Anyone try a smokey mini amp?

[MattAnonymous]

I believe the address is www.smokeyamps.com .  They have some made of cigarette boxes, are these sturdy?  How many watts are the amps and what do they sound like?

[bobbletrox]

http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/folkurban/fuzz/smokeyclone.gif

I don't know how loud they are, but I'd prefer a volume pot to an output jack.

[Peter Snowberg]

I've been building similar 386 based amps since 1987 and I love 'em.

The main problem with the basic 386 amp is the low input impedance of about 50K. This kills the highs so they aren't good for clean stuff, but it's an advantage if you want dirt. The headroom is really low so they break up (distort) really easily and the distortion is really good as my tastes go. It has its own character.... it's unlike a diode clipper or a fuzzface. The sound is much more distortion than fuzz.

If you want something even better from the same family, build a Little Gem from http://www.runoffgroove.com or even better, a Ruby which is the same thing with a high impedance buffer in front of it. You'll love it!

When it comes to speakers, little ones are of little value other than portability. Hook the same amp to a 10 inch speaker and it's LOUD! It's amazing what 700mW can do with good speakers attached. I play a similar amp to the Ruby through the 2x12 cabinet of my Fender Twin Reverb and it sounds fantastic. The same amp through a 3 inch speaker sounds like tin junk. If you want great tone and low enough volume to not make your neighbors hate you, just add a 500 ohm pot in series with one of the speaker leads. That will bring the volume down to night-time levels and still sound good.

There are a couple versions of the 386 chip and a couple makers. I prefer the JRC386BD because you can power it with 18 volts and the distortion is nice and well... distorted . The second runner up is the LM386N-4 which is also an 18 volt capable chip. The next one down is the JRC386B and finally comes the LM386N-3 and LM386-1. The last three are all lower voltage chips and work great too. I still prefer the breakup in the JRC chips overall. Note: This like has no connection to what JRC did with 4558s. It's from taste testing the 386 offerings.

Build a Ruby and boogie down disco warrior.

Take care,
-Peter

[thumposaurus]

I've had one for years, it now powers my talkbox ever since the case fell apart. They sound good for what they are. I think the Little Gem over at runoff groove is basically the same circuit, with a few controls added for more flexability.

[MarkB]

I have a real Smokey - powers my Rivera cab quite nicely - pretty cool tone, too!

Makes a great stocking stuffer.
"-)