I am completely new to the concept of building an amp, but I am pretty excited about it. Would love to try to build the Dumble clone, I stumbled upon them last night by accident and am now obsessed. I have to have one. Buying one (real or clone) is pretty much out of the question since the price is too great for me but and I have read of guys building a successful clone for about 300-500 dollars.
I was wondering thought is there a good place to go to learn to read the schematics? Maybe a thread on here, I tried to search for something but the search was not working for me.
Might anyone have a bill of materials also?
Considering this is my first build, I have no idea of what is needed.
From the threads I have read, you all seem to be pretty able minded when it come to building an amp and only hope I can somehow biscuit my way in and soak up some of that gravy.
In my mind I figure If I can create something that make some kind of noise, no matter how freaking sweet or how terrible...I will be heading in the right direction.
I am completely new to the concept of building an amp, but I am pretty excited about it. Would love to try to build the Dumble clone, I stumbled upon them last night by accident and am now obsessed. I have to have one. Buying one (real or clone) is pretty much out of the question since the price is too great for me but and I have read of guys building a successful clone for about 300-500 dollars.
Not likely unless you can find a really cheep donor amp. In general building is not cheeper than buying a production amp.
I was wondering thought is there a good place to go to learn to read the schematics? Maybe a thread on here, I tried to search for something but the search was not working for me.
Might anyone have a bill of materials also?
Considering this is my first build, I have no idea of what is needed.
From the threads I have read, you all seem to be pretty able minded when it come to building an amp and only hope I can somehow biscuit my way in and soak up some of that gravy.
In my mind I figure If I can create something that make some kind of noise, no matter how freaking sweet or how terrible...I will be heading in the right direction.
-CP
If you're still interested grab a few books on vintage amps, tweaking and repairing guitar amps. Torres has one that's not 100% perfect but covers the basics pretty well.
Yeah, with a cab you are looking at more like $900-1000.
Pretty ambitious build for a first timer if you don't have any background in electronics.
My first tube amp build was a Brown Note D'Lite.
And I am glad I bought a kit.
It's a nightmare to try to source all the parts and you will have to buy from several vendor's to get it all.
The shipping alone from three or four vendor's is going to add up quickly.
Chassis, transformers, tubes, small components, hardware, all add up quickly.
Plus you will not have any instructions and while this group is very knowledgeable, they will not hold your hand while you try to build it.
Do you have any electronic knowledge?
Do you know how to solder well?
If right now you can't read a schematic, you need to buy some books on tube theory besides basic electronics theory.
There is a lot more to it than just taking a box of parts and cobbling them together.
I would recommend you start with a simple kit like a Champ or Deluxe amp kit.
Allen sells good Fender style amps with instructions.
Weber sells kits, although some parts are not of great quality.
Or maybe to get your soldering chops down buy a pedal kit from BYOC.
These amps are not that simple to build.
An excellent book for somebody new to tubes is Dave Hunter's "The Guitar Amp Handbook".
He takes you through all the stages of an amp and explains each one very well. There is even a amp near the back that you can build.
My first build was the Trainwreck Liverpool which was a fun build. But I have been working on tube amps my whole life and I am now 52. I think you should start with a fender champ amp kit from many of the sources. The dumble is a very involved project for a first build. But I don't want to discourage you and you seem to have some excitement and that is good.
You really need to get some tube amp books to read while building your project and ask many questions on this forum. You can build an amp for about $500-$600 without head cab and without speaker cab. But you can get a small amp kit for way under that price. Google tube guitar amp kits.
You can get schematics and info by following the Dumble discussions and Dumble files section.
I don't know. If he's looking for the Dumble sound, why not go with a D'Lite kit? I think the part with the most potential for difficulty skill-wise would be soldering up the toggle switches.
CP, you might also check out the kits from trinityamps.com. Stephen has some really nice products, and he does hold your hand when you need it.
The teacher in me believes knowledge is best acquired from concrete experience. I believe if you start trying it, you will learn to do it.
+1 buy a full dlite kit - get a cab too! You will end up with a fantastic looking and sounding amp. They (brownote) have a great forum to help with the building. Then once its working right you can get great help here tweaking it.
No the bare bones is not what you want.
This kit includes:Chassis, transformers & board kit.
That's what it means, you get a bare chassis, the transformers and the circuit boards with no components.
You have the choice of the D'Lite 22 or 44.
The 22 is 22 watts with two 6V6 power tubes.
The 44 is 44 watts (roughly) with two 6L6 power tubes.
There is the Super Deluxe 44 for $1035 or the Standard kit for $999.
Both of these come with the head cab.
If you want a combo cab, it costs more still.
Also the 44 comes wih a dual primary OT so that if you choose, you can run 6V6 tubes if you like.
why would i want to spend 1000 of my hard earned money on an amp that i have to put together? if it was like 300 dollar investment, great, that is not so bad. but if it takes 1000 dollars to buy a kit of an amp i want that i still have to put together with no experience, which most likely will get messed up some how, it would probably just make more sense for me to put another 200 down and buy the amp that i was that is already built.
i uderstand it is probably about the joy and happiness and sense of accomplishment when the project is finished, and i love that feeling, i guess i just underestimated the whole concept. i know the tone i want, there is no amp that i can think of within my price range of achieving it, hence why i figured building one would be cheaper for me.
spaceace1122 wrote:the more i look into this the less i actually think I will end up trying to build one. 1000 dollars for an amp that i have to put together. wow
i was figuring i get a schematic....go to radio shack grab some odds and ends and what not and in a few days...bam...some kinda of amp is made
i don't really care about a cab or anything like that, i have carpentry skills i can build my own cabinet.
i don't know...has anyone built an amp with just stuff they got at radio shack or comparable store?
You're joking right? IF it was that simple why would amps cost thousands of $$.
Seriously, think before you type, this post is insulting to everyone on this board, especally the folks who do this for a living.
Excuse me Bob, sorry for everyone I have insulted or offended with my inferior knowledge of amp building.
Wow ask a question and get jumped on.
I wasn't trying to "offend" anyone, just trying to get ideas for this, I come here with no knowledge of anything with this field. I have nothing but respect for those who do know how to build an amp, that rocks.
I was looking for a project since I am bored, stumbled on the amp, and figured why not try. It's the same thing from when I built my first guitar, was bored figured, why not. Surprisingly it turned out playable, since it's too cold to build another guitar in my garage thought an amp might be a nice subject to study in.
