I really want a tube amp. Specifically I want a Fender. They're expensive though. I have a Fender Ultimate Chorus and it's just too big and it's SS. I'm looking for a Champ or Vibro Champ - basically the black/silver face era (though I'd take a cheap tweed).
My question is would a DIY Champ kit actually sound like a Champ? It appears that the "savings" of a kit might not be all that great by the time you buy the parts to make it sound like a Fender.
I have a Marshall AVT50 head and 4x12 cab. Tube pre amp and solid state amp, I bought it just after high school and for the price then I felt it was a good deal. It sounds pretty good but I'm not gigging or anything though.
Building your own amp is worth it if you can just for the cool factor though.
I like the idea of building my own amp, but I ended up just buying a tube amp. I bought an Epiphone Valve Jr. and for the price, you couldn't build your own.
A DIY champ kit would likely sound much better than a silverface champ. Those silverface champs ran the B+ voltages way too high (IMO) and are brittle and very clean sounding and are a bit harsh when they do break up. Most of the clones would be tweed champ style. No tone control, just one volume and breakup starting around 3 on the knob.
The best way to DIY an amp like a champ is to eschew the kits and reclaim/harvest the iron from old radios and other gear.
I have a slightly modified 70's Vibrochamp that I could let go of. It has a few extra holes in the chassis from past mods and a "tweed" switch that takes the tone controls out of the circuit and a switch that turns off the negative feedback and dirtys up the sound a bit.
It depends on what you are doing with it. I have a 5w Marshall Class 5 for just jamming at home and it sounds awesome. It was maybe $300 bucks new? Breaks up nicely and has that nice tube warm tone clean. It does everything I wanted a tube amp for and i didn't have to mess with anything.
I would only build an amp if I was looking for a really really specific tone. Like a '59 Bassman 4x10 build but not for a 1x10 practice amp.
I would suggest that even if the values were the same the construction techniques for the various caps and transformers would have a large influence on sound feel. Are those transformers even made anymore? You might have to hand wind your own!
Wouldn't overdriving the tubes produce some desirable characteristics? Depending on what you are trying to do. I like that blue glow!
Look at what Roy Buchanan did just by turning his amp up to 11 and not using any preprocessing! Alot depends on your style and the tone you want. You can only find this by experimenting and finding what sounds good to you.
In my eyes I like to see/hear someone who does it with a basic setup by feel, rather than racks of preprocessing gear and special amps... This may not be as easy for the artist but it is more repeatable and should be less (hardware dependant) failure prone. And can be done on other's gear reducing the amount of crap you have to drag around.
The thing about alot of those OLD tube amp sounds is that they sound amazing because you have aging capacitors that actually give nice characteristcs for break up BUT to get that sounds they had to be full blast high wattage setups.
That's why I love my 5W. It has all the controllable breakup at reasonable volume levels so you get that nice tone without making your ears bleed.
Marshall Class 5 with a Boss blues driver sounds real darn nice to my ears with my CIJ Mustang and even my MIM Strat.
Also look at an Orange Tiny Terror combo. Switchable wattage is nice.
I think I've decided to just buy one unless I can find a cheap/free TV or similar with the transformers and tubes. Mouser has the transformers, but by the time you buy the parts, you're at $300 and a very nice stock Vibro Champ is listed locally for that. One that's been modded or is a little rough would be much less.
I just want a ~5W practice amp with a single 8-ish" speaker.
Apis_Mellifera wrote: but by the time you buy the parts, you're at $300 and a very nice stock Vibro Champ is listed locally for that.
You should snap that up! $300 is a screaming deal. These things are trading on the west coast for over $500 for worn silverface models. Really clean ones are topping $600. I could get $275 for mine at any guitar shop and they would resell it for more.
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