Tube amp kits

mayfly said:
Back in electronics class in high school, we used to take 50uf caps, charge them up to, say, 70VDC then toss them at an unsuspecting victim saying something like "Hey - think fast". 
Good idea!
 
Max said:
mayfly said:
Back in electronics class in high school, we used to take 50uf caps, charge them up to, say, 70VDC then toss them at an unsuspecting victim saying something like "Hey - think fast". 
Good idea!
I think you mean "bad idea"
 
The best tool/s for probing around in a live amp is chopsticks.  If it isn't already clear, a multimeter is required.  The cap draining tool is a must as well.  Mine is only a 1 watt 20K resistor, attached by sturdy wire to alligator clips and shrink tubed twice to avoid any thought of electrically nipping at me.  That has worked well up to this point.  But as Mayfly said, check with the multimeter to be sure the caps are drained.  That can be an unpleasant surprise.  I found making a wooden jig with a 2 x 6's and some 4 x 4's that looked like an upside down table, to hold the corners of the amp chassis while it was upside down, was very useful as well.  That allowed me to turn the amp on upside down and check voltages and what have you with out crushing things or having a box full of high voltages semi balanced waiting for something stupid to happen.

If you have extra holes in the chassis, you can put the rubber covers over them.  You will come up with an idea that they could satisfy.  Trust me, you will come up with several ideas for them along the way.
Patrick

 
:confused4:

I think I need a book. All this amp tech talk is flying straight over me and making my eyeballs hurt! 


Is there a 'making a tube amp for dummies' book?
 
Wana's_makin'_a_guitar said:
:confused4:

I think I need a book. All this amp tech talk is flying straight over me and making my eyeballs hurt! 


Is there a 'making a tube amp for dummies' book?

Don't worry too much about that, it is very difficult without experience to relate a lot of what is being said to something practical.  But, if you are stubborn enough you will figure it out, and why it works the way it does.  But, as long as you understand that there are very serious consequences to working on amps/putting together amps, and take safety precautions, then you should be OK.  Also, you see how quick others are to help out with this.  Ask questions and you are bound to get answers.
Patrick

 
Wana's_makin'_a_guitar said:
Mayfly- What The Hell? those books are expensive!  :eek:    I hope I only need one or two of those books!

Huh?  (goes back to the link and looks)....  oh yea, they are a bit pricey aren't they.  Hmmm....

Well, you could always just get a Ceritone with the confidence that the engineering has been thought through..
 
Hey Wanna - how serious are you about learning about this stuff?

I've got some books you might be interested in:  The Torries book (light on the engineering, but easy to understand) and a couple of the Weber books ("A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps" and "Tube Amp Talk for the Guitarist and Tech"). 

Yours for the price of shipping - but ONLY if you're gonna build something.
 
I think I'm onboard with an amp kit as well, and the ceriatone kits look to be well planned out and whatever, the thing I'm thinking is this, buy a ceriatone kit, build one, then buy the parts elsewhere to build another for cheaper.

It's the american way, no My bad, that's the chinese way.
 
mayfly said:
Hey Wanna - how serious are you about learning about this stuff?

I've got some books you might be interested in:  The Torries book (light on the engineering, but easy to understand) and a couple of the Weber books ("A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps" and "Tube Amp Talk for the Guitarist and Tech"). 

Yours for the price of shipping - but ONLY if you're gonna build something.
I won't know how serious I am about building an amp kit until I sell my MG and have some of that rare substance called money, and I probably won't sell my MG until I get a massive amount of G.A.S.

 
Alfang said:
I think I'm onboard with an amp kit as well, and the ceriatone kits look to be well planned out and whatever, the thing I'm thinking is this, buy a ceriatone kit, build one, then buy the parts elsewhere to build another for cheaper.

It is really difficult to get the whole thing too much cheaper than the kit.  I am not saying that you can't, but when you factor in shipping and the number of odds and ends you need, you don't save that much.  However, if you are interested in making something that is based on a design, but has your own special idea's incorporated, then you will have to get everything on your own.  I am currently trying to accumulate everything needed to make my the amp that I think I would want the most, but it is very slow going.  I think I have solved the chassis problem, but it really is not too cheap to get a custom job.  Oh well...
Patrick

 
It's really too bad there aren't more electrical supply stores around, or the shipping wouldn't be a problem.  I am very lucky to have one right by my house (though it is kind of annoying that I didn't discover it until recently).  I needed some extra nuts for adjusting the height on my pots, and they had them there.  It's pretty cool. 
 
Any of you guys have experience with Weber amp kits?

http://taweber.powweb.com/store/kits.htm
 
I have the London Power "The Ultimate Tone" book.  It's got a TON of info but it's mostly about designing the circuitry, not physical amp building.
 
Blue313 said:
Any of you guys have experience with Weber amp kits?

http://taweber.powweb.com/store/kits.htm

I haven't built any, but I have played through the resulting product.  Many of the components are lower quality - for example the power and standby switches rattled audibly when you were playing.  Not so great in a combo amp.  BTW I did confirm that the switches used were the ones included in the kit.

I suppose it would be possible to upgrade the various components, but then it would start to increase in cost quite a bit. 
 
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