Do I have the skills to assemble an amp?

[JoeyV]

If I can solder a wire and follow directions do I have enough skill to try and amp kit? From what I have read they seem fairly straight ahead...I would like to try it but I'm a littler nervous as have never really worked with a meter and what not...could I learn from one of these kits?

[Lance]

You may want to practice up on soldering and make sure you have a 35 watt iron. Without a doubt...start with the Mission kit. It's known to be the best out there. I got a lot of support online and from Bruce at Mission amps during the build. Essentially, you just follow the picture...nothing too hard at all. There's great pictures of the end result out there to aid as well.

Go for it....it's my new favorite amp!

[tweeddeluxe]

Sure, just do your homework first. It ain't rocket science, but it helps to know what your getting into. Read all you can, study schematics and layouts, look at pictures. Compare them to the diagrams.

Warning, it's very addictive.

Here's my first build over two years ago. Have built 5 others since.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tweeddeluxe/

The tweed or Marshall 18 are both excellent builds. The 18 has more room in the chassis, but a slightly more complicated circuit. You'll find tons of support for both on the web. The tweedy has the added bonus of Bruce Collins just a phone call away as Lance said.



Tom

[MJ Harnish]

I'm with the others. It's really not that hard, especially if you're working from a kit. That's the BEST way to get started b/c it eliminates a lot of the initial headaches while you get your feet wet. As long as you're not going into it thinking that you're going to save incredible amounts of money, amp building can be a very rewarding past-time.

Just keep in mind that it takes a significant amount of time and patience to build an amp. The kits make it a LOT easier but you still could run into a lot of frustrating problems. You also have to work slowly and methodically to insure your safety and success. If you're somebody who can't bear frustration (i.e., you give up on stuff when it doesn't work straight out of the box) or who doesn't like to wait on stuff I would advise against building an amp. We're not talking about months of labor here, but you really can't slap something together in an afternoon and expect it to function properly. It's also amazing on how you can follow the directions perfectly and still build nothing but an expensive noise-generator in the end. Trouble-shooting can be a real PITA at times.

And yes, the whole thing is quite addicting.

[TELESPENNY]

Does anyone have experience of a good low-wattage amp kit, to get an amp that you can turn up full at home without annoying the neighbours ?
I've heard mixed reports about the Torres Tiny Tone (1.5 watt) i.e.poor customer care, parts missing etc..

[MJ Harnish]

I think STF Electronics sells a Champ kit. I've dealt with the owner on several occassions and have always found him helpful and the service very good.

However, even a 3-5w amp is pretty loud cranked.

http://www.stf-electronics.com/

[stevieboy]

That Champ looks like a good starter kit that's not so expensive either. What tools do you need to build a kit like that?

[Lance]

OK....I've got a pretty meager set of tools but here goes:

Small needle nose pliers
Small diagonal cutters
Basic screwdrive set (couple of sizes)
Adjustable wrench
Cheap Hemostats (great to hold things still or to heat sink)
Inexpensive multimeter (< $20 at radio shack)

Roll of solder- resin core
35 watt iron
Desoldering ribbon
Solder Flux

[stevieboy]

I just wanted to see if it required a big investment in tools to get started--that all sounds pretty reasonable. I've already got the Radio Shack multimeter!