My homemade tube amp

[theblogjammers]

While waiting for V.10 this prolonged winter, I decided to build a little tube amp. It's pretty cool in its simplicity. I got the idea from Dave Hunter's book "The Guitar Amp Handbook". It's very similar to a Fender Champ, with more flexibility. It can use a 6V6, a 6L6 or a EL34. The rectifier tube is a 5Y3 and preamp tube is a 12AX7.

I used two Jensen speakers, a 10" and 8". The speakers can be used together or singly to mimic the exact tone of the Champ (8") or Princeton (10"), or a Vox with both.

My cabinet is unique in that it is built out of reclaimed old growth virgin white pine, cut in the 1870's and aged for almost 150 years.

Not as simple as changing a preset and cab on the Axe ll, but a lot of fun!

 

[ventura]

Mega huge CONGRATZ on building that amp, dude!!! How incredibly cool!! Looks awesome too - very nicely done with the woods. Pine eh? It would have to be aged rock hard to keep together and sound good once that lil' beast starts to thump!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume this won't be your last amp build, eh?? They're addictive. Next thing you know, you've got a line up of mini-watt and mid-watt and mega-watt heads and you're at NAMM with your own website

Seriously, what a killer little project. Would love to take that unit for a spin personally.

Cheers,
Mo

 

[Phostenix]

Very cool.

 

[theblogjammers]

Thanks a lot Mo. It was really fun to build and it sounds great. I think I will build another...you're right --very addictive. I also recently got the Vintage Revolution analog effects box, Vintage Revolution | Guitar analogue effects | The analogue revolution draws near so putting these two together gives me a really outstanding analog rig. There is something cool about playing something that you put together yourself, too.

Mega huge CONGRATZ on building that amp, dude!!! How incredibly cool!! Looks awesome too - very nicely done with the woods. Pine eh? It would have to be aged rock hard to keep together and sound good once that lil' beast starts to thump!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume this won't be your last amp build, eh?? They're addictive. Next thing you know, you've got a line up of mini-watt and mid-watt and mega-watt heads and you're at NAMM with your own website

Seriously, what a killer little project. Would love to take that unit for a spin personally.

Cheers,
Mo

 

[bammbamm]

Looks pretty solid!

 

[jakel]

Wow. Beautiful! Nicely done. How does it sound?

 

[theblogjammers]

I'm still breaking it in (IMO there is a break-in period), but it already sounds really good.

Wow. Beautiful! Nicely done. How does it sound?

 

[Sixstring]

Well done man... looks really good in a back woods sort of way, like something that John Fogerty should be plugged into .

 

[theblogjammers]

Thanks sixstring--yeah, I sort of go for the vintage back woods look--not purposely reliced, but just really old wood.

Well done man... looks really good in a back woods sort of way, like something that John Fogerty should be plugged into .

 

[stratamania]

Nice job. Very nice looking old pine, it is sometime since I did a dovetail joint but are those hand cut as opposed to machined ?

 

[Cobrango]

clipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclips

 

[theblogjammers]

I do quite a bit of wood work, so I got a Leigh dovetail jig. Pretty nice and a lot faster than handmade!

Nice job. Very nice looking old pine, it is sometime since I did a dovetail joint but are those hand cut as opposed to machined ?

 

[theblogjammers]

clipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclipsclips

OK--I'll post some clips within a couple days.

 

[Sixstring]

I also like how you purposely did the dovetail joints so they were un uniforme nice touch . The wiring job... well I'm a bit on the anal when it comes to this stuff so when I wire up something like this everything is nice and tidy :mrgreen.

 

[stratamania]

I do quite a bit of wood work, so I got a Leigh dovetail jig. Pretty nice and a lot faster than handmade!

Ok I thought they were neat but also uneven so I did wonder if they were hand cut in the old pine. Nice touch.

 

[UnsungHeroGuitars]

Great work! :encouragement:

The front board looks a bit 'warped' - shadows show concave left & convex right. Did it split into three pieces when cutting speaker holes or is it a few pieces tagged together..?

 

[CyberFerret]

That is really cool...

I've done some custom pedals builds from scratch, but always too scared to do a full amp build. Risks of things being wrong at 240V are more than I want to handle... I'll stick to 9V. and just admire the handiwork of guys like you who can do this sort of thing...

 

[theblogjammers]

Yeah--this was my first build so the wiring is pretty sloppy. But it works. Next one will be better now that I know more about sizing chassis and eyelet boards.

I also like how you purposely did the dovetail joints so they were un uniforme nice touch . The wiring job... well I'm a bit on the anal when it comes to this stuff so when I wire up something like this everything is nice and tidy :mrgreen.

 

[Piing]

Very nice! That is the only thing that the Axe-FX can not emulate: the pleasure of DIY :eagerness:

 

[Keg8605]

Very Cool! How satisfying to have something you built yourself! I agree to, some clips of the analog rig would be cool.