guitar amp DIY ?

[dufo]

Does anyone know of any good sites with full info on making your own guiitar amps? Has anyone actually done it?

I have a old Marshall valvestate combo thats wrecked. Speaker is ok, thinking it could be good to make a amp to go with it. I am sure there is stuff around, but I wanted recommendations from the knowledgable folk here...

Thanks...

 

[soundguy]

Ive built a few guitar amps and its pretty good for the ego when people beg to buy your amps after they use them. haha.

There are tons of guys here of course that can help you out, there are also some boards wholly dedicated to guitar amps, I read this board alot when I was building an 18 watt marshall, which came out really really cool-

http://18watt.com/

there's another page that is more of a from the ground up kind of place and lots of people exchanging ideas and designs-

http://www.ax84.com/

I havent built anything from that site, but I bet someone here has.

If you go to ampage, there are probably links to other sites as well.

My advice right out of the gate, whatever you decide to build, once you figure it out, see if there is an output transformer available from a company called Mercury Magnetics. their output transformers ******* SLAY. Completely and wholly worth the money they charge for a transformer.

Webervst.com not only sells speakers, but they've really embraced the DIY guitar thing and carry a crazy selection of punched, chromed and silk screened chasis for pretty much every popular vintage amp that people clone. they sell a few odd parts too. Ive built one project with one of their chasis, their metal work is incredible, Im sure more than a few boutique guys use those chasis in their products.

I had bookmarked this a while ago with plans someday to build it, that day is long in my future, but this looked interesting and somewhat cost effective as a kit-

http://www.gerhartamps.com/gilmorejr/gilmorejr.htm

I'll also add, I had tried sozo caps and they arent bad but they have a wierd thing in the high end, if you read alot about them, do yourself a favor and a/b them with mallory caps to see if you can hear a difference and find a personal preference. They arent like mallorys at all...

good luck

dave

 

[OldHouseScott]

www.hoffmanamps.com has a good forum for DIY and repair of amps (or at least it did until EZBoard got hacked). He has created board kits for several amps and has a list of qualified builders to purchase them from. Also sells parts with some of the speediest shipping on the planet.

www.webervst.com not only has parts for amps, but is now offering great deals on amp kits. No step-by-step instructions here, just schematics and layouts.

www.allenamps.com has variations on Fender BF amps in both pre-assembled and kit form. Detailed instructions with his kits.

 

[7string]

Another great forum and lots of info here:

http://www.hoffmanamps.com/

I'm going to take that MM tranny advice soundguy. :thumb:
OT's on guitar amps should grunt a little. My buddy built a 50W
Marshall in a blackface Princeton with Bassman transformers
and a 12" blackback. Ready for tape snarling tone. Group build? :wink:

Pat

 

[Butterylicious]

http://www.duncanamps.com/

 

[dufo]

AHHHHH, the lab... :grin: :grin:

You gotta love this place.

Thanks alot for the great info everyone, I am going to check it out later tonight.

Great tips Soundguy, how much are those trannies you speak of. roughly?

 

[martthie_08]

I have done a 5F1 champ, that was my entry ticket to diy electronics. came out great, actually I played it live yesterday

I got a lot of help from the fenderforum.com and from ampage, very nice people there. Next guitar amp will probably be a deluxe.

 

[Test Point]

Angela Instruments (angela.com) in their "how to" section has some pretty neat single ended amp stuff and projects. I built the 6v6 amp several years ago and I've lost track of who has it now....

***Note to self.......gotta get that amp back....

Sounds very reminiscent of an old Fender tweed Champ....hmmmm, I wonder why??

BTW, Angela Instruments also sells alot of hard to find parts for guitars and amps...Great people to do business with (and no, I have nothing to do with the business except a very satisfied customer)

Cheers,
TP

 

[mhelin]

Uraltone in Finland sells a double single ended (DSE) kit called Uraltone Jr.
for 270 EUR.

http://www.uraltone.com/kauppa/index.php?language=en
http://www.uraltone.com/kauppa/product_info.php?products_id=77

Listen to the samples here:
http://personal.inet.fi/koti/spm/Uraltone/clips.htm

Like this blues one with sweet Class-a tones:

http://personal.inet.fi/koti/spm/Uraltone/clips/128/GL_6V6_6L6_V30_Backing1.mp3

 

[mort]

I buit an ax84 a few years ago -great project -my first working diy project! went on to build a bo0gie mk1 m@tchless spitfire clones have a bassman on the backburner now. go for it ~turrets are cool~

 

[NewYorkDave]

Building your own guitar amp from the ground up can be very satisfying. About ten years ago, I built an 18-watt, 1-12" combo with reverb and trem that ended up being used on the debut album of one of the top local bands in my area. Right now, I'm working (in dribs and drabs, as time permits) on a miniature 2-watt head with a full complement of controls--volume, bass, middle, treble, presence. Both of these amps are my own design, but the usual approach for DIYers is to copy a proven design. The tweed Champ circuit has always been popular for a first project.

 

[vibrolax]

My main thang is building DIY guitar amps, but I do tube recording stuff too. I'm kind of a regular at ax84.com, but I tend to put my own twist on the stuff I build. I'm mostly interested in low power, <= 3W.

My completed projects are at http://www.frontiernet.net/~jff

-Jon

 

[Bryson]

[quote author="vibrolax"]

My completed projects are at http://www.frontiernet.net/~jff

-Jon[/quote]

Keith Emerson's got nothing on Rod Argent!

 

[dufo]

[quote author="vibrolax"]My main thang is building DIY guitar amps, but I do tube recording stuff too. I'm kind of a regular at ax84.com, but I tend to put my own twist on the stuff I build. I'm mostly interested in low power, <= 3W.

My completed projects are at http://www.frontiernet.net/~jff

-Jon[/quote]

Nice stuff Jon! None of the projects seem to have parts lists though....

 

[vibrolax]

[quote author="Bryson"][quote author="vibrolax"]

My completed projects are at http://www.frontiernet.net/~jff

-Jon[/quote]

Keith Emerson's got nothing on Rod Argent![/quote]

I almost can't believe that I was able to do that transcription. I'll get back to that stuff when I get sick of my soldering iron.

-Jon

 

[vibrolax]

[quote author="dufo"][quote author="vibrolax"]My main thang is building DIY guitar amps, but I do tube recording stuff too. I'm kind of a regular at ax84.com, but I tend to put my own twist on the stuff I build. I'm mostly interested in low power, <= 3W.

My completed projects are at http://www.frontiernet.net/~jff

-Jon[/quote]

Nice stuff Jon! None of the projects seem to have parts lists though....[/quote]

It's only recently that I've published the as-built schematics and layouts. I have parts lists for several of them in Excel, but I haven't published them yet. Which one(s) caught your interest?

-Jon

 

[AnalogPackrat]

Jon,
Nice set of little amps you got there! I especially like the all pentode design in a PC PS case. Great idea. A buddy of mine at work is building his take on the Firefly. I may get to hear it this week (and then have to build one myself :grin: ).
That Pultec pre looks pretty spiffy, too. I might have to add that to my list as well :roll: . Thanks for the page and the links...

Analog Packrat

 

[vibrolax]

[quote author="AnalogPackrat"]Jon,
Nice set of little amps you got there! I especially like the all pentode design in a PC PS case. Great idea. A buddy of mine at work is building his take on the Firefly. I may get to hear it this week (and then have to build one myself :grin: ).
That Pultec pre looks pretty spiffy, too. I might have to add that to my list as well :roll: . Thanks for the page and the links...

Analog Packrat[/quote]

That pentode thing won't be my last project in that vein. While triode outputs probably are good for mellowing the buzziness from heavy preamp distortion, I greatly prefer the brightness of pentodes for clean to crunchy sounds.

The Pultec happened because I picked up a decent mic-to-grid transformer at a hamfest last year, and decided to build a project around it. I just turned the prototype rig I built first into a high impedance instrument input preamp by replacing the input transformer with a capacitor. Very promising so far.

-Jon

 

[Flatpicker]

I have a renewed interest as well, having recently sold my PODxt rig (I grew tired of the constant tweaking in my quest to find decent amp sounds ? I just want to plug in and play!). I?d like to build a simplified 2 channel version of a Vox AC30 Top Boost.

Years ago I rebuilt several old Fender silverface amps to blackface specs ? usually only salvaging the carbon comps and transformers. Everything else was either broke or missing. I even had to re-tolex and re-grille a ?68 Twin once. I don?t want to do that again!! I ended up selling them all at one point or another. I also converted a Bassman head to a custom EL34 powered blues amp for a friend. He traded me an old non-working Ampeg Jet for the job, which I also rebuilt and sold. That?s about the extent of my amp building.

 

[vibrolax]

[quote author="Flatpicker"]I have a renewed interest as well, having recently sold my PODxt rig (I grew tired of the constant tweaking in my quest to find decent amp sounds ? I just want to plug in and play!). I?d like to build a simplified 2 channel version of a Vox AC30 Top Boost.

...

[/quote]

I take it you've seen Doug Hoffman's version of a simplified AC-30 TB?

http://www.hoffmanamps.com/images/AC30.gif

I do all my turret board layouts Hoffman-style. His buss structure nearly elminates jumper wires.

-Jon