NOOB ALERT: Just some curiosities.

[Leo_Gnardo]

IMO tweed Deluxe is another good option for a first build. Lots of options there for simple mods too, for instance one input channel, and have treble & bass controls instead of just a tone control.

[Chuck H]

I vote Marshall 1959. Big and loud. Simple circuit and with known layout. Modifies well for metal with a channel stack and master volume. Not the modern super gain tone, but something like a million pedals are known to work very well for that sound with such a rig.

[gmaslin]

I vote class D modules. If you have an old laptop power brick or two, you can buy class D (40x40mm) 150Wx2 mini amp modules for <$4 and experiment with all kinds of channel mixing effects. Your total build will be <$100 and you'll learn a lot. This is the way to go if bang for buck and hard gain is your goal. They like low impedance so parallel your drivers.

[g1]

Are you suggesting he clone a class D module from a schematic?
Or just spitballing without actually having read the original post?

[gmaslin]

No, I'm suggesting he use the ready amp modules to bake his own sound. The OP mentioned a knucklehead, which has hard, high gain and class D is very suitable for that with not much outlay. What makes that "spitballing"?

[Chuck H]

No, I'm suggesting he use the ready amp modules to bake his own sound. The OP mentioned a knucklehead, which has hard, high gain and class D is very suitable for that with not much outlay. What makes that "spitballing"?

The OP lurked for a time and then chose THIS place, a tube amp forum to post. He mentioned that there were a few TUBE amps he would like to have and that building them appeals to him. You suggested class D modules as power and "amp modules" that cost four bucks, which I have to assume are digital modelers. The stretch between what the OP has CHOSEN to ask for and what you have suggested is quite apparently obtuse. Regardless of what YOU believe to be the path to enlightenment there are many other paths. The square peg you're trying to ram into this round hole actually amounts to a rude distraction. Before we get into any discussion about whether you're right or wrong, which I expect is the angle you will take, let me just say that this is not unlike walking into a bible study as an atheist, telling everyone in the room that they are wrong and proceeding to explain your interpretation of enlightenment. Or maybe going to an "organic farmers" meeting and trying to pitch Monsanto. My point is that wrong or right doesn't matter. There are many correct paths to tone and the OP didn't come HERE and ask THAT question with the idea of class D power and digital modules. Since you seem intelligent I'm confused about why you wouldn't pick up on this and instead proceed to make it an argument.

[nevetslab]

There have been some amazing builds shown on this forum that would be a great guide line on your first build. Choosing a simple existing amp that could be obtained for not much money, then gutting it and starting over with having obtained the basic ingredients would save a lot of work, leaving that later challenge of doing it all from scratch as a goal. There's so much out there to choose from in used gear, you could take almost any approach. One of the posts I came across that I just love is this one: The making of an eyelet board by member galaxiex on 06/05/2018

http://music-electronics-forum.com/s...ad.php?t=46743

His goal was to rebuild his Fender Blues Junior combo amp into a hand-built amp, gutting the insides of the amplifier, and building an eyelet board to contain all the components. His presentation in going thru all the steps in construction is just fabulous! And, you'll see great input from so many of the superbly talented contributors in the thread, many of whom have likewise added to this thread you began. Definitely worth reading thru, if you haven't already come upon it. Very inspiring, and it gave me further ideas on my second pass in rebuilding my Traynor YBA-1A Mk II bass amp, wanting to take it a good deal further, and will be needing a new circuit board to achieve those ideas.

[gmaslin]

I don't know where Chuck got the impression this is the "Tube Section" but I'll say that:
There's lots of different ways to a sound and I offered the way I would do it. I never called your way "wrong". The modules I'm talking about are built around the TP3xxx family of chips and only require signals and power.

[Chuck H]

Well it's not a tube sub forum. And the forum as a whole encompasses all manor of amplifiers. All I was saying is that this forum still leans toward tubes. Especially so in the amp building aspect AND the amp the OP inquired about is a tube amp. A modern version of the classic, big strappin' 100W head. The implications should be self evident. That said...

It's my own failing that I oppose most forms of digital technology posing as tube amps. The truth is that some of it is very good in many ways, though not in every way. So my concession would be that I don't see any reason the rig you proposed wouldn't be useful. But it probably wouldn't please someone who wanted an actual tube amp. There are still tonal aspects of tube amps that the current digital models and SMPS power amps don't effectively replicate. Admittedly, the closer they get, the grumpier I am about it

[mikepukmel]

Well, if you wanna know how to build a tube amp that has a nice 60/120hz hum, and kills reverb driver tubes, just give me a shout, got ya covered.