better to build or buy?

[buford]

there's a local company that rebuilds working 65 Fender DRRI Reverb amps pt to pt and they sell the three working circuit boards for around 50 dollars. After all the other needed parts it can add up quickly but if done correctly it would/should be close to the real amp even though it might be basically ugly. Would it make more sense to just look around for a real Fender for a few hundred more. thanks

[big_teee]

there's a local company that rebuilds working 65 Fender DRRI Reverb amps pt to pt and they sell the three working circuit boards for around 50 dollars. After all the other needed parts it can add up quickly but if done correctly it would/should be close to the real amp even though it might be basically ugly. Would it make more sense to just look around for a real Fender for a few hundred more. thanks

If your up to the task, you can build a BFDR Kit.
T

[buford]

If your up to the task, you can build a BFDR Kit.
T

I just figured it might be less time and money with the boards already complete and known working. Would the separate parts it takes to equal the three boards be less than the 50 dollars?

[buford]

I forgot to say that these boards are the original Fender pc boards that he strips from the amp before converting it to point to point. So I would have to buy the transformers, tubes, sockets, jacks, chassis , cab etc but I would have the three original pc boards that he removes from working amps.

[JoeM]

JMO, but if you are going with a build, use an eyelet board. The caps, pots, resistors arent really that expensive compared to the transformers, tubes, chassis etc that you need for the amp. If you like to tweak parts, the eyelet board (or turrets if you prefer that) are preferable than a PCB that doest like multiple parts changes. Too easy to lift traces.

If you dont mind a PCB amp, why not just buy a DRRI?

[buford]

JMO, but if you are going with a build, use an eyelet board. The caps, pots, resistors arent really that expensive compared to the transformers, tubes, chassis etc that you need for the amp. If you like to tweak parts, the eyelet board (or turrets if you prefer that) are preferable than a PCB that doest like multiple parts changes. Too easy to lift traces.

If you dont mind a PCB amp, why not just buy a DRRI?

I just figured it might save some time and money if I got the boards. But in the long run, it'd probably be less bother to just get a DRRI.

[JoeM]

I have a DRRI and really like it. Just some minor tweaks, new tubes, and most importantly a speaker that I bought from Mission Amps, a Weber that Bruce Collins had made for him. I looked for quite some time for a SF model, but found this one locally (used) at a good price and couldn't pass it up.