About Amps

[joeloek]

So i was thinking of building myself an amp from scratch and i've never really created my own circuit before, so naturally i have just had a few questions:
1. how is the signal passed from the guitar into the circuit?
2. i know that it sends a signal that's too weak to be useful, and an op amp or transistor series would remedy this problem, so the question is would a tl082 op amp work?
3. and what would be the difference tone wise between IC or Tranny?
4. how do i know where i need capacitors and how do i calculate their values?
thanks in advance guys

[anchovie]

By "created my own circuit", do you mean you've never designed anything or never built anything? I think this may be too ambitious for you. You've not mentioned how many watts you're thinking of, and depending on that might be heading into territory that involves transformers and mains electricity.

Looking at your questions, it's not even clear whether you mean a complete guitar amp (which would include a preamp) or just a power amp. Especially 2) - who says a guitar signal is too weak? I have a 100w power amp built from a kit that has the maximum input spec'd as +/-0.6v - for high-output humbuckers i'd have to attenuate that!

4) is too vague to be answerable. Start small with some simple pedals to build up your knowledge, read the FAQs linked underneath the logo at the top of the forum and get on to the big stuff later.

[GibsonGM]

You could search for an LM386 (IC) based headphone amp, and by building it from the schematic, you'd begin to learn about how the different components affect tone, what each is doing, and so on.  Then on to transistors, and effects, preamps, then amps.  Good way to get into the game!   +1 for ambition, get started reading and building!  )

[shredgd]

1. how is the signal passed from the guitar into the circuit?

1. Cables?..

Seriously, you really have too much to learn before attempting to build an amp.
Do as suggested, start with some battery-powered circuits to learn some basics. For the moment, FORGET the idea of building a real amp, I feel your life would be at serious risk with high-voltages!!

Giulio

[Wild E]

You could search for an LM386 (IC) based headphone amp, and by building it from the schematic, you'd begin to learn about how the different components affect tone, what each is doing, and so on.  Then on to transistors, and effects, preamps, then amps.  Good way to get into the game!   +1 for ambition, get started reading and building!  Shocked)

For the moment, FORGET the idea of building a real amp, I feel your life would be at serious risk with high-voltages!!

Sound advice here!(get it?) But seriously, I'm an electrician and I can tell you first hand that high voltages, even household voltages, are extremely dangerous! I'm wanting to build a tube amp myself but I decided to start small and work my way up. You have to know what you are doing especially with electricity.

[joeloek]

yeah actually my bad i didn't specify that its gonna be like a little 9v portable amp. like with an old 8 ohm computer speaker lol i'm waaayyy too n00b to build a high voltage amp
i've built a couple fuzz circuits of other people's design, and those turned out fine, so i just wanted to learn a little by trying to design and build my own basic circuit.
main thing now though, figuring out capacitor stuff...
thanks for the input guys

[Bubesz]

Then try a Little Gem or a Ruby off ROG. I've built the Little Gem, it's VERY loud for only half watt power.