Need help getting started

guitardiy · 18th July 2012, 05:59 PM

I want to build a guitar amplifier that could drive two 8 or 16 ohm speakers Like the title suggests, I haven't had much experience building amps, just a small single circuit guitar practice amp so far. Can anyone suggest some kits that would work for this, and what supplies I would need to construct the amp start to finish? I have been researching the LM3886, would that accomplish what I am trying to do? Thanks for the help!

scid714 · 18th July 2012, 06:56 PM

there is a 5 watt tube amp kit on ebay for 89$. My friend has a 5 watt marshal and it rocks a 2 x 12 cabinet i built for him. It has Eminence Black Mountian drivers very loud. Check the tubelab forum on here in the vendors section.

guitardiy · 19th July 2012, 12:53 AM

Thanks a lot, an amp to drive a 2x12 is exactly what I was looking to build. Is there any difference in difficulty or required experience constructing a tube amp vs. a solid state?

guitardiy · 19th July 2012, 06:28 PM

And could you possibly link me to the kit you were referring to, I cant seem to find it.

Minion · 20th July 2012, 07:06 PM

A tube amplifier build and a solid state build are two different animals...

Many tube amps use point to point wiring and turret boards where solid state amps generally use a pcb. Point to Point is going to use a different set of skills than soldering a pcb, probably more difficult but if you go slowly and carefully and follow the instructions there is no reason even a newbie couldn't build one successfully.

Cheers

guitardiy · 20th July 2012, 08:05 PM

Thanks for the advice, I was talking to one of the technicians at Carvin who had experience doing this kind of thing today and he told me I should get cheap tubes at first because they were likely to blow often. Is there any way to prevent this from happening? I'd really not have to deal with constantly replacing the tubes.

Thanks again!

Minion · 22nd July 2012, 05:29 PM

Tubes shouldn't blow often. What causes a tube to die prematurely is usually too much heater voltage and/or plate voltage so making sure your power supply is putting out the correct voltages before connecting it to the amp will greatly cut down the chances of this happening. Of course accidents do happen.

Cheers

18th July 2012, 05:59 PM	#1
guitardiy diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: San Diego, California	Need help getting started I want to build a guitar amplifier that could drive two 8 or 16 ohm speakers Like the title suggests, I haven't had much experience building amps, just a small single circuit guitar practice amp so far. Can anyone suggest some kits that would work for this, and what supplies I would need to construct the amp start to finish? I have been researching the LM3886, would that accomplish what I am trying to do? Thanks for the help!

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18th July 2012, 06:56 PM	#2
scid714 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Ky.	there is a 5 watt tube amp kit on ebay for 89$. My friend has a 5 watt marshal and it rocks a 2 x 12 cabinet i built for him. It has Eminence Black Mountian drivers very loud. Check the tubelab forum on here in the vendors section.

19th July 2012, 12:53 AM	#3
guitardiy diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: San Diego, California	Thanks a lot, an amp to drive a 2x12 is exactly what I was looking to build. Is there any difference in difficulty or required experience constructing a tube amp vs. a solid state?

19th July 2012, 06:28 PM	#4
guitardiy diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: San Diego, California	And could you possibly link me to the kit you were referring to, I cant seem to find it.

20th July 2012, 07:06 PM	#5
Minion diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	A tube amplifier build and a solid state build are two different animals... Many tube amps use point to point wiring and turret boards where solid state amps generally use a pcb. Point to Point is going to use a different set of skills than soldering a pcb, probably more difficult but if you go slowly and carefully and follow the instructions there is no reason even a newbie couldn't build one successfully. Cheers

20th July 2012, 08:05 PM	#6
guitardiy diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: San Diego, California	Thanks for the advice, I was talking to one of the technicians at Carvin who had experience doing this kind of thing today and he told me I should get cheap tubes at first because they were likely to blow often. Is there any way to prevent this from happening? I'd really not have to deal with constantly replacing the tubes. Thanks again!

22nd July 2012, 05:29 PM	#7
Minion diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2006	Tubes shouldn't blow often. What causes a tube to die prematurely is usually too much heater voltage and/or plate voltage so making sure your power supply is putting out the correct voltages before connecting it to the amp will greatly cut down the chances of this happening. Of course accidents do happen. Cheers