Valve amplifier for stompboxes

[luap77]

Hi everyone,

I've built a few of the wonderful projects discussed here (Fuzz, Distortion, boost) and have finally worked out that my solid state amp is not doing them justice...at all!!!

I would like to build myself a valve amplifier (or at the very least, a valve preamp to plug into a solid state poweramp) and am getting totally lost in the sea of mostly unverified information on the web! I'd love to hear from people who have built tube amps (for guitar and stompbox use) as to which one you'd recommend - i.e what actually works, sounds half decent etc. Pictures, schematics or project plans, links to relevant sites etc would be very much appreciated.

BTW, I live in Australia and we have 240V mains voltage.

Thanks in advance.

Paul E

[cakeworks]

i'm an aussie too (and the ashes are ours baby)

get yourself over to ceriatone.com I reckon, they sell power transformers for australia and they have pretty top-knotch kits too so check them out.
also check out 18watt.com, its the place for 18watt marshall diyers and fender 5E3 builders are welcome (more or less) to share the frustrations and rewards of diy.

[John Lyons]

I hate to take up all your free time by giving you this link but...   AX84.com !!!

John

[petemoore]

  The first one I built with no problems, a 5e3 I'd ordered from Torres.
 Sounded good but got the "HB" mod, and that sounds great with my SC/HB guitars...IIRC it was making the input and preamp staging caps all .047uf instead of .1uf
 It took me about 2 days to 'finish' [of course I was highly stoked to continue until done] pushing hard and retrofitting a chassis I had laying around. I put some JJ's 6v6's in and love that amp.
 The second one I build with no problems, A 5e3 I requested NOT BE SHIPPED from Torres...[I asked if I'd ordered one, told 'no'....then I ordered one and asked they check the credit card, shipping adress And Name to be sure to SEND ONLY 1 here...]
 It recieved a nice aluminum chassis.
 I put a '7.5w' mod on the output tubes inputs...dialing left tube only /right tube only / both / in varying amounts. Nice mod !
 This one was also revoiced, I started putting in some .022uf's, .039uf's...swapping/swapping/settling on the .047uf's.
 These amps sound great, and allow me to get the headroom where I can find it on stage...loud band and you might want two...or a 22w or 30w amp...depending on what you use it for/how you use it.
 For output tube distortion [which is always near' @15w], it's very easy to get, I crank it up 'a little bit' [amps known for sensative/interactive controls] through 2x12''s [many choose original type 1x12'' combo cabinet] and the distortion is right there...expect it won't sound like a 'stompbox distorter'.
 Most of the reviews I read on the 5e3 forum relate the amp/speaker experiences, but I'm finding the distortion available using stompboxes to help 'em distort great...I love these amps...having the headroom nice and low...the 'change in attitude' is copious, it responds to input levels...
 And because of that ^, it will not produce a loud, clean, SPANK. It will spank perfectly...at a certain level...but try to 'push' a big clean spanky note out of it, well the 'push' turns into 'other content'...distortion...very cool and all, will not do BIG Clean as loud as a bigger amp.
 That's why I have a second amp [and second 2x12'' cabinet] and an instrument MIC/Cable, the Blue Speaker Mics' up nicely.
 BeeZ kneeeZ ... I have the stereo amps/ two phaser/ buncha gain choices in the PB setup in the 16 x 16 room...I could use a bigger room.

[fixr1984]

Here is a thread from about a week ago. There are some recomedations
from people as well as a few links. Hope this helps a little bit.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=51772.0

[rockgardenlove]

The Fender 5e3 is a very common first build.  I've built one and I love it.
The Fender Champ and Gibson GA40(same thing realy) are also a nice starter project.

[Rafa]

The P1 seems the one with most info avilable
Cheers
Rafa

[MartyMart]

Try this : www.ampmaker.com   ( UK based )
Project : SE-5A ... a 5 watt all valve single ended amp kit, with step by step instructions etc.
I made one a few months ago and it sounds superb ... really VERY good tone and drive.
Has a TMB tone stack and can be tweaked and later turned into an 18 watt if you like, using the
same chassis 

HIGHLY recommended and Barry ( who runs it ) is a super bloke.

MM

[JHS]

Most of the high power "tube overdrives" had been dropped from sale after a short time (MESA, SOLDANO, ...)

All those pedals are classical tube-preamps in a floor housing, not tube-overdrives, and are good in front of a small Tweed amp or when plugged into the power amp in or to a tube powerslave. You can plug a std. 2/3/4 channal 19" tube git-preamp in the amp input, it has the same effect and produce the same sound like most of those pedals.

All those high power tube pedals generate triode-preamp distortion, nothing more but with very good dynamic response compared to low voltage tube pedals. A lot of them have no output buffer.

A SS amp is not able to reproduce the dynamic response of those pedals, or in other words it sound solid state even with a t-pedal in front of it.

The MESA V1 was the only pedal so far with attenuated output and a special frequency response (like the ROG emulators) and it is suitable as an OD-pedal (if you like the Recto-sound). The Soldano GTO is nearly identical but doesn't have this compensated frequency response a non attenuated output (nearly useless in front of common amps).


I you want to build such a tube-pedal take the V1-schem as a basic (the output section is very good). Alter the circuit to your taste.

All in all a ROG emulator on 28-32V DC has the same headroom and an equal quality sound so for me there's no need for a high-power tube OD/Dist-pedal.

JHS

[Rafa]

All in all a ROG emulator on 28-32V DC has the same headroom and an equal quality sound so for me there's no need for a high-power tube OD/Dist-pedal.

Wow I thought ROG emulators lose headroom but increased gain when increasing the voltage
Rafa

[petemoore]

  Pick your stuff out.
 >How 'loud' with what speakers?
 How the amp is applied has alot to do with how loud it sounds, whether you can achieve a good clean cut to distortion sound 'work' on stage...once you get past a basic stage sound 15w will probably have you wanting for more.
 Basically the amp sets up for 'x' tones best at a certain volume level, the dynamic range is such that lots of cool tube sound responses can be fascilitated with picking strength/vol/effect settings...less than that volume sounds different/more than that volume> response is different...this is why I have 15w [1amp/cab] and 30w [2 amps/2cabs] options...mostly I set for sound, decide whether to put the mic into PA on it.
 >What kind of tubes? [El84's are known for their less than ruggedness and liked for their ability to distort heavily, el34's...plenty of use/reviews on this one and 6l6, 6v6's are what I chose because they can be made rugged, and distort good. 12ax7's...plenty of info on these...
 Rectifier tube for softer attacks? you can always go to a copper cap plug in SS Recto.
 Frequency response, Distortion/Compression of tube amps can be 'scaled in ratio' pretty much...ie a small tube amp cranked can have all the characteristics of a big tube amp cranked...at a lower volume/without the massive power of a huge amp...'specially prepared for the hearing impaired'...being played in a smaller room instead of an outdoor arena or exit ramp.
 ...ie why have a tube amp if it's not pushed to exhibit all the cool characteristics tube amps are supposedly known for?
 

[frickecello]

I think you should be used to valves first and build a simple project first, you are lucky to have a 240V mains voltage! In some cases you wont need a power transformer! (if you choose diode rectification) Ive built the preamp section of the AX84 high-octane and put it in an stompbox... at first I wanted a "PURE VALVE" distortion but, I was cheating myself because I like modern solid state metal distortion (most people do), so I decided to build a clean all valve 2 stage preamp with a valve rectifier, I added a gain knob just in case I want valve overdrive (with the excess compression of high gain valve distortion), Im very happy with the result, I run my preamp thru the effects loop of my solid state amp, and use the distortion channel of my amp, I get that valve response, and the rectifier gives additional valve mojo, if you want a copy of my schematic I can share it...

[alextheian-alex]

Hi everyone,

I've built a few of the wonderful projects discussed here (Fuzz, Distortion, boost) and have finally worked out that my solid state amp is not doing them justice...at all!!!

I would like to build myself a valve amplifier (or at the very least, a valve preamp to plug into a solid state poweramp) and am getting totally lost in the sea of mostly unverified information on the web! I'd love to hear from people who have built tube amps (for guitar and stompbox use) as to which one you'd recommend - i.e what actually works, sounds half decent etc. Pictures, schematics or project plans, links to relevant sites etc would be very much appreciated.

BTW, I live in Australia and we have 240V mains voltage.

Thanks in advance.

Paul E

What kind of sound are you looking for?  I have built literally dozens of tube amps and preamps.   I can sketch up something if you want.

[d95err]

I would like to build myself a valve amplifier (or at the very least, a valve preamp to plug into a solid state poweramp)

The poweramp is where the really big difference is between tubes and solid state. So, if you only build a preamp, you may not notice much difference. Go ahead and build a complete amp! You can always put a simple attenuator or a dummy load and a line out on it if you want to play quietly.

It's actually simpler than building a standalone preamp. There are lots of well known good sounding complete amps to build, while tube guitar preamps and overdrives have a more uncertain record.

A 0.1-1W amp works well for playing at home, while 10-15W works for playing with a band.
(Unless you're into modern Metal, where you need lots of power to get the hard transient response. I.e. for Metal, the poweramp needs to run clean).

[Cliff Schecht]

I hate to take up all your free time by giving you this link but...   AX84.com !!!

John

It's so true.

[mac]

And why not simply buying an Epiphone Valve Jr?

mac

[MetalGod]

In my experience I find that lower volume amps (under 15w) don't have anywhere near enough headroom to sound good with stompboxes.  This is my own opinion however, and some may like that squishy-overdriven amp pushed with a fuzz tone (think Neil Young), but it doesn't work for me. 

I think an AC30 run at around half volume is an excellent base for adding pedals, as is a 50w 'plexi' on half volume.

My own personal preference is for 100w heads and 4x12s since you get that thump in the bass end - this is something I can get at any volume since I'm using the amp clean then adding fuzzboxes for dirt (hardly rocket science).

Hope that helps.

[luap77]

Hi,

Thanks for the renewed interest in my post. Being my first valve amp, I'm basically looking for well documented build (schemtic, layout with wiring diagram etc) for a low wattage (bedroom) all tube amp. Something like a few watts or so should be enough.

If anybody has electronic versions of builds for such an amp that you are willing to share, could you please e-mail me the details:

paulems_2###yahoo*com*au

Please replace "###" with "@" and replace each of the two "*" with a "."

Thank you kindly!

Paul E

[d95err]

Hi,

Thanks for the renewed interest in my post. Being my first valve amp, I'm basically looking for well documented build (schemtic, layout with wiring diagram etc) for a low wattage (bedroom) all tube amp. Something like a few watts or so should be enough.

If anybody has electronic versions of builds for such an amp that you are willing to share, could you please e-mail me the details:

I'll repeat the www.ax84.com link. You'll find all you need there. The AX84 Firefly is a 0.5W amp that can be built with really cheap parts. It should be good for some crunch at near bedroom volume. Another option is something like an AX84 P1 at around 5W. You'd need a fuzz or overdrive to get crunch at bedroom volume, but then again fuzzes and overdrives will sound a lot better driving a tube amp than a solid state amp.

For a first project, I'd recommend buying a complete kit. That will give you good instructions and you don't have to worry about finding all the parts.

[yobleduwop]

I'm in Australia to and am planning to build a valve amp i'm looking at an ac-30 amp of some kind,
heres some links i've found to to be useful
www.evatco.com.au good selection of books and parts
www.retrosound.com.au
www.harbuch.com.au (make good transformers this lowers your overseas postage cost.
as far as a small amp to build I've heard the 1.5watt firefly amp is good or you could go bigger like a 15 watts ac-30 amp or newer boutique model.