Preferred Amp Kits....

[Shorty Medlock]

Princeton or Deluxe kit....your opinion on the best buy.

Mojotone has a good rep...

Weber is seen by some as a cheaper quality with a thinner chassis and ChiCom parts...

Others?

 

[corliss1]

I've assembled many mojotone kits for customers. I only update the jacks with Switchcraft, they usually don't give you the right length of wire in the colors the specify, but great kits overall.

 

[Uncle Daddy]

The same Mojotone kits are available from Stewmac and Marsh Amps, sometimes at a better price.

If you're trying to create an original looking build, Mojotone doesn't supply the brass grounding plate, so you need to do a work around with your grounds. Sometimes the Orange drop caps are a bit too large for the application and take a bit of fudging to make them fit- plus they look all wrong in my book.

 

[schmee]

Mojo is pretty good. As mentioned, get yourself Switchcraft jacks though.
I dont like their heavy, thick, steel faceplates.

Marsh sells the best waxed cotton wire around, but I dont know if they put it in their kits or not.

Weber is a lower grade kit, cheaper parts. Last two I had the IEC plug didn't fit the chassis hole and was too loose. (and who wants an IEC type on a vintage clone anyway?) Real cheap jacks and caps. But it's been a while. Their front hole spacing does not replicate the Fender either. At least on some models.

For a Deluxe or Princeton I usually collect my own components.
-Find a Fender RI faceplate.
-Hammond trannys (or better if you want.)
-I avoid ceramic tube sockets.
-Use RCA cables like the original ones; braided metal wire and end jacks
-Watch out for the front panel total thickness and get jacks with the threaded bushing that are long enough to include the star washer on the pots!
-If the Mojo cabinet is the same $, I like to get a JD Newell cabinet, very true to originals. No sharp corner on the front top radius like the Mojo have.

Zachmanhunter on Ebay sells decent chassis'. I've had 2. Not 100% vintage accurate but the holes were true to vintage spacing.

 

[King Fan]

Princeton or Deluxe kit....your opinion on the best buy.
Mojotone has a good rep...
Weber is seen by some as a cheaper quality with a thinner chassis and ChiCom parts...
Others?

I take it you mean PR or DR (not 5F2a or 5E3)? You have it right and the guys are right.

Weber is an honest company. Ted Weber set out to build great speakers, and his company still does. When he decided to offer amp kits, his goal was different: to save builders money. If 'best buy' means cheapest, Weber likely still wins. We see Weber builds here frequently, and they work. But if 'best buy' means better kit, Mojo likely wins.

Look, I really like Mojo kits. (For me, leaving out the brass plate is an upgrade). Very solid chassis, domestic transformers, etc. It doesn't cost much to swap out this and that, eg, Mallories or Mojo Dijon for ODs, MF resistors for CC (if that matters to you), jacks (if they aren't Switchcraft), and yeah, a few feet of more wire in more colors.

Still, though Mojo's wiring diagrams and build instructions have improved over the years, they sometimes deserve little tweaks in areas like AC power or grounding. I don't know about Marsh versions of Mojo kits, but StewMac has sometimes lagged behind in updating diagrams and instructions.

 

[Shorty Medlock]

Lots of great info here guys...

If I build an amp it will likely be my last hurrah in the amp world.

I really want a hand wired amp, I need to sell the other amps I have (except my Musicmaster Bass) to make room.

I have my eye on another guitar that I want, too. I figure one really nice amp and one really nice guitar will satisfy my needs until I assume room temperature.

That doesn't mean I will stop messing with this stuff...

 

[BlueShadows]

Keep in mind you can also mix and match. When I built my 5f2a I got the "small components kit" from Mojotone, which was great, got my chassis and speaker from Weber, got my transformers elsewhere, and my cab from somewhere else. So there is also the ability to balance going "all in" on one company on one extreme and individually sourcing every part on the other.

 

[Shorty Medlock]

Keep in mind you can also mix and match. When I built my 5f2a I got the "small components kit" from Mojotone, which was great, got my chassis and speaker from Weber, got my transformers elsewhere, and my cab from somewhere else. So there is also the ability to balance going "all in" on one company on one extreme and individually sourcing every part on the other.

I don't think I'm savvy enough to be able to choose my components with any degree of competence.

I can do a simple recap job, replace a pot or resolder a broken joint but it been 60 years since I built a television in 11th grade electronics class... I only got a "C" grade.

Not that I haven't thought of it... I'm one of those guys that always believes I know better than the guy who designed this thing!

Doesn't matter if it was Henry Ford, Leo Fender or Enrico Fermi...

But I can, with my son's help, build a nice cabinet.

Heck...yesterday I oiled the squeaky door hinges on my bedroom door... anything is possible!

 

[SoK66]

By far the best kit I ever assembled was a JTM45 clone from Metroamps. Sadly they got out the kit business, but you can get all the components, chassis & more for all the kits they had offered from Valvestorm.

 

[clydethecat]

The same Mojotone kits are available from Stewmac and Marsh Amps, sometimes at a better price.

Fewer options from the alternate sources, especially if you want a lacquered cabinet, speaker delete, or tube delete.

 

[Shorty Medlock]

Birch plywood or solid pine???

 

[corliss1]

For a tweed build I would expect a pine cabinet.

 

[Red Ryder]

I got interested in building amps a few years ago. After looking into several kit offerings and $ I determined I could buy one ready to plug in for the same money or less.

 

[Shorty Medlock]

I got interested in building amps a few years ago. After looking into several kit offerings and $ I determined I could buy one ready to plug in for the same money or less.

But you can't buy a hand wired Fender for what you spend on a kit....about 1/2 price.

A Fender Deluxe hand wired is $2400? A Mojo kit is $1200? Close to it...

 

[Shorty Medlock]

For a tweed build I would expect a pine cabinet.

I have been thinking...baltic birch plywood? Pine plywood? Poplar plywood?

My son has a sawmill...I'm thinking 1/2" solid poplar since it's lighter than pine. Anything he mills will be free not that I mind paying for good stuff.

Thoughts?

 

[Red Ryder]

But you can't buy a hand wired Fender for what you spend on a kit....about 1/2 price.

A Fender Deluxe hand wired is $2400? A Mojo kit is $1200? Close to it...

The hand wired debate is like the tonewood debate, plain or peanut.

 

[cnlbb]

But you can't buy a hand wired Fender for what you spend on a kit....about 1/2 price.

A Fender Deluxe hand wired is $2400? A Mojo kit is $1200? Close to it...

I mean... maybe not one that says fender on it.

But what about one that reads 'dawg?'

Welcome to Lil' Dawg Amps - Lil Dawg Amps & Pickups

Thanks for the interest in the amps, I really do appreciate it. Several years ago I was asked what my business model was for the amps, and I didn’t have to think long before giving an answer. It’s what I believe in, and hopefully I succeed in following it. It’s a very simple plan with just three...

www.littledawgamps.com

 

[King Fan]

I'll leave the discussion about hunter-gathering parts v. kit v. shop-built v. Fender to y'all. Each has different costs in money, complexity, and rewards.

But @Shorty Medlock , you're from central Wisconsin? Northern white pine is one of the best woods on the planet for a Fender cab, either tweed or blackface. And several sources say it's one of the lightest of the pine woods, just as light as poplar.

 

[Blue Bill]

Birch plywood or solid pine???

Solid pine is actually stiffer than plywood, and lighter in weight.

 

[clydethecat]

Princeton or Deluxe kit....your opinion on the best buy.

Tweed or black?