Are there any out there under 500 built that are fairly well built?
How handy are you with an iron, and how comfortable are you working with high voltages? Weber has a Champ kit for under $500. When they first starting shipping kits, years ago, some of the parts were a bit sketchy, but the new kits use all good quality stuff.
Im ok wth an iron but the voltages scare the bajeezus out of me.
Check out Reverb!
https://reverb.com/item/104026-50-s-fender-handmade-all-tube-clone-head-tweed-champ-w-1x12-speaker-cab-2012-blonde-stain (https://reverb.com/item/104026-50-s-fender-handmade-all-tube-clone-head-tweed-champ-w-1x12-speaker-cab-2012-blonde-stain)
Not tweed, but a helluva deal: https://reverb.com/item/157117-fender-70s-silverface-champ (https://reverb.com/item/157117-fender-70s-silverface-champ)
You can easily get a silverface Fender for less than that. There are simple mods to make it a tweed. But it sounds awesome stock.
I've built a 5E3 and a Firefly for myself, and I do careful and pro quality work. There's a thread around here with pics of the Firefly. I can build a Champ from the kit of your choice for $100. Mojotone has a good one for just under $500 that includes chassis, transformers, tubes, speaker and tweed case. Boot Hill has excellent kits also. PM me if you have any interest.
The amp on Reverb looks like a hell of a deal btw.
Good luck!
Mike
How is the firefly? From what I've read, it's hard to get a good, clean tone out of it. True or not?
It definitely leans towards growl over clean. With the boost switch off, and the volume not cranked too high, you can get some nice cleans, but it really shines overdriven.
Dave at Boothill Amps might build you one for close to that price. He sells complete 5E3's for ~$850. Should give him a message.
However, I think you should build the kit yourself. If you can build pedals you can build the 5F1. Just have to obey the safety rules and you will be fine. :)
And it's refreshing to work inside a box that is bigger than 3" x 4"! As long as you follow some simple safety procedures, there's no danger. The biggest risk is to your wallet; building amps is pretty addictive. I'm thinking of an Allen Brown Sugar next...
Do you fellas have any tips for safety with this stuff? I kinda want to try building one now.
Quote from: Jmilla on June 06, 2014, 12:19:15 AM
Do you fellas have any tips for safety with this stuff? I kinda want to try building one now.
Here is a good start for you:
http://www.aikenamps.com/index.php/safety-tips-for-working-on-tube-amplifiers
Paul Ruby has some good links for a safe build (Aiken's is one of the links).
http://www.paulrubyamps.com/info.html (http://www.paulrubyamps.com/info.html)
And here's a good overview of putting a small single ended amp together starting from scratch.
http://www.ax84.com/static/p1/AX84_SE_Builders_Guide.pdf
The Firefly is pretty much a one trick pony, if it's not loudly ripping your face off it's not on. For the cost of the iron necessary for a Firefly you could get the iron for a nice versatile SE 6v6 build that would work well with all the Madbean projects you've been putting together.
Have fun... another addiction to manage!
dave
Dave/Boothill Amps forum at TDPRI. Lots of great info...
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/shock-brothers-diy-amps/ (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/shock-brothers-diy-amps/)
Quote from: Jmilla on June 06, 2014, 12:19:15 AM
Do you fellas have any tips for safety with this stuff? I kinda want to try building one now.
Here's how I worked safely on my (used daily) AC4 this week: unplug the amp, turn it on and let it sit for a while. After a bit, I was reading 10v on one of the plate sockets for the pre-amp tube, so I connected one end of a 10k 2W resistor to one of the plate resistors and the other end to chassis ground. I did this with some plastic covered clamps. Waited a bit longer then measured 0v on my DMM where I hooked the resistor to the plate. At that point I removed the circuit board and connections from the chassis using just one hand and measured the main decoupling cap directly with the DMM. Still read about .9v across the positive and negative there, so I discharged that directly to the chassis. Completely safe to handle at that point.
I was really meticulous about it, but there is no such thing as too careful I guess when it comes to high voltage / high current stuff. I've never tried probing a live amp, though. That is a bit scarier.