So I’ve been laying low for the last couple of months and not entirely by my own volition. I finished up the Curly Maple amp on the first of June and have not yet gotten the project page posted. But rest assured, the entire write up on the new amplifier is coming soon.
However, as the title implies, sometimes life likes to throw little complications at us to see how we respond. This summer I had a list of projects to complete and as the weather improved in June I started to get these done. Then life threw both a broken water pipe and an ankle sprain at me. The broken water pipe got taken care of without too much delay, but it did set back a couple of other projects. However the ankle sprain resulted in a more formidable delay.
On July 28th, just about the time I was going to get back to the Curly Maple amp write up, I managed to severely sprain my ankle while trenching for a drain pipe behind the house. So instead of continuing to get other things done I’ve been occupied with rest and rehabilitation. It could have been worse, but as I get older I realize that everything health related just seems to take more time to heal.
I started in a stabilizing boot with my foot propped up most of the time.
But in the last three and a half weeks I have gotten most of my mobility back. I can still only walk about half a mile before I have to rest it, but it’s getting better.
My office is on a different floor than my main living space. As such, I have to be careful how often I climb the stairs in during the day. I really didn’t realize how many times I went up and down stairs in a typical day until I sprained this ankle. So working on the project page has been slow going. But just as an assurance that I have been at work, here are the power and distortion numbers with the old style 6V6Gs in the amplifier.
I’ll have the full write up done as soon as I can. But I still have some outdoor projects (e.g. painting, etc.) which are taking priority while I have the favorable weather. With a little luck I’ll be able to get the Curly Maple project page posted int he next couple of weeks.
As always, questions and comments are welcome.
Speedy recovery – I have built the Maplewood
(stunning success with my variety of suggested tubes!) and have recently acquired all the necessary pieces for the Zebrawood and Lacewood amplifiers. Thank you for sharing your designs.
Glad things are working out. I really like the little 6CY7 Zebrawood amp. It is by far my favorite single tube per channel amplifier.
Sorry to hear about the foot! You’re not kidding about taking longer as we get older – I got hit on my m/c commuting home last Friday and even though nothing was fractured it looks like it’s going to take a long time to heal. I’m resting right now listening to Cannonball Adderly on the amp I built on your spalted alder design. And I too am always happy to see updates here – they’re always interesting reading. Looking forward to when you get to the 807 amp – I have a box of those on the shelf waiting for a purpose.
hello Matt:
Sad news about the foot. Interesting numbers. Looking forward to the completed write up.
Perfect weather right now for painting. Be careful on that ladder.
Hi Matt, although I have checked the blog page almost every couple of days for update on Curly Maple amp, but I am truly sorry about your foot. Get well soon. My build on 6V6 Lacewood amp 2 is almost finished and I will email you the result.
Sorry to hear about your foot; I am glad you are recovering!