Tube Amp kits
- Thread starter noth
- Start date
Pepi
New member
Re: Tube Amp kits
A BIG +1
Here are a few photos of my first build from scratch. I've built a lot of kits but doing it from scratch is very rewarding ...
A BIG +1
Here are a few photos of my first build from scratch. I've built a lot of kits but doing it from scratch is very rewarding ...
Re: Tube Amp kits
I used a board from Nik at Ceriatone and had great service from him. It was even a board he didn't make at the time but he did it anyway. I would not hesitate to purchase from him again. At the same time, it is a very different experience than a kit from someone like Mission or an Allen.
I used a board from Nik at Ceriatone and had great service from him. It was even a board he didn't make at the time but he did it anyway. I would not hesitate to purchase from him again. At the same time, it is a very different experience than a kit from someone like Mission or an Allen.
noth
New member
Re: Tube Amp kits
Thanks, Scott, Lew, Chip, and all the others. Once again you guys have proved that the SD Forums are the best!
I've been building amps for years; just not musical instrument ones, and not tubes.
A couple more points:
So the Celestion Blue is the cream of the crop? I see that it's response curve is a hell of lot flatter than most others. In fact I'm surprised at some of the severe peaks and dips that others have, even expensive ones. The Blue is about 7 dB more efficient than many others, also. That's approximately equivalent to quadrupling the effective power of the amp. Will that be way too loud for apartment use? Would a good quality, but less efficient speaker suit my needs better?
Fresh Start: So that "fake" solid state rectifier-in-a-tube should be avoided like the plague?
What about metal tube covers? Do they help? Should they be used in some positions but not others?
Finally, because of my fondness of Leslie West tone, I've also looked at some of the 2 channel 18 Watt Marshall knock-off kits. I get the feeling I'd never be happy with its clean sound, but out of curiousity, anyone played with those? I suspect for pure tone they don't hold a candle to the Tweed, but right now I can only go by what I read.
Thanks again, all,
Noth
Thanks, Scott, Lew, Chip, and all the others. Once again you guys have proved that the SD Forums are the best!
I've been building amps for years; just not musical instrument ones, and not tubes.
A couple more points:
So the Celestion Blue is the cream of the crop? I see that it's response curve is a hell of lot flatter than most others. In fact I'm surprised at some of the severe peaks and dips that others have, even expensive ones. The Blue is about 7 dB more efficient than many others, also. That's approximately equivalent to quadrupling the effective power of the amp. Will that be way too loud for apartment use? Would a good quality, but less efficient speaker suit my needs better?
Fresh Start: So that "fake" solid state rectifier-in-a-tube should be avoided like the plague?
What about metal tube covers? Do they help? Should they be used in some positions but not others?
Finally, because of my fondness of Leslie West tone, I've also looked at some of the 2 channel 18 Watt Marshall knock-off kits. I get the feeling I'd never be happy with its clean sound, but out of curiousity, anyone played with those? I suspect for pure tone they don't hold a candle to the Tweed, but right now I can only go by what I read.
Thanks again, all,
Noth
devastone
Well-known member
Re: Tube Amp kits
I didn't know that, I've picked up some parts from Bruce in the past, great guy and very helpful!
I didn't know that, I've picked up some parts from Bruce in the past, great guy and very helpful!
Fresh_Start
New member
Re: Tube Amp kits
Are you good at organizing a project, thinking it through ahead of time, being anal with little parts (like measuring every resistor before you solder it in place), researching stuff like "how do I start it up SAFELY the first time?" and then writing out a procedure for yourself?
Did you build model rockets/cars/planes/whatever when you were a kid?
YOU CAN DO IT! :banana:
Seriously, if you can solder, follow directions, and learn how to use a multimeter - oh, and have a healthy fear of electricity - then you can build a kit from Mission, Allen, Trinity, and may be one or two others.
Chip
Are you good at organizing a project, thinking it through ahead of time, being anal with little parts (like measuring every resistor before you solder it in place), researching stuff like "how do I start it up SAFELY the first time?" and then writing out a procedure for yourself?
Did you build model rockets/cars/planes/whatever when you were a kid?
YOU CAN DO IT! :banana:
Seriously, if you can solder, follow directions, and learn how to use a multimeter - oh, and have a healthy fear of electricity - then you can build a kit from Mission, Allen, Trinity, and may be one or two others.
Chip
Re: Tube Amp kits
Hi Noth. If you want tweed, take Scott's advice...you can't go wrong with the Mission. If you want something a bit more versatile, an Allen Accomplice would be a nice choice. I built mine last year with the 40W tranny. So you can get about 40W with 6L6 tubes. 22W w/ 6v6s. Bias jacks make tube changes a snap. It's a blackface Deluxe Reverb (AB763 circuit) w/ some nice, functional tweaks. The master volume works well, so it's nice for noodling at home or gigging. The variable RAW control removes the tone stack from the circuit, and gets you into a more tweed vibe. David Allen's support is legendary. His components are top-shelf. This was my first build and aside from a couple emails about minor stuff, I had no problem with the build. It fired up the first time and I've had no trouble from this amp. For $1000, I don't know of a better bang-for-the-buck amp. The stock Eminence Red, White and Blues speaker sounds great after a little break in, too. Great sounding grab and go combo
I'm not a big pedal guy, but I use a Zvex Box Of Rock with this amp and it gets big, fat and nasty. My '54 LP junior loves it. Thought I'd mention it since you like Leslie
Hi Noth. If you want tweed, take Scott's advice...you can't go wrong with the Mission. If you want something a bit more versatile, an Allen Accomplice would be a nice choice. I built mine last year with the 40W tranny. So you can get about 40W with 6L6 tubes. 22W w/ 6v6s. Bias jacks make tube changes a snap. It's a blackface Deluxe Reverb (AB763 circuit) w/ some nice, functional tweaks. The master volume works well, so it's nice for noodling at home or gigging. The variable RAW control removes the tone stack from the circuit, and gets you into a more tweed vibe. David Allen's support is legendary. His components are top-shelf. This was my first build and aside from a couple emails about minor stuff, I had no problem with the build. It fired up the first time and I've had no trouble from this amp. For $1000, I don't know of a better bang-for-the-buck amp. The stock Eminence Red, White and Blues speaker sounds great after a little break in, too. Great sounding grab and go combo
I'm not a big pedal guy, but I use a Zvex Box Of Rock with this amp and it gets big, fat and nasty. My '54 LP junior loves it. Thought I'd mention it since you like Leslie
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noth
New member
Re: Tube Amp kits
A 54 LP Junoir!! Awesome!! I'll check out the kit you're referring to. I'd probably be inclined to go with the 6V6s, since I want to keep the level down. So it can give good clean and dirty sounds?
Thanks,
Noth
Hi Noth. If you want tweed, take Scott's advice...you can't go wrong with the Mission. If you want something a bit more versatile, an Allen Accomplice would be a nice choice. I built mine last year with the 40W tranny. So you can get about 40W with 6L6 tubes. 22W w/ 6v6s. Bias jacks make tube changes a snap. It's a blackface Deluxe Reverb (AB763 circuit) w/ some nice, functional tweaks. The master volume works well, so it's nice for noodling at home or gigging. The variable RAW control removes the tone stack from the circuit, and gets you into a more tweed vibe. David Allen's support is legendary. His components are top-shelf. This was my first build and aside from a couple emails about minor stuff, I had no problem with the build. It fired up the first time and I've had no trouble from this amp. For $1000, I don't know of a better bang-for-the-buck amp. The stock Eminence Red, White and Blues speaker sounds great after a little break in, too. Great sounding grab and go combo
I'm not a big pedal guy, but I use a Zvex Box Of Rock with this amp and it gets big, fat and nasty. My '54 LP junior loves it. Thought I'd mention it since you like Leslie
A 54 LP Junoir!! Awesome!! I'll check out the kit you're referring to. I'd probably be inclined to go with the 6V6s, since I want to keep the level down. So it can give good clean and dirty sounds?
Thanks,
Noth
Re: Tube Amp kits
In a word, Yes.
Deluxe Reverbs don't have tons of headroom. No problem for you playing at living room levels or small gigs. The Accomplice delivers those glassy Fender cleans. Ya know, that clean tone that we all know. At 4-5 with the volume, you start to get some breakup, and it goes on from there. It's great. Some folks describe the bottom on a DR as being "flabby". I'm not sure I'd call it that, really. I mean, it's not a crunch machine. It doesn't punch you in the chest . It's not a Marshall. DRs strong suit is it's mids and upper mids. Killer amp for blues, rock, country. When you get into those "greatest amp ever" discussions with players, the DR gets a lot of votes. It's just one of those benchmark amps. AC30, JTM45, tweed Bassman, Deluxe Reverb, etc.
What I like about the Accomplice is that for $25 you can build it with a 40W tranny set vs. the 35W. It's not a huge difference, but it does give you a bit more clean headroom and it tightens up the bottom a bit. Changing to 6L6 tubes puts things into the Super or Pro Reverb zone. It's all good The difference in loudness isn't that big w/ 6L6s either. It does makes the amp more "muscular", for lack of a better word. If you ever found yourself playing out and needing more volume, run another 1x12 or whatever from the ext. speaker jack. I think I have a few pics someplace of mine at various stages of build. If I can find them I'll post a couple.
In a word, Yes.
Deluxe Reverbs don't have tons of headroom. No problem for you playing at living room levels or small gigs. The Accomplice delivers those glassy Fender cleans. Ya know, that clean tone that we all know. At 4-5 with the volume, you start to get some breakup, and it goes on from there. It's great. Some folks describe the bottom on a DR as being "flabby". I'm not sure I'd call it that, really. I mean, it's not a crunch machine. It doesn't punch you in the chest . It's not a Marshall. DRs strong suit is it's mids and upper mids. Killer amp for blues, rock, country. When you get into those "greatest amp ever" discussions with players, the DR gets a lot of votes. It's just one of those benchmark amps. AC30, JTM45, tweed Bassman, Deluxe Reverb, etc.
What I like about the Accomplice is that for $25 you can build it with a 40W tranny set vs. the 35W. It's not a huge difference, but it does give you a bit more clean headroom and it tightens up the bottom a bit. Changing to 6L6 tubes puts things into the Super or Pro Reverb zone. It's all good
The difference in loudness isn't that big w/ 6L6s either. It does makes the amp more "muscular", for lack of a better word. If you ever found yourself playing out and needing more volume, run another 1x12 or whatever from the ext. speaker jack. I think I have a few pics someplace of mine at various stages of build. If I can find them I'll post a couple.
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