Building your own tube amp

Gearhead

If you want to justify building something yourself, make it something other than price. As others have said, it is not going to be true anyway. A much better reason is that you could build something money can't buy, like a combination of features or tones that you would otherwise need three amps for.
Okay you say you're gigging, but honestly 18W is enough and otherwise there's mics and desks and PAs. The risk of building too big an amp is in the added cost, weight, complexity and most of all the fact that you will never open it up and get to use its full tone.
Mike is recommending against dealing with Karel since he had some bad experience with regard to sticking to time lines; I on the other hand can recommend Karel as he will be more flexible and cheaper than importing. There are more forumites that might help you out with trannies; I'd give BottledTone a shout if I were you.
Lastly don't bother with PCB making. There's more than one reason to go turretboard or even point to point like real tube amps. Just think of the fact that you will want to change this or that somewhere along the way...

TomCat

+1 to what Gearhead has said. A build give you the opportunity to get exactly what you want.....price is secondary.....

I have also had a good experience with Karel and the transformers he made for me are top notch......

MikeM

No, I am recommending against Karel because he couldn't even stay withing a 15% tollerance.

makepeace

My recommendation (for what its worth), having built a meager 5E3, is that if you can get the PT made up here for you for good dosh and to a spec reasonably close to what's required, go for it. The OT on the other hand is another story. You should do some reading as to ascertain what you think you want - there are many variables and as Mike put it - 'black magic' - that won't be easily replicated by any old iron manufacturer. Go for a tried and tested OT, such as the Classictones offered on Triode - very well priced and highly acclaimed transformers, or even - google musical power supplies. They have some great prices for some decent stuff. They're made in China, but designed by a clever dude. Have had good experiences with a multi-tapped 40W OT from Matt that supplanted Karel's OT in my 5E3 to enable use of 6L6's, very effective.

I bought my 5E3 kit from Karel, and while I can say that everything worked out great in the end (and his knowledge about the topic has been absolutely invaluable - I'd like to thank him for that in a public forum), the logistics were difficult to say the least.

Another thing, don't let the price factor dismay you with regards to rolling your own. There really is a lot of fun and satisfaction in it, and I would say if you disregard your time as a cost factor and know your way around google and are reasonably resourceful you can easily build an amp for quite a bit less than the bigger manufacturer at least.

The customization factor has already been spoken for, and is highly endorsed. You will end up with something that will (to you at least) be worth more than the sum of its parts.

I'd also contentiously say - if you want a +20W amp, go for it. I don't believe that you will be at any disadvantage by doing so - and do some research into the VVT - a means of lowering output of a big amp, if required. Obviously a 100W beast might make your life difficult, but a 40-60W amp - bearing speaker efficiency in mind - isn't a terribly unattractive option, esp if you're looking for good cleans at a high SPL.

Good luck, and by the way.. The conditions are that you post a fully detailed build thread ? with pics! ?

TomCat

makepeace wrote: Good luck, and by the way.. The conditions are that you post a fully detailed build thread ? with pics! ?

Absolutely.......no pics and detailed build thread....didn't happen...... ? ? ?

SnapcaseZA

Cool, thanks for the advice guys. I initially thought I could get away with a cheaper amp than buying, but looking more closely with your recommendations it doesn't seem to be that easy. I still have a glimmer of hope left that I could build something fantastic for a fraction of the price ?, but it will take real time and thought.
Mainly though, I really don't want to just buy a kit amp and build it up. I want it to be my (electronic) design, from a mash up of a whole bunch of schematic options and sounds - that I like.

Give me a few months of research and I'll start one. I'll keep you guys involved with pics and info. Should be interesting. Who knows, if its a real success (I can dream cant I) maybe I'll flog a few off from here for cost or something ?

Nicholas-L

It's a good idea to do all the research you can before starting on this journey ? ... and once you're done you will want to build another one that's just different to the last one... ? It happened to me.
I can say that in my case it worked out cheaper to build my Soldano Clone than to have tried to buy one for R35k.

So go forth and mash up some circuits and get that amp that does all you want it to ?
And PICS PICS PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SnapcaseZA

Nicholas L wrote: It's a good idea to do all the research you can before starting on this journey ? ... and once you're done you will want to build another one that's just different to the last one... ? It happened to me.
I can say that in my case it worked out cheaper to build my Soldano Clone than to have tried to buy one for R35k.

So go forth and mash up some circuits and get that amp that does all you want it to ?
And PICS PICS PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For sure, I'm not going to start until I understand everything properly. Did you go down to the electronic design and schematic level with your build? Just wondering if I could bounce some ideas and stuff off you?

MikeM

There are a handful of guys here that have. Post and you'll get help ?

Nephilyn-Lee

To be absolutely honest building a valve amp to save money is not the way to go if you are a beginner. I have built a 100 watt Marshall style amp and the total cost including importing costs are in excess of R7500 not including the immense amount of time it takes to learn all the fundamentals of amp building and the trade secrets of good tone! /gain /stability etc etc + the time to actually build and wire everything together. All this might sound quite negative but
if you are out to experiment, learn, have fun and just looking to create a unique sounding amp then go ahead and build one! The feeling of building an amp from scratch and playing through it with your guitar is an amazing feeling - - - - - > you feel like Frankenstein! ? 8)

O and be sure to take all the necessary precautions when working with valve amps due to the high voltages inside!

If you need to be pointed in the right direction of building then send me a PM......

Stoner-Riff

SnapcaseZA wrote: So I've come to terms with the realisation that I'll never have the spare money to afford a proper tube amp, like the Mesas etc.

However, I am electronically trained so I'm thinking of making my own - ambitious yes. I don't really know amplifiers on the electronic level however, so it'll be all new to me. I'm more a digital electronics guy.

I have some schematics for a EVH 5150 III head, the original 5150, as well as the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and they look do able. However I'd like to modify it as I wouldn't need all the different versions and channels. I just want something quite powerful which has a single great clean channel and single (variable) distortion channel. I also don't need 'stereo' outputs. I just want to power a single 4x12 stack, or 2x12 stack.

So I was wondering whether anyone has ever built a proper (50W+) tube amp, and has any tips for me?

My main concerns are as follows:

- where to get power transformers made up
- output transformer too
- where could I go to order tubes online

May i ask why you want to build a 50W amp ?

What is wrong with your 5150+ combo ?
Do you not like the amp's tone ?

SnapcaseZA

Stoner Riff wrote:
SnapcaseZA wrote: So I've come to terms with the realisation that I'll never have the spare money to afford a proper tube amp, like the Mesas etc.

However, I am electronically trained so I'm thinking of making my own - ambitious yes. I don't really know amplifiers on the electronic level however, so it'll be all new to me. I'm more a digital electronics guy.

I have some schematics for a EVH 5150 III head, the original 5150, as well as the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and they look do able. However I'd like to modify it as I wouldn't need all the different versions and channels. I just want something quite powerful which has a single great clean channel and single (variable) distortion channel. I also don't need 'stereo' outputs. I just want to power a single 4x12 stack, or 2x12 stack.

So I was wondering whether anyone has ever built a proper (50W+) tube amp, and has any tips for me?

My main concerns are as follows:

- where to get power transformers made up
- output transformer too
- where could I go to order tubes online

May i ask why you want to build a 50W amp ?

What is wrong with your 5150+ combo ?
Do you not like the amp's tone ?

TBH, this thread was before I had the 6505 ?

I still want to make my own, but I realised it wasn't a quick fix for my amp needs. One day I'll build my own for sure.

Stoner-Riff

SnapcaseZA wrote:
Stoner Riff wrote:
SnapcaseZA wrote: So I've come to terms with the realisation that I'll never have the spare money to afford a proper tube amp, like the Mesas etc.

However, I am electronically trained so I'm thinking of making my own - ambitious yes. I don't really know amplifiers on the electronic level however, so it'll be all new to me. I'm more a digital electronics guy.

I have some schematics for a EVH 5150 III head, the original 5150, as well as the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier and they look do able. However I'd like to modify it as I wouldn't need all the different versions and channels. I just want something quite powerful which has a single great clean channel and single (variable) distortion channel. I also don't need 'stereo' outputs. I just want to power a single 4x12 stack, or 2x12 stack.

So I was wondering whether anyone has ever built a proper (50W+) tube amp, and has any tips for me?

My main concerns are as follows:

- where to get power transformers made up
- output transformer too
- where could I go to order tubes online

May i ask why you want to build a 50W amp ?

What is wrong with your 5150+ combo ?
Do you not like the amp's tone ?
TBH, this thread was before I had the 6505 ?

I still want to make my own, but I realised it wasn't a quick fix for my amp needs. One day I'll build my own for sure.

Ahhhhh, gotcha !

Do you like the amp ?
I mean, is it as the Yanks say, "a keeper" ?

Another two questions for you, if i may :

* how much does the 1X12 go for in SA these days ? And how much for the "bigger" 2X12 combo ?

* can your amp get this tone ? (...ffd to 47m15sec)

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