Question:
I read a thread earlier about building an amp and it made me think: is it cheaper to buy an amp or to build one? For example, if i were to try to build a decent sized 100+ watt Fender wannabe amp, would it be cheaper to buy or build it?
Answer:
well...given the amount of time and labor that you'll probably have to do, plus parts, i'd say it's probably just going to be cheaper to buy a Fender than to build a Fender copy. hopefully berry will reply to this though, since he's actually in the business (though his stuff is botique)
Answer:
thesteve is correct. If you are buying parts for a single amp, you really won't save $$ compared to just buying one. What type of Fender style amp did you have in mind?
Berry
Answer:
if you have money and time and knowledge build it yourself.
Answer:
Originally Posted by IceHawk if you have money and time and knowledge build it yourself.
well, thats the problem.... thesteve is right. i was looking at the prices to buy everything for a simple tube amp, and it was around the $150-200 range (for a 5-10 watter).
the 2nd problem is knowledge. if you really want to start building amps, the place to start is not a dual channel, 100+watt amp. the place to start is small... 5 watts or so. learn the basics, and grow from there. amps can be very dangerous to work on if you don't know what your doing (even unplugged).
the 3rd thing is time... the time to learn all this stuff is going to take a LONG time, and i know that my schedule is way to busy to fit this into the mix... at least not now.
so, if all your interested in is a cheaper way to get an amp, your looking in the wrong place...
if you are interested in learning about how the amps work so you can build them, service them, or modify them, then, by all means, go for it... but start small... get the amp you want now, look into building amps as a hobby.
it isn't really a place to save a lot of money, its a chance to get your hands dirty and accommodate 2 things you enjoy at the same time...
Answer:
mmm...5watt tube amp sounds amazing.
Answer:
Originally Posted by thesteve mmm...5watt tube amp sounds amazing.
yeah... i love small tube amps... nice, warm cleans, and crank the volume up a bit and you've got a sweet overdrive/distortion. you don't generally have a lot of clean headroom with an amp that size (although some tube switching would fix that) - there is generally enough volume with cleans and sometimes there is trouble keeping the volume down with the overdrive... and then you have attentuators...