After lurking for almost a year, I want to build an amp. I some basic knowledge and soldering skills. I currently can build a pedal, swap board components and bias an amp.
With those BASIC skills, which do you all recommend for my first project??
Thanks in advance.
Ron
Newbie seeks advice on first build.
Moderators: pompeiisneaks, Colossal
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LeftyStrat
- Posts: 3117
- Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:58 pm
- Location: Marietta, SC, but my heart and two of my kids are in Seattle, WA
Re: Newbie seeks advice on first build.
Here's some considerations so you can make a better decision. Eventually you want to develop all these skills, because I can assure you, if you start off on a good foot, you will be addicted and will want to build more. The last thing you want to do is start with something so complicated it makes you give up.
Here are the various skills and levels of amp building:
- Assembly.
- Not getting killed by high voltage.
- Debugging.
- Not getting killed by high voltage.
- Sourcing parts from scratch.
- Making your own chassis.
- Making your own cab.
- Designing your own amp.
Sounds like you're ready for the first item. I'm going to suggest the second and forth items are the most important, because if you don't get that right, you'll never get to the other levels. Debugging is a lot easier on simpler designs, you don't want to build your first amp and give up because there are too many variables.
My advice would be to maybe build a kit first, that way you don't need to worry about skills five through seven. And it should be something simple, like a Fender champ or tweed.
You might be ahead of the curve if you've sourced your own parts for pedals. http://www.rjguitars.com has a great selection of sort of partial kits. You could get a chassis and iron from him. His prices are quite good and he is a regular here.
Successfully building your first amp is a special thing, the only way I can describe it is by an old joke my Dad used to tell. "How can you spot a happy motorcyclist? He has bugs on his teeth."
When you get it working you'll be grinning ear to ear.
I think there are quite a few guys here that built a rocket as their first amp. That is more complicated than a Champ, but if you feel your debugging skills have developed from building pedals that didn't work the first time you might be ready to tackle a Rocket.
I hope this helps. I encourage you to pursue this, because it can be a great source of joy and sense of accomplishment. If you gig, having someone complement you on your tone is always awesome, but especially awesome when the amp you are playing through is one you've built.
There are plenty of great, friendly, and knowledgable guys around here that will help you debug things if you have a problem.
Lastly I'll give you a Nietzsche quote to guide you:
"He who would learn to fly one day must learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying."
Here are the various skills and levels of amp building:
- Assembly.
- Not getting killed by high voltage.
- Debugging.
- Not getting killed by high voltage.
- Sourcing parts from scratch.
- Making your own chassis.
- Making your own cab.
- Designing your own amp.
Sounds like you're ready for the first item. I'm going to suggest the second and forth items are the most important, because if you don't get that right, you'll never get to the other levels. Debugging is a lot easier on simpler designs, you don't want to build your first amp and give up because there are too many variables.
My advice would be to maybe build a kit first, that way you don't need to worry about skills five through seven. And it should be something simple, like a Fender champ or tweed.
You might be ahead of the curve if you've sourced your own parts for pedals. http://www.rjguitars.com has a great selection of sort of partial kits. You could get a chassis and iron from him. His prices are quite good and he is a regular here.
Successfully building your first amp is a special thing, the only way I can describe it is by an old joke my Dad used to tell. "How can you spot a happy motorcyclist? He has bugs on his teeth."
When you get it working you'll be grinning ear to ear.
I think there are quite a few guys here that built a rocket as their first amp. That is more complicated than a Champ, but if you feel your debugging skills have developed from building pedals that didn't work the first time you might be ready to tackle a Rocket.
I hope this helps. I encourage you to pursue this, because it can be a great source of joy and sense of accomplishment. If you gig, having someone complement you on your tone is always awesome, but especially awesome when the amp you are playing through is one you've built.
There are plenty of great, friendly, and knowledgable guys around here that will help you debug things if you have a problem.
Lastly I'll give you a Nietzsche quote to guide you:
"He who would learn to fly one day must learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying."
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Re: Newbie seeks advice on first build.
I did a Liverpool kit from RJ as my first build, and have followed up with a rocket kit as well.
Having the kits are nice so you don't have to worry if you sourced the right parts or not etc. Follow the build guides, post pics, and ask questions here on the forum. It's a great time, my only regret is I waited so long to start
Sean
Having the kits are nice so you don't have to worry if you sourced the right parts or not etc. Follow the build guides, post pics, and ask questions here on the forum. It's a great time, my only regret is I waited so long to start
Sean