Home Made Guitar Valve(tube) amps

Nephilyn-Lee

Howzit....every one, I am currently involved in designing/building a guitar valve amp for myself and may be if
i'm successful, for production as well (LoL) I am going to be retrenched very soon. Any way , my design
at the moment is a 100 watt(rms) push pull type valve amp. I'm using 4 12ax7 tubes for the pre-amp section, 2
for the driver stage, and 4 EL34 for my power stage. Both power transformer and output transformer are custom designed locally here is SA... I'm currently awaiting 2 more packages of components from the US. Enclosure design
is underway. This amp has 3 high gain stages with two gain controls ie gain1, gain2 and is single channel with
eq and a master volume control as well. I have to admit the design is not entirely mine, because i went through
many other designs and tweaked them before i arrived at this one. Tone is expected to go from slightly dirty
to insanely mad levels. I intend to use it for mostly Grunge, Alternate rock/metal styles.

stay tuned for progress reports...

FatBoy

Ooooh, I love homemade amps! I have no knowledge of electronics whatsoever, but I find this stuff very interesting, will be watching closely! Good luck!

Manfred-Klose

IF the price is right and it sounds cool, i'll consider it.

I have to admit the design is not entirely mine

Wont there be a copyright issue if you sell them?

Nephilyn-Lee

Thanx...I just hope it sounds great...

Nephilyn-Lee

Nephilyn Lee wrote Thanx...I just hope it sounds great...

Not realy, most designs have similar fundamentals and there's nothing stopping anyone
from experimenting with their own "new" type of amp... but it must not be identical or
a copy of a popular brand....

Heath

so what price you think these amps will come in at ball park

Nephilyn-Lee

Well thats hard to say but in the range of R 6000 - R 8000 ....

Nephilyn-Lee

The cost will be even lower if possible only to up coming bands. The manufacturing cost are enormous...Damn!

DNC

Yeah keep us posted... I have been looking to built my own...copy of a 1959 Marshall super lead 100w or 50w head. With some small design modifcations!!! But I don't know alot about this stuff!!!

Do you have any Idea on where to start... like a amp built kit or something?

FenderBender

Nephilyn Lee wrote I am going to be retrenched very soon

I was retrenched in July already. My background is electronics and I'm also keen to make up amps. Let me know if you are interested in getting together sometime to chat.

Nephilyn-Lee

DNC wrote Yeah keep us posted... I have been looking to built my own...copy of a 1959 Marshall super lead 100w or 50w head. With some small design modifcations!!! But I don't know alot about this stuff!!!

Do you have any Idea on where to start... like a amp built kit or something?

try www.ax84.com and www.schematicheaven.com.

Nephilyn-Lee

Graeme Parfett wrote
Nephilyn Lee wrote I am going to be retrenched very soon
I was retrenched in July already. My background is electronics and I'm also keen to make up amps. Let me know if you are interested in getting together sometime to chat.

Cool with me...I have the same addiction, but my fingers are starting to heal....

DNC

Thanks Dude will check it out!!!

Good luck!

Nephilyn-Lee

Progress report 22/10/2008

-->The building process has started...Power supply is 30% complete.
-->Component inventory is 99%.
-->Transformer test today 18:00 hr...

Heath

what area you in so that we can watch for the blackouts .....

Nephilyn-Lee

Tailon wrote what area you in so that we can watch for the blackouts .....

lol...I don't foresee that happening...I have a good test proceedure that I am going to use, and I am a qualified
electrical Power technician(DUT) with some experience, I do design and test electrical and control systems for a living my current project in include the FIFA Durban 2010 Stadium Airconditioning Control/Building managment system. The thing I concerned about is the sound quality and tone i am going to get.... Also concerned about feedback problems oscillation problems and general noise problems...

I think our Energy opperator have the roling blackouts coverd....

themanthatwalks

hay I am also interested in building my own valve amp. I just want something smaller(5 - 15W) and more fenderish. Where do you get your transformers? That is about the only thing keeping me from starting.

Nephilyn-Lee

A Good place to start would be www.tubesandmore.com (Antique electrical supply store) or www.tubedepot.com
or use the magic of Google.... I have had good service from these two stores and had my packages delivered to
me. You would also need a credit card for payment.

For your design you would probably use a single ended type transformer of suitable wattage. check the
tube parameters ie impedance values etc.

A word of caution, High Voltages used in valve amps can kill you... please ensure that you know what you are doing first!

Good luck...

themanthatwalks

Thanx... so for best results I would have to import some components. I study electronic engineering so I have my share of electricity experience.

AlanRatcliffe

I've had mixed results from thetubestore.com and tubedepot.com

The most reliable online dealers are Watford Valves in the UK http://www.watfordvalves.com and KCA NOS Tubes http://www.kcanostubes.com in the US.

Locally there is Mr. Valve. The guy running it died, but his wife is carrying on selling and they still have some choice valves: I just got three Philips Miniwatt 12AX7s, a Philips EF86 and a Philips Goldpin 6922 - all good.