Where to begin?

[horseblanket]

At this point I am a bored old man.
I have built up a few pedals and rewired guitars in my time, but that is all.

Where does an old dog start with this sort of thing? I am not too picky about which style to build because at this point I just want to see if I can make something work.

I'll be hanging around. Any advice, warnings or digressions are welcome.

best!

[pompeiisneaks]

One of the best amps to start with is a fender F51 Champ, you could also look at the dumble tweedle dee champ in the thread here, as it's got very minor tweaks from the original. Either way it's a low component count, and a great sounding single ended amp to try out as a first step. Just make sure to watch plenty of stuff on safety. The other stuff you've mentioned working on is all low voltage, tube amps sit at up to 700VDC sometimes (rare, but possible) and usually are around 450VDC in most cases. Make sure you know how to safely discharge filter caps, and how to safely interact with the amp in a way that won't kill you .

Otherwise, enjoy the hobby, it's addictive!

~Phil

[ChopSauce]

Buy a kit from a supportive vendor?

[Phil_S]

Buy a kit. Look for an amp with a low parts count. Make sure it comes with good instructions. Review/forums will help you vet your choice. Remember, the lowest price amp is not going to be the least expensive amp. You will learn a great deal from doing it. There are things you will learn to see and do. It is harder than it looks, but it is not that hard to do. Most of all, read everything you can on how to do this safely so that you live to build another. Obligatory warning: amp building is addictive. C'mon, whatcha waiting for?

[martin manning]

Pick something reasonably simple, but don’t build something you don’t want to play. If you give some idea of what interests you that will help. Many people have started with a 5E3 Deluxe, but if that’s not your thing...

[M Fowler]

Build your own not those Fender tight box builds.

Not sure why people recommend those for beginners, I'm building an 18w Marshall combo and that friggen tight chassis is getting me all upset again and I'm used to building in these tight chassis.
Built over 200 amps so far.

I recommend building the Trainwreck Rocket, because it is a great sounding amp and easy to build in the larger 17" x 8" x 2" chassis.
You don't have to get expensive transformers you can build a Rocket out of anything you have lying around or find some used iron.
Make it 18w or 30w your choice. Make it run EL84's, 6V6, 6L6GC or EL34's your choice.

Make the faceplate from wood or print a faceplate and cover it in clear plexi. Or paint your own faceplate, or just a label maker to identify controls.

Clear out the junk drawer project!

Watch Uncle Doug on youtube and see his past builds and you will understand more what I am talking about. Have Fun, Mark

[martin manning]

What’s the budget, and what tools do you have access to?

[horseblanket]

Haven’t done a full budget but I have some spare cash for this. Tools. Not much. Just a soldering station and some wire cutters.

[M Fowler]

Kits:

www.rjguitars.net

https://modulusamplification.com/ don't worry about not being in the USA shipping is reasonable and pricing is great along with stock or custom faceplates. He is a member on this forum too.

www.triodestore.com

Mark

[martin manning]

With limited tools and experience, a kit would probably be the way to go, but you could buy boards, chassis, etc., basically assembling your own kit. While the cost can be spread out over time, and may be lower, there is a learning curve there too, and you might end up laying out as much or more than the kit cost due to extra shipping and errors. If you want a production appearance you’ll need to source a finished cabinet, or at least one that is assembled but unfinished. The knowledge gained in gathering the parts may be worth the trouble. Assembling a kit in paint-by-number fashion will be quick and relatively fool-proof, but there is the possibility that you will learn little beyond the manual skills required. Choose your path according to your goals, and above all have some fun along the way.

[horseblanket]

so, an opportunity just came up.
A friend has a Traynor YBA4 that has been modded and is not working. He says he'll give it to me if I want to use it as a repair platform.

This seems cool and is near complete. it just has this issue with one tube pulsing and creating a weird trem like sound.
Any idea what that could be? Or would this be too much trouble and I should just start from scratch elsewhere?

[martin manning]

I thought about suggesting that you get a complete amp and start poking around in it, but thought better of it since older amps, which are much easier to work on, are getting pricy and hard to find. This Traynor would be an excellent candidate. https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetub ... ematic.pdf

If you don’t have one, your first expenditure should be a decent multimeter. You’d need that for a kit build too. Unless you want to spend more I’d recommend a Fluke 115. I just bought one to give to my son, and it seems like a pretty good meter.

[ChopSauce]

A repair platform? That sounds like a great starting point!

...

Watch Uncle Doug on youtube and see his past builds and you will understand more what I am talking about. Have Fun, Mark

I thought about Uncle Doug videos and reading a good printed book, also, as valuable starting points - and additions to building a kit.

Now, could anyone explain me what does "clear the junk drawer project" mean ? It doesn't translate really well into french

[martin manning]

Projet de bac de pièces de rechange...

The thing is, a beginner is not likely to have much in that way.

[ChopSauce]

Oops ... I thought "clear" related to the project, not the drawer