mugician wrote:Good point. Now that I think about it, I'd rather make myself a Deluxe Reverb.
On schematic heaven there's like seven different versions of the schematic. Anybody got any info on the different versions?
So again, a guesstimate... doing a deluxe reverb from scratch... or, does anybody know of some affordable kits? I guess now's a good time to mention I'm sort of a noob when it comes to electronics, but don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to try doing this all by myself. I've got some experienced friends willing to help.
Simple answer: $250 to $350 or much higher if you want. Of much lower if you can scrounge some re-cycled parts from old TV sets, tube radios or whatever.
The highest cost items for any guitar amp will be the power and output transformers. These will run from $35 to $65 each. Then the chassis and case. $60 if you can do your own woodwork and metal punching. Tubes are maybe $15 each. The rest are nickel to two buck parts. That's for an amp head. If you want a 1x12 combo then add $100.
But there is more. You will need some supplies and some tools a multimeter, solder and wires. If you get into amp building as a hobby then you can save by buying some items in quantity..
You also my want to buy some books. Here is a website. The author is promotes his excellent book but also shares a good portion of it for free. read all the free stuff there, then the book.
http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/
Make sure you understand how to safely work around high voltage before you start. The voltage in a tube amp can be up to around 500V. It's a lethal voltage and small mistakes can be bad. Even with the amp unplugged capacitors can store those high voltages for a long time.
I think the best thing to do is build a very small single ended practise amp. Something like a fender Champ. You will have the best chance of success if you build a simple amp. Then maybe later add a gain stage to the champ. But start with a low gain clean sounding design and build it in to an oversized chassis
You might want to look at ax84.com and the forum there. Lots of plans and support and if you want, a kit for a few of the designs