It's official. a tube amp kit build. Now for s.s. power amp kit to boost 5W.

[tonequester]

toinequester here.


I've decided on the mod 102 tube amp kit(5W.) for $215.00(may save 10% on sale). I found an old post with a good review and video deme by G.I.T. folks who put herthrough it's paces to my satisfaction, overdriven or clean ! So the project is not only going to be "build a tube amp kit", but also build a s.s. power amp kit that I can
use with it to boost volume/output to around the 20W. region. I very well may have to pay through the nose for an expensive line out, Z matching, signal attenutaing
do it all adaptor, but I already believe that there are other less expensive options that I can try first. I'll be looking for some more advice coincerning this from the forum.
I'll have the experience of building 2 kits, one tube, one s.s.,plus the educational aspect of getting them to work together Someone on this forum made the comment
not too long ago "where there's a willk there's a way". That's gonna be my motto for this project. I'm gonna make the purchases and get the current prices, then I've got to finish what I've started in modding my guitar. The older post id in the kit section of "build your amp. "MOD- S.E. 5W. amp kit",by casey4s, 8-3-2011, video included.
All replies are welcome as well as needed. I'm putting all thoughts on this combination project in a journal to keep track of and to contemplate before i grab an iron.
My printer cartridge is full. Thanks to all. have a great day. tonequester.

[JoeM]

tonequester,

Do you really need 20 watts? For just home playing 5 watts, especially into a good efficient speaker, should be plenty. I have a 15w or so Princeton and it would just blast everyone out of the house if I cranked it (has a Emi Swamp Thang which is fairly efficient). Unless you're gigging, you may find 5 watts serves your current needs quite well.

just my 2c worth!

[big_teee]

tonequester,

Do you really need 20 watts? For just home playing 5 watts, especially into a good efficient speaker, should be plenty. I have a 15w or so Princeton and it would just blast everyone out of the house if I cranked it (has a Emi Swamp Thang which is fairly efficient). Unless you're gigging, you may find 5 watts serves your current needs quite well.

just my 2c worth!

I have my 50 Watt 2204 clone in the house right now.
I normally keep it in the shop sitting on a 4x12.
the 2204 is Damn near impossible to play softly, even with a pre, and post Master Volume.
Even plugged into a single 12 inch speaker, it still don't like to be Quiet?
Wattage doesn't like to stay in the Can!
T

[tonequester]

tonequester here.


Greetings JoeM ! Yae I've got the chance to do some gigging. It's just in the planning stages now, but one more time in my life, I want to have the experience. I've done the
pop, rock, country thing in the past, but the blues has always been my passion since my mid-twenties. The planning is for a blues band that will also do some of the usual fair. I would be pretty much sharing rythmn and lead with another player. My little brother is a fine bass player who has a friend that is great on the drums. All of my life I had amps that were if anything
too powerful. Those days are gone since my being disabled, as I had to come up with quick cash until the government got around to agreeing with my doctors and paying me. I had considerable equipment, but it was all sold in haste. Now I'm trying to pick up my share of load, which means not oinly equiping myself, but chipping in on mics, p.a., mixer, etc., as well.
I'm trying to use what electronics skills that I have, which isn't much, to come up with my stuff. Amps haven't been going down in price since I left the game. If I had it to do over again, i wouldn't have given close to $300.00 on a practice amp with 1W. output. Since I did, and it has excellent tone, I hate to give it up. s a "tone module" to re-amp, I just don't know yet if
the results will be "Kosher". I'm concerned about it's reliability as well. hell, I'm still waiting(after a month) to get one that works on warranty. The first one blew up at about 6 months. The replacement had a non-functioning reverb(after Blackstars end -of-line comprehensive quality check). So I,m practicing with a P.O.S. Fender s.s. practice amp(actually i do most of my practice sans amp). I'm going to build the 5W kit, and for all I know, it may be loud enough for the size of venues we end up with. If not I'm sure 20W.RMS would be plenty. To tell the truth though, all of this mix and match is just as much educational based for me, and a challenge as anything else. I won't buy another "hybrid" amp. The op-amp,op-amp,FET,tube,op-amp,op-amp,op-amp-FET,FET,tube pathway crap is impossible for anyone but a qualified tech to work on, and so far has proven to be too "delicate" for my taste. If I could afford an all tube 15-20W.
combo in kit form, I'd go there. Most of the 5W. kits are $500.00 plus. I can build a 20W. s.s. power amp in kit form for $50.00. I know it may take some experimentation to find the right way to mate it to a tube amp, but it can be done a number of ways. I'm hoping I won't even need it with the 5W. all tube amp kit built. that's about it. That 1Watter from blackstar is loud as hell, so maybe the all tube kit amp will be just what i need, and the $50.00 s.s. kit will just be another experience. Thanks for the interest. Your replies are always welcome.
Have a "great one" ! tonequester.