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  • DIY

  • Tedibear's First Amp - Ruby

This little adventure goes back 15 months to October 2017... so it’s been a long adventure, mostly waiting. It was supposed to be a Xmas gift from me to me.

Now before I get too involved let me add, I was not alone in this adventure. I had roped in my brother, as he is in the electrical trade and is better skilled in soldering, etc. That was his Xmas gift to me, and as I was going to go see him for the December holidays, everything was shipped to him, far, far away.

Now my first introduction to the Ruby amp was the Jam-Jar. I became intrigued with the idea of a small portable practice amp, and down the Rabbit Hole I fell until we found the Ruby Amp. A small low powered 9v 1W Guitar Amp. Perfect for a bedroom and not much else.

So, first step was to find a Schematic

Then I drew up a shopping list, found the correct items, etc.
(Most items where Obtained from RS-Online.com unless otherwise specified)
Qty Description (RS Stock No)
Resistors (1/4 watt Rating)
1-off 10 ohm (707-7509)
1-off 3K9 (3.9k) (707-7713)
1-off 1M5 (1.5M) (386-896)

Transistors
1-off MPF102 (669-6468)

ICs
1-off LM386 (534-2911)

Capacitors (Min 16v+)
2-off 0.047uF Film/Ceramic (108-2362)
1-off 0.1uF Film/Ceramic (622-4943)
1-off 100uF Alu (519-4059)
1-off 220uF Alu 220uF Cap

**Other*
1-off Stereo 1/4 Jack Input (204-9108)
1-off 9v battery snaps (489-021)
1-0ff board PrefBoards
1-off led (703-1149)
1-off 1k Resistor (707-7666)
1-off speaker Speaker
1-off Switch Switch

Pots (1/4 Watt +)
1-off 1k Linear (or Trimmer) 1k Linear
1-off 10K Linear 10k Linear

Once finalized, I placed my orders, due to some items been min qty. It worked out to be about 5 sets of amps as I ordered everything to be for 5 amp kits, and this is where the issues started.

From the Pishop.co.za, the switch I ordered didn’t correspond to what I received, but nothing to really complain about, a switch is a switch.

From Robotics.org, received 2 of the 5 speakers with no correspondence to let me know why only 2…eventually I phoned only to be told, “oh, sorry no stock. Urgh... They eventually did send the balance, but they got misplaced and lost….

And now for the fun and games... RS-Components.
They would send what they have and bill me for what was sent... so multiple billings, multiple parcels and a nightmare to track what’s what… and not receiving everything myself I couldn’t just check...

I arrived at my holiday adventure and something was missing. The transistor. I checked with RS an they were still getting in stock from the UK... ETA January 2018.

January comes and school fees, books, clothes, etc, drain my account. And RS Billing bounces, the year proceeds and I forget about it, until September. I decided to place a new order. And wait... and wait and wait, look on their website… and I don’t see my order, but I have an email confirming my order with reference no etc... so we phone. It’s now mid November.
“Um sorry Sir, they lady that was supposed to process your order didn’t, I’ll do it now quickly, but as its coming from the UK will take a while”
A few hours later, some good news
“hi sir, sorry for that, your order has been placed and due to our mistake, your order is free”
Finally, did receive 3 of the 10 transistors a few days before we travelled, and as I type, I have a delivery note saying the balance is on the way.

So, the soldering went well, once we discover we need to mirror the wiring diagram from the big pictured diagram.

My biggest issue is the 2 pots we did get are scratchy, sensitive and unusable

Once we tested and were happy, We quickly stuffed it into a wooden box and the rest is history.




Very cool looking little amp there. You could also do custom designs on the body?
What was the cost of one then?

wern101 Very cool looking little amp there

thanks, was a fun little project, I think the next step will be to do an board etching, should make life a bit easier.

wern101 You could also do custom designs on the body?

The Body was something that was Lying about and will change.. at-least on one, and you know me.. custom graphics a must.

wern101 What was the cost of one then?

the cost, R285-00 each

        Tuckstir and will change

        Maybe a metal housing?? ?

        Tuckstir the cost, R285-00 each

        That's dirt cheap! What if you added two together and made a bigger amp? Would that be possible? (I have no clue how these things work, so pardon my ignorance)

            wern101 What if you added two together and made a bigger amp? Would that be possible?

            there is an option where you can add an headphone out.. which will cancel the speaker.. if my understanding is correct. which means you could connect it to bigger speakers, like a HI-FI but if you going to go that route.. just mode a portable radio..

                Nice! Rubies are awesome little practice amps- they have a nice dirt to them

                  Nice job! <3
                  But here is how to save yourself all the stress...\

                  Actually get in the car... Go to COMMUNICA (also way cheaper) stand in the queue... and hand your list of components to the guys & gals across the counter. They will almost certainly have everything you need... but IF THEY DON'T... they will very knowledgeably recommend a suitable alternative. These guys are experts at what they do and their knowledge is priceless in situations like this.

                  Get home with EVERYTHING and fire up the wire!!

                  buttle Actually get in the car... Go to COMMUNICA

                  I reckon that drive would be a bit longer for tedibear than you'd think...?

                    buttle Actually get in the car... Go to COMMUNICA

                    I supposed I Could go for a Friday afternoon meander..but why.. its actually fun researching, hunting, learning, scheming,

                    and can you imagine how boring my post would have been.
                    "boy walks into shop, hands over list, pays, leaves"

                    but than you for the heads up, i see they have an online shop, will add them to the list of sights for Tedibear's second amp - something valvie

                    V8 I reckon that drive would be a bit longer for tedibear than you'd thin

                    yeah it'll be about an hour and a half's drive for me,

                          I've had some success with mantech too. They're a lot cheaper than rs and don't have the weird split delivery.
                          It can be difficult to find what you're looking for on their site but I'm going to be using them in the future.

                          Yeti I’ve been pretty happy with Mantech -good prices and i used to pre-order online then go and collect when I was visiting a client around the corner from them in Selby. They also had good quality 3PDT stomp switches for pedals.
                          Shipping was reasonably priced from what I remember.

                            Does that have an option to hook it up to a bigger speaker? Should have a significant tonal difference

                            guidothepimmp

                            These 2 as for now don't, but setting up and headphone/aux jack is relatively simple, and perhaps will do that in future efforts..

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