chris77 wrote:
EZ, what would you suggest be the best way for somebody with little electronics experience to go about? Building something from scratch using a kit, or buying something close to what you want secondhand (like the Laney for instance) and modding it?
I wouldn't go the modding route myself. Most modern amps have printed circuitboards so modding them is not easy or possible at all, in most cases.
If you can get a kit with ample instructions (e.g. Trinity kits) then I would say go for that. My Tweed was easy peasy to build because of the really awesome instructions that came with it.
If not, (and this was the case with my 18 watt), I built up 'experience' by building and rebuilding (3 times because it didn't work) a pedal O_o. Then I did loads and loads of reading and looking at other people's build threads before Thomas finally convinced me to build my own amp. So I did. One needs to be really really meticulous, not only because the amp is dangerous to work on while it is powered, also because you can easily let the smoke out.
I highly recommend building an 18 watt combo (or head, if you have a cab already), but unfortunately the good kits are expensive and working without a kit like that is more tricky (although this is basically what I did in the end).
Maybe Thomas, Shaunf, others can weigh in on this too.
