Help with making a tube amp?

[victubescreamer]

Hey everyone! How is it going??
I'm very new here, just registered.. I'm from brazil and i'm trying to make a tube amp for myself! i have a marshall mg 50dfx and it plays sweet...but i played a fender tube one... and fell in love with it...
i have already built a gt2 copy, but also own the original, and found very interesting making it.
my dad helped me a lot, he's a mechanical and electrical engineer
so...
i asked him about making an amp... and he liked the idea!
so,...any ideas on where to start? maybe some website i can find a project or something?
i have no idea at all about making it..
my dad wanted to make a transistor amp... but tube ones sound A LOT better.. heh.
so, any ideas where i can get maybe the schematics, or circuits, or anything like that?
any help will make me happy!!
i'm sorry for my bad english, also!!
thanks a lot in advance!!

[aletheian]

Head on over to ax84.com and read through the project files and the message board. You'll probably find your answers there.

[mikecj]

If a "classic" fender design is what you are interested in you may wnat to check out Weber Speakers web site and go to their "Kits" page. I'm fairly sure that they ship internationally and their kits are good and fairly straight forward especially if you have your dad, with his experience, helping you out.
MikeJ

[victubescreamer]

Thanks a lot for both answers!!!

I'll be checking both websites and will post any further details!!!

[victubescreamer]

Ok, I've been checking the websites for some minutes, and I have some questions:
How should I choose which amp to build?
Should I just get a schematic and buy all parts, or should I buy a kit?

I don't really know the actual difference between amp types, except for the sound quality... So, I was looking at tube amp projects, and it's mainly a "head", right? Should I build a "head" or a tube amp, that's already got speakers in it? Are there differences?

By the way, sorry for all those questions, and please let me know if this is ok to be done in the forum, ok?

Thanks again!

[G]

Originally posted by victubescreamer
Ok, I've been checking the websites for some minutes, and I have some questions:
How should I choose which amp to build?
Should I just get a schematic and buy all parts, or should I buy a kit?

I don't really know the actual difference between amp types, except for the sound quality... So, I was looking at tube amp projects, and it's mainly a "head", right? Should I build a "head" or a tube amp, that's already got speakers in it? Are there differences?

By the way, sorry for all those questions, and please let me know if this is ok to be done in the forum, ok?

Thanks again!

What type of music are you wanting to play? As far as which to build goes I would build whichever style you consider more convenient. I like to build head units because I think they provide for better ventilation. Some like combo amps because they are more convenient to haul around.

[mikecj]

You mentioned in your original post that you really liked a fender amp that you tried so.....

Last post is right on "what type of music do you like" ??? Do alittle research regarding the amps that are being employed by artists whose "tone" you enjoy and start there. [remembering that no amp or guitar are going to give you the tone that your fingers and heart can].

Do a little web research on that different tube classics; Fender, marshall, Vox, etc.

Decide what power you really need. Unless you are playing football stadiums regularly I'd recommend that you stick with a smaller amp that will please you at home as well as working for club gigs etc.

There are several good books available regarding the history and design of some of the classics.

Once you have made a decision then you can decide which is more cost effective for you kit or parts.

I think the good quatlity kits are a great way to start. Everything is there including a nicely stenciled chassis and panel all punched and drilled and ready to go. Usually a well laid out tag or eyelet board, well built cabinet, etc. You can always "upgrade" or "customize" small parts, resistors, capacitors, transformeners and so on.

My money's on a good low watt 12 to 25 watt kit like a 5e3 or AC15 or marshall 18 for a first project.... it certainly helped me get a handle on organization, technique, and REALLY understanding the circuit and finer points of design and construction.

As to head or combo personal taste and preference go along way here. Both have their strong and weak points and it really comes down to what you pick for that first build. I've done both. You can't beat a well built " 5e3 Tweed deluxe Fender" for ease of transport, great "blues" tone and great all around home and club amp. Ive built some heads as well [ AX84 ] that are great sounding and versitile by switching speaker compliment and cab types.

CAREFULL WITH ALL OF THIS SOMETIMES ONE IS ALL IT TAKES TO GET YOU HOOKED!!!

Good Luck to you and your dad

Mike J

[engels]

If you want something to get started and want immediate results without too much headache I'd suggest making a Fender champ - the earlier the model, the better.

And leave combo format for later experiments - head is easier to carry around and you can also plug it into different cabinets.

As for tube amp kits - it's a bit too simple and I don't like that. You buy a kit and assemble it without learning too much. The benefit is that it will probably work, but it'll cost too much and you will not be saying "I"ve built it myself!" in the end.

If I were you I'd go to a junk second hand shop, find and old trashed radio or patiphone with tubes and make a nice little guitar amp out of it.

good luck!

[victubescreamer]

First of all, I wanna thank you all for your answers!
I'm really analyzing every possibility you guys told me about.

One thing: mikecj, I kinda agree with engels, when he says that making an amp with a kit, won't be giving me a lot of experience. And, it is one of the things I'm seeking. =D

engels: "If I were you I'd go to a junk second hand shop, find and old trashed radio or patiphone with tubes and make a nice little guitar amp out of it.", I actually don't really know about that, here in Brazil. I'm gonna ask my dad about it, when he gets home from work.
I hope I can find something like that, but, here in Brazil, technology is not as cheap as in the USA, even when it's about some old stuff. Crazy world, huh?

Another thing my dad mentioned is... We play here, a Marshall MG50DFX, and that gives us a good volume.
We checked out the site http://ax84.com/legacyprojects.html , and they have some cool projects, and my dad thinks we could build them, but... They're all like 5W, while my Marshall is 50W.
So my dad asked me to try to find a project of a tube amp with about 50W, what do you guys think?
And, another question: If I make a head, do I just go and plug it to compatible speakers or what? I have really no idea of how it works.
I mean, I've seen JCM900... Is it supposed to look like that? A head and the speakers?

Thanks a lot!
And I mean it, A LOT!

[Rob11966]

I am just about to embark on an amp for my son. Having built a couple of audio amps from scratch, I am going to use a kit for the guitar amp.

Check out the guys at http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/ they sell just about everything you need to make a good tube guitar amp and they will sell you a kit with all of the parts including chassis and cabinet

I am looking at the fender tweed deluxe myself.

Good luck,

Rob