recommend a "safe" low watt amp build?

[chromesphere]

Hey everyone,
Not like i have time for this, but was curious if anyone would be able to recommend a voltage / power safe amp build?  I have never built an amp before and it might be a cool side project.  Obviously not keen on working on mains power so I was thinking, maybe something with a dedicated 18v dc input  (which i assume is still very much in the safe zone, even at 1 amp?) that would be cool!  Total noob at amps so sorry if these questions dont make any sense
Any recommendations would be great!
Paul

[J0K3RX]

Paul, you want solid state I'm guessing? Full amp/preamp setup or just a power amp?

[chromesphere]

AHH!  Yes i guess solid state would be the easiest to start off with!
Cheers,
Paul

[TWANGONE]

If you wanted to do a pretty good toob amp... an epi vj only needs it's caps drained to be safe.
low price good watts tons of mods.

[LucifersTrip]

the Ruby is always a good start, just ask Pinkjimi. It's what he uses in a bunch of his Stupid Pedal Tricks

http://www.runoffgroove.com/ruby.html

[psychedelicfish]

What is your definition of low wattage?
with an 18v supply could get you 5W@ 10% THD out of a TDA1905, and all you would need would be a buffer of some kind (the input sensitivity is about right for guitar levels, but the input impedance is only 100k).

[chromesphere]

I looked at the ruby, gee didnt know that was what jimi used in his videos!  I might look into that one, ticks all the boxes!
Cheers!
Paul

[Kipper4]

Check out the Deacy amp kit also over at KAT.com (not affilated)
Make a little treble booster and you have a great set up at 9volts.
It was my first build and it was a good starter for me.

[bluebunny]

Check out Rick's Murder One and Superfly mini tube amps.  Fairly safe and very cute.

[chromesphere]

Nice suggestions thanks!
I'm still thinking ruby is the way to go though...although im comfortable behind pedal electronics, as soon as i see 'high voltage' or voltage warnings i shy away.  Thats a terriority i have no experience with.  Maybe one day?
Paul

[garcho]

Tiny Giant! Full build thread. The Ruby is less of an amp and more like a distortion pedal with a speaker. Great project, just a limited IC.

[chromesphere]

That looks about the sort of difficulty that im after Garcho!  Wow 20w is good too And for the sake of $20, the kits cheap enough!  Now all ihave to find is an old loudspeaker / cabinet...and the power supply 
Paul

[Mustachio]

I don't have much experience with high voltage. I just built the Superfly though. Its pretty easy to stay away from the B+. I have never felt HV while working on any electronics. The last time I got hit with anything that hurt I was 13 just got out of the pool to turn off the heater and opened the box and flung my hand in with a stream of water and ZAP hahaha.

I've worked on a few amps changing filter caps and a few small components on the boards of a few amps. I just drained the caps first using a resistor and some insulated clips and some wire. Poked around with a wooden stick as well. One hand behind the back and one testing. But with the superfly I didn't Have to worry much just kept my fingers away from the B+ only touched it with the business end of a multi meter to test voltage. Easy peasy lemon squeezey .

It's a cool little tube amp has great overdriven tube sound. It will get relatively cleanish rolling off the vol. I wouldn't call it a clean amp at all When you roll off vol it will get you mild emough to pull off some chords that are define enough. What It's lacking for me at the moment is high end. I changed the C2 and C7 dropping the values down to 0.0022 and really very little to no change in tone. So still experimenting on getting more highs out of it. The way it is it sounds best is with the bridge pickup and even then it could use more high end , It has some bite because its the bridge pickup but it really should have more. So the neck/middle positions are really unusable for the most part.

It fits in a 1590B or even a 1590A if you wanna get crazy like Perro! Haha. But really I wouldn't be scared of it , I'd just be careful. I run mine off a 12v 1amp wallwart , it uses a ne555 based charge pump to get the B+ I have mine set to about 210v at the moment. Was running at 220v but now I'm thinking I should back off to 190v or so.

[Perrow]

Yeah, the Superfly is a nice first tube project, but build a Ruby and/or a Tiny Giant first.

As to the B+ of the Superfly, it only stung me once while testing it

[markeebee]

This is really simple, all-valve, runs on 18v laptop supply:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=96952.0

[therecordingart]

This might be an unpopular thought, but I say build a Firefly even though it is high voltage and tube. In general, you don't want to be poking around inside anything while power is applied...even if it is "safe"...it's good practice not to. Remove power from the circuit, build yourself a lead with a series resistor to drain the filter caps before you poke around, poke around and attach your measurement leads, and reapply power to the circuit once your limbs are out of the way. I feel like I learned quite a bit from my Firefly build because I had something to lose if I got careless.

The Tiny Giant is my next amp build. I have a couple of Future Kit FK604 amps that are about $10 and sound pretty good.