Interested in building my own amp.

Mark Nix · Post by **Mark Nix** » 13 Feb 2015 8:50 pm

I saw the thread about the poor mans homemade little walter and had already been thinking of building my own amp. I was curious where one could find diagrams for the wiring and how much know how really is needed to build a few different types of point to point amps of various power ranges and variety of clean headroom or distortion.
Thanks

Steven Husting · Post by **Steven Husting** » 14 Feb 2015 12:20 am

Think very carefully before you go down this road. I built one amp just to see how it works, just one. I wasn 't going to build any more. That was 20 amps ago.

If you are going to do this, then I suggest -

- you read up on safety precautions. You will be working with lethal voltages. Not only must you stick your fingers in a live amp, that amp also has to be safe enough for daily use.

- I'm assuming we are talking about tube amps. Learn something about how tubes work . Valve Wizard and AX84 have good free material .

- don't think it will be cheaper to build instead of buying, unless you find an old carcass with good transformers you can use.

- it's not just connecting wires. You have to worry about lead dress, oscillations, grounding schemes, and and and

- it probably won't work right the first time so be prepared to be patient and spend time searching for mistakes

- if you don 't know how to solder, learn. Buy a dirt box kit and learn on that instead of the expensive stuff.

Having said all that I love building amps. I have amps out the wing-wang.
I don't 'need' anymore but I keep building. In December I built a single-channel Deluxe Reverb which turned out just perfect. A couple of weeks ago I built this Vibro Champ Reverb. I still have a couple of things to do on the cab.

Steven

Mark Nix · Post by **Mark Nix** » 14 Feb 2015 7:12 am

Yes tube amps, something "simple" so to say without any circuit boards.

I know how to solder and I am fairly knowledgable/understanding of voltages and how power loads work. Once I read through some instructions or guides, and maybe use ye olde Google to refresh my memory of certain things, I usually understand it pretty thoroughly.

I'm not sure exactly how you say it wouldn't be cheaper to build myself, in comparison to buying a new Little Walter twin head with external cabinet(s) that come in well over $3000,
Though I've not attempted pricing the parts to do such a build.

Ross Shafer · Post by **Ross Shafer** » 14 Feb 2015 7:35 am

get this book by Tino Zottola:
[urlhttp://www.amazon.com/Building-Vacuum-Guitar-A ... B004C7QAX8[/url]

It has plans for a few different amps, amongst them the Fender 5B6 circuit. Nearly identical to the non-stereo little Walter. There's not a lot of parts involved in that circuit, so the cost isn't too bad.

Have fun!

Lincoln Goertzen · Post by **Lincoln Goertzen** » 14 Feb 2015 7:42 am

Hi, Mark,

Would you be interested in a kit?

http://trinityamps.com/Product_Parts.htm has kits in Canada here, and I have no doubt you can find something closer to you there. I included the link because it has some good information on it. Enough that I was able to figure out that I didn't really want to build my own amp- I could get what I wanted by finding a good amp and building a fancy wood cabinet for it. But that's just me. I get my fill of electricity in my day job wiring houses, so I'd like to do something different at home.

Steven Husting · Post by **Steven Husting** » 14 Feb 2015 8:45 am

You are just looking at parts. Consider also the tools you need - are you drilling your chassis or buying one ready made? Are you building your own cab or buying one ready made? If you are building one do you already have access to a table saw , a router, and various sanders? Is your time worth anything in the equation? ( probably not). What are your expectations? Do you simply want a working amp or do you expect it to look like a Little Walter inside right away? They' ve built hundreds if not thousands of amps and unless you are a completely neurotic stickler your first amp will not look anything like a LW. They also buy transformers in quantity and not one at a time.

I'm not trying to discourage you - you should just know there is more to it than you think ans you should be ready for it . I studied it for two years before I built my first. It's a great hobby and I can build (and have built) any amp I want. It's very freeing to be independent of the industry. I 'm planning a single-channel brown Super with reverb. I don't know of anybody selling one of those.

Steven

Mark Fowler · Post by **Mark Fowler** » 14 Feb 2015 9:42 am

You can build a LW 50w which is actually 30w amp for as little as $500. The 5b6 circuit is a great platform for guitar just add pedal board for reverb and gain pedals. Works well for steel guitar just add 15" speaker cabinet. Get Tino's book and get started.

There are many kits out there:

www.rjguitars.net
www.mojotone.com
www.triodestore.com
www.ceriatone.com

many more kits out there check ebay or google guitar amp kits

Join Ampgarage forum or Hoffman amps forum some really top amp builders on those forums that can help you out.

Mark

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 14 Feb 2015 10:56 am

what Mark said - start with a kit. Just about anyone can build a tweed Champ or Princeton, and they are great amplifiers!

The first amp I ever built was a tweed princeton - and I still have it - and it still sounds great!

Mark Fowler · Post by **Mark Fowler** » 15 Feb 2015 11:40 am

I forgot to mention, Steven that is a great looking amp and cabinet

Mark

Bob Lawrence · Post by **Bob Lawrence** » 16 Feb 2015 9:06 am

re: Interested in building my own amp. I saw the thread about the poor mans homemade little walter and had already been thinking of building my own amp.

I have hundreds (maybe a 1000+ LOL)URl's for tube related info. I only added a few links (that may interest you or someone else that wants to get started in building Tube amps) Google is your friend

Once you find a few sites they can link you to others.
===================================================
Tube amp safety tips:( high voltage can hurt or kill you)

http://www.aikenamps.com/index.php/safe ... amplifiers

Video - DIY safety:
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/2 ... safety-101

=================================================
Tube/ tube amp reference and design books for free:
http://www.tubebooks.org/
=============================================
Book:(there are lots of tube related books at Amazon)

Example:
Building Valve Amplifiers Paperback â€“ Feb 10 2014
by Morgan Jones (Author)

http://www.amazon.ca/Building-Valve-Amp ... XTSZ8JM535
====================================================
A Google search on tube amp kits can provide many sites to choose from:

Examples:
Theory and kits:
http://www.ax84.com/kits.html

Kits:

http://trinityamps.com/
===================================================
Schematics and free design/ repair software:
http://www.duncanamps.com/index.htm

Baseman 5B6:
http://el34world.com/charts/Schematics/ ... _schem.pdf

Design info, schematics, Scratch Building amps, layout diagrams etc:

http://el34world.com/schematics.htm

Schematics:
http://el34world.com/charts/TubeAmpSchematics.htm
===================================================
There are a ton of parts suppliers just Google it:
You can learn allot about the parts just by visiting the various web sites.

Parts:
http://www.thetubestore.com/

Hers's a link from Mark Fowler

http://www.triodestore.com/
=====================================================
Transformers:( you can learn allot by reading the data sheets)

Hammond:
https://www.hammfg.com/electronics/tran ... eferer=790

Mercury Magnetics:
http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/mainframe.htm

==================================================
Although you may not want to build this amp, reading guides like this offer lots of building tips:

Builders Guide:
http://www.trinityamps.com/ForumGallery ... _3.921.pdf

Understanding Capacitors:
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/t ... amp-caps-1

YouTube resources: (there are plenty of tube related resources on YouTube , just search on what interests you but here's a few examples):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrMGGHp8yLk

Scratch Building a Fender 5F1 Champ from Scrap Parts......

Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xKritA ... 2jf9gpqmkK

Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtoPma2 ... 2jf9gpqmkK
===================================================
Making a Cabinet:
Constructing a Finger-Jointed Pine Amplifier Cabinet......Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTLfe9U ... 2jf9gpqmkK
Constructing a Finger-Jointed Pine Amplifier

Cabinet......Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IasuNgF ... kK&index=4
===============================================

Tube Data:
http://www.tubedata.info/

Wiki - Great for searching on tube data:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6L6

Steve's Vacuum Tube Related Web Site :
http://diyaudioprojects.com/mirror/memb ... sbench101/
=====================================================

Good luck!! and have fun

Robert Parent · Post by **Robert Parent** » 16 Feb 2015 1:51 pm

Thanks for all of the great links!

Robert

Mark Fowler · Post by **Mark Fowler** » 16 Feb 2015 9:03 pm

I enjoy watching Uncle Doug build amps or try capture his dog Rusty on video.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Stratosaurus1/videos

Lee Warren · Post by **Lee Warren** » 16 Feb 2015 9:13 pm

+1 for Uncle Doug's videos.
Fun, down to earth and very informative.
Lee

Bob Lawrence · Post by **Bob Lawrence** » 16 Feb 2015 10:12 pm

I agree about Uncle Doug.

He's in my list under :

1. Scratch Building a Fender 5F1 Champ from Scrap Parts......

Constructing a Finger-Jointed Pine Amplifier Cabinet......Part 1 & 2

Mark Fowler · Post by **Mark Fowler** » 17 Feb 2015 2:31 pm

I placed an order with CE Distributions AKA www.Tubesandmore.com for non dealer accounts because I plan to build another 5B6 cage amp.

I keep selling these 5b6 Tweed's as fast as I can build them and I'm not very fast after my heart surgery in January 2012 but I'm feeling up to it right now.

I can document the build process if your interested, probably in new thread though.

I use the Hammond black steel 12x8x2 chassis, bottom plate and steel top cage. Makes for a very cheap enclosure. I use the TIno Zottola layout plans (Same as LW's layout) but space the tubes further apart so I can use 6550, KT88 or KT120 tubes in addition to the standard 6L6GC's.

Mark

Lee Warren · Post by **Lee Warren** » 17 Feb 2015 4:06 pm

Mark Fowler wrote: I can document the build process if your interested, probably in new thread though.
Mark

Hi Mark,
I'd be interested in following the build, for sure.
Thanks,
Lee

J.D.White · Post by **J.D.White** » 17 Feb 2015 4:33 pm

+1 more - I would be interested also !

Bob Lawrence · Post by **Bob Lawrence** » 19 Feb 2015 5:57 am

@ Robert Parent

re: Links

I have plenty of other resources. If you need something just let me know.

Bob Lawrence · Post by **Bob Lawrence** » 20 Feb 2015 9:29 pm

Capacitor Conversions and supplies:
http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html

Capacitor tips:
http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/c ... itors.html

Resistor Color Chart:
http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/c ... stors.html

Filter Design tool (can be used to understand filters)
http://sim.okawa-denshi.jp/en/CRlowkeisan.htm

Soldering Tips For Beginners:
http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/T ... -tips.html

How to use a multimeter:
http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/T ... meter.html

Electronics Glossary
http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/l ... ssary.html

Mark Nix · Post by **Mark Nix** » 22 Feb 2015 10:35 pm

Thanks for all the links, Bob.

And I would love to have your build documented, Mark.

What is the layout for the 22/44 watt version? thanks

Michael Butler · Post by **Michael Butler** » 25 Feb 2015 8:38 pm

wow, what great resources from bob and the offer from mark.

thanks,
mikeB

The Steel Guitar Forum

Interested in building my own amp.

Interested in building my own amp.

A few more links