Looking for tube guitar preamp

high-fi · 8th October 2001, 06:59 PM

Hey, here's my situation:
I have a 130watt transistor amp and frankly, the sound is crap. What I'm looking for is a tube preamp I can rig up as a clean and dirty preamp and plug into the 'Power Amp In' on my guitar amp. This way I have a good tube distortion and the smooth clean sound, with a more reliable solid state power amp (this amp takes a fair bit of abuse live).
Does anybody have a schematic?
I was thinking maybe i could mod a mono tube preamp to work as well... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Mike

tschrama · 8th October 2001, 10:21 PM

I don't think it is that simple... look at http://www.harmonycentral.com and find the links at the guitar section.. plenty of schematics ... goodluck
thijs

GRollins · 9th October 2001, 02:22 AM

Mike,
There are numerous places on the web to find schematics for guitar amps. One such would be http://www.triodeelectronics.com
(They also have stereo schematics for those interested in tube gear.)
Aspen Pittman has a large book of guitar amp schematics called, oddly enough, The Tube Amp Book. There are schematics in there for Fender, Marshall, Ampeg, etc.
However, getting good tone from a solid state power section is an iffy proposition. The tone you get from an overdriven front end isn't the same as you'd get from the power section. If you want tube tone, you may need to go to an all-tube head.

Grey

high-fi · 9th October 2001, 03:57 AM

Awesome, thanks for all the help guys. I think im gonna try a separate tube preamp and power amp. That way i can use the solid state power amp on stage and tube at home.... if i can get it all together

Mike

Troy H · 9th October 2001, 03:55 PM

Try PAIA electronics. http://www.paia.com/tubestuf.htm#siab.

They have lots of projecs for musicians. The Stack In A Box is designed for exactly what you

Troy

vdi_nenna · 9th October 2001, 04:32 PM

http://nanaimo.ark.com/~pat/

dsanders · 29th October 2001, 08:01 PM

As a fellow guitarist I would suggest looking into line 6 stuff. Maybe the POD thing, its not tube but it has a bunch of amp simulators and from the little I've heard sounded pretty good. Can be kind of pricey though. My friend bought used a tube head pretty cheap never heard of the brand though. I would think you could maybe find a Marshall JCM800 or JCM900 head fairly cheap. Still may be out of your budget.

elementx · 24th May 2006, 12:32 PM

a little search goes a long way

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...?postid=437018

voivodata · 24th May 2006, 01:30 PM

Here' s a link to the schematics of the GT TRIO preamp. http://www.schematicheaven.com/newam...etube_trio.pdf
I"ve built myself a distortion simular to the Scream channel of the Trio and was very happy with results. I used a power supply from an old tube radio which supplied about 300V to plates. Finding a suitable enclosure may be difficult.
Good luck!

poobah · 24th May 2006, 01:41 PM

Definately look into the LINE6 effects pods etc... You won't believe it!

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8th October 2001, 06:59 PM	#1
high-fi diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2001	Hey, here's my situation: I have a 130watt transistor amp and frankly, the sound is crap. What I'm looking for is a tube preamp I can rig up as a clean and dirty preamp and plug into the 'Power Amp In' on my guitar amp. This way I have a good tube distortion and the smooth clean sound, with a more reliable solid state power amp (this amp takes a fair bit of abuse live). Does anybody have a schematic? I was thinking maybe i could mod a mono tube preamp to work as well... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Mike

8th October 2001, 10:21 PM	#2
tschrama diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The Netherlands	I don't think it is that simple... look at http://www.harmonycentral.com and find the links at the guitar section.. plenty of schematics ... goodluck thijs

9th October 2001, 02:22 AM	#3
GRollins diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Columbia, SC	Mike, There are numerous places on the web to find schematics for guitar amps. One such would be http://www.triodeelectronics.com (They also have stereo schematics for those interested in tube gear.) Aspen Pittman has a large book of guitar amp schematics called, oddly enough, The Tube Amp Book. There are schematics in there for Fender, Marshall, Ampeg, etc. However, getting good tone from a solid state power section is an iffy proposition. The tone you get from an overdriven front end isn't the same as you'd get from the power section. If you want tube tone, you may need to go to an all-tube head. Grey

9th October 2001, 03:57 AM	#4
high-fi diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2001	Awesome, thanks for all the help guys. I think im gonna try a separate tube preamp and power amp. That way i can use the solid state power amp on stage and tube at home.... if i can get it all together Mike

9th October 2001, 03:55 PM	#5
Troy H diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2001	Try PAIA electronics. http://www.paia.com/tubestuf.htm#siab. They have lots of projecs for musicians. The Stack In A Box is designed for exactly what you Troy

9th October 2001, 04:32 PM	#6
vdi_nenna diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: PA, USA	http://nanaimo.ark.com/~pat/

29th October 2001, 08:01 PM	#7
dsanders diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2001	As a fellow guitarist I would suggest looking into line 6 stuff. Maybe the POD thing, its not tube but it has a bunch of amp simulators and from the little I've heard sounded pretty good. Can be kind of pricey though. My friend bought used a tube head pretty cheap never heard of the brand though. I would think you could maybe find a Marshall JCM800 or JCM900 head fairly cheap. Still may be out of your budget.

24th May 2006, 12:32 PM	#8
elementx diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: cleveland, ohio	a little search goes a long way http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...?postid=437018

24th May 2006, 01:30 PM	#9
voivodata diyAudio Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Utica	Here' s a link to the schematics of the GT TRIO preamp. http://www.schematicheaven.com/newam...etube_trio.pdf I"ve built myself a distortion simular to the Scream channel of the Trio and was very happy with results. I used a power supply from an old tube radio which supplied about 300V to plates. Finding a suitable enclosure may be difficult. Good luck!

24th May 2006, 01:41 PM	#10
poobah diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2005	Definately look into the LINE6 effects pods etc... You won't believe it!

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