Snork Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 looking for a kit of a homemade amp that sounds like a vintage marshall....or whatever amp SRV used, anyone have any sucess? do they cost much for them? I'm searching but i dont know what to look for in a kit. and i dont know where do look for a SRV styled kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 Been looking for a while (check the past thread somewhere). You can get solid state stuff from MAJ Electronic, but if it's a valve amp you're after then start saving your money because even the kits are expensive. I'll keep my eye out for ya when I'm looking into it more and I'll let you know. The amps are going on the back burner for a bit though as my Jason Lollar pick up winding book will be here soon and I want to get the gutar finished before starting on the amp. Might even knock up an effects pedel or two first. I take it you've had a look at AX81 project and doberman (even though I know you're not keen on them) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidgec94 Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 SRV, eh? am i being a real pleb?! There are loads of sites about with schematics, dunno if they'll have exactly what you're looking for. Theres another thread on here somewhere about building you own amp. Generally: Building a tube/valve amp is simpler that SS...but more expensive From what ive seen, you'll find valve schematics easier to find cos the vast majority of amp builders want to build one of those ax84.com is a great site. The P1 project is such a simple idea and highly reccomended for beginners. The site does have a link where you can go buy a ax84.co project in kit form but they seem way expensive. If you sourced the materials yourslf, maybe it wouldnt be so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidgec94 Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 ok, Hotrock beat me to it! (Doberman is the link with the ax84.com kits) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted January 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 thanx guys ill check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 Here you are little Snorky, this is what I've bookmarked so far. Amps: http://www.worldaudiodesign.co.uk/ http://freespace.virgin.net/vyse.co/build_...our_own_amp.htm http://www.electro-tech-online.com/viewtop...opic.php?t=5475 http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/ampovdrv.htm http://www.laney.co.uk/html/Downloads/Services/ http://www.majelectronic.co.uk/ http://www.missionamps.com/ http://www.20six.co.uk/weblogCategory/xel0gyncvula http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...opic=2771&st=15 http://www.ax84.com/ Effects: http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/v2/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted January 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 !!!!!!!! THANKS!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 like fidge said, Solid State Mosfet amp = cheaper but needs a bit more know how Valve amp = more expensive generally but after youve got your head round it its a bit easier to build. one thing to bear in mind is that valves need to use mains voltage and so you need to know what ur doing. like i said in the other thread, im currentlly in the beginings of building an 18V solid state amp for my AS level electronics project so i will put up info on howthats going. i might actually start tonight also another thing, (more useful for UK guys) if any of you know the rapid electronics distributions company thernyou may be interested to know that they actually sell valves and they have prety much all the stuff you willneed to make a valve amp. i shall be doing more research on this subject soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidgec94 Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 We used Rapid Electronics all the time when i did electronics at school, didnt know they did valves tho, cheers! Johnny, do you know how Rapid compare (price-wise) with maplin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wylde1919 Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 I thought SRV used Dummels???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 as far as i know the difference betwen rapid and maplins is negliagable. since im at school its easier to get rapid stuff since the school orders lots of stuff from them. at home its easiert to go to a maplins store. there are some things rapid doesnt have. stomp box foot switches for one thing, which really dicks me off since im gonna have to go into a maplins store to get some of them and at £4.00 each it would be alot easier to put them on my school bill lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidgec94 Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 yeah its always annoying when you cant get all you need in one place. I always used to order stuff on the school account (VAT free i think)...every now and again, the teacher forgot to collect the money and my little project pieces were gratis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Have a look at the minitubes preamp at Geofex It uses FET's and gives a great sound. I,ve built two of them now and I can honestly say the give the best solid state version of tube sound. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 thanks for posting that man. ill dissect it later when i have a bit more time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 Cheers Keith. Brian, when you're better could you pin this thread. If it's at the top of the page then more people like Keith (who actually knows what he's doing) can pop in and add their knowledge instead of it dissaperaing off the bottom of the page. I think that once a few of us have built amps, loads of people might have a go. Cheers mate hope you're feeling better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Thanks for the vote on confidence Hotrock. Guitars were the reason I originally started studying electronics (I wanted amps and effects pedals but couldn't afford them as a teenager) which lead me to software and my current career: Software Engineering Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 Are you happy with the results you got? How easy was it to make? How expensive was it? Can we have some details? I'm demanding aren't I? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted January 20, 2004 Report Share Posted January 20, 2004 Yes I am happy with the results. How easy was it? Well thats probably a matter of opinion. As I said in a previous thread on building amps, they are probably the simplest electronic circuits around. Electronics 101 day one (Well almost it was at the first practicle class) was how to bias transistors and valves(tubes) in a single stage amplifier. If you have a circuit diagram and a printed circuit layout it is pretty simple. Print and etch the PC board, drill it and place the components. The rest is putting it into a housing which is a mechanical problem. You also need to know a bit about simple power supplies and shielding, grounding etc otherwise you will get an amp with a lot of noise. Especially when you use high impedance devices like tubes and FETs. The two amps I built recently used the Mini-tubes preamp I mentioned earlier in the thread and the TDA2005 module for a power stage. It cost me roughly around R700 (about $100 (USD)) The electronics components are cheap about $10 worth. It is the mechanical items like the pots , transformer and speakers that make up most of the cost. Having an audio generator and oscilloscope available for fault finding is also useful. There are some very nice software ones which use a PC sound card. Goodluck Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted January 20, 2004 Report Share Posted January 20, 2004 Warning! Tube amplifiers use high working voltages, and have large power supply caps that can retain high charges even after being disconnected from the mains supply - if you are as careless with these amps as some of you are with your posting, you could wind up severely injured or DEAD!! Here are some links to tube amp kit sites: Torres Electron Valve STF Electronics London Power DECWare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 More amp info and parts: http://members.shaw.ca/house-of-jim/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 also check out 18watt.com. When/If i ever get to an amp project that will be my choice. Big amps i can buy all day long resonably little ones are a lot harder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 I got a great book for SS amp construction - High-Power Audio Amplifier Construction Manual by Randy Sloane. from 50 - 500W designs. im going to make one soon, about 60W ill make i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHowell Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 Make sure you have a guitar amplifier design. Solid state amplifiers are generally designed to accurately reproduce the input signal without any distortion,not what we generally want for guitars except maybe jazz. Guitar amplifiers are biased into what is called the non-linear area. ie what comes out is a distortion of what is put in. Tubes more so than solid state but tubes react differently and sound pleasing. Much has been written on the tube vs ss issues. Just google around on the web and you will find lots of articles. As stated above in this thread: You need to work with mains voltage to build amps. Even solid state as you need a decent power supply from the mains to give you between 12 and 100v depending on the design. Tubes of course need about a 350 volt supply! SO BE CAREFUL. IF YOU ARE NOT SURE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING FIND SOMEBODY WHO DOES!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 the big thing about tubes that make them sound so good is they have asymetrical distortion. eg if you put in a perfect sine wave then when it comes out through the overdriven tube and the roughs of the wave are more distorted than the peaks. this is very noticable as a nice sound to the human ears, hence why tube amps sound nice. interestinglly enough, our little friend the fuzz face also has non linear diastortion built into it which again explains a bit into why it sounds like it does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 Roberto-Venn is offering an amp class now. Dont know if I'm up for 8 weeks travel to pheonix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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