Guitar Gear Forum

Something you have built your self that you are most proud of.

My '68 ampeg cabinet...a keeper

I am pretty pleased with all of the amps I have scratch built, there are a few of them in the other thread that "Neilrocks" started here in the DIY forum.

But my most recent build is a re-design of an exisiting amp build. I got snowed in a couple of winters ago and this was my cabin fever project. I designed it from scratch and built it from my own schematics, so I am a bit more proud of this than some of the others. It's not my best cabinet work but the amp design is original and a lot of fun to do.

It was originally a 5F6A Tweed Bassman that I built in 1998/99 in a Black Walnut cabinet with a cane grille. I completely gutted the preamp and rebuilt it as a single channel with an active tone stack and a few other goodies. I had to add an additional preamp tube and socket to power the active tone stack. I had to do some serious cramming to make it all fit so the guts are not as neat as I'd like.

I rebuilt the power amp to have a post PI Master Volume control. The power amp runs on 4 x 6V6's, but I can install just 2 6L6GC's or a pair of 5881's with just a rebias.

It is actually still a work in progress, I have a prototype boost stage for V1 that I haven't installed yet. I redid the power supply to have a switchable dual rectifier from a tube to SS. The rectifier switch is in place but I still need to install a diode circuit to reduce the B+ when switched, so I don't use it right now. I also beefed up the power supply filters caps while I was at it. The two transformers are the original 5F6A set. I have designed a new faceplate but haven't sent it in to the jobber to cut for me as yet.

Since there is nothing left of the original 5F6A Tweed Bassman, I call this my "De-Tweed" amp.

The rest of the pics and schematics at this link --->
http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/ff24 ... s/DeTweed/

Power amp Schematic


Pre amp Schematic



Gut shot


Chassis with "Dog House" for the filter caps


Cabinet with 4 x 10 Alnicos from Black Walnut and cane grille


Temporary faceplate labels

very cool. I'm a noob to amp building, One of these days though I'll build my first real tube amp.

I notice you have a sherry..me too!!

joshatatlasstands wrote:very cool. I'm a noob to amp building, One of these days though I'll build my first real tube amp.

I notice you have a sherry..me too!!

I think you'll find that building an amp isn't really that difficult. Like anything else it takes a lot of planning, and you obviously have those skills. There are a lot of kit amps on the market now, and a lot of first time builders use kits to get more confidence.

I will likely start with a kit build. I can solder well, but controlling electrons is a different story.

joshatatlasstands wrote:I will likely start with a kit build. I can solder well, but controlling electrons is a different story.

There are a LOT of great kits on the market. It all depends on the features you want the amp to have and the amount you wish to spend. I have seen some very nice kits starting around $200 (or less) and up to around $1000. If you can solder and follow instructins, you can build a kit amp. Making a cabinet of some kind should be a no brainer for someone with your obvious skills. Just decide on what level of amplifier you wish to start out with.

I'm thinking a 5 or 8 watter would be best for me right now, but I'd want a 12 in it.

joshatatlasstands wrote:I'm thinking a 5 or 8 watter would be best for me right now, but I'd want a 12 in it.

For a 5 watter, the MOD 102 kit is only $215, without a cabinet and speaker. It is a very nice sounding little amp and can drive a 12" speaker easily. You can build it as a head and speaker cab. It can be built as a combp but really needs a different chassis like a Hammond 1444-18.

Look at the MOD 102 link in my signature to read about the kit and there is a YouTube sound clip of the amp as well.

I don't have too many builds under my belt, but my favorite has been my Fulltone OCD clone. Nothing fancy for the enclosure, I bought it powder coated and used paint pen to mark it. I etched the board (as I've done on most my builds). I reason this is my favorite is because it sounds so good, great on it own for mild gain, great as a boost and sounds great with all the guitars and amps I've tried it with.
I've got a univibe clone pcb waiting for me to build - I know once I get that done, my favorite will be between that and the OCD.

rock flag and eagle wrote:I don't have too many builds under my belt, but my favorite has been my Fulltone OCD clone. Nothing fancy for the enclosure, I bought it powder coated and used paint pen to mark it. I etched the board (as I've done on most my builds). I reason this is my favorite is because it sounds so good, great on it own for mild gain, great as a boost and sounds great with all the guitars and amps I've tried it with.
I've got a univibe clone pcb waiting for me to build - I know once I get that done, my favorite will be between that and the OCD.

Sounds like a cool project, especially if you are really happy with the outcome

Got any pics?

Nothing special, this is before I added the paint pen and no internal shot because it's a big spaghetti mess in there, but man it sounds good.

rock flag and eagle wrote:Nothing special, this is before I added the paint pen and no internal shot because it's a big spaghetti mess in there, but man it sounds good.

Looks well done

Sometimes even with the best of intentions the spaghetti monster gets you LOL... as long as it is quiet and works as intended that's all that really matters.

yeah everything I've built works and no noise and it gives me something to work towards getting better. Everyone starts out like that, some figure it out quicker than others.
Once I get that down, I'll move onto the smaller amp kits.