home-made amps/kits vs. factory produced

what would your opinion be regarding the quality of craftsmanship and sound capabilities on amps built from a kit vs. amps built in a factory.

if I were to take an amp kit and build my own amp head (some sort of plexi clone) and compare it to something that was mass produced and put out by Fender or Marshall - how do you think they would stack up?

do factory produced amps these days sacrifice component quality in the name of cheaper prices?

would a home-built amp be able to give me sounds comparable, or dare I say, superior to something mass produced?

How many home amp builders here can say that they've built something that is better (in their opinion, and others perhaps) than something they could have purchased at a music shop?

Cheers!

It's easy to get better components to build an amp than what the big name amps are using these days.
Then it just comes down to putting all the parts together. That's what makes or breaks it.

There are some skills that you have to acquire. You may be one of the lucky ones who builds a beautiful amp the first time, but my first one looked a mess (though it sounded fine). It's not just paint-by-numbers, though it's not rocket science, either. You have to have clean lead dress. Amp shouldn't hum or oscillate. Having said that, it's not that difficult. I've built more than a dozen amps, and sold off my last commercial amp a few months ago. The amps all sound purty darn good and are more robust than standard (non-boutique) offerings. Plus I can tune them just the way I want, which I might not do much with a factory amp. For example, I just finished a Twin - but it has bias-vary tremolo, the reverb works on both channels, the normal channel is tuned to have more mids, and lots of other stuff. I decided that, on this amp, I don't like the bias-vary on the 6L6s and will change it to a Vibro-champ style trem. It's a great feeling to gig with your own stuff - not many people build their own amps, and I often get questions about them. Plus you can build what you want, and you can fix it yourself, too.

If it ends up better than a commercial amp depends on you, though. It could end up better, or it could end up a pile of expensive parts.

But don't think it's cheaper to build an amp than it is to buy one. It most definitely is not. Saving money is the wrong reason to get into this.

jmho

steven

what would your opinion be regarding the quality of craftsmanship and sound capabilities on amps built from a kit vs. amps built in a factory.

if I were to take an amp kit and build my own amp head (some sort of plexi clone) and compare it to something that was mass produced and put out by Fender or Marshall - how do you think they would stack up?

Simple math. There's markup in them thar parts. F&M buy parts for pennies. Build them up as fast as they can with an eye towards the bottom line. They have to. They make a profit, maybe a middleman makes a profit and the vendor needs to make a profit. Say the parts cost 1/2 the retail price of the amp which is generous. If you buy $500 worth of parts instead of $500 worth of store bought amp you can afford some mighty fine parts.

do factory produced amps these days sacrifice component quality in the name of cheaper prices?

In general yeah but it's not just that. The OEMs need a steady supply of large quantities of parts. If you're building one amp you can track down some killer NOS. Stuff like NOS tubes 'n' sockets. I mostly use knobs from the '50s on my builds, sometimes NOS Drake pilot lights. I just got a small quantity of Western Electric wire intended for WWII bomber avionics. "Cloth" wire with silk braid. Is it better? Dunno. Sure is cool, though. :grin:

would a home-built amp be able to give me sounds comparable, or dare I say, superior to something mass produced?

Better. That's the reason Boot Hill kits are so popular. If you were to plunk down the dough on a similar Fender offering you'd spend a grand. If you know what you're doing you can build much better for much less.

How many home amp builders here can say that they've built something that is better (in their opinion, and others perhaps) than something they could have purchased at a music shop?

I'm the wrong guy to ask. I can build whatever I want exactly like I want it.

Logging in

I've seen beautiful-looking home built amps (mostly built by others) and crappy-lookin home built amps, and I've made a few of the latter myself ;-)

You get out of it what you put into it. But nicer finishes cost more, and the amps you put them on aren't necessarily any easier to sell to strangers (altho' it can help)

Imho buy a kit and let the guys guide you through the build ,it's much easier than to build it from scratch ,if your idea is to learn this is the best way to go ,I had to learn the hard way i choose my build just by looking at the schematic cuz i found some of the early fender model layouts easy and i wanted something of a challenge but it has it's price.so if you can swing for a kit go for boothill (no relation with him im in puerto rico )but i've reading most of the noob's that have his kit and he's been of great help to them.good luck and welcome it's amazing the way you get help around here

what would your opinion be regarding the quality of craftsmanship and sound capabilities on amps built from a kit vs. amps built in a factory.

if I were to take an amp kit and build my own amp head (some sort of plexi clone) and compare it to something that was mass produced and put out by Fender or Marshall - how do you think they would stack up?

do factory produced amps these days sacrifice component quality in the name of cheaper prices?

would a home-built amp be able to give me sounds comparable, or dare I say, superior to something mass produced?

How many home amp builders here can say that they've built something that is better (in their opinion, and others perhaps) than something they could have purchased at a music shop?

Cheers!

Build quality kind of depends on your all-round DIY skills. First go, probably a little ragged here and there. Second build, if you're game for a second build, will probably be better than just about any off-the-shelf item. Third build, if you're still at it, boutique territory.

Except for some of those special hand-built Custom Shop type (EC series comes to mind) amps, yours can be better. I say 'can' because a DIYer will tend to start modding pre- mid- and post-build, which gets messy. :wink:

Yeah, a lot of mass-produced items have a veneer of showroom looks covering total junk.

Actually, I think it's pretty easy to get superior tone, as the most important parts are usually much better quality.

Grand total of two finished build here, but the second one is gorgeous looking and sounds fantastic. The first build... well... sounds good, but not great. I didn't come here until it was too late. :cry: But, the folks here helped me save a sinking build and re-boot an almost stillborn hobby! :grin: Now I'm going to strip down build no1 and make it right. Oh, and build 3 is already waiting, and build 4 in in planning. And I'm selling off or giving away all my store-bought amps, except the ones that I can now fix because of the training I got from building my own.

Finally, even folks who know nothing about amps or musical instruments tell me the tweed cabinet looks impressive. I didn't build this one, but now that I have a nice one sitting in front of me, I will in the future. :grin:

What I think is really cool about building an amp is you can choose your own components. I have a mix of different speakers, NOS tubes and transformers in my builds, plus extra as I acquire parts for my next build. My first amp build is going to come apart again this winter to fix a few messy wires and update the ground scheme to a buss style. I still keep my store-bought amps, well I guess they were technically store bought in '64 and '68, but they are vintage Fenders that I still use. I really enjoy plugging into my home built amps, they are like trophies in your music room.

What is cool about building an amp is being able to say "I built that kick butt amp that's up there in front of the crowd". I learned a ton building my boothill 5e3. I may or may not build another amp someday. Between my build and my jet city amp, I have every sound that I want covered. It's not a money saver unless you're talking about a kit vs a vintage amp. But it is fun, frustrating at times (at least it can be), but very satisfying the first time you strum that big old E chord!

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Most big name amps including F'er and M'all are built in China except the vintage style amps they charge boutique prices for. Within those Chinese amps are most likely low quality components that are soldered into PCB boards. The problem with PCB is the ease of which traces can lift, if you wanted to do some modding. Other than big names boutique division the majority of their tube amps include OP amps, transistors and other solid state components to produce distortion.

If you decide to build an amp, a kit would be your best bet as sourcing parts can add up through shipping cost.It can be tough to find all the needed components through one particular supplier. A DIY'er could build an exact duplicate amp down to each part as a big name classic amp, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to sound exactly the same. As others have mentioned a DIY amp can end up with oscillations, cross-over or blocking distortion and other issues. It basically takes a couple builds or more, research, a lot of reading and guidance from others to resolve issues that can make a DIY sound as good or better than the bigs.

Then there's boutique amps, with most touting mojo and magic that produce the classic sound. the only difference between them and a typical DIY'er is their experience and their willingness to venture into a competitive business.

So in summary there's a few ways to look at it:
1) Big Name amps are in general cheaper to buy, but use lower quality parts on PCB boards, and are mostly SS/tube hybrids.
2) Boutique amps usually do have very good quality components and built by experienced builders with overhead. Generally expensive but must keep in mind how many years a well built amp can last (value for price).
3) DYI= Quality depends on how much you want to spend for "best components" (subjective) and shipping. Knowledge gained which can eventually include electronics, metal working,wood working and more.Feeling of accomplishments, bragging rights to your inept jam buddies...lol (joking).

I will caution you what not to expect: a tube amp that can do it all greatly..
Clean, moderate distortion,heavy distortion,metal. I have never heard one that can do it all.