bloo kit

Theres probably a thread for this somewhere, but this is me being lazy...

I had an brand new UA la2a in my studio last week. I was offer to buy it at a good discount, but even with the discount it was quite a bit of money, so Id like to know- How close does the kit come to the UA version ? How hard is it to put together for someone with very limited electronics experience ? I mean, point to point wiring, right ? and selecting tubes isnt something I have dealt with before either. And least but not last. How much would I have to spend besides the price of the actual kit ?

Gustav

I think the overall cost will come out around $900.
Considering the cost of an original and the reissues,
that's a good chunk of savings. Now where to get that
$900?

I think you should just commit by starting to buy some parts. Wether you go the Bloo route or DIY completely.

That is what I am doing. I am like you. I am slowly buying parts (transformers, meters, etc) until I have them all. Then I will start wiring.

How much will I save? Probably not much if you count my time! But I'll have something I can be proud of even though I haven't designed it. And hopefully learn something.

What I am also doing for the first ones is I will be getting the original parts that affect the "sound" ie: I/O Transformers and T4B. Later I would like to experiment by substituting those for alternates.

Gustav, if you are doing it only to save money then forget it. If you think it will be fun and challenging (and you are not here for other reasons I'm sure) you MUST build one.

I chose the LA2A because its been done so often that there is an abundance of information.

Anyway I am biased since I am exited about building mine so its just my opinion. I hope you go for it.

The Bloo kit is great also because you will get great support from Scenaria. I don't think I've seen anyone fail at building them. They all love his.

Hope this helps.

Jim

there isnt a whole lot of voodoo with selecting tubes for this box I find most of the sound is in the iron. So if your looking for something that sounds similar if not the same as the re-issue then you would want to lean torwads UTC transformers.. however I have found the Sowter transformers to sound pretty killer (dirty like the UTC's) at a more reasonable price.

As for tubes.. any brand name will work fine with this box.. matched smooth plate telefunkens is not needed (after all they never bothered in the original or re-issue right?)

The T4b is another area of concern... I could be wrong but all of the info ive accumulated information that points to the fact that UA is no longer matching their cells for their T4b modules.. this is mostly due to the time consumption coupled with a lot of waste. ive been matching mine for the kits and am getting faster and more accurate as I continue doing it. Ive recenlty put together a jig that allows me to load up 100 LDR's at one time.. I use an AP to go through and actually batch them into catagories... its pretty cool

point to point isnt necessarily hard... (as long as you are patient) and most important is to be neat and tidy with your work... ive had a few boxes mailed to me for repair... it turns out that the typical problem is one wire attached to one wrong point.. I have seen a few that look very scary on the inside :razz: though they do work!