I have a 4" speaker I would like to make a nice little TUBE amp out of. But...It's my first amp build. I don't know if tubes will be more difficult than solid state. I'm looking for volume and overdrive as the controls, but tone and reverb would be nice too (I think that'd be too hard though). Anyone got any circuits? and a place to buy tubes?

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i like those sealed lead acid 12 volt cells , you can find em sometimes too !

well for that external speaker output there is a switching 1/4 inch jack that you can get . it has 3 connections , a ground , positive , and an output . so hook up the plus and minus of the amp out to the jack . then run another ground wire to the internal smaller speaker . the third connector on that speaker jack , you run a wwire from that to the positive side of the internal spkr .

 

when you plug a jack into it , it disconnects that wire going to the internal spkr . if you are confused with the jack pins , what i do is take a male 1/4 inch plug or cut guitar cable , plug it into the jack and do a continuity test from the wires on the plug or cut cable to the pins on the female jack .  when you determine the ground and positive , the third one is the internal speaker connector . this can be affirmed by unplugging the plug or cable and cont testing between the third pin and the positive . you should have cont with nothing in the jack , plug something in , you will loose cont between those pins . if you do not have a meter you can make a cont tester with a lamp , buzzer or even the old sparky cont test with a junk adapter .

 

for the led , i am guessing you would like that to light up when the amp is on ?

 

how I would do this is cut in an led right after the main power switch , on the hot side (positive) . it is VERY important you include a small resistor , 9 volts will fry an led . something like a 1k , to save a buck , google the color bands , and simply remove a 1k resistor from an old junk circuit . i would recommend this procedure for obtaining the led as well . (gut your brothers xbox 360 for the blue led!)

 

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm

 

i googled " 1k resistor color bands "  http://www.the12volt.com/resistors/resist.gif

just make sure you are not using or buying a simple trs jack , or stereo jack , you need one that has "insert switch" , closed circuit . i took a look at the radio shack site and it was not really clear , but you can look at em and see the switching part . my last build i didnt have aan 1/8th inch headphone jack with the switching part so i just cut in a lil speaker kill switch .

 

my way of doing this stuff leans heavily towards recycling , the 10.99 plus 3 bucks i paid for a de-soldering tool and de solder tape was the best investment i ever made but way too late . i hate having to go to rat shack / frys and get raped ($$$) / humiliated by the employees . something to think about if you plan on doing this sort of thing on a regular basis .

 

 


get raped ($$$) / humiliated by the employees

 

Nothing personal toward anyone who reads this and might work at Shack of Rats, but the commercial that says something like (paraphrased) "You got questions?  We got a@%&#@*!" is ironic.

 

Unless the economy forces a knowledgeable person to work there (give them credit for obtaining employment instead of the alternative), on average I've found that on the occasions I was forced to go there out of necessity, I had to research their website beforehand. I had to determine the part number and package color of what I needed prior to going there...so that when I was told they "didn't carry anything like that", I'd ask where the (blue, for example) items were hung, and go find it myself. With occasional exception, I'd say if they knew anything technical, they'd be working in another industry.

 

Then I'd go to the sales counter to check out (if I actual found what I needed, or could get by with) and be subjected to 'whatcha building?', which, to be fair, was probably just a friendly expression of interest (and maybe trying to learn something?). Nonetheless, it's kind of an ordeal, and nobody thinks it's funny in the last several years if you shout "I'm building a bo_ _, OK?!? That just gets you on the wrong kind of watch list.

 

So don't take it personally...imagine being in their shoes! Better than the fast food restaurant on The Simpsons where they have to wear a horrible costume and defend themselves from customers with a plastic 'spork'.

 

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/the_shack_aw_sh...

i heard the webcast thing they did was a trainwreck .

oh well , i have actually spent enough $$ there , been hassled enough to feel like its fair game to voice my opinion on that place . it is nice if they have what i need though . i am predicting the days of being able to get parts there is very numbered . that will suck , fry's can be a litttle more $$$ .

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