Building an amp... Where to start?

[alanp]

Ceriatone have good reviews, also.

I'll admit that in terms of kits, Asian ones tend to get time from me. When they're good, they're pretty good, and all of them turn up a hell of a lot faster than anything American. Mojotone are always worth considering, however

Weber used to get bad press for the cheapness of their parts, but I've heard that they've gotten a lot better over the years.

[midwayfair]

Those of you who have built the 5F1, how's the head room on that?  Can you get a nice clean tone before it breaks  up?

I haven't built one (yet ), but I've played a couple: Like almost every tweed circuit, it gets to about 4 on the dial before it starts to distort and doesn't get much louder after that, and perhaps 3 before there's noticeable distortion on a hard chord (keep in mind that early Fenders are also 30% audio tapers! So 3 is more like 5 on a modern 10% taper). It's not super loud at that point; louder than an acoustic, but certainly reasonable. The 5E1 has a bit more range on the dial, but the total volume isn't appreciably different. BUT it can take a larger INPUT signal before it distorts because it doesn't have a cathode bypass. So the 5E1 is better for hotter pickups for headroom. But you're not going to be overdriving the first tube by much if at all regardless without a boost.

I'm still in the process of buying parts for my build. I ran across this power transformer, which is a "big iron" for a champ: http://store.triodestore.com/40-18031.html. Those transformers have gotten good reviews across a lot of sites. Anyway, that transformer will put out a few more Watts when running a 6V6, but you can also wire it to run a 6L6 instead and get a lot more headroom. I'm really on the fence about getting it, because I look at it and say, "Hey, those all sound like good things for my playing!" Buuuuut ... then I remember the whole purpose of the project. The champ is made for two things: A practice amp (clean at really low volumes), and an "ow what are you doing to me" amp at somewhat low volumes. You can't expect a single 6V6 to do much beyond that.

Oh, and based on plugging a couple different types of champs into 12" speakers, and confirmed by Morgan and others: A 12" speaker is awesome with a champ circuit, especially for a little perceived headroom (i.e., pure volume before you get distortion).

So you're putting yours together off a schematic rather than building a kit, correct?  I was looking at kits since I'm not nearly as far along on the electronics knowledge road as you are but I might consider doing it from scratch if I can follow a decent road map.  There's so much good information on here.

Yeah. Though alanp is right, in some ways it's very difficult to beat the price of some of the cheaper kits. The only real major savings is on the chassis and the cabinet if you can do those yourself.

My real problem was that I'm deviating from anything I can use a predrilled chassis for. I don't know any 3-knob single ended classic amps! I probably would have ended up with a kit otherwise.

[Leevibe]

A VVR would give you the third knob and they're useful, I would think even on a 5w SE amp. I came up with a layout for one that uses a turret strip if you want it. I've used it successfully in 3 amps.

[upthepunxxx]

Thanks for starting this thread. This is great. I've been really wanting to build a low watt tube amp and didn't know where to start. I'm gonna check out these books and forums and links. Hope everyone is having a good weekend

[jtn191]

I like the 5e3 circuit. The higher wattage gives a little more headroom and low end. Mine's setup with 6l6s and it's actually pretty clean at low volumes. It's one of those simple, timeless classics that has just enough controls and parts to work really well.

[sonarchotic]

I like the 5e3 circuit. The higher wattage gives a little more headroom and low end. Mine's setup with 6l6s and it's actually pretty clean at low volumes. It's one of those simple, timeless classics that has just enough controls and parts to work really well.

A 5e3 is my next build. I'm planning on building it stock but there are a ton of variations detailed over at the Watts forum. Have you tried any of them?

[jtn191]

I built mine on a Tubedepot pcb and built it pretty close to stock. It would not be too hard to build on turretboard...wiring the heaters is the biggest deal. I sourced my own parts and went with "mojo" happy sozo coupling caps. Orange drops are another popular favorite.
-I upped the first two power filter caps to 30uF. This tightens bass and reduces sag. Stiffens it up. Kind of a trade off, thinking about putting parallel caps on a switch...if that's even safe
-I used all Metal film resistors except carbon comp resistors for the plate resistors before the phase inverter, according to RG Keen's advice on CC resistors and their "magic".
-I used a higher wattage output transformer designed for a Tremolux. The effects of this are debatable and I'm curious to what degree there are any. I heard somebody would do that to run two 4x12s...maybe more iron means more bass!

The only changes I'd make now are to the filter caps and pre-tone control coupling caps/cathode bypass. A lot of people like to cut bass by lowering those values in this amp. It is very pronounced with single coils and even less friendly with humbuckers.

[alanp]

I love the sound of tweed amps (I have a Low Power Tweed Twin combo, and a 5E3 head (in marshall style chassis), and purely from the experience of wiring up the Twin, I'd strongly hesitate to do another.

The Tweed caketins are VERY claustrophobic to work in.

That said, I'd like to build either a JTM45/100 (shake the walls down...) or a Ceriatone Overdrive Special.

[sonarchotic]

I built mine on a Tubedepot pcb and built it pretty close to stock. It would not be too hard to build on turretboard...wiring the heaters is the biggest deal. I sourced my own parts and went with "mojo" happy sozo coupling caps. Orange drops are another popular favorite.
-I upped the first two power filter caps to 30uF. This tightens bass and reduces sag. Stiffens it up. Kind of a trade off, thinking about putting parallel caps on a switch...if that's even safe
-I used all Metal film resistors except carbon comp resistors for the plate resistors before the phase inverter, according to RG Keen's advice on CC resistors and their "magic".
-I used a higher wattage output transformer designed for a Tremolux. The effects of this are debatable and I'm curious to what degree there are any. I heard somebody would do that to run two 4x12s...maybe more iron means more bass!

The only changes I'd make now are to the filter caps and pre-tone control coupling caps/cathode bypass. A lot of people like to cut bass by lowering those values in this amp. It is very pronounced with single coils and even less friendly with humbuckers.

Thanks for the input! I think I'll still build it stock just to see how I like it and take it from there. I'll keep the filter and coupling cap mods in mind though.

[miter53]

I used the kit from Triode Electronics for my 5E3, and it worked out well. Good price and good components. I did use the bigger transformer that allow 6L6s to be used.