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Permalink Reply by jawbone on April 1, 2013 at 12:30pm

No foolin' - this is not an April Fools joke - There was a site that showed about 6 - 8 little projects - one was a pre amp but I'm not sure about a little amp.

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on April 1, 2013 at 2:52pm

I couldn't fnd it either.,if you are looking for a high impedance preamp, this works. I built one on perf board.,it only has 6 components.

http://personalpages.tds.net/~fdeck/bass/quickand.pdf

For a full buffered amp look for Ruby Amp, Noisy Cricket - both descendants of the Smokey Amp. A simpler one is the Punch amp. I can't find the IC for that one locally, but it has a higher wattage and a lower part count.

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on April 1, 2013 at 3:51pm

Thanx Dave - I think those will work. I have found a kit that I think I will order, even tho I am the ultimate scrounger, I am not electronically savy. I need to see the pictures, diagrams and then have someone hold my hand and explain what all the letters mean when it comes to resistors, mfats, and whoopdedoodles! I'm fine with mechanical and wood but that stuff I can't see....'nuther story!!!

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on April 1, 2013 at 3:53pm

Oh yeah - I think I should have said CFM light not ISM.

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on April 1, 2013 at 11:37pm

I know your pain. I am going through that learning wall now. That is why I am a little up on this.

I built a little Velleman 5 watt kit. I don't see itmon their site now, but there is a 7 watt kit. The one I built was really well done with a fully marked board and not too many components. The 7 watt kit is here.

http://www.vellemanusa.com/products/view/?id=350529

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on April 2, 2013 at 1:03am

Thanx Dave - I don't mind the smoke and sparks when I'm grinding or welding...but when I flip a switch???? Not so much!!!

I think I will try this one: http://store.qkits.com/moreinfo.cfm/QK17

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on April 2, 2013 at 1:14am

Looks like a nice kit. The price is right.

As for sparks and stuff, I built 6 premps from various schematics to get one that worked with my piezo discs ( the one with the link above). I had one where I hooked up the power wrong and had a beautiful cloud of pink-purple smoke rise up over my kitchen table. After I quit being scared of burning the house down, it was really pretty cool.

I want to build a mini amp from scratch, but right now I am trying to tie in the preamp I know works as an input buffer to a known IC gain stage.

By the time I figure it out, it is going to be warm enough here to start guitar building again in the garage.

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on April 2, 2013 at 1:31am

OK - Kit ordered!!!!
Time to stock up on new circuit breakers, extension cords and smoke detectors!!!

I also ordered the multimeter so I can see what those pickups are doing and I'm having a lot of fun with the 14" band saw I just got (I'm cutting all my firewood into lumber!!!)

(Just don't ask me about the time I built an Inversion table but didn't totally figure out how to get it UNINVERTED!!!!????!!!!) I learned that I cannot walk up a 45 degree incline using my butt cheeks!!

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