Guitar amp kits

[Jason]

I'm considering building a small tube guitar amp. I'm looking at fairly low power designs - I really don't need a 100W monster or anything like that. Just a little 5-30W amp would be great. The plan would be to build something into a little 1x12 combo that's relatively small and portable. I just need a small stage amp that will be mic'd and used on a stand, so volume isn't necessary - in fact, the goal would be good sound at a modest level. I also don't need mega gain... the most I'd ever need would be a classic rock crunch, and most of the time just a mild bluesy overdrive would be perfect.

I'm guessing there are whole forums out there somewhere dedicated to this sort of thing. Any links to places like that would also be appreciated. I'm hoping to find something that's available as a kit with an actual board and instructions :) I can read a schematic, but point-to-point wiring a tube amp sounds more dangerous than I really want to risk. I also don't need anything fancy - just a simple preamp (one or two channels is great), and a low power amp.

Thanks
Jason

[fredthompson]

Provided Link: Low Watt Guitar Amp Kits (http://www.guytronix.com/home.html)


There are several sources for guitar amp kits. These seem to be the most affordable and they seem to fit your need very well. I have no personal experience with them.

[lee]

> There are several sources for guitar amp
> kits. These seem to be the most affordable
> and they seem to fit your need very well. I
> have no personal experience with them.
I built this one this past week..It's a stereo amp that can be bridged to 16 watts..It is not a guitar amp,but see no reason why it cannot be wired to do the job...
<A HREF="http://www.tubeaudio.com/page23.html">http://www.tubeaudio.com/page23.html</A>

[damkor]

There are lots. Problem is, they are very expensive. Why not get this? 5Watts for $129. And use a 12" Eminence guitar speaker.

<A HREF="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Valve-Junior-Tube-Amplifier-Head?sku=482069">http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Valve-Junior-Tube-Amplifier-Head?sku=482069</A>

OTOH, you can cut some cost by going all S-S.

[dbe]

Provided Link: AX84 (http://www.ax84.com)


You can't do better than these guys for high quality, low power designs:

<A HREF="http://dobermanamps.com/shop/?pg=kits">http://dobermanamps.com/shop/?pg=kits</A>

The ax84 bunch is a great place to hang with and they are on the upside of the curve when it comes to knowledge and help beofre, during and after construction.

A Firefly or a P-1 would fit your request, while the P-1 Extreme or a Hi-Octane is definitely in hi-gain territory.

Enjoy,

Dave

[Jason]

> You can't do better than these guys for high
> quality, low power designs:

> <A HREF="http://dobermanamps.com/shop/?pg=kits">http://dobermanamps.com/shop/?pg=kits</A> The
> ax84 bunch is a great place to hang with and
> they are on the upside of the curve when it
> comes to knowledge and help beofre, during
> and after construction.

> A Firefly or a P-1 would fit your request,
> while the P-1 Extreme or a Hi-Octane is
> definitely in hi-gain territory.

> Enjoy,

> Dave

Those look like nice kits. I'll have to seriously consider them. I also found these guys:
<A HREF="http://www.brownnote.net/">http://www.brownnote.net/</A>

They appear to have some fairly reasonable and complete kits, and if there's one sound I'd love to be able to nail it would be the Plexi sound. I might have to seriously consider that one.

Anyway, thanks for the input guys.
Jason

[Jason]

> There are lots. Problem is, they are very
> expensive. Why not get this? 5Watts for
> $129. And use a 12" Eminence guitar
> speaker.

>
> <A HREF="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Valve-Junior-Tube-Amplifier-Head?sku=482069">http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Valve-Junior-Tube-Amplifier-Head?sku=482069</A>
> OTOH, you can cut some cost by going all
> S-S.

I've gone through a couple of different amps, from an old Peavey Classic 50 (bleh), to a Peavey Special 130 (a SS powerhouse, but no tone), to a Fender M-80 half stack (no comment :) ), to a rack rig with a Carvin Quad-X preamp (awesome, but mostly a high-gain amp, and I didn't like all the compression). Right now I'm running a Digitech RP-20 processor direct to board, and it just isn't cutting the mustard. Even though it has a tube in it, it still sounds pretty solid state. It's awesome for high gain stuff, but I need something that can do the lower gain "crunch".

My dad actually has one of the Valve Jr's... I think I need to run up to his place with my guitar sometime and see how I like it. There seems to be a lot of mod kits for the VJr, and the reviews are pretty good.

For some reason I've got a problem with cookie cutter stuff, which is why I'm kind of fond of the notion of building an amp myself. Plus, how can you turn down the possibility of electrocuting yourself?

Jason

[dbe]

Provided Link: Amp Garage (http://ampgarage.com/forum/)


has some seriously nice offerings. The D-lite 22 is my personal favorite since I'm a Dumble ODS Carlton/Ford/Landreth sound kind of guy. The 18 watt Marshall and the Top Boost Vox clones are great, too. They were just a little beyond what I thought you were looking for in a project. Go crazy :-)

Anyway, you can't go wrong with either source and, while you're at it, take a look at the Trainwreck clones here:

<A HREF="http://www.ceriatone.com/">http://www.ceriatone.com/</A>

Check out the link below, too.

It's ALL good...

Dave