Building a Head

M

Matt_Gill

New member
Hey, i want to build my own all tube head, Has anyone got a realy simple design that i can use for it. Ive been looking around for years no for a nice tube amp, and none of them have been quite rite.
Has anyone done this before, any advice?
 
Matt_Gill said:
Hey, i want to build my own all tube head, Has anyone got a realy simple design that i can use for it. Ive been looking around for years no for a nice tube amp, and none of them have been quite rite.
Has anyone done this before, any advice?
Click to expand...

Good luck. If you can't find anything that you like from manufacturers, then you won't like anything you will find online to build because they are all rip offs of previous designs.

But for fun,
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...0&ct=result&cd=1&q=build+a+guitar+amp&spell=1
 
Wow man do you know what you're getting yourself into! How much wattage? SE, or push/pull? Building and modifying amps is fun.. I dig it anyway. I would recommend honing your skills by repairing or refurbing a couple amps before you attempt to build one from scratch. Doing so you will learn more theory than you would by assembling a kit. There are kits out there, but most of them are so expensive it takes the fun out of it. For the price of a kit you can have a new amp with a warranty. There are loads of vintage tube amplifiers on ebay. I just bought a amp last week. 6L6 output tubes, 5U4 rectifier, 12AX7's in the pre's. 35-40 watt. (good stuff) It's an old PA/PHONO amp. I paid a hundred bucks for it, and I'll have another hundred in it before I'm done. I'll add a reverb pan, re-tube it, and re-cap it. When I'm done. I'll have a nice unique amp for a couple hundred. Here's some links to get you started. The last link is a schematic. It's a Silvertone 1481 The design is a Danelecto ripoff of a fender champ. It's an easy build that puts out about 15 creamy watts. g/l, John

http://duncanamps.com
http://www.ampwares.com/
http://www.schematicheaven.com/
http://www.vibroworld.com/
http://www.schematicheaven.com/bargainbin/silvertone_1481.pdf
 
I've built a few amps.

If you do it, you'll learn quite a lot about tube amps, and the importance of lead dress (which is still a complete fucking mystery to me).

At any rate, you should check out 18watt.com, Weber Amps, and also GDS amps. GDS has an excellent 18 Watt kit, which has a very good manual, and will make the process of building an amp as easy as possible (which is not the same as saying it is actually easy, that takes practice). Also, make sure to check out the AX84 site. Lots of good stuff there.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Definitely check out the sites that Light mentioned, especially AX84, for a first time builder. I'm about to start my first build from there. I've got a crap load of diy projects that I've been saying I'll get around to but it's time. I've been sitting on the diy tube amp idea for a few years now and it's making me sick that I have'nt started it yet. I sugguest reading up on basic electronics if you have'nt already. You should at least know how to read a schematic, how to identify components, and a basic understanding of how tube amps and there components work.

I've read about guys buying old tube pa's and radios and converting them into guitar amps but I don't see that being feasible if you have no clue of what to look for.

Also, a cool book I found is The Guitar Amp Handbook. A must read primer that does a really good job of explaining how all the components of an amp contribute to your overall sound. It covers components, the circuits that make up tube amps, speakers/cabs, basic maintenance, and a basic build of a low watt tube amp. There's alot of good info in this book for anyone looking to dial in on their own sound.
 
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