You can get a fair amount of the components you need from RS Components, however you will always be buying in higher quantities than you need which ultimately ends up being more expensive.

The easiest way to get everything is to buy from ValveStorm. They have an amp "Checklist" system that advises you on what you need for the amp you're building and lets you buy in the exact quantities you need. Their pricing is pretty good, although you can get individual items cheaper elsewhere, paying multiple shipping costs quickly add up. The nice this about Valvestorm is that they also sell hookup wire in the colours and lengths you need as a kit, or individually, which will save you a bundle, compared to buying a full reel of each colour.

You will still need to source the chassis, transformers, choke, turret board and perhaps the face plates from somewhere else. Here are my recommended sources for all of the above:

Chassis, Transformers, Choke:

Marstran http://marstran.com/

Turret Board:

Reproduction Turret Boards by Brian Haberman http://www.kurtsequipment.com/reproboards/

Rest of the stuff:

Valve Storm http://www.valvestorm.com

Just to add, I would advise that you order the bits and pieces for the LAR/MAR PPIMV at the same time, regardless of your initial plans to use it or not. The parts are all cheap, and deciding at a later stage that you can't handle the volumes the amp puts out, and deciding you need one will make ordering the LAR/MAR very costly from a shipping perspective.

In case you don't have that much to spend:

http://www.classictone.net/ - these guys have good iron, most likely best bang for buck. You can buy them from either one of their two distrubutors: http://store.triodestore.com/ , http://shop.amppartsdirect.com/

Speakers are also VERY important.

And you should do some reading about carbon comp vs metal film resistors and what the benefits/shortcomings of each are.

http://www.aikenamps.com/ResistorNoise.htm
http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/carbon_comp/carboncomp.htm

If you want to get into the theory, here's some well written objective reading: http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm
This is also pretty good: http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/
And this: http://www.aikenamps.com/TechInfo_2.htm ; http://www.aikenamps.com/TI_Aiken_Q&A.html

If you have some experience with PC drawing software (or want to get some), you could wait for all of your parts and then design a chassis based around them and on other popular designs/layouts and get it cut and bent at an engineering workshop for a reasonable price (a chassis would be one of the more expensive things to ship). You could also design your control panel labels and get them etched before you bend it up (much cheaper). I paid R400 for my most recent chassis, including material and etching of artwork/labels.

RS Components is great for things like switches, metal film/oxide resistors, electrolytics (really want to try the evox rifas on my next build). They also sell sockets and tubes, but I'd stay away from the tubes at least. The fact that you have to buy certain things in bulk (resistors mainly for your needs..) isn't too bad. Resistors are dirt cheap, and will comprise about R100-R150 in total, even in bulk. Nothing wrong with having some extras..

Some other nice suppliers of parts are:

https://www.smallbearelec.com/home.html
http://www.tubedepot.com/
http://www.turretboards.com/
http://mrvalve.wordpress.com/

I'd also suggest that its pointless to look overseas for something such as turretboard material; it can be a very basic insulated fiber board material and can be found very readily in SA without having to pay a premium. All you need then is some turrets (which you can get from RS) and a means to knock them in (anvil and stake): http://www.turretboards.com/tut_building_turret_and_eyelet_boards.htm very easy to make your own.

http://www.maizey.co.za/engineering/engineering-sheet-rods-a-tubes/phenolics

Finally, if you're going to be building the amp yourself and if time permits I'd suggest to try and get as much out of the experience as you can. Do the reading, know your circuit and layout backwards and order all of your own parts; you don't need a kit. My experience is that you'll start replacing everything bit by bit if you get a kit.

Makepeace is on the money. That should be a sticky ?

makepeace wrote: /snip

WOW, great sources posted there!!

Huge thanks for all the great input - this is exactly the info I was looking for. I need to follow the links and read up...
On the speaker issue - I've ordered 2 speakers for Warehouse Guitar Speakers - wgs4.com.
These are "replacements" for the Celestion Greenback & Celestion G12 H30 for the2x12 thats in progress on the bench.
The reviews of these & the WGS stuff in general are very positive, so for the price I thought i would give it a bash. Anyone else tried them?

Whilst researching this I got side tracked... Amp kits... Matching cab & amp... JMT45... I have an understanding wife.?

Tip for those interested: I picked up some 750 x 750 x21 high quality birch ply from Gumtree. Its available in CT. Its perfect for cabinets, cheap & I think its quite hard to find.

Those WGS speakers will be perfect I rate.. Don't think there are any this side yet, so let us know how they go! I've been following them for about a year and a bit.. The reviews are all positive and they seem to be on the ball with new ideas.

Thx for the link on the birch! Going to check if there's any left.

lapdawg wrote: I want to build a JTM45.
I have little knowledge of valve amps & electronics, so I need to learn.
From the reading I have done so far, it seems I have the following options:

• MetroAmp Kit / parts
• Ceriatone Kit
• Mojotone Kit
• buy as much as I can locally & source the rest online

I am not in a rush, but would really appreciate some advice on how to get going.
Its quite difficult finding local information & parts online.
The one thing that seems clear is that quality transformers etc. are worth the spend - but some of heavier components will cost a lot to carry from the States.

BTW - I am busy building a 2X12 cab & have sourced tweed, speakers, handles, corners etc. from WGS & Mojotone. I want to make a matching amp head. I'll post pics of the build when done.

Try this site as well for parts. I use them exclusively. www.tubesandmore.com

I have already been looking at stuff on Antique Electronic Supply(www.tubesandmore.com). I am in dispute about an order with them...
I've sent a mail & am am waiting for feedback. I think sites like this raise interesting questions about online buying - particularly relevant to this topic. In SA we often look to the US as the only source of what we're looking for.
My complaints:
1. the site is not well structured or intuitive i.e. procedures not like common on online buying. Crucially - I expect to know shipping costs when doing the cc transaction..
2. I expect < 3days for a query response. I waited longer.
3. I made a purchase & and was misinformed (I believe) about what I was buying - i.e. the source of the dispute.

That said - they do offer good stuff at seemingly good prices. Bad site does not necessarily = bad dealer. The personal touch still counts... I'll let you know how they they respond.

Honestly, for a first build, particularly something like this, stick to an actual kit.

There are loads out there, if AES can't supply what you need, I'm sure there's someone else willing to sort you out!

MikeM wrote: Honestly, for a first build, particularly something like this, stick to an actual kit.

There are loads out there, if AES can't supply what you need, I'm sure there's someone else willing to sort you out!

That's why I suggested Valvestorm. Easy ordering and you end up with all the same components as used to be included in the Metro kit (Metro not supplying kits themselves at the moment). The other sources include the other bits not supplied by ValveStorm that would normallybe part of the Metro kit.

All that remains is to download the build instructions from MetroAmp forum,and the guys there are very helpful for support too.

I have been putting together my shopping list and trying to work things out. My call is rather take a bit longer to put it together than rush in with substandard parts.
I see that the:
Marstran OT, PT & Choke: $125 + $145 + $28 = $298 i.e. R2 400
ClassicTone bundle at Triode: $167 i.e. R1 336

How significant will the difference be?
What do these do to the sound quality?

I would say that the within the group of popular manufacturers of a similar power transformer (ie a JMT45 PT), the actual brand doesn't make a huge difference. So yeah.. marstran, hammond, classictone, mercury magnetics.. take your pick (whatever's cheapest/looks the coolest ?). The choke is also fairly irrelevant. As long as its designed min of meer for the application, it'll do fine.

The OT though is the place where you will have to place most of your concentrations. They are very different and this is where a lot of the tone in these amps lies. Unfortunately its difficult to get a feel for the quality of something over the internet without actually A-B testing the transformers, and I think with the JMT45, you're probably largely on your own. So you're going to have to take an educated gamble. My money would be on the Classictone though.

Here's something on transformers, particularly OTs: http://www.tone-lizard.com/Electronic_Parts.htm.

That whole website is actually a great read. You should go through all of it.

You could also try this

Further thanks for the advice. I been reading & learnt a bit. I now know what a carbon comp resistor is, what a KT-66 is etc..
For those interested the '45 is now in progress. I sourced & ordered most of the parts. It is possible to save money if you do your research:

• Basic electrical parts were ordered from Valvestorm, a few from Modulus Amplification
• Chassis, faceplates, knobs, wire etc from Modulus
• OT & Choke - 2nd hand Drakes for a song on eBay
• Turrets & turret board - sourced locally. I've put it together
• Most build info from metro amp. George is THE man
• 12" Green Beret (Greenback copy) & 12" Reaper (G12H30 copy) from Warehouse Guitar Speakers
• PT still needed. I think it'll be a Classictone
• Valves still needed

I've also build a 2 X 12 "speaker cab & covered it original Fender tweed + a few coats of lacquer. I like the look but it won't fit with the '45 though.
The WGS speakers sound brilliant. Here are a few pics...




If there's any interest, I'll post the build as it happens...

Great work on the cab, looks fantastic! ?

Man! Nice work! :applause:

I've also used the chiseled finger-joint method :-[. Dado racks are mad expensive.. Your tweed turned out perfectly! Cool to see you found an OT on ebay. Is it from an old JMT?

I might try *outsourcing* the cabinet joint cutting in future. The OT & choke are originals but I don't think they're '60s originals. They are definitely more than a few years old.

Good luck with your build, and I'd very much like to see your build progress, so please document your process.

That speaker cab came out very nice.

Also, forget Tubesandmore.com, PM me if you want details on how you can buy all that they sell from their source, at substantially cheaper prices.

Man that cab is just fantastic! Watching this thread with great anticipation!