Wich 2xel84 2x12ax7 amp to build?

[cbass]

Its going to be a christmas present for my 14 year old.Who's guitar playing skills are quickly surpassin mine.(at least I can still kick his ass)
He's really into Hendrix,Sabbath,Zeppelin,Neil young etc.
He mainly use a strat and tele.With a Dano cool cat fuzz and a wah pedal and ross phaser.

I'm leaning torwads the 18 watt lite.Just wondering if there are any other amps i should be cosidering.They would need to interact well with a loud fuzz and his other effects.I'd like to keep it simple Volume/tone as the chassis I have is quite small.Though if the circuit looked intersting enuough I could cram treble/bass/cut controls.
I am also cosidering adding a PPIMV or perhaps VVR.So we don't get blown out of the house when he is practicing

[M Fowler]

For that type of music I prefer the Marshall IIB lite as well.

It has more then enough tone and watts to gig even. Great little amp.

Mark

[10thTx]

Just adding another choice to consider. I have not built it, but I think it would have reasonably decent headroom & nice overdrive both.

With respect, 10thtx

[rp]

For that type of music I prefer the Marshall IIB lite as well. It has more then enough tone and watts to gig even. Great little amp. Mark

What is this Lite of which yous speak? Is it just the 18W without the trem?

Matchless Spitfire might be more intriguing to a kid today. A bit more of that modern wham. Mark has a build I believe, maybe he can chime in on the differences. If you go Spitfire use the TDS/West trannie set.

For the music you mention I actually prefer 6V6 amps no contest. Warmer, fuller, richer more body. I get tired of the thinness of 2 X EL84 amps but never tire of 2 X 6V6 amps. I'm going to build a 5E3 for a friend's kid, I owe the dad money. A 5E3 ought to make a man out of him - the kid, not the dad!

[cbass]

Ok I'm gonna come out and be honest I bought RJ's budget project here
https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?t=15995
Its ok to laugh I'm a cheap bastard.I was really just looking for a cheap project to build with my boy.Its ok if its not the greatest tone of all time.I'm sure it will sound better than his littel SS amp.Plus now he won't be wanting to drag my amps around because his isn't loud enough.

I actualy went ahead and started the board for an 18 watt lite IIb.I will add a series parellel switch for the first tube.I am thinking of using a 6eu7 for the PI just cause have a few NOS matched triodes laying around.I will goahead and use a 5Y3GT rectifier

rp I love 6v6's too.But i lready have several 6v6 amps.i got a pretty good stash of various nos and used.But I've never owned an el84 amps so I want to try it.

10thtx That looks very interesting.Did that schematic evolve from something or simillar to another amp?

[cbass]

Sorry rp I should have posted the schematic here is a link to the schematic. http://mhuss.com/18watt/schematics/18wattLite2b.gif

[10thTx]

10thtx That looks very interesting.Did that schematic evolve from something or simillar to another amp?

It evolved from some communication I had with another amp builder about 4 yrs ago? While I have not built this specific amp, I have used the mosfet CF and I can't tell any difference in tone between a mosfet CF and a tube CF.

Since you specified two 12AX7's, and named some artists that your son liked that used Marshall amps (like Hendrix), I was trying to work within those parameters and offered this for consideration.

I presumed an 18watt idea would be a given and simply wanted to offer an alternative.

With respect, 10thtx

[cbass]

Thank you I will put that one in my files.I had read about using a mosfet for a CF .It makes since that it wouldn't really affect the town and it frees up a triode.Cool to see it implemented in a circuit.

Ha CF means something totally different at work

[Deric]

Can't go wrong with Lite IIb.

[10thTx]

I realized you've probably settled on the 18w Lite, so I am simply posting this to offer ideas for others interested in something other than an 18w.

Still staying within your two 12A_7 parameters ........

The tone stack is similar to the Dano Centurian and has a very warm tone to it, IMO. I think this could help eliminate some of the high end harshness that some EL84's may have. The SPDT is center off.

I have a 6V6 version of this amp that was somewhat similar and liked it alot. I think this would be a good sounding amp and possibly have more clean headroom than an 18w (maybe)?

With respect, 10thtx

[cbass]

10thTx That looks cool I will probaly at least borrow th MV.I was under the impression that a LTP could provide more headroom than a cathodyne inverter.Of course theres a lot of other factors.But I was under the impression tha a cathodyne will clip before the LTP.

Does anyone have any thoughts on adding another stage of filtering and droping the voltage for the preamptube?Might help tame some treble.
Anyone use a rangemaster with there 18 watt lite ?
I would just goahead and build it with 6v6's but I want to experince some el84 "chime" that everyone talks about.

[10thTx]

I actually built an amp and kept everything as "similar" as I could with the exception of cathodyne and LTPI to see what the difference was. What I mean by that is I used the same amount of gain stages and triodes into the PI & all the values stayed the same where possible.

I acknowledge that is an apples to orange comparison and perhaps not reliable since the topolgy changes.

There was a tonal difference but my impression was the LTPI sounded more "aggressive" between the two. Not necessarily more distorted or overdriven but more aggressive drive for lack of a better description.

Having said that, the reason I think this might have more headroom is because of the lower v1-3 & v1-8 cathode cap values and the Dano tone stack which has more loss insertion than the typical 18watt. Also the 10uf shared by the EL84's will have a softer tone than a 100uf+ type cap.

With respect, 10thtx

[jon]

a two bottle rocket, using a mosfet for the cathode follower.

[M Fowler]

I played through my recent 2061 bass/guitar Marshall type amp last night and yup the Lite IIb is the way to go.

I also built my Hammond AO-35 into a IIb but used parallel V1 for even more volume, maybe too much.

I built the two channel tremolo version as well which I enjoy but for your son the IIb would be perfect and pedal friendly. Keep it simple.

Funny but my Estey organ plexi amp doesn't sit well with me for some reason so I can't suggest that one.

I would like to build a mini JCM800 with four EL84's switchable to 2 EL84's.

The Matchless Spitfire while being a great amp and cuts through the stage mix it doesn't have that nice lower bass emphasis the IIb gets.

Mark

[cbass]

a two bottle rocket, using a mosfet for the cathode follower.

Good idea I'm not sure I could fit that in the chassis I have.I think I willstart using moset CF's on every build where it applies.With the cost of tubes and the real estate they take up it just doesn't make sense to use a tube for a CF