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Hi guys, I've been messing around for a while with amps and feel pretty confident in my solder abilities and basic understanding of what's going on. I've also got lots of reading material to keep me busy! Anyway, I would like to build my own preamp, and was wondering how simple it is to convert a preamp from any current amp (say a 5150, or a Mesa Mark IV etc) into a preamp. Is it as simple as duplicating the preamp schematic and then throwing a 1MA out pot at the end? Thanks for any help!
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Pretty much. You might want to add a send buffer, but then again, maybe not. It all depends on what exactly you're doing. The NFB in these amps as a whole though really help shape some of the tone, so you may not get exactly what you want from just the preamp. Then again, depending on what power amp you're using, it may sound just fine.Is it as simple as duplicating the preamp schematic and then throwing a 1MA out pot at the end? Thanks for any help!
A heads up, layouts for high gain amps are more sensitive to grounding and such than a typical single or two stage design. I would not try cloning either of those preamps, including all the channel switching and stuff, your first time out. Go with something simple like just the lead channel, or whatever.
One more heads up: the graphic EQ in the Mark series amps is vital to the sound and not straightforward to build because of the inductors and I'm pretty sure the slider pots too. There are work arounds and people have cloned them, but it's not as easy as it looks on the schematic because of parts availability.-Mike -
hey defaced, thanks for the reply and suggestions! I am actually not looking to clone either of those amps right away- they were just the first that came to mind. I was thinking of starting with something like the preamp project over at hoffman amps, basically a JCM stlye pre. I've been reading on NFB loops a lot lately so I know that I may not precisely nail a tone if I went for an exact match. Right now, I'm mostly interested in getting a few under my belt before I start to design some semi original ones.
Any other advice or suggestions on first builds or in general for preamp building? Thanks again.Comment
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