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jrmintz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
998
Location
NY
I thought I'd restart this thread. I just finished this amp from a GDS kit, and the cabinet was built by a guy called Jeff Swanson. He did really beautiful work. I wish I could do wood work like that, but life is too short and I can't risk my fingers (I'm a klutz). The amp sounds great.

Seth

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Dude! That looks awesome! The construction/layout looks super clean and pro. How long did it take you to build?

I'm just starting to think about building a tube amp. I'm pretty handy with most electronic sutff, just never done anything with tubes. Any suggestions for a first try?
 
Hey Ian,

Check out www.18watt.com This is an 18 watt marshall. The kit is the easiest way to go - good directions, everything in one box, though there's other options. You could buy the chassis and source the rest of the parts. It took about 8 hours working very slowly and carefully. And the cabinet looks pro becaus it was built by a pro, not by me. If I built it nothing would be square and the tolex would be sagging. It really sounds amazing, and I'm really happy about that.
 
12v amp using car radio tubes.
http://www.sopht.ca/

Doug Hammonds low wattage tube amps
http://home.cfl.rr.com/dbhammond/ff.htm

http://home.cfl.rr.com/dbhammond/OF.html

Good Amp forum
http://p210.ezboard.com/bampworkshop
 
Speaking of guitar amps... Has anyone here built an AC30? Been thinking about attempting one... Any pointers? Layouts?

Also, I'd love to build one of those little tiny Valco amps? Now thats a little amp I'd LOVE to build for recording. Any circuit diagrams? Similar circuits?

-Jay
 
Here's the next closet thing without frying yourself with big voltage:

AC30
http://runoffgroove.com/englishchannel.html

Supro
http://www.runoffgroove.com/supreaux.html

Superlead
http://www.runoffgroove.com/thunderchief.html

Fender Tweed
http://runoffgroove.com/professor.html

18 Watt
http://www.runoffgroove.com/eighteen.html

Matchless DC30
http://runoffgroove.com/matchbox.html

All easy perfboard builds using JFETS

Jrmintz: Excellent workmanship on your amp :cool: :guinness: :sam:
 
Has any one tryed the vibrato circuit that Magnatone used? It uses MOV varistors (unknown value) to make a true vibrato. I am going to try it one of these days and am curious to know if any one else has.

Thomas
 
Thanks guys,

My only complaint is that the tremolo makes a very faint ticking sound. It's not a big problem, but I'd like it to not be there. Is that likely to be wire routing? Or tube selection?

Thanks
 
The clicking on the 18W is a common problem. Mine did it too. There are a couple solutions. Change the trem section tube. That fixes it sometimes. I ended up putting a small cap (47p or something like that) across the trem switch hot lead to ground. I just soldered mine right on the footswitch jack. Worked like a charm.

cheers,
kent
 
Copper oxide varisters I have never run into. Have you heard the Magnatone? I have not, just seen schematics and interested in the circuit.
 
I think the reason you see so few AC-30 clones is that it's a ridiculously complex circuit to replicate. Most just pick and choose their favorite Vox bits and mod to taste, ala Matchless DC-30. The beauty of the tweed Fender circuits is that they tend to be just about as simple as can be, which means you can focus on components and tuning more readily.

The 18watt kits are popular and an okay value due to a couple of virtues - they sound great and are subtly different from other amps, they are lower wattage, which is desirable to many, and they are rare as hens teeth, so the expense of a kit is nothing compared to the real thing. If I had the money, I'd buy a kit. Since I don't, I'll do something else. I even balked at the Mission 5E3 kit because I realized it'd be louder than I wanted. (I need to start playing out with a drummer before I start listening to the Indigo Girls . . .)

Love to see the original circuit on that Supro. I'll bet it's yummy.

tf
 
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