Ahh, at last a topic I can contribute to! 
A Zen amp should do fine - for the power amp stage. You will want to provide additional amplification for the guitar signal to bring it up to a level that can drive a Zen.
Typical guitar amps have a sensitivity on the order of 50 mV for full output. Line level is around 1 V, so you need to provide a voltage gain of roughly 20. For a simple design, try a JFET common-source stage followed by a JFET or MOSFET source-follower as a buffer. You can't get much simpler!
A Zen amp should do fine - for the power amp stage. You will want to provide additional amplification for the guitar signal to bring it up to a level that can drive a Zen.
Typical guitar amps have a sensitivity on the order of 50 mV for full output. Line level is around 1 V, so you need to provide a voltage gain of roughly 20. For a simple design, try a JFET common-source stage followed by a JFET or MOSFET source-follower as a buffer. You can't get much simpler!
Chucko,
can i power the preamp with the Zen's power-supply (maybe through a voltage regulator ) ?
Will the Zen distort nicely when overdriven ?
Can i use a cpu heatsink with cooling fan to cool down the transistors ?
can i power the preamp with the Zen's power-supply (maybe through a voltage regulator ) ?
Will the Zen distort nicely when overdriven ?
Can i use a cpu heatsink with cooling fan to cool down the transistors ?
Chucko said:Ahh, at last a topic I can contribute to!
Typical guitar amps have a sensitivity on the order of 50 mV for full output. Line level is around 1 V, so you need to provide a voltage gain of roughly 20. For a simple design, try a JFET common-source stage followed by a JFET or MOSFET source-follower as a buffer. You can't get much simpler!
I haven't built the Zen, so I can't comment on how it sounds. My best guess is that it would sound a bit like a tube Class A amp, e.g. a Fender Princeton or comparable.
You could certainly power the preamp stage from the Zen's power supply. Most commonly available JFETs will only handle about 30 volts. A simple 3-terminal regulator or even a Zener diode can do the job, the current involved is not very large, maybe a few mA.
I personally would not want a fan anywhere near my guitar amp, especially if I wanted to record the output! Use a big honkin' heat sink from your local electronics surplus store.
If you intend this amp to work at "bedroom" volumes, you really only need a watt or two. Driven into power amp distortion, 10 watts with most guitar speakers can get very loud! Start small and scale up if you need more volume.
You could certainly power the preamp stage from the Zen's power supply. Most commonly available JFETs will only handle about 30 volts. A simple 3-terminal regulator or even a Zener diode can do the job, the current involved is not very large, maybe a few mA.
I personally would not want a fan anywhere near my guitar amp, especially if I wanted to record the output! Use a big honkin' heat sink from your local electronics surplus store.
If you intend this amp to work at "bedroom" volumes, you really only need a watt or two. Driven into power amp distortion, 10 watts with most guitar speakers can get very loud! Start small and scale up if you need more volume.
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