Thoughts on building an amp?

[1trussell]

So, I'm thinking that building an amp might be a fun project. Anyone know of some good resources for doing so? I think that starting out with something like an amp kit might be a good base to build from. Then, as I get a little more advanced, I could go with gathering the components myself.

Anyone here done this kind of thing and what were your results? Any advice on the best way to start, pitfalls to avoid, etc?

[Infernal Death]

I have build amps (right now i am building a BadCat clone) and my first advise of course has to be: Make yourself educated about how to work safely with high voltages. Tube amps can be extremely dangerous if you touch the wrong things.

Ok after that i gotta say it's really a fun thing and also usefull if you end up with a nice amp. I think one of the best starting points in the net is the AX84 project. http://www.ax84.com/
They have some small 1 channel low wattage tube amps. Perfect for your first build. They offer kits so you can get easily into it. Just don't forget to do what i told above
After you build a small 5 watt amp or something like this you can start looking at multichannel high wattage amps. Those really aren't a good choice for beginners.
This is also a very nice amp building forum, of course it's main focus is the mighty SLO:
http://sloclone.yesterdaysrevolt.com/index.php

Just a quick question: Is this your first dive into electronics ? If yes it would be the best to build a small effect pedal as those are very easy and not very dangerous. With very small to none experience in building electronic gear even a small tube amp wouldn't be a good starting point.

Almost forgot: You need some tools for building gear. Screwdriver and the likes, of course a good solder iron and a multimeter, which is mandatory. A Oscilloscope is nice to have but isn't a must.

Flo

[Infernal Death]

Right now my project looks like this:



It really comes along very slow as right now i have to work on my diploma.

Flo

[1trussell]

Thanks so much for the advice.

As far as my experience in electronics, I've done a ton of work on guitars. I've done a bunch of pickup swaps, electronics installations with volume and tone pots and jacks. But that's about it.

But I've never done anything with amps. I like your idea of building effects pedals first, though. That sounds like it could be a better way to start things up rather than dive head first into a full amp build. I'll do some research on some of the build your own clone pedals.

[1trussell]

Any thoughts as to which might be some good pedals to start with?

For instance, I run a 5150 completely dry with no effects. I was thinking about a nice delay or reverb. But I'm open.

[Tashtego]

I built one from a kit this year and it was nice satisfying project. Bonus is you end up with a nice hand-built amp at the end. I got a Deluxe Reverb based design that Allen Amplification sells. I also bought an automatic wire stripping tool for this job that I would say is a must have for a project like this.

[DonP]

Building amps can be rewarding. I took on a huge project for my first amp build. I had a Marshall 4140 "Town and Country" I picked up fro $300 at a pawn shop. It said Marshall but I didn't know it was Mashall's attempt to make a Twin Reverb - not exactly the Marshall tone I was looking for. I wanted to make a 3 channel amp (this was back in 1990 mind you), with a Mesa preamp for lead, a Marshall preamp for crunch, and a Fender Preamp for clean. The front face I drilled and it looked very much like today's TSL with three sets of tone controls. I used relays to route the signals around (a little noisy and poppy) and it worked pretty good on the first time out. Some issues with my first experimental amp - the Marshall preamp had a lot more output (NOT gain) than the Mesa (due to voltage dividers in the mesa circuit), so things would get real loud when switching to the Marshall. Also, the switching presence control was a bad idea - a loud pop everytime because it was part of the negative feedback loop. But for making a 100% invented amp it was quite nice sounding, especially the Mesa preamp through the Marshall power amp. A very smooth and compressed tone, searing leads.

I pulled it all apart to make a version II but it never happened. Other hobbies, family, etc, got in the way. Also, back then money was tight, so I couldn't just go out and buy a Silver Jubilee (what I really wanted), so making it yourself was the only option. Today, there is so much stuff available, and time is so tight, that even though I have the parts to make many amps, I just never get started. It's easier to just go out an buy an amp.

I still have one main amp project left I'd really like to get done. I've got three Marshall Micro Stacks. I pulled the solid-state guts out of one head and plan on making it into a plexi head. I've done this before with my Gorilla amp which now sports a Marshall preamp and a 3 watt power output. Gets a very good classic tone, ala early Def Lepard.

[missionguitars1]

Any thoughts as to which might be some good pedals to start with?

Check out BYOC - http://www.buildyourownclone.com/ - lots of pedals to choose from, and their kits get good reviews too!