Build or buy?

[Taz Rules]

Just completed my strat build project. (I'll be posting that in another thread on the Guitar board) I love to put things together and say "I built that". Just a DIYer at heart, I guess.

That said, is it actually worth the time and money to build a tube amp instead of buying one?

What I'm looking for....
A tube amp sound, obviously
Fairly low wattage. I don't gig. Nowhere near good enough. So I'm looking for an amp I can play at home and get into distortion sounds without busting my neighbors', wife's or dog's eardrums. (Mine are already shot! LOL)
Good clean channels. I have a V-Amp for effects and can add distortion through that unit if I want a heavier sound.
Budget. I'm not actually cheap, but I'm poor. Probably a result of not being cheap.
1 or 2 speakers, as long as they sound decent.

I played a Fender Bassbreaker 18 in a music store the other day. Liked it a lot. Too much $. Also played a Vox AC10 (10W) and a Traynor YGL-1 (15W). Liked them both better than the Fender, and each was 100-150 cheaper. Still, $500 Canadian (Isn't that about 10 bucks USD? LOL) is a lot of money for me.

Can I build an amp of comparable quality for less money? I'm not worried about time. And I have the basic skills...soldering, metalwork, woodwork, ability and willingness to learn. The kits seem to be fairly pricey, but others seem quite cheap. I guess you probably get what you pay for. How tough is it to find the right power supplies, transformers, etc? I'm guessing these are the pricey bits. I've seen some wiring schematics online for free. Are these any good?

Oh, and can someone please clarify the difference between single-ended and push-pull? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each regarding a)sound, and b) build complexity, and c) cost?

Has anybody here done this? How are the results?

 

[trevorus]

Re: Build or buy?

No, generally, you're going to spend as much as any midline production amp in a build. That said, you will gain some skills, knowledge, and experience in building. Going the building route is generally not a way to save money, but to get what you want, and a way to have fun and learn the internals of an amp.

 

[Shooter.556]

Re: Build or buy?

Mojotone has some cool kits. I'm like you, I love building things.
I watched a Gearmanndude video of a kit he built and it was a ton of work but sounded great, he did a plexi clone.

 

[smacbride]

Re: Build or buy?

I just recently built a 6M45 kit from Weber. It was really challenging but the results were pretty good. I started because I wanted to learn about tube amps and repair, as I've have spent tons of money trying to get mine fixed. Figured it would be a good way to learn about it. I've also built several guitars and custom furniture, so pretty experienced with DIY projects.

Did I save any money? Yes compared to the Hand-wired JTM-45 that Marshall offers, but not compared to other decent tube amps you can buy. Granted most of those have printed circuit boards etc.

I would seriously take a look at the Weber kits. Mine came with a Heyboer output transformer and that alone was worth the price of the kit. I build my own cabinets so I saved on those (except for all the wasted wood from mistakes, but that's another story...)

If you are comfortable with soldering and electronics, I say go for it.

 

[leevc5]

Re: Build or buy?

Here is a pretty good link to Hoffman you can look at a number of kits and get an idea of prices for various outputs and options:

http://hoffmanamps.com/MyStore/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=PartsListIndex.htm&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID!

They also provide a lot of documentation so you know what you are getting youself into ahead of time.

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Build or buy?

Weber seems to have good prices. They don't get the press that some kit sellers do but a lot of the stuff looks solid. I've only bought parts from Weber and a couple of speakers in the past. But, I would consider their kits. The layouts are provided on site so you know what you are getting into. I think that cabinets are included in the price as well. They are add-ons sometimes, and end up being a significant part of the cost ($200 for a small box head cab ... I was in the wrong line of work). You can buy something solid enough for the same or less than building yourself. But, to me, the best advantage to building, aside from learning, is that you can tweak, mod and fix it. You know the amp and you aren't voiding a warranty.

My 2 cents.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Build or buy?

I only have one of my 4 amps that's a store-bought amp, the other 3 I've built myself. If money's your only objective then buy used, no question. However, building an amp yourself and playing/gigging with it is an awesome feeling of accomplishment.

Weber has, at the moment, the best price to value ratio out there. Their components are good (not the best but good enough to give you a great sounding amp), their prices are awesome and, while they don't provide instructions, the forum is full of amazing people who will go out of their way to help you.

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: Build or buy?

I'd say if you have the skills and don't place a $$$ value on your time, you could save considerably (assuming you can make your own cabinet... i.e. woodworking skills/equipment) and get an amp you may not be able to afford otherwise. I don't have the soldering skill (very shaky hands), but if I did, here are several sources I'd consider:
For a 5E3 http://www.boothillamps.com/5E3_Kits.html and this guy will help you source any of the the items not included in the kit.
Far more 'pricey' (maybe not much savings here), but a real range of amp types http://www.allenamps.com/kits.php The sound bytes of the Allen amps sound great to me.
And the 'I built that' factor may override the minimal savings.
JMO