Double Cross Pilot Run

by James Brown

Last week we began the pilot run for the Double Cross amplifier.  Some last minute parts arrived on Thursday, and we ran the amps on Friday and Saturday.  These electronic assembled chassis and grills will be installed into cabinets later this week to complete the first batch of amps.  Next week I’ll have to evaluate each one carefully to make sure they match the standard, and at that point we’ll begin shipping some to sales reps, artists, and retail stores.

Here’s some pictures of the process.  I didn’t get a chance to shoot the circuit board assembly before it was complete, but here is one of the chassis before installing the printed circuit boards.

Double Cross chassis prior to assembly

The circuit boards are installed into the chassis:

Chassis buildup

The input jack board is installed and the cables inserted into the main circuit board.

Installing input circuit board

Then the tube hardware, like the cover holders and clips to hold the 6L6s are installed:

Tube hardware is added.

Then the 20 ‘kustom’ designed knobs are installed.  The amp uses 2 sizes, a Kustom tradition, to help the user quickly find the volume and gain knobs which are larger.  The EQ and other knobs are all smaller diameter:

Knobs for Double Cross

One important issue was the grills for the front of the cabinet.  We received the pilot run grills but some were not quite good enough.  The finish had some small imperfections, so I requested revised versions be built with improvements.  These imperfect grills can be used, however, in the amps that go to the safety testing organization:

Pilot run grills arrive

The final assembly is scheduled for Thursday as planned, and barring some unforseen delay in parts, we should make it by the deadline.  I can’t wait to get some of these into our artists and reps hands, and to finally start shipping them to our customers.  I’m sure they’ll be well-received.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Double Cross Pilot Run Finished
• Double Cross Grill Development
• Double Cross Pilot Run–Cabinet assembly