...whatever he wants to. ?
...but first he must figure out what he wants - and no-one else can tell him that.

15w/5w - single channel - volume, Tone, gain..........maybe reverb........and build yourself all the pedals you need!

?...... just too many options, something simple I suspect

Why limit yourself? I say one of each of your favorite sounding amps.

Bottledtone - you are a national treasure! An artist and a technical genius all in one! I am a little surprised that you haven't been approached by a comfortably off marketing whizz (preferably a member of the forum) with regards to setting up something on a more commercial scale! (as long as you don't move to China!). ?

Build a Compactron guitar head with only off-the-shelf components, fitting into a Hammond 1590 (or similar size) enclosure! Two toroidals for power, Hammond 109 or similar for output! 8)

You may take it to the next level by adding a lightning connector to form the effects loop through iPhone/iPad ?

I think you should build an amp out of perspex, so everyone can see the innards at work, and install blue LED lighting to make it glow on stage! ?

Then when you are bored of it, you can send it to me! ? hehe!

G!

interesting question


my take on this ....based on my experience and knowing a few builders of amps and guitars ..... is the amp or guitar that you need /want ussually ties in with "where you are musically" yourself....

i know for me .... about 3 yrs back i wanted to get into experimental jazz seriously ...ala new york tele maestro Jim Campilongo.....

so i traded in my strat for a tele and my PA based sound system (i was routing my guitar through a processor then thru the PA ) for a Fender princeton design tube amp.... that had single channel and a nice clean breakup .....

if benj remembers we even discussed a build before i found a vintage amp ....

BUT that idea shifted back to traditional jazz a year later...and the tele and princeton was now sold on to finance a 335 type guitar and a clean solid state amp ....

so now i have a yamaha AS50 and a ZT acoustic lunchbox and 2x 40W battery amps for outdoors gigs which are just clean and i'm in tone heavan for my current needs ........

but musically we all progress and grow so i may want a reviera 4x 12 stack and a JEM in 5 years time ( mmmmm i very much doubt it ... but who knows... 20 yrs ago i playing top 40 covers in clubs ... 10 yrs ago i thought i'd swear off all things electric and go pure acoustic world music and 5 yrs later to present i found myself playing instrumental jazz standards for a living.... is this the end or whats next ????????)

so what i'm saying is if the builder is also a gigging player .... then that will influence what he builds for himself .......

so yes it depends on current needs .... and as i mentioned above they always shifting (unless one is stagnating musically )

How about this cool little amp, it's a Plexi built into a jerry can...and you can change the poweramp tube if you want. ?

JP Le Roux built it for himself...it sounds killer.
Lousy photos, took them quickly in the studio with my phone.

I remember his "Jerry Amp"

Hi spec at the time was:

"- Single- ended 1-20w output
- 2x ecc** preamp valves, 1x 6k6gc(1watt) - kt88 output valve(20w)
- 2 footswitchable channels - 1) marshall plexi fat, warm clean, 2) Marshall JCM800 overdrive, with master volume.
- shared eq
- serial effects loop"

Try something different. Try a good amp for acoustic guitars. There are imported options available here, but the really good ones (AER) are very expensive.

Do some googling, figure out a good feature set and off you go....

Or how about as nice valve (thus warm sounding) DI/Pre-amp along the lines of the Ridge Farm gas cooker?

i think alan's right. and fingerpicker. you're in a pickle coz you're your own client, and you dunno so much what you want - you have no 'brief' as it were. worse than that, you can't even help your client decide what direction to head in based on the brief, for reasons stated above.

my job is all about making the client happy, even when their brief may be a little off base. i do find it helpful, from time to time, to get a lop-sided view of the 'brief'. so make like bob says, give yourself a little time off. do something completely different - but without wasting time. give the old acoustic side of things a bash. i think it's a fab idea. and potentially lucrative too. (well, at least somewhat productive and you probably won't lose too much...)

point being, if you do attempt it, you'll take your brain off the issue at hand, the grey matter will do its own thing, and probably arrive at this solution all by its lonesome.

worth it? dunno mate, that's up to you
dh|

All valid points and good ideas. I guess I'm giving myself too much choice.
Must just limit the list and see what will benefit my playing, and my pedalbuilding. (Must be a good pedal testing platform)
Oh and maybe what I won't fear my kids to destroy....

I just seem to go through the same loop of ideas I always go through. Like clockwork. I dream of AC30 tones, and it rolls on through a whole list, and back to ac30 again.

Out the box is the way to go. Reset my brain..

Thanks guys for your replies.

I think that Bob's acoustic amp idea is a damn fine one! That would widen your market and give your brain some serious stimulation.

bottledtone wrote: Must just limit the list and see what will benefit my playing, and my pedalbuilding. (Must be a good pedal testing platform)

That's probably the most important consideration for you IMO. Typically most users would be playing their pedals through either amps with clean voicings similar to a Fender Blackface or a VOX AC. I would think building something that can do both or two amps covering those two tones would best suit your pedal testing needs.

Hows that other idea we were speaking of the other day coming along?
any designs yet?

Don't think so he's been too busy with other stuff...

BENJ!!!!!!!!!!! If you want AC30 cream then that's what you're suppose to do.

My advice make the most disgusting, horrible, mismatched sounding low wattage amp possible play it for a month. Then grab a good classic from somewhere AC30 or Plexi maybe, find a friend with access to a large warehouse, go there and crank it to regrettable levels and play till you get that warm satisfied feeling inside.

Probably wont cure what you want, but you'll enjoy tone again. ?

Mr T wrote:

bottledtone wrote: Must just limit the list and see what will benefit my playing, and my pedalbuilding. (Must be a good pedal testing platform)

That's probably the most important consideration for you IMO. Typically most users would be playing their pedals through either amps with clean voicings similar to a Fender Blackface or a VOX AC. I would think building something that can do both or two amps covering those two tones would best suit your pedal testing needs.

I think this is actually spot on....
2 classic cleans which plenty have been based on.

@norm. I do think the "TSA killer" is a future build.