thank you.
bill says:
The What About Tubes page has more info on general tube substitution. The 12AT7 is a
driver tube, not a preamp. Use a 12AY7 instead to preserve frequency response and
tone. If you want darker tone, turn down the treble. The 12AT7 can be used in V3 to
reduce drive to the output tubes, but a 12AY7 would work as well, without dulling the
highs. There is absolutely no point in using a 12DW7 in V2 without doing the cathode
follower mod.
4. mike@frog_corner says:
August 10, 2009 at 7:57 am
Bill, another possible use for the unused section of V2 would be for valve reverb. In that
situation, the 12AX7 would be fine. This is a mod that is incorporated into Torres BBQ Blue
mods. Ive just got my hands on the hand wired version of the kit so Ill post back how valve
reverb sounds. Im not a big fan of the stock reverb sound anything past 3 and I feel I
should be wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt!
bill says:
August 10, 2009 at 10:21 am
You realize, of course, that the Torres BBQ Blue isnt a modded Blues Junior in any
sense of the word. He guts the amp and installs a new circuit board. So you have a
different amp in a Blues Junior box.
Ive seen others use the unused half for reverb recovery, but youre still left with solid
state drive. If you think the stock reverb comes on too strong, you can install the audio-
taper pot, which extends the low end greatly. Also, the basic mods deepen the tone of
the amp, which has the byproduct of improving reverb tone, too. Finally, the Ruby
reverb tank has longer delay and deeper, slushier reverb. It works well in combination
with the audio-taper control.
5. mike@frog_corner says:
August 11, 2009 at 4:42 am
Yes the Torres kit wont be a genuine BJR for sure! A comparison of his schematic with the
factory schematic shows a much simplified preamp circuit, though the reverb appears to be
valve driven as well as valve recovered- output from V2A into a reverb transformer through
the pan then on to V2B. The audio taper pot is a definite upgrade! Ill check the Ruby Tube
tank also.
Im doing the build myself and planning to incorporate several of the mods you have
developed. My plan is to substitute 6V6s in the output stage and hopefully achieve more
clean headroom. I was planning a 6V6 kit build when I read your A Very Special Blues
Junior and was inspired (or deluded). By building a hand wired board (and with careful
disassembly) I can always restore the BJR to its present state if the results are truly awful!
Thanks for the many useful tips you have generously given us over the years. I will email you
separately about mod kits for the Torrestein!
6. Roki says:
January 21, 2010 at 5:42 pm
And if you cant find 12DW7 or ECC832 anywhere, go to Hammond organ repair shop and ask
for 7247. That quite rare tube seems to have many names. Found that out only few days
ago. (Could have helped a Ampeg owner on tour earlier with that knowledge, since we had
7247s for Hammonds but no information about 12DW7)
bill says:
12DW7 and ECC832 are now readily available from online tube vendors. Thanks for the
7247 tip!
7. JesseO says:
January 22, 2010 at 12:23 am
I just did this mod but havent tryed it yet because i ordered some of your other mods and im
not gonna close it all up just to open it again, but does the 12DW7 make a large difference, i
just bought new preamp tubes but if it does ill get the 12dw7
bill says:
January 22, 2010 at 8:39 am
The benefit of the 12DW7 is theoretical. I dont really hear a difference.
JesseO says:
January 22, 2010 at 12:51 pm
also should i twist the wires to reduce hum?
bill says:
No need to twist the cathode follower leads. Just position them so that they
dont parallel one another for any appreciable distance.
8. Sho says:
first question, did the fender 57 Twin (5E8A) have a cathode follower? i think it does but
not quite sure. can you clarify please?
second question, the main part of the cathode follower is that the resistor between pin 1 and
2 should be equal to the resistor between pin 3 and ground?
finally, your wires you used look pretty thick. can I use a 22~24 AWG stranded wire for this
modification?
bill says:
March 1, 2010 at 9:05 am
Yes, the 57 Twin used a cathode follower to drive the tweed tone stack. Yes, the
resistors should be equal in size for a full, symmetrical waveform. The wires I use are 22
gauge unistrand with 600V insulation. Theres vibration on any freestanding wire in a
combo amp, so the heavier insulation helps to damp the vibration. I also reinforce the
connection on the main circuit board with a dab of hot melt glue.
Sho says:
March 1, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Hey Bill, thanks for the response.
I installed the cathode follower this morning, and heres my outcome:
with the tone stack mod (.1uF bass cap), the amp sounds very very sharp. It
sounds somewhat metallic. I guess its because the increased bass cap, but the
bass knob governs bass AND low mid frequencies. From this, the mid knob governs
the higher mids and some treble. Treble knob controls the chime. What could I do
to get a bit less treble? What do you think of replacing the bass pot with a 1M, and
the mids pot with a 50k?
Thanks Bill
bill says:
March 2, 2010 at 8:40 am
Did you do the TwinStack mod? That gives you more separation and
independent operation of the tone controls. A 50K mids pot with the TwinStack
is sort of a super mids control. I do that on harp amps along with
the .015uF / .1uF tone stack mods. I havent found it as useful on guitar, but if
you like more mids, its worth trying. I think a 1M pot in the bass will throw
the stack out of whack. You can model the changes with the Duncan Tone
Stack Calculator.
I cant think of any reason that the amp would sound more metallic with the
cathode follower.
9. Jason says:
February 28, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Why not turn the unused half of the 12AX7 into an extra gain stage? Would it make a
difference? Could you use the farty fat foot switch to trigger it instead of the farty fat =p
Thanks!
bill says:
March 1, 2010 at 9:07 am
With the other mods, the Fat switch is not as farty. Turning the extra triode into a gain
stage is a lot of work because you probably dont want it there all the time. Making it
switchable is a hassle. Youre better off getting a Hot Rod Deluxe and saving the effort.
10. wm says:
April 27, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Could the other half of the tube power a tremolo circuit?
bill says:
April 29, 2010 at 8:45 am
Surea tube is a tube. Youd have to figure out a way to do bias modulation or opto
modulation, though. The bigger problem is where to mount two additional controls.
11. Shot says:
June 10, 2010 at 2:15 am
wouldnt using the 12AU7 side of the 12DW7 for the cathode follower draw a lot more
current, dropping the HT supply? i think leaving V2 a 12AX7, then lowering the cathode load
resistor on the cathode follower, along with the plate resistor of the driving stage to maybe
68k/68k would give nice results? i put in a 5751 in V1 on my blues jr. also, it might be nice to
adjust the cathode resistor of the driving stage. ive been experimenting with this part of my
blues jr. putting a cathode load resistor of 47k instead of 100k gave me a little bit smoother
sound.
bill says:
June 14, 2010 at 11:59 am
The 12AU7 can deliver more current, but the tone stack doesnt load it all that heavily,
so it doesnt draw down the HT supply.
47K will give you a different harmonic structure than 100K, but a smaller voltage swing
and thus more compression. You also get some loss in volume, so its a tradeoff.
12. evi says:
June 25, 2010 at 10:32 am
Hi Bill,
Modded Jr user here! A question regarding 12DW7 and cathode follower circuits: You say that
with this mod 12DW7 tubes can become a good option for V2. I was wondering if 12DW7s
could be also a good option for V2 in the Bassman 59 I was looking for a good 12AX7 for
this position, and your article made me wonder. Thanks
bill says:
June 27, 2010 at 8:12 pm
I read a learned dissertation by Merlin Blencowe on how the values chosen in the
Bassman and the 12AX7 get along perfectly. But its just a tube, no harm in trying it.
13. Craig says:
July 10, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Where do i purchase the capacitors and wire for this mod?
Thanks
bill says:
July 14, 2010 at 6:56 pm
I can send what you need if youre buying other kits.
14. Cliff says:
July 12, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Leaving a tube on with no plate voltage/cathode current whatsoever will wear down the tube
alot faster than in normal use. (See: Cathode Poisoning)
Youd think that they would start making 6C4s again if they needed one triode (1/2 of a
12AU7). (or, could just use a 6/12AV6 and ground the diode plates)
Excellent mod! I myself hate having unused tube sections. (Even in AM tube radios where
one diode plate in a 12AV6 is left unused)
bill says:
July 12, 2010 at 9:06 pm
On the stock amp, the unused cathode, plate, and grid elements are grounded together.
Theres no voltage present. So the cathode may be hot, and may even poison itself, but
if that half of the tube is unused, I guess it doesnt matter.
15. John says:
July 16, 2010 at 10:08 am
Just did this mod. I like it. To my ears, theres a definite difference. The overall tone balance
is definitely brighter, and the bass is much cleaner.
A 12DW7 in v2 leaves the overall sound a little cleaner. A 12AT7 in v3 makes the amp a little
quieter. A 12AY7 in v1 makes it quieter still, and also pushes the breakup to a higher volume
setting.
For jazz and clean fingerstyle strat, the alternate tubes are great. The clean boost mod
compensates nicely for the drop in volume. Crunchy strat needs a 12AX7 in v1. The breakup
is much more uniform across the frequencies with this mod. Before the bass would tend to
breakup before the treble.
16. John says:
July 18, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Additional observation I usually run the amp with no fat. This makes the output impedance
of the second preamp stage 68k. The output impedance of the 12AU7 half of a 12DW7 in the
cathode follower is 425R. According to Duncans tone stack calculator, under my typical
paramters (TMB all on 12) going from 68k to 425R gives a 6db boost in treble, 4db in mids
and 1db in bass. Your results may differ. Turning treble down to about 9 fixes it.
Shot says:
August 6, 2010 at 2:24 am
i think changing the tone stacks slope resistor to 68k might make it a bit better. ive
noticed that after a cathode follower, standard fender tonestack tend to sound thin, and
if you look at a 5F6 tone stack, the slope resistor is 56k. we can experiment with that
too.
bill says:
August 9, 2010 at 8:49 am
Your tone stack sounds thin with the .1 F bass cap and .015 mids cap? Have you
changed the coupling caps to .02 F?
John says:
August 11, 2010 at 10: 34 am
Actually it turned out I had a bad solder joint in the tone stack. Getting
essentially no bass or mids! After fixing that, it sounds just great.
PS Bill is correct in his advice not to use a cheap soldering iron
17. Golney says:
August 10, 2010 at 6: 23 am
Hi bill
I think I have the necessary resistor for this mod, its definitely 100k but is there anyway of
telling if it is a 1/ 2 watt resistor? I received it in a byoc kit for an overdrive, it is blue and
about 6mm in length. this may be a stupid question!
I ve just ordered the to-20 OT and an input jack, along with coupling caps. any chance you
could include one of these 1/ 2 watt resistors if this isnt correct? ill happily pay for it, would
save me having to pay extra postage!
18. TP says:
J anuary 20, 2011 at 8: 04 am
Do you experience more noise (hiss) with the cathode follower since there is one tube stage
more? I m thinking about this mod, but I m afraid to get some more noise.
thanks
bill says:
J anuary 24, 2011 at 9: 23 am
I have not heard any additional noise of any kind with the cathode follower. No one who
has installed it has mentioned it, either.
19. blakes says:
J anuary 31, 2011 at 3: 33 pm
Series I I owners may want to make sure to add the treble taming cap before doing this mod.
I added the cathode follower mod to a Series I I I , and it almost made the amp too bright. I
had also done the twinstack mod, and changed the tone caps to .1 bass and .015 mid, but
the treble was just ice pick at anything over 9 oclock on the treble knob. I did, however
really like the touch response of the amp and wide open springy bass after doing the cathode
follower mod. My solution was to change the slope resitor to 82k, and add a 300pf cap to C9,
the treble knob is much more useable as a result.
bill says:
February 2, 2011 at 11: 34 pm
For every person who thinks the Blues J unior is too bright, theres another who thinks
its too dark.
20. Eric says:
February 18, 2011 at 9: 14 am
I ve got all the mods in place, and I love the sound of my amp. One question did occur to me
after I completed this mod.
For the cathode resistor, you recommend 100k (or 82k if youve done the high voltage
preamp mod). I s this still appropriate when using the 12DW7/ ECC832 instead of the 12AX7?
bill says:
February 18, 2011 at 5: 51 pm
Yes, the same resistor applies to either tube type.
- Bill
21. leslie says:
March 18, 2011 at 9: 25 pm
I did the cathode follower mod and it does take pedals better! I m glad I did it!!! ,,,Thanks
for all you info on yor site I m glad I found it..THe only thing this amp dosent have is the
reverb pot, the volume pot and the switchcraft input jack and of course the 6v6 s mod but
it dosent really need itSOUNDs AWESOME!!!!!!
22. tronjohn says:
May 4, 2011 at 4: 23 pm
I am doing the cathode follower mod and the high-voltage mod. Since the cathode resistor of
the cathode follower (V2A) has to be changed from 100K to 82K, should the plate resistor
(R16) of the tone stack recovery amplifier (V2B) also be changed from 100K to 82K?
bill says:
May 4, 2011 at 5: 11 pm
No, there is no need to change the plate resistor of V2B. I t does not interact with the
cathode follower.
23. Wil says:
September 27, 2011 at 4: 57 am
I f I understood everything, the 100k resistor goes from the brown wire to a new ground
hole ?
bill says:
September 27, 2011 at 8: 13 am
I t goes from the diamond-pattern ground plane to the brown wire and the trace where
I m pointing in the picture.
24. Wil says:
October 5, 2011 at 12: 45 pm
Second time my Bj kills a 12ax7 in V2 with the cathode follower modSilly little boy !
bill says:
October 5, 2011 at 4: 10 pm
What brand of tube was it? Dont use a Tung-Sol tube in V2 with the cathode follower. I
think the most reliable are the standard Sovtek and J J 12AX7s. The small, boxy plate
structure is probably better than the long, thin plates.
25. lor says:
November 5, 2011 at 11: 37 am
bill, I n order to reduce the number of wires crossing from board to board would it be okay to
run the followers grid wire (green in your little schematic above) direct from pin 1 of V1-A
also on the tube board rather than from the main board?
bill says:
November 5, 2011 at 6: 41 pm
Yes, you can connect right on the tube board. My approach is more schematic and
uses the two jumper holes, but you can go either way. Since the signal and voltage
levels are high feeding the cathode follower, there is no downside to the longer wireit is
not sensitive to interference.
26. lor says:
November 5, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Thank you. In the same context, I checked the full schematic and it appears also possible to
connect the 100k cathode resistor from V2s pin 3 on the tube board (shared with the wire
back to the tone stack) to the V2 ribbons ground lead which seems otherwise abandoned on
the tube board. If there wouldnt be any significant signal or noise problems with that, it
would avoid drilling one of the holes in the main board.
To take this to extremes, one could avoid drilling the other hole by snagging the high-voltage
plate source off the positive lead of C28 (TP29), but that wire would then be pretty long
passing over a lot of circuitry; maybe causing problems?
I agree your schematic approach is cleaner, more elegant, in that it puts all the related
modifications in a physical proximity that is lost when the pieces are spread around.
Thanks again.
27. TP says:
January 13, 2012 at 10:17 am
I found a way to do the cathode follower mod without drilling any hole. A description in
german and english with pictures here:
http://www.palmenreich.at/documents/CathodeFollowerTiPiMods.pdf
I took the plate voltage directly from R8 and I soldered the additional 100k on the back of the
board to a near ground point. The rest is like in Billms very good description.
hope you like it
bill says:
January 16, 2012 at 9:38 am
I dont like soldering components to the back of the board. Drilling a couple of holes is
easy and gives a secure mounting and professional appearance.
28. Slestak71 says:
June 17, 2013 at 4:55 pm
I noticed that you said you have been using the JJ 12dw7 in your follower circuits. I have
read not so good things about the tone of the JJ 12ax7s. Have you noticed any ill effects on
the tone from the ax7 half of the JJ tube?
bill says:
June 17, 2013 at 9:24 pm
V2 is not that important for tone. It just re-amplifies the output from the tone stack. V1
has a much greater effect on tone. So the JJ 12DW7/ECC832 works fine.
29. Slestak71 says:
July 11, 2013 at 9:53 am
I did get and install the JJ 12dw7 and it made a nice difference. That plus changing from a
Mullard 12ax7 to an EH12at7 in the PI has made a nice change to the amp. It added a good
deal more punch to the tone, more solid sounding. Cant wait to get the TO20 installed and
eventually go octal. Tons of thanks Bill for sharing info as you do. You ROCK.
Slestak71 says:
July 11, 2013 at 9:55 am
As an additional benefit I was able to replace V1 with the Mullard I removed from the PI.
Also a nice change from the Chinese I had in there. I like the OD of the Chinese but the
Mullard smokes it in overall tone quality.
bill says:
July 11, 2013 at 10:46 am
Ive had a number of early failures with the Mullard reissue. If it starts to rattle or
oscillate, youll surely hear it in the V1 slot.
30. Phil Connolly says:
January 30, 2014 at 12:29 am
Im looking at your photos for the green board, in particular the one showing the black wire
carrying signal from V2A into the tone stack (the trace on the plate side of R10). Your caption
also says to cut the trace so that the signal from V1A no longer gets into the tone stack. But
there it looks like C25 is still connected to V1A. Based on the circuit diagram at the top of the
page, that didnt look right.
Sorry if I am missing something, but I am about to do this one on a green board and wasnt
sure what do with C25, which is the 250pF cap going into the treble.
bill says:
February 3, 2014 at 4:49 pm
Sorry, Im going to be away from my tech docs for a while. And I hate doing the cathode
follower on the green board.

Cathode Follower Billm

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Billm Audio

Small amps, big sound.

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