Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on March 15, 2018 at 5:20am

full tube or hybrid? i used to have a Laney amp that had preamp tubes and mosfet power output stage..

or a transistor preamp and tube power output? 1W would be plenty for a practice/busking amp..

interested to see what circuit you use.

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Permalink Reply by Lee Custom Shop on March 15, 2018 at 5:32am

Full tube. 2 bulb amps - EL84 + 12AX7. Like a VOX AC4TV but maximally simplified...

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on March 16, 2018 at 8:07am

transformers are the difficult thing to spec... interested in what circuit you will use. any chance of a peek?

always wanted a small tube amp.

kits are already available.... https://www.modkitsdiy.com/kit/mod_102_guitar_amp_kit  thats $215 for a kit...no speaker or cabinet. same El84 12AX7 combo...

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on March 16, 2018 at 2:28pm

They make great kits and projects. The Tube Depot also has good kits for decent prices.

Tube amps use dangerous levels of voltage, the tubes and trannys produce high volts and the large caps store high volts. If you build one, read up as much as you can and it's a good idea to get advise/help from people on forums that know how to build the amps. Be careful. 

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Permalink Reply by Kirk on March 15, 2018 at 9:49am

For me, I wouldn't buy an amp online.  I'm truly not hearing it, I'm hearing your phone's microphone's representation of it.  But a small 4 or 5 watt tube amp?  I'd love to hear it live.  My financial situation has massive ups and downs, but if on the "up" and it sounded as good as I'd like to think it would, I'd be willing to shell out 200 bucks.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on March 15, 2018 at 4:54pm

Love Tube Amps. They are costly. Laney/Monoprice 5 watt is a good buy. Sweetwater is selling the Orange Tiny Terror and Micro Dark 20watt heads for $189 with a 1x8 cab for $99(very good deal), Fender Champ 15watt 1x10 combo for $380, Peavy 6505 Piranha 20watt head with 1x8 cab for $250.

Then there's the Solid State Modeling amps that do Tube sounds like the Boss Katana 50watt 1x12 combo for $220(great amp and great deal), Blackstar IDCoreBeam 2x10watt 2x3 combo for $280 and the Blackstar Fly3 3watt 1x3 combo for $60 and a 1x3 extension cab Fly3Pak(Combo Amp plus extension cab) for $100.

The Boss Katana 50 is adjustable to 50/25/5 and .5 watts and have built in effects. People are going nuts over them right now. It's probably the only SS Modeling amp I would consider getting. Look them up on line and check it out.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Dean on March 15, 2018 at 5:44pm

I find good deals on tube amps all the time on craigslist, just got to check often when you want one.

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