Who is into musical instrument tube amplification?

[elementx]

just wondering, everyone seems to be into home audio stuff, anyone into instrument tube amplifiers? They seem to be much easier to build for the beginner, as they are not meant to have pristine sound and use very few, cheap parts. (for some models at least)

i bought an organ chasis for $25.00 on ebay and bought all my parts from a local surplus store for another $15.00... now all i have to do is build it this weekend. its gonna be a fender princeton clone or a smoking mess when im done with it! wish me luck.

[zarniwoop]

hi there,
I'm into both...

Can't go wrong with a fender princeton. Are we talking the PP blackface era or the really early SE princeton?

Just take it slow and check everything many times and you should be able to avoid the smoking mess scenario. Do check out fender's original layouts (avail online) as that may help with avoiding hum pickup or other problems from the physical layout of parts/wiring.

there are also some nice people on the ampage forums and ax84 project forums that talk only about instrument amplification, so you can check there too.

good luck, enjoy, be safe..

[Bryan]

Hey Guys,

I'm into both as well. I just built the Allen Amps encore, and have been EXTREMELY pleased with the sound! It wasnt cheap by any means, but the experience gained was well worth the cost. The design is based around the mid 60s Fender Vibrolux Reverb. I love it!

I am planning on building a few more guitar amps when I finally finish a tube pre that I am working on. These will be built from the ground up.

I believe there are afew bulletin boards that deal with mostly guitar amps... I'll do a search and post what I find.

Good luck with the build... Take it slow, double-check all the joins, and stand back when you fire her up! A variac is a great tool for this application.

Best,

Bryan

[Enzo]

If you look farther down the table of contents here, you will find a Musical Instruments section. But I think most of us who like tube guitar amps will also read this section.


If you are interested in that topic in particular, also visit www.ampage.org and explore the links from there. You might like the AX84 site for example.

[EC8010]

Elementx, I've amended the title of this thread because to an electrical engineer, "instrument" has a very specific meaning - and not the one you meant.

[tubelab.com]

I have also built several guitar amplifiers from a simple 4 watt 6V6 single ended Champ clone to a 150 watt push pull amp. I have recently prototyped a 200 Watt single ended guitar amp using an 833A. I realize that it is not practical for gigging due to the fragile nature of the 833A's filament, but it sounded so cool that I just have to build one.

For info and pictures see http://www.tubelab.com/833SE.htm

I found an old Guild Ultraflex amplifier at a flea market for $35 USD, it worked perfectly with the original 7591 (4X) tubes. I have been using this amp for 5 years without incident and it sounds awesome. That is why I haven't built any amps recently.

[zarniwoop]

wow!
833A guitar amp. Thats great. No way would I attempt this, but it sure sounds like fun.

good idea with the safety shield. Something blowing up would probably scare me into backing up a few more feet anyway.

thanks for the post

[Cassiel]

Princenton SE with a 6v6 sounds great, but if you're a noise freak, try another. This onet will always have some hum.

[Trout]

I Am Into Musical Amps more so Vs Stereo, But I love both!

I have built several tube amps lately, Love some of the stuff at the AX84 site,

Right now Im about to try building a SE 6550 guitar amp. Just because I have the parts laying around.
Edit,
I also have a nice Field coil guitar project planned for winter, Nice little gibson PP 6V6 setup similar to the EH150, Have a stunning 12in speaker 950 ohm coiled Jem
Gene

[amperex]

I roll tubes & speakers in guitar amps. I like Raytheon 12AX7 or 6EU7 blackplates. Tubes vary & some amps do like the Telefunken 12AX7 in the first preamp position. The Sylvania 12AX7 are quite lively & RCA 12AX7 are polite for a clean presentation at less than full volume.

Speakers? Easy- vintage Jensen P12N or P15N. Sonics to die for, well almost.

Can't afford the P12N or P15N high cost? Vintage Rola Alnico are good & stock in many older Supros.

Worst vintage speaker? Vintage CTS with a voice coil gap as wide as a barn door (nasty).