Where do you spend the money?

[cminor9]

Boutique transformers, high-end caps, mil spec pots, glass epoxy boards, speakers handmade by vestal virgins in an alpine village...and on and on. A guy could spend a lot of money building a good quality tube amp, and I wonder if it's all necessary.

If you build amps, and you don't have a money tree, where do you spend the money on high end parts and where do you scrimp?

[tubeswell]

tubes, transformers, caps, speakers, and those old fashioned Fender beizels with bayonet lamp holders. Sometimes a reverb pan. Other stuff I can get by with lesser 'quality'.

[Chuck H]

+1

For me the order is transformers, tubes, speakers and caps (filters that is). And then everything else. There is always a hitch though. You wouldn't want to dump a bunch of $$$ on transformers and tubes only to find your build sounds bad with the crappy ceramic caps you used. Or have those same expensive components in an amp that's built with bad joints from a cheap iron using budget lead wire. So... For me, the above order represents the parts "I" consider most important to my builds. But first I qualify the overall build in my budget to make sure ALL of the amp will be of good enough quality to merit the effort that goes into a handmade amp. If I can fudge more $$$ at that point it goes to upgrades in transformers, tubes, speakers and filters.

Chuck

[black_labb]

being in australia some things are hard to get without spending alot on shipping. i have bought a couple transformers from a guy who has alot of spares pulled from old amps/pa's or tv's (power trannies from the tv's). i dont spend much on coupling caps, but i feel that there wont be a huge difference. i dont shell out for nos tubes, as i want it to sound good with current production and can always change them out.
i have started using some odd tubes (6bl8 atm, may try some other pentode/triode tubes if i can get them cheap as well), which can make things interesting.
i use tagstrips and do the circuitry point to point instead of a tagboard/turretboard. they seem to be cheaper, and can wire things closer to the socket.
my chassis are either bought as a good deal and then i drill the holes, or i have started making chassis out of rectangular extrusions where i cut the bottom side off. this saves money as you buy a long piece and cut off the amount you need. they are a bit harder to work being 3mm thick, but they are plenty strong.

i have started buying power transformers from www.antekinc.com, which seem to be great prices for a good product. i havent finished any builds with them though, so i cant comment on how they work out.

i buy hammond trannies when i cant find a good deal on something elsewhere (ie used).

filter caps i usually buy new. i buy tkr lytics which seem to be a more modern style cap than sprague or similar and are available locally. they are cheaper than sprague for higher capacitances. they are probably made in china or taiwan, but that doesnt bother me.

edit: i try and save money by making heads. this way i can use different speaker cabinets to suit and i dont have to buy speakers for each build

[stingray_65]

speakers

just because it's expensive doesn't make it worthy of a guitar amp.

I have a hifi buddy and after coffee and a coney dog at the local resturaunt he had me thinking i should silver wire, ceramic socket, PIO cap my next amp build.

then I remembered most guitar amps sound best with underated parts, over voltaged PS, unmatched tubes etc.



Ray

[rathmann]

then I remembered most guitar amps sound best with underated parts, over voltaged PS, unmatched tubes etc.

Bingo. Wherever possible I actually try to find salvage parts. I buy non-working old hifi chassis from ebay and use all the sockets, pots, cloth covered wire, chokes and transformers that I can. I've also found that old 50s/60s Magnavox alnico 12" speakers beat a vintage Jenson alnico hands down in a guitar amp. The Magnavox 12s have just a bit more high rolloff so that distortion tones are smooth yet edgy and clean tones are fat and bight. But some vintage Jensens in the same amp just sounded "papery" when clean and just nasty, raspy, and brittle when overdriven. I 've tried the comparison in both a combo running a SE EL84 and also in a 2x12 cabinet driven by a channel switcher head with 6П3Сs. I now scour ebay for them and buy them somewhat obsessively.

I do buy brand new caps and resistors and make new turret boards with unused components.

[Steve Conner]

Speakers! I bought the two best 12"s I could afford, a Celestion Gold reissue and an EVM12L reissue. I haven't regretted it, except when it comes time to lug the EV-equipped amp around. I don't plan to buy any more guitar speakers ever.

I've also bought cabinets because my woodworking skills suck.

Transformers and tubes, I've always salvaged.

Capacitors, pots and resistors, I just get brand new ones. I think NOS or salvaged capacitors of any kind are a bad idea. The ordinary Taiwan or Chinese electrolytics have always worked fine for me, I figure that they need replaced every so often anyway, so why spend more than you need to?

I once bought F&T multi-section caps, for a restoration where they had to fit the same mounting holes as the originals, and have a 500V rating. They're not too expensive, though. The Taiwan stuff only goes up to 450V.

[jimboyogi]

being in australia some things are hard to get without spending alot on shipping. i have bought a couple transformers from a guy who has alot of spares pulled from old amps/pa's or tv's (power trannies from the tv's). i dont spend much on coupling caps, but i feel that there wont be a huge difference. i dont shell out for nos tubes, as i want it to sound good with current production and can always change them out.
i have started using some odd tubes (6bl8 atm, may try some other pentode/triode tubes if i can get them cheap as well), which can make things interesting.
i use tagstrips and do the circuitry point to point instead of a tagboard/turretboard. they seem to be cheaper, and can wire things closer to the socket.
my chassis are either bought as a good deal and then i drill the holes, or i have started making chassis out of rectangular extrusions where i cut the bottom side off. this saves money as you buy a long piece and cut off the amount you need. they are a bit harder to work being 3mm thick, but they are plenty strong.

i have started buying power transformers from Antek - Your reliable source of transformers, power supplies, and more., which seem to be great prices for a good product. i havent finished any builds with them though, so i cant comment on how they work out.

i buy hammond trannies when i cant find a good deal on something elsewhere (ie used).

filter caps i usually buy new. i buy tkr lytics which seem to be a more modern style cap than sprague or similar and are available locally. they are cheaper than sprague for higher capacitances. they are probably made in china or taiwan, but that doesnt bother me.

edit: i try and save money by making heads. this way i can use different speaker cabinets to suit and i dont have to buy speakers for each build

Hi black_labb,

Do you mind telling me where you are getting the tkr el caps from?

Cheers

[cminor9]

well, good discussion here! Thanks everyone for the replies.

[Old Tele man]

...uh, WHERE is that Alpine Village full of vestigal virgins?

[daz]

I think some simple component values in the right place can make a bigger difference that all the high end parts in the work. I buy stuff thats good, but i don't go crazy and by MM trannys of those 5 buck signal caps or any of that. It's all about the design. you could use the best of everything and end up sounding mediocre only to change one thing and be in tone heaven. The magic just ain't in the parts, it's where you put them. Just an opinion from someone who knows less than most anyone here, but i absolutely believe i'm right. Now if you already have a killer design that you have no reason to change at all, then maybe it could be worth it. But i still think every day stuff is capable of magic tone when the puzzle has been solved.

[black_labb]

Hi black_labb,

Do you mind telling me where you are getting the tkr el caps from?

Cheers

wagner electronics in ashfield sydney.

[cminor9]

...uh, WHERE is that Alpine Village full of vestigal virgins?

"vestigial" virgins? I don't think that word means what you think it means!