Members Devinstation Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 If you get a kit with all the parts (tube and transformers included) for building an amp, how difficult is it to wire up say a vintage Fender style tube amp? Also what tools/equipment are necessary? Are any other skills required beyond being able to solder? I have wired up pickups and assembled guitars, and am confident I could build a cab with some plans, so I think it would be cool to build myself an amp. Any Advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteinbergerHack Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 If you have to ask this question on an internet board, you probably shouldn't try. The mechanical assembly and wiring itself is not so difficult, but actually getting the thing dialed in and working properly takes some pretty serious electronics understanding. The real issue, though, is this: Tube amps store enough high-voltage energy in the DC supply filter caps to kill you. If you can't read a schematic well enough to know where this is, what it means, and how to mitigate the risk, don't do this unless you have someone who really knows what they are doing looking over your shoulder. Seriously. You might have gotten lucky setting your own bias a time or two, but going through a complete check-out sequence for a newly-built amp will have you inside a hot chassis taking measurements too many times to be safe without having proper equipment (meter, scope, gloves, clip leads, some way of discharging the caps, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajcoholic Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Have a look at my build thread for the Deluxe again... I have uploaded all my pics and gave a better description. http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1857658 It really depends upon how neat and tidy you are when you are wiring it up. ONE wire out of place will not allow the amp to work. On my Trinity 15 last year I forgot one ground wire and it took me 3 hours of retracing stuff before I found it and then it was fine. But if you go slow and take your time it is totally possible. Trinity has AWESOME plans and instructions, and Stephen (the owner) is very approachable, and will give you help quickly and with great regard to your completing the amp sucessfully. I am not too worried about all the fear of the high voltages. I mean, if you are carefull and know what you are not supposed to touch when things are hot, then its no biggie. AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wingnut1 Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 If you have a basic understanding of electronics, can read the schematic and layout and can solder, you should be able to build a simple amp. There is no danger of electrocution until the amp has been plugged in the first time. Once it has been plugged in it does store lethal amounts of electricity and great care must be taken. This electricity is stored even when the amp is turned off and unplugged and remains there until discharged. I took an electronics class in high school 30 years ago and had no soldering experience and I've built 7 amps so far. Start with something simple and you should be fine. Be aware that building isn't always the hardest part, as has been pointed out troubleshooting could be much more difficult. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members solderjunkie Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 ONE wire out of place will not allow the amp to work. AJC Not to mention that a wiring SNAFU could let the smoke out of lots of expensive parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I'd like to try someday but will do a few pedals first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 If you've never done it before, you want a kit with step-by-step instructions (some kits ship with schematics & layout diagrams only). As long as you can follow instructions, hold a soldering iron and take your time, you should be fine . Here's a thread about my build from a year or so ago: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?threadid=1487050 It was actually a lot of fun. Not as much fun as shagging or beer, but different. Gave me a sense of achievement and I learnt a fair bit too (I could say the same for the shagging). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I've built 7 amps so far. I'd love to see some pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 The real issue, though, is this: Tube amps store enough high-voltage energy in the DC supply filter caps to kill you. If you can't read a schematic well enough to know where this is, what it means, and how to mitigate the risk, don't do this unless you have someone who really knows what they are doing looking over your shoulder. Seriously. You might have gotten lucky setting your own bias a time or two, but going through a complete check-out sequence for a newly-built amp will have you inside a hot chassis taking measurements too many times to be safe without having proper equipment (meter, scope, gloves, clip leads, some way of discharging the caps, etc.).I had to do all this when I completed my build, with no real previous experience of tube amp innards. I found the trick was not to sit in the bath at the time. But yeah Devinstation, it should go without saying - take care around high voltages. Learn how to discharge filter caps, and if you're ever inside a live amp, make sure you're as insulated from the floor as you can be - i.e. rubber mat or rubber shoes, taking particular care if you're standing on concrete, as it's a very good route to ground. Keep one hand in a pocket too - it's current across the heart that kills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Songman68 Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I did a Deluxe 5E3 Kit from Marsh Amps and it wasn't to difficult. I had a few issues and Mr. Marsh was very helpful in helping me trouble shoot the issue. I had built a Mic tube preamp before and wire all my guitars, that was the extent of my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I did a Deluxe 5E3 Kit from Marsh Amps and it wasn't to difficult. I had a few issues and Mr. Marsh was very helpful in helping me trouble shoot the issue. I had built a Mic tube preamp before and wire all my guitars, that was the extent of my experience.I'm getting the bug again just reading/talking about this... I'd really love to build a lil' tweed Champ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axe_34 Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Here's my Trinity 18-watt build thread. I give some background into my building skiLLzzz prior to starting it. http://www.trinityamps.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1032 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 It isn't *hard* if you're good with a soldering iron, can read schemas or have clear diagrams and instructions to follow AND you follow them carefully. Sept. 06 I picked up an amp from Al Groves that had been built by another forumite: a Madamp J5. These amps come with very detailed instructions, photographs and asolutely everything down to the last screw in the box. It was a total nightmare, with more than half the solder joints 'dry', burned components, damaged pots and lead dress that would embarrass Fab. I literally gutted it, replaced defective components, reflowed every joint and replaced every wire. Damn thing STILL didn't work properly. Turns out a pot was damaged (found out just before Christmas - I'm still trying to trouble shoot it) and it wasn't obvious when I checked through first, or second or third time through before shelving it. I've built 6 amps so far (not including the above). 2 from kits: my first build worked immediately but had hidden faults, my second - a Madamp A15 - worked perfectly and still does, 2 years later. Then there were 3 scratch builds, 2 worked great, one - an 18watt channel switcher - buzzed horribly. My latest one - an 18 watt from a loaded board - also buzzes horribly, and I suspect a transformer fault. It's not HARD to build an amp, but if you wouldn't swap PUs and pots in a guitar then start with something simpler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesclark Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I would do your homework on which kits come with good instructions and the seller giving good customer support. Start easy and be patient with trouble shooting. Good soldering skills will go along way towards your success and by all means, enjoy the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kap'n Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 If you're a noob, and you don't have high-voltage electronic experience, first read up on safety. Then, you'll want to go with something with real instructions, and some tech support, like an Allen or a Mission. Most of the Allens will be a LOT harder to build than the Mission Deluxe. There's a lot more circuitry in a blackface amp than a tweed deluxe. While I love the Weber stuff (I'm on my fourth build of his kits), they are NOT for those unfamiliar with building and troubleshooting amps. If you're looking to build a high-gain amp, don't. Troubleshooting high-gain hand wired amps is an exercise in futility if you don't have a lot of experience in dealing with parasitic oscillation. You'll have a really expensive door stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajcoholic Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I would do your homework on which kits come with good instructions and the seller giving good customer support. Start easy and be patient with trouble shooting. Good soldering skills will go along way towards your success and by all means, enjoy the build. Building anything should be first and foremost about the build - ie, it should be something you enjoy and have fun doing. Saving $$ is usually the wrong reason to build something, IMO. SOmetimes I may take forgranted that when I recommend someone else do something like this, I assume they are already handy with a soldering iron and know what a resistor and capacitor look like.. Obviously it is not for everyone. But, it is not difficult if you are half way handy. AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 I bought a tweed Champ amp on Ebay from a seller built from a kit for 350.00 including shipping. The guy said he was an electrical engineer and all the components were top notch (Mercury Magnetics transformers, foil in oil caps, dovetail pine tweed cab) I figured the kit alone would cost 500.00 so I went for it. Bottom line is that this "electrical engineer" could't built a simple Champ amp from a kit properly. It hummed like crazy, had some wrong components in the circuit (the output transformer was 8 ohm not 4 ohm, wrong resistor values) The seller turned out to be a woman. I know women can be electrical engineers too but I'm thinking this was a lie because she didn't seem to understand anything about electronics in our correspondence...just kept offering refunds. Anyway I got 100 bucks credit and sent it to an amp tech to get it worked out. (I'd have done it myself but was worried about fried components and wrong components in there) He straightened it out.My thinking after all thyat is that it must be harder than it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 ^^^ Of all your Avatars, this is the one that I'm most tempted to approach you about an uncropped version... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OsirisProtocol Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 ^^^ Of all your Avatars, this is the one that I'm most tempted to approach you about an uncropped version... Seconded. What's her name anyway? Anywho to the topic I am planning to build an amp also. I've been reading up about it for the past two or three months. The process itself doesn't seem to be that hard as people have been telling me. Its just trouble shooting and dealing with hi-voltages once the amp has first been turned on. I am looking into amp safety precautions in my spare time now until I am both ready and have the funding to start the build. I've been doing minor amp repairs for to build my knowledge in the mean time. Right now I have alot of projects on my plate and I have decided to put the amp on hold until I finish my strat (took nearly a year to complete the spec list for it ) I'll also probably build a few pedals to get used to circuits again since all I have been doing lately is guitar harnesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Anywho to the topic I am planning to build an amp also. I've been reading up about it for the past two or three months. The process itself doesn't seem to be that hard as people have been telling me. Its just trouble shooting and dealing with hi-voltages once the amp has first been turned on. I am looking into amp safety precautions in my spare time now until I am both ready and have the funding to start the build. I've been doing minor amp repairs for to build my knowledge in the mean time. Right now I have alot of projects on my plate and I have decided to put the amp on hold until I finish my strat (took nearly a year to complete the spec list for it ) I'll also probably build a few pedals to get used to circuits again since all I have been doing lately is guitar harnesses. Good luck with it when the time comes - remember and post pics/clips of the finished article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 My thinking after all thyat is that it must be harder than it looks. I reckon that for guys like you and I, who are relatively inexperienced in electronics, the quality of the instructions is going to play a very large part in determining how 'hard' the process is. With well-written, well-illustrated instructions you'd really be hard-pressed to go wrong - providing you take your time and ask questions if anything isn't clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OsirisProtocol Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Good luck with it when the time comes - remember and post pics/clips of the finished article Thanks alot. I plan to start a build thread and go step by step with pics once I get started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One-armed Alec Posted January 22, 2008 Members Share Posted January 22, 2008 Thanks alot. I plan to start a build thread and go step by step with pics once I get started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jdjonsson Posted January 22, 2008 Members Share Posted January 22, 2008 I'm working on a Mojo JTM45 head kit right now. I've built a lot of pedals (see my gear list in sig) but this is a bit daunting. I haven't had enough time to work on it, and as such, it's been under construction for a couple of months now. If you know how to solder, and read a schematic, it shouldn't be super hard for you, but you absolutely must read up on how NOT to electrocute yourself while working on it. EDIT: Oh, and don't get a mojo kit if you need detailed instructions. It comes with a wiring diagram and a schematic, and that's it. I'm actually using the instructions from a Metro JTM45 amp kit, and having to compensate for the differences myself. - I recommend a Metro amp kit. for inexperienced builders. http://www.metroamp.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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