It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:08 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 58 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 1:21 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
No457 Snowy wrote:
Mate here is a build log I did of that kit on this forum. Don't fear the PCB, it is Military grade, double sided thick traces, very heavy duty, NOTHING like what you might see in a Blues Junior for example. PCB's are fine if they are done right, look at Toneking amps for example.

Here's one of my builds of the Tube Depot Kit.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=53481&hilit=Snowy

I built a couple of those amps and can vouch that they sound awesome, one of the best amps I've heard actually.

Another great company for kits is Trinity amps in Canada, superb quality, very detailed build manual and there is a supportive forum where other builders of the same amp will give helpful advise. The owner of Trinity, Stephen logs in every day and is very customer support oriented. People often overlook all that stuff and just focus on kit prices, but trust me if you have issues or need advice, suddenly it has real value.

Here's their kit.
http://www.trinityamps.com/phpbb/viewto ... f=6&t=1036

Snowy


+1 I also built the tube depot 5e3 kit and it's PCB first rate. The board being delicate in this kit is pure nonsense. Like Snowy said the PCB is Mil Spec, double sided, plated through holes and wide thick traces. My 5e3 clone also sounds awesome and is my main goto amp. I didn't want to put a Jenson MOD speaker in it so I loaded it with a Weber 12a125a Alnico. Very sweet combination. It's bee gigged for over a year with not a single issue.

If you have never built an amp before, be careful because many kits come with little more than a schematic and wiring diagram. The order in which you install the components is extremely important. Tube Depot comes with a complete and detailed assembly manual.

Another company that sells amp kite is MODKITS DIY. They are true point to point kits with complete instructions too. Their 5 watt amp kit was my first and is a really nice sounding practice/small gig/ recording amp.

My next amp kit will be the Tube Depot Marshall 1974x 18 watt clone kit. I'll be doing that in a month or two.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 8:05 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:59 am
Posts: 420
Thanks for the recommendations, guys. Going to go with the tube depot tweed.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 12:42 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
I think you'll be happy.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 4:18 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:59 am
Posts: 420
Ordered it without cab or speakers. Should be fun. Plus my Blues Jr. is broken until Bill M actually sends me my order (5+ weeks and counting).


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:34 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
The cabinet is actually really nice. The tweed on mine was perfect and it's solid pine, finger jointed with a birch plywood baffle. It's a very resonant cabinet and very light. If I'm not mistaken, I believe it comes from Mojotone.

Once you get the 5e3 going, I doubt you'll be playing the Blues Jr. :wink:

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 5:38 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:30 pm
Posts: 792
Location: A Land Downunder
The cabs that come with the Tube Depot kit are beautifully made finger-jointed pine with great looking Tweed, grab one if you can, it was definitely one of the stand-out things that impressed me about the kit. I even had a Studio Slips cover made for mine.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 1:05 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:59 am
Posts: 420
It is arriving tomorrow. I didn't get a cabinet or a speaker. I have other plans for a cabinet. And I expect to plug it into existing speaker cabs.

Looks fun. I'll take an inventory. Buy whatever tools I need and give it a start this weekend.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 2:29 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
Just take your good old time and triple check everything every step of the way. I measured all the resistors and caps just to be sure they were in spec. Mine fired up first shot with no problems at all.

Good Luck!!

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 10:33 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:30 pm
Posts: 792
Location: A Land Downunder
+1

Good luck with the build, as Supro says, take your time and work methodically, measuring parts (especially resistors) as you go is a good way to double check they are in spec, and also confirm you have read the codes correctly (or someone may have labelled it wrong on the little bag - it does happen).

Just FYI, Mojotone also have a pretty nice looking "Head" cab for a 5E3, very similar to the one Fender issued not long ago. That would be perfect for moving between and using with different cabs as desired.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 9:12 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:59 am
Posts: 420
Screwed up one solder joint. In my defense my soldering iron was wigging out at the time. The rest aren't as neat as I would like but appear to be quite solid. Called it a night. That's the opening resistor section down. On to the caps. Assuming I have a working iron tomorrow....


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 7:51 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:59 am
Posts: 420
Hmmmm.... 2 different sizes of 22uF 500v caps in this kit. 1 marked with a 12 and 2 marked with a 14. Anyone know what the difference is (other than "2")?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:32 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:30 pm
Posts: 792
Location: A Land Downunder
When you say 2 different sizes, do you mean physical size?

You should have a total of Three (3) 22uF / 500V caps. They are the 3 power supply filter caps and they are large, all the same size, and should look like this:

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:08 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 9:59 am
Posts: 420
They're large. They are all 22uf 500v. But one is larger than the other two. The only noticeable difference marking-wise is the larger one has a 12 on it and the smaller two have a 14.

Image
Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:38 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 2:30 pm
Posts: 792
Location: A Land Downunder
That should be fine, so long as all 3 are marked 22uF / 500V. Must have been from different manufacturing batches where the outer casing was sized differently. Make sure you orient them the correct way as far as -ve and +ve, they are Electrolytic and have a polarity. Also good practice to mount the caps so you can easily read the 22uF 500V printed values.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Wanna build an amp kit
Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:58 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:45 pm
Posts: 852
Location: SoCal323
I would measure them just to make sure the odd sized one was not mislabeled.

_________________
Its a lifestyle.....

Image


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 58 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: