Total NooB Have A Couple of Q's

[unohu69]

Ok, Im new here. I have been lurking for a few weeks. I have happened to come across some very nice high end audio components. Some stuff got tossed by my mom (the usual excuse huh?) before I knew what anything was. Old Fisher tube stereo and stuff. Any way among the toys is a really nice Dynaco SCA-35. It works great, it does run a little hot but i hear thats normal. My question is Im more of a guitar player than a serious audio listener. with my music you'd never hear a little distortion in your system so it doesnt matter to me as much.

I would like to convert the dynaco into a tube guitar amplifier. Can it be done ? technically it will work like it is, I have no gain control tho.
So can this amp be bridged to run full mono into a single/dual speaker configuration.

In a tube amp how do I increase the output wattage? which components are responsible for the power( laymans term please lol)

Not all tube amps run as hot as this thing so how would you make it run cooler? Why did dynaco let this thing run hot like this. a little extreme dont ya think?

Can I add distortion effects to the amp? to run with one channel then both if in mono. before the stereo mono switch maybe?. then I could use the balance control to sweep between the clean/distortion channel.

Ultimately I wanted to use this for guitar but i figure its not loud enough, If I connect a guitar to the phono inputs and run thru the phono board then i get lots of gain and sound but havent had the time to play with it all.

any Ideas? Or comments..

[TomMcNally]

Hi and welcome to the diytube forum !

You could in theory use the SCA-35 for a guitar amp, but it's probably not going to be very reliable without a little work.

Let me try to answer your questions ...

1 - yeah they run hot - everything did back in that era.
put a metal frame fan on top of it ... it works wonders

2 - yes - you can parallel the channels for more power - just make
sure the impedance is matched. If you parallel the 16 ohm outputs,
use an 8 ohm speaker. If you parallel the 8 ohm outputs, use a
4 ohm speaker. Paralleling works bets with identical drive to each
channel ... no clean/distorted.

3 - you can't really increase the power of an existing amp
power is determining my a match of the power transformer's
voltage and current capabilities and the tubes used.

4 - if it were me - I'd run a guitar type preamp/effects unit into
the Dynaco I guess ...

but better yet ... build a new guitar amp ... check out some of the amps the guys on here have built. It's not that hard ... for a new guy, the hardest part is probably cutting the holes in the chassis. Check out another thread with pix of a stereo amp I built this weekend. You could build a really nice guitar amp for a couple hundred bucks worth of parts. Sell the Dynaco for some funds !

... tom

[paart]

Yes, it would be possible to convert your SCA35 into a guitar amplifier............if you wish to invest the research, time and money. But it 's really not practical. If someone in your family gave you, say, 1958 Cadillac in good condition, would it be possible to convert it into a motorcycle. Sure!--with enough money and work. But why would anyone want to do it? IMHO, I'd sell the SCA35 to someone to enjoy it the way it is, and use the money to explore a completely different approach to your guitar equipment.