Check it out, DIY amps

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Sorry, i'm not actually building it yet. I'm still toying with the idea (I have other, more powerful options), but I think Hannaugh was thinking of building one aswell, so I thought this may be helpful to some.

http://www.valveheaven.com/The%20Lamington.html

It's a cheap (under $200 AUD if you're good at scrounging for cheap parts) 15 watt tube build. In this project, it says to make the chassis out of a baking tray  :laughing7: 
And I also found for those int he U.S; http://www.ax84.com/ .Kind of the same thing, but there is a forum dedicated to it and there are 4 models to build (the largest being 20 watts, it is also the most expensive at $270 USD)

I'm thinking of making the first one, The Lamington, but making my own chassis.

 

[jimh]

Looks cool. It's be a great way to start........BUT......

If you do go down the baking tray route, please fin some sort of bottom to put on it.  You really really really dont want any exposed electrics that someone could poke their fingers into if they pick it up while plugged in.

It's one thing if YOU are working on it, as you know whats going inside there, but someone else may not have a clue, and may try to move it or whatever, and may touch something nasty.
Not trying to put you off, I think its great that you want to get into this stuff, but just be mindful of the stupidity of others  :icon_tongue:

I looked at the AX84 stuff when I was starting my first build.  It's great place to pick up tips and hints.  But we got your back, right here on good ole' W.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Looks cool. It's be a great way to start........BUT......

If you do go down the baking tray route, please fin some sort of bottom to put on it.  You really really really dont want any exposed electrics that someone could poke their fingers into if they pick it up while plugged in.

It's one thing if YOU are working on it, as you know whats going inside there, but someone else may not have a clue, and may try to move it or whatever, and may touch something nasty.
Not trying to put you off, I think its great that you want to get into this stuff, but just be mindful of the stupidity of others  :icon_tongue:

I looked at the AX84 stuff when I was starting my first build.  It's great place to pick up tips and hints.  But we got your back, right here on good ole' W.

Thanks Jim! I think I might go down the baking tray route because I live near a store which is listed on the site for the resources, but instead of a baking tray, I will make my own chassis. My Dad works for an engineering company so tools and and endless supply of sheet steel are at my fingertips (i'm friends with my Dads boss too)!  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Watershed]

I have been toying with that idea as well.

I was eyeballing one of these?
http://www.brownnote.net/

I mean Brownnote....how could that be bad?
LOL

Any of the amp guys have any experience with these either?

 

[jimh]

Havent seen them before, but the D'lite 22/33 looks a bit Dumble-ish, which cant be a bad thing.  Well worth investigating.

Check out the mojotone kits too.

Plus the old perrenial, Ceriatone (I like these kits. Nik is great to deal with)
Or theres Torres. I've done the TinyTone tweed kit and its great, but expensive for what it is, and Dan Torres gets a bit of a bad rep in some parts.

If you are in the UK, there's a guy called ampmaker who used to do Marshall 18Watt kits, dunno if he's still around.  Google him.

Theres a great forum called 18watt.com which has loads of useful stuff about making amps.  I signed up there when I was starting out, and thats where I found out about Ceriatone.  They link across ax84.com quite a lot.

 

[Watershed]

Cool, thanks for the tips.

I have looked into Mojo.
The kits looked a bit more sophisticated, 100W Marshalls etc., but good stuff.

I was also considering one of those Blackheart 5 watters.
I have seen them for under $200.00 on eBay.

Apparently Mojo makes a turret board for them.
So perhaps another angle would be to start with something that works, and mod the heck out of it.
http://www.blackhearteng.com/mods.html

Really, I'm in the gathering information stage.
Have been on the fence for about a year now.

Thanks again,
James

 

[jimh]

Get off the fence and get onto the building side.  It's the way forward  :blob7:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I built one of the AX84's, it is a great amp.  The High Octane sounds like an angry JCM800.  I played around with mods and found my sound.  One of the most fun things with a simpler amp is being able to quickly hear how the tubes change things.  It just seems like less work to pop them in and out and get things going like they should.  It was a lot of fun.  The AX84 forum is pretty cool, they are WAY into the nitty gritty of amps, but love to get people excited about the DIY process.  And the last part, it is plenty loud through a 1960A cab.
Patrick

 

[Watershed]

Thanks a lot for all the feedback guys.

Yea, I really think I'll do something in the near future.
Perhaps on of the simpler AX84 kits.

James

 

[Superlizard]

D00d, with the baking tray, you could rawk out and make some "special" brownies.

 

[dbw]

D00d, with the baking tray, you could rawk out and make some "special" brownies.

This statement is not endorsed by the FDA, DEA, or NAMM.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

D00d, with the baking tray, you could rawk out and make some "special" brownies.

Ha!