Question:
Is there much demand for point to point/turret board hand made tube amps? 1 or 2 channels, 5-15W, 3-4 gain stage?
What would be an appropriate selling price for... say... a 1 channel, 5w, 2 gain stages with a single ended class A poweramp?
What about a 2 channel, 15w, 4 gain stage with a pushpull class A/AB poweramp?
I'm guessing that a combo would sell more easily... would there be demand for a head unit @ 15w?
Answer:
Depends on the amp/price/marketing/etc. The market is sorta saturated with people making small Champ/Deluxe/Bassman clones. The group of people that are buying these amps is pretty small.
At my local "high end" shop, there are three or four Victorias that almost no one stops and plays. Most people jump to Boogies or Marshalls.
At another shop, which is known for older, vintage stuff, the amp tech there (who is one of the best) has started building amps. They are two channel (non channel switching, actually two channels) amps, there is only one on the floor at a time, and I think he's only built like seven of them so far. They've all sold. I forget what he's selling them for, around $1500 I think.
Answer:
i think a 5W two gain stage amp would be pretty interesting to hear...i think there's definitely a market for them, but generally the price of hand-made and otherwise botique amps keeps them from mass market appeal.
that, and we live in a time period where wattage is a big deal...people tend to pass over small wattage amps because they don't know any better.
Answer:
Originally Posted by LWatford Depends on the amp/price/marketing/etc. The market is sorta saturated with people making small Champ/Deluxe/Bassman clones. The group of people that are buying these amps is pretty small.
At my local "high end" shop, there are three or four Victorias that almost no one stops and plays. Most people jump to Boogies or Marshalls.
At another shop, which is known for older, vintage stuff, the amp tech there (who is one of the best) has started building amps. They are two channel (non channel switching, actually two channels) amps, there is only one on the floor at a time, and I think he's only built like seven of them so far. They've all sold. I forget what he's selling them for, around $1500 I think.
Victorias? Even the name wants me to stay away...
Yeah, definitely the marketing/how the amp is presented would make a factor.
And the old-style channel switching is still a good idea... Besides having the vintage appeal, the preamp is constructed constructed completely differently to accomidate it.
The earlier amp pioneers were quite resourceful with what they had; I've been very impressed with looking at how they tackled things compared to how things are done today.
Originally Posted by thesteve i think a 5W two gain stage amp would be pretty interesting to hear...i think there's definitely a market for them, but generally the price of hand-made and otherwise botique amps keeps them from mass market appeal.
that, and we live in a time period where wattage is a big deal...people tend to pass over small wattage amps because they don't know any better.
Actually, most small 5w amps are 2 gain; The guitar signal goes in one half of the 12ax7, then from the plate of the tube, it goes to a volume pot and coupling cap, and then to other half of the 12ax7... technically, its 2 gain stages... but I think I know what you mean. There is a 'high gain' 5w amp on ax84.com; 2 12ax7s in the preamp (4 gain stages), and 1 el84 in the power amp.
And wattage is definitely overrated. 5 watts could be too low for many gigging guitarists; especially for cleans... 15 would be a little more appropriate in that case... and it sounds much better to a buyer.
Answer:
ah...by gain stages i was thinking of like a single channel amplification section with two different gain settings that would be switchable.
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Originally Posted by thesteve ah...by gain stages i was thinking of like a single channel amplification section with two different gain settings that would be switchable.
ok; I see.
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http://www.victoriaamp.com/ - yum.
Answer:
Originally Posted by LWatford http://www.victoriaamp.com/ - yum.
Ok. They look good, but not something I'd buy myself... especially at that price.
The reason I'm asking about this is because I was wondering if I could make any money this summer by building amps and selling them. I recently began finding some on eBay that are arn't fairing too well on there, but then again, there are amps that I'd have no interest in buying even if I was looking for a new amp.
If I built a head unit, I'd probably aim to sell it as something that looks like this , but this one is just a bare-bone 1 12ax7 and 1 el34 with volume, bass, and treble controls. Secondly, there are no recordings; one would be going on a leap of faith on what it sounds like. Thirdly, there isn't even a hint of where the amp comes from... I'd assume the seller made it... It'd be nice to know. There's hardly a description about the amp... its just got a bunch of specs.
Also, I took a look at the schematic provided through the link. I noticed that there is a inductor/choke coming out of the power supply. I'm assuming it is to dampen the AC remnants even more, but I've never seen one there. Anyone confirm this?
There's another set of hand made amps on there (here's one). There isn't a schematic available, which would be nice, but at least it has a nice description with it and looks like a bit more capable/versatile amp. A couple downfalls of this amp seem to be its appearance (even some sort of design on it would help), and its price ($425-450).
From looking around, I think that I could beat both of them out in power, versatility, have switchable 2 channels (one way or another), and still end up <$500 (in a head unit; probably $600 in a combo with a decent speaker).
Does anyone else think this is a good idea, or am I crazy?
btw, I've been studying tube circuity and what-not for a while. I've worked with low-voltage, digital circuits in a 'digital electronics' class this past year in HS, so I'm fairly comfortable in working with reading/writing schematics, working with circuits, soldering, etc... I'm also fully aware of the dangers of working with the high voltages associated with tube amps. Just thought I'd throw that in there.
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Anyone?
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Even if you don't manage to sell it you'll have a fun time making it. By looking at schematics i've noticed that hand wired amps are much less complicated than alot of electric devices we study at school. You just have to know what parts to get and understand how the circuit works (this always helps if you want to ad stuff like reverb...)
Answer:
Originally Posted by dnl88 Even if you don't manage to sell it you'll have a fun time making it. By looking at schematics i've noticed that hand wired amps are much less complicated than alot of electric devices we study at school. You just have to know what parts to get and understand how the circuit works (this always helps if you want to ad stuff like reverb...)
By looking at only the schematics, tube amps are quite simple compared to say... a Jeopardy-style circuit for a classroom (that was a mess to build in the lab ). However, designing a tube amp from scratch can easily be more complicated. Tubes can be quite complex devices, and its seems to be more of an art form to design a tube circuit than a digital circuit.
One reason I don't want to jump right in is because of the high prices to buy everything. $200-300...for one amp... plus designing it all.
So, I'm just wondering if its worth it before I jump in... I know there's people out there with more experience about this than myself.