New amp build series?

[Ewizard]

I have been commissioned to build an amp for a fundraiser where I live; which gives me a chance to VLOG another build series. I am gauging whether it is worth the energy to do another build series. Only for two reasons:

1. It takes about 2X as much time to do the build. And I never totally completed the videos on the last build series as a result.

2. It is just a lot of energy and time to put into something that now has a limited window of time to complete.

Generally, when I build an amp it is not required of me to have it done by X date. It gets done when I get it done. In this case, I have till Feb. 12th to complete the amp. That is a rather reasonable amount of time for the amp itself, BUT NOT THE CABINET. One of my big ME things is that I don't build combos, I only do head amps. In this case, I need to build a combo because I need a turnkey product that can be tested, heard, bid on, and go home with the winner that night after the verification of funds. I.E., I need something that sells and can be taken in a single trip with no confusion on what you are bidding on.

The amp I am presenting is one I have had on the books for a while; I have a prototype already, in fact. The goal with this build is to one-up my current prototype with better iron and components ( my current prototype stems from a modified amplifier that is readily available ). I am doing what is essentially a dialed-back, more refined version of an Epiphone Valve Jr., Dr. Z Mini Z, or Mod 102 amplifier. That is, it is in the ilk of that breed of amp, but totally my own design ( which isn't saying much for an amp with 5 parts between the input and the output of the amp ), with a BOM of about 40 parts.

The goal is to build the best 5-watt growler amp you can get with a focus on pure clean output. It will still growl when turned up and pushed, but it is meant to be a clean, pedal platform amp that is low wattage and takes pedals like a corner girl takes the... Beyond that, it does what any amp like it would do given the amount of wattage it has. If this is something you would be interested in, give me a shout. If I don't see 10-15 people give me a green light on a build series in the next 3 days, I am going to just do it and forego the video documentation of it. I would be including Tolexing a hand-built cab as well, to sweeten the pot.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Veteran's Day and I will talk to you all again soon.

 

[Mincer]

This sounds like a cool project! I look forward to the in-progress video!

 

[NegativeEase]

Sounds like a cool little amp but, Im more interested in the Corner Girl.... can you hook me up?

 

[solspirit]

Do it, I'd love to watch and maybe learn a thing or two.

 

[jeremy]

sounds sweet! el84 based?

 

[Ewizard]

El84-based, yes. I bought an Epiphone valve Jr. a while back and was underwhelmed by it. There was almost no clean headroom and it sounded thin, anemic, and just meh even when pushing into a 4x12" cab. I did up my own little preamp, more or less based on my other amp's design, and I was instantly gratified with a warm, sweet, and extremely dynamic amp. The downside was the iron in it. It saturates at higher volume and just falls flat, and I could tell that the iron was limiting the frequency range of the design. It needs better iron.

The parts arrive today!!! and it is get things done mode once I get the shop ready for the new build.

 

[Ewizard]

I have not put much effort into updating this thread mainly because all my time was spent building the amp and documenting it. I have finished the build as of Jan 1st and have spent the past week getting media done and getting ready to hand it off to the event coordinators holding the fundraiser. I can tell you that I really want to keep this thing. I have not built a combo amp before, mainly because I don't like them; or didn't... I have heard wonderful combo amps before and I have played horrible ones as well. I have to say that this particular build sounds bigger than it should and does not give the combo amp vibe at all! Super excited to see how this does at the fundraiser and I can't wait to build my own that I get to keep.

There will be more content coming. These are just some shots I took before I sent it out. Waiting on the professional photos from the event! The handle was made by Bob Schell at brookwoodleather.com I highly recommend him if you ever need a real leather handle or guitar strap!

 

[Mincer]

Holy hell, that is fantastic.

 

[misterwhizzy]

If it sounds half as good as it looks, you'll have a never-ending backorder.

 

[GuitarStv]

Damn, that's pretty.

 

[PFDarkside]

Aweskme! You crushed the mid century modern vibe.

How do you do the logos? Do you have a CNC cutter?

 

[Ewizard]

I do own a CNC machine, which makes the logo and other things significantly easier to make with precision. It is 100% handmade though aside from the cutouts. The cabinet, the chassis, and the woodwork are all me, only cut out with a CNC machine. I wrapped the Tolex on everything, finished the wood, designed it all, and wrote the G-Code, etc. The circuit is about as much mine as it could be, and yes, it sounds extremely good for its intended purpose.

The intention of the amp doesn't really meet with the wattage it produces. It is meant to be a clean pedal platform amp, so it stays clean as long as possible. The only distortion from the amp is all 100% output tube distortion, and it stops short of being much more than a growl at that. It stays clean to near live rock band levels. No, it will not beat a hammering drummer, but a jazz trio, it will hang in there. I would say it is more suited to studio use.

It has a pronounced, woody mid-range, with balanced highs and lows, mostly owed to the Celestion Creamback-65 that's in it. The preamp does have a treble bypass cap over the volume pot to allow it brighter sound at lower levels but is tuned to be out of the way about the time it is at the 12:00 volume setting ( a pretty small and irregular value ), intended to make it a tiny bit brighter at lower levels, but not be apparent that there is a change in tonality as you adjust the volume pot.

When turned up all the way ( dimed if you will ) it has a very warm Class-A, output tube crunch, but does start to get squishy and wooly. The downside to making the amp a clean, warm-sounding amp, is because of its low wattage, it does start to fall apart at higher levels. Pushing it further with a boost pedal only makes it fall apart even more unless you control the low end. At about 3:00 on the volume is what I consider the end of the road. At that point it is crunching ( more like mild growl ), but is in a place where adding a dirt pedal really adds complexity and dimension without falling apart. You can also get warm clean tones. The amp as a whole sounds much bigger than its wattage implies.

I do not want to let this thing go.... It is so fun to play, has a wide range of clean in it, and takes pedals like a fish to water. I am looking to make an intermediate design of this that has another gain stage to get the grittier Champ, Valve Jr, Dr. Z Mini Z, and Bad Cat Mini Cat rip to it.

 

[Securb]

That amp is fantastic, I love the simplicity. It reminds me of the Fender Pawn Shop series, which they should never discontinued..

 

[jeremy]

that looks awesome! very unique with the mirrors in there

 

[Ewizard]

So the fundraiser has finally come and gone! The organization was able to raise about $100,000, which is super awesome!!! My part in the grand scheme of things was small. Story is as follows:

My wife is on the committee for the organization that I built the amp for. She was tasked with finding some auction items for the fundraiser. Her idea was to have me build a guitar amp to auction off. I knew immediately that was going to be a rather difficult item to garner interest in. Three major reasons.

1. I am a nobody, so no one really knows or cares about my amps at all.

2. My amp has no pedigree, no famous player played/endorsed it, none have been on any famous recordings, and no one outside of a handful of individuals even knows I exist.

3. What are the odds that a rich person who is also a musician will have the desire to buy a sight-unseen amplifier that has the above two traits? NO ONE, that's who.

So needless to say, the planning around how to build hype and create buyers for the thing was marginal at best. I invited a few friends and family, but realistically they were just there for the support. My item was the first live auction item to go up... So the whole crowd hadn't even assembled yet, and any of the frenzy around the auction items still hadn't built up yet. It was over about as fast as it started. There was a random individual with some interest and the price started at $100, going back and forth, ultimately ending at $600. The winner, a friend of mine who has always been my biggest supporter!

He even gave me the amp back. His goal is for me to use it as a picking-off point to build a website for my brand ( Legacy Amplification ) and to sell it from there, to hopefully get the dollar amount it should have. $600 wouldn't even be enough to buy all the raw parts, let alone take care of the labor. $200 was placed just in the speaker. The long and short of it is that I got to do a good thing, at least in spirit, and the organization came out with a good chunk of change. Ultimately, I spent about $700 on parts and materials and roughly 100 hours of time building an amp that acquired $600 for the organization

I did do a build series, but it didn't come out as I had hoped. I was pressed for time and I was trying a new style of videography that DID NOT turn out as I hoped. Learned a bit and got to document another build. I will post the final video here, if you dare, you can watch the rest of the series.

 

[Hsb]

A) that little amp looks awesome, very retro cool.B) love the story and the idea that the amp made money for the organization and back in your hands is awesome.