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Best mini amp KITS

How about a list of decent kits available for building mini amps, or any decent amp kit. They are not that easy to find doing a google search.

I'll start with www.guitarfuel.com I have not bought there product but it has been recommended.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Lumpkin on November 18, 2011 at 5:52pm

Has anybody tried using a battery from from an el cheapo cordless drill? They're pretty long lasting & rechargable, I'm sure you could rig it all to work & recharge with a little hacking & soldering. This would open up the world of car amps & stuff. I think I may have most of the parts in my garage (or my buddy's) if I can find them. Sounds like a project!

Permalink Reply by Gery L on November 27, 2011 at 1:14pm

petey twofinger said:

if you really want to go cheap , you can get amp circuits from kiddie tape recorders that have mics . i built one like this , and another out of a barbie karoke machine , those have reverb too .

i prefer this method over a kit any day , super cheep , much more hacking involved (the fun part) . if i was gonna buy a kit it would be a higher powered prebuilt amp module . those look cool .

Permalink Reply by Gery L on November 27, 2011 at 1:18pm

Okay, so I just found a Barbie Sing Along. Can you give me some direction on modifying this to an amp?

Do I switch the mic to a 1/4" jack for guitar input?

Thanks

Permalink Reply by petey twofinger on November 27, 2011 at 3:43pm

yes , is it the taller rectangular shaped one with echo , 2 speakers , orange button , dayglo volume controls ? if so you COULD hack it all apart and just use the main circuit board , and the board that has the volume knobs , then add larger speakers . that particular machine ironically for me was a lil challenging . i changed out the timing resistor for the echo to give it a much longer echo time , some where along the line with that unit , something bad happened , i believe i somehow , totally accidentally fried the board with a stray hot wire . if i remember corectly there was something odd about the volume pot , i think one of them was a stepped controller . my plan was to eliminate that part , and use standard pots for the mic level controls .

if you google it , there is info on this machine , believe it or not . from what i remember , i would recomend a basic mod . like you said , hack the jack . that cable is shielded , it should be no sweat . but then you are stuck with the stock speakers . options would be hack the whole thing , or add external speaker outputs , by hacking the speaker wires . you will get looks playing thru one of those things . they are just darling !

http://casperelectronics.com/finished-pieces/barbie-karaoke/barbie-...

http://youtu.be/sAZXYy30Q3w

http://youtu.be/5BqXw_i_Dnc

http://youtu.be/9ZP4UHiBlOE

good luck , have fun , and please post up a video when youre done !

Permalink Reply by petey twofinger on December 5, 2011 at 3:30am

i was messing with a fisher price tape machine that has a pitch shifter on it , if you use the line that goes to the tape head it was a LOT louder . go figure ... i think i did that on 2 before and it worked well .

Permalink Reply by MissouriJMan on March 29, 2013 at 10:25pm

Are there any videos with people using guitarfuel products? I'm interesting in getting some stuff for my cigarbox amps... but I'd like to hear some of it first.

Thanks.

john

Permalink Reply by Craig Mayhem on March 29, 2013 at 11:29pm

Yup. I got a couple of vids using the guitar fuel amp circuits. I love them. they're great! They might seem pricey but when you start to factor in what you get the price is nice.

Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on March 30, 2013 at 4:31am

michael,i have yused about 10 guitar fuel mini amps starting with the mah 2,which i put into c/boxes,for nephews and friends kids,etc,worked great,built an mah 3 into old stero speaker and it rocks,currently playing with an mah4,,but the speakers are letting it down i think,can only reccomend guitar fuel,tighes, service is 2 nd to none,i get them in australia in about a week.tip.i cut a 3.5 mm socket into battery line and hook it up to a 12v phone charger,mains power or battery.

Permalink Reply by HarleyTodd on April 15, 2013 at 1:40am

Darryl,
Building my first amp and seriously considering the mah5 full kit . I would be fine with building more from scratch like some other kits, but even though mah5 is pricey it does seem to have tons of features that are nice. Thoughts in general and on the speaker they include? I plan to put in medium cigar box. Also, your battery line/ phone charger thing sounds cool...can you elaborate? 12v charger ok on a 9 volt clip? Details on wiring?