Valve Amp Building Kits - new project

Fuengi

Modulus_Amps said:

Fuengi said:

Modulus_Amps said:

Fuengi said:

Modulus_Amps said:

@ Fuengi, What are you considering?

I met up with @Kalimna at the guitarshow with two of his recent builds to have a look over.

Was looking at figures a few weeks ago, last year we shipped ~150 amp kits and also started selling kits in the US market for the first time, probably a result of the transformer issues they have there.

Blimey! Glad you can still get hold of your components. 

Ultimately, I'd love to build a Princeton Reverb but I understand that's going to be too ambitious as a first (or probably second) build. 

I've got a Marshall shaped hole in my amp collection, so looking at your 18w or the 20w Plexi-ish amps. The extra headroom of the 20w and your demo make it look ideal and a reasonable place to start.

I'm intrigued by your comments above about Trainwreck amps. From what I had read about him, he sounds like some sort of Happy Gilmore type amp maverick who cannot be emulated. Your experience building one of his designs sounds like a huge success? 

That new GTS amp is great, had a good number of people at the guitar show say they thought it was the best amp on the show - of course that is all about taste and what you are after!

Do you think it's do-able as a first build? 

I've build several pedals and partscasters now, and rewired most of my guitars. I consider my soldering to be an acceptable level..

Yes, for those you have some soldering/assembly experience.
There is more space in the chassis to work with so is actually easier than some of the tweed builds that get tight fast.

I took the plunge and just ordered the GTS.

I've got a guitar to finish first, but I can research / plan and look forward to building this as my next project.

Kalimna

Fuengi said:

Modulus_Amps said:

Fuengi said:

Modulus_Amps said:

Fuengi said:

Modulus_Amps said:

@ Fuengi, What are you considering?

I met up with @Kalimna at the guitarshow with two of his recent builds to have a look over.

Was looking at figures a few weeks ago, last year we shipped ~150 amp kits and also started selling kits in the US market for the first time, probably a result of the transformer issues they have there.

Blimey! Glad you can still get hold of your components. 

Ultimately, I'd love to build a Princeton Reverb but I understand that's going to be too ambitious as a first (or probably second) build. 

I've got a Marshall shaped hole in my amp collection, so looking at your 18w or the 20w Plexi-ish amps. The extra headroom of the 20w and your demo make it look ideal and a reasonable place to start.

I'm intrigued by your comments above about Trainwreck amps. From what I had read about him, he sounds like some sort of Happy Gilmore type amp maverick who cannot be emulated. Your experience building one of his designs sounds like a huge success? 

That new GTS amp is great, had a good number of people at the guitar show say they thought it was the best amp on the show - of course that is all about taste and what you are after!

Do you think it's do-able as a first build? 

I've build several pedals and partscasters now, and rewired most of my guitars. I consider my soldering to be an acceptable level..

Yes, for those you have some soldering/assembly experience.
There is more space in the chassis to work with so is actually easier than some of the tweed builds that get tight fast.

I took the plunge and just ordered the GTS.

I've got a guitar to finish first, but I can research / plan and look forward to building this as my next project.

You wont be disappointed. If you aren't familiar with it, I very much recommend looking over Rob Robinette's site on valve amp circuits, modding, building and testing. I am currently going through the motions of initial start-up on the two amps Michael mentioned earlier that he looked over at the Birmingham show for me - a Tweedle Dee (Dumble-ised Tweed Deluxe) and a souped-up-Marshall take on the amp Slash used on Use Your Illusion. There's nothing quite like switching on for the first time, and playing that open-A  
Enjoy!

MentalSharps

Modulus_Amps said:

MentalSharps said:

Do you do any Dumble type amp kits Modulus? Seems hard to find affordable D style amps in the UK

We are working it, I am working with a new chassis supplier and have a ODS style chassis drawn up for manufacture

Ooh that is very interesting!

The only thing I've found so far is there is a chap on another forum who made some good looking PCBs to be compatible with the various Dumble circuits. https://www.aaelectronicspcb.com/product-page/bumble-overdrive-special-pcb

Having a chassis, transformers and being able to source all the parts in a kit would be amazing.

Modulus_Amps

@Fuengi said

I took the plunge and just ordered the GTS.

I've got a guitar to finish first, but I can research / plan and look forward to building this as my next project.

Wow thanks so much! 

Modulus_Amps

MentalSharps said:

Modulus_Amps said:

MentalSharps said:

Do you do any Dumble type amp kits Modulus? Seems hard to find affordable D style amps in the UK

We are working it, I am working with a new chassis supplier and have a ODS style chassis drawn up for manufacture

Ooh that is very interesting!

The only thing I've found so far is there is a chap on another forum who made some good looking PCBs to be compatible with the various Dumble circuits. https://www.aaelectronicspcb.com/product-page/bumble-overdrive-special-pcb

Having a chassis, transformers and being able to source all the parts in a kit would be amazing.

Yeah I have seen that board, looks like it would make a complex build more straight forward. I will try check the compatibility between the chassis I have drawn and his mounting points.

@nick79 I used a TAD chassis to build the Brownface Deluxe, I am just finishing off the drawing to get our own made in the UK and then that kit will be ready, It is quite different to the Tweed Deluxe, even though they share some similarities. Its really John Suhrs fault that I built that one!

nick79

Without trying to hijack the thread… @Modulus_Amps, sounds interesting! I’m guessing it’s a fair bit more in-depth to build than the 5e3? 

Modulus_Amps

nick79 said:

Without trying to hijack the thread… @Modulus_Amps, sounds interesting! I’m guessing it’s a fair bit more in-depth to build than the 5e3? 

Yes, I would not recommend the Brownface Deluxe to a novice builder, in truth I don't like the Fender layout, but it it what it is.

robinbowes

Modulus_Amps said:

MentalSharps said:

Modulus_Amps said:

MentalSharps said:

Do you do any Dumble type amp kits Modulus? Seems hard to find affordable D style amps in the UK

We are working it, I am working with a new chassis supplier and have a ODS style chassis drawn up for manufacture

Ooh that is very interesting!

The only thing I've found so far is there is a chap on another forum who made some good looking PCBs to be compatible with the various Dumble circuits. https://www.aaelectronicspcb.com/product-page/bumble-overdrive-special-pcb

Having a chassis, transformers and being able to source all the parts in a kit would be amazing.

Yeah I have seen that board, looks like it would make a complex build more straight forward. I will try check the compatibility between the chassis I have drawn and his mounting points.

Hmm, you make your own transformers, and about to produce an ODS chassis that may be compatible with the AA Electronics PCBs. I can see an order coming your way soon! I've got an empty Fuchs head shell that would be perfect for the build, as long as I get a chassis that fits.

One day, when I've finished moving house, I'll get round to measuring and planning a build!

R.

Fuengi

What solder is everyone using for working on heir own PTP amps?