Do handwired solid state amps exist?

[agent_zed]

I was thinking about old amps and how much easier they are to replace parts etc and how people like to keep them going for years and years and got to thinking about the future when valves/tubes might not be so easy to obtain etc pt and ot trabsformers aint cheap either.

A lot of modern solid state amps use quite specialised components that cant be repaired so i wondered if there was any mileage in building a hand wired solid state amp? Or maybe a hybrid?

Perhaps good amps are just too cheap to bother worrying about it? Or maybe they will last much longer than a valve amp anyway. I do have a peavey tnt150 bass amp from the 80s that is still going strong.

Any thoughts? Is this a dumb idea?

 

[totterer]

Here is my hand wired SS amp https://www.tdpri.com/threads/class-d-60w-amp-finished-yes-ss.1138592/ This is a very simple circuit, very low part count. Basically it is a pedal and not a complicated one. I did not wire the power amp obviously (or the buck converter), but why would you when these cost about $5. It sounds good to me.
If anything breaks, it is very easy and cheap to fix.

 

[Monoprice99]

These folks make up to 14W PCB amps. They are actually 1/2 way across the state of FL for a drive over from my location.

Guitar Projects | NightFire Electronics LLC

vakits.com

Looks like you can solder them together or have them build it. The Baxandall is an Ampeg (Bass) tone stack from what I read online ?

 

[NoTeleBob]

I've purchased a couple old school SS amps from the 80's and 90's. Like old tube amps, they are easier to repair. Full thickness circuit boards, Full-size components, lots of space on the board, etc.

Much easier to work on vs. today's wafer thin, component cramped boards. Or even worse, SMDs and programmed chips.

 

[dsutton24]

Hobbyists have been building all kinds of electronic things for decades, so yes.

 

[Skydog1010]

How would you do that?

Reduce yourself to sub nano size and solder away!?!

 

[sds1]

A lot of modern solid state amps use quite specialised components that cant be repaired

What would be an example of this? I thought most everything in amp world can be repaired.

 

[warrent]

There's a whole forum for diy solid state amps

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www.ssguitar.com

 

[W.L.Weller]

What would be an example of this? I thought most everything in amp world can be repaired.

The Class D power amplifiers in a lot of current production stuff are just these modules:

ICEpower 200ASC Class D Audio Amplifier with Power Supply Module 1 x 200W

ICEpower 200ASC Class D Audio Amplifier with Power Supply Module 1 x 200WThe 200ASC combines an efficient forward type power supply with a 1x 200W high quality class D amplifier. It includes a DC hanger bus for powering up to two 200AC hanger amplifiers. On its own it is therefore perfect for...

www.parts-express.com

If your e.g. Fender Rumble has an issue with the power section, the warranty "repair" is just replacing this whole Bang & Olufsen-designed board. (the whole board is like 4" x 6").

 

[richa]

Here's mine. I enjoy discrete component builds. Commercially...it would not surprise me... I mean look at the hand wired pedal "thing". Whether there is an actual advantage beyond personal satisfaction I'm less sure. But that's enough for me. I am curious whether big iron old school power supplies will survive the class D. Even I wobble on that.

 

[schmee]

Old school PCB's were thick and large wide solder runs. These are more like hard wired really. Modern types often use specialized connetors with thin wire ribbon cables etc. Mounting pots directly to boards has been problematic but some older units wired them to the boards.
Old Peavey stuff is bulletproof and heavy.

 

[jvin248]

.

Electrons don't know if an amp is hand wired or not. Hand Wired is done for marketing, to sell you it's better.

A component placer and wave solder equipment are very repeatable. Fewer mistakes than a hand builder when making thousands of units.




.

 

[printer2]

Circuit boards made their appearance in the tube era, mind you I had an organ from 1959 that had transistors on circuit boards with a tube power section. I had a few tube hifi's that were on circuit boards. I have seen some early boards hand soldered and some were dipped in a solder bath. So there will not be any eyelet SS amps, technology progressed passed that point. The only problem with a circuit board is lifting the board to unsolder the components. It is possible with most boards even though it can be a pain at times. That being said, they were a breeze as compared to some amps like the Bassbreaker which has jumpers across boards.

 

[Engine Swap]

An old Zapp amp.

Boards are all chopped up and the components don’t follow the slikscreen on the boards

 

[G Stone496]

An old Zapp amp.

Zap? Did they call it that because you'd get zapped if you put your hand in the back? JK. I'll show myself out.

 

[edvard]

I would love to make a hand-wired point-to-point SS amp. I'd use transistors in those big TO-126 and TO-220 packages (overkill for small signals, I know...), and power it with ±35 volts like the big SS hi-fi amps. Maybe even use P- and N-channel MOSFET pairs wired up as Inverters for the gain stages. I'd also use big MOSFETs in TO-3 packages for the power section, output through an audio transformer. A pipe dream perhaps, but it's MY pipe dream, darn it...

 

[agent_zed]

What would be an example of this? I thought most everything in amp world can be repaired.

Depends on your definition of repair. Swapping out a board/module could be considered repair. I was thinking more along the lines of swapping out readily available caps and resistors.

I had a look at a non-working Vox combo amp that was a hybrid. It had numerous amp modes you could select etc. Unsurprisingly it had various pcbs with what I assume to be microchips etc. There was no way I could just fix that module. I would have to buy a replacement. If they don't stock that replacement in 10years time the amp is junk and is probably already junk as not worth spending whatever it costs for the replacement board when you can buy a working secondhand one for a few times more. Same with an old 70's(?) HH bass amp I have in the attic. It has a valvesound module that is shot but too much work to fix that module as far beyond my skills.

 

[agent_zed]

In general just to be clear I don't think that the handwiring part gives it any special abilities, I think I meant point to point wiring really. although It would still need to be handwired as I don't have the equipment to do anything else.

I don't have anything against PCBs as such but I feel that there is more chance of it being unrepairable in the future compared to simple point to point. I don't know much about repairing pcbs but I would guess it is slightly more difficult.

Thanks for all the links I'll have a look. I did a quick google but wasn't really sure what to look for, I was mostly searching to see if there were any boutique brands building handwired point to point SS or hybrid amps but didn't see any as such. Probably just need to look harder.

thanks all

 

[Lynxtrap]

This is my 1964 Vox T60 bass amp.

 

[somebodyelseuk]

I was thinking about old amps and how much easier they are to replace parts etc and how people like to keep them going for years and years and got to thinking about the future when valves/tubes might not be so easy to obtain etc pt and ot trabsformers aint cheap either.

A lot of modern solid state amps use quite specialised components that cant be repaired so i wondered if there was any mileage in building a hand wired solid state amp? Or maybe a hybrid?

Perhaps good amps are just too cheap to bother worrying about it? Or maybe they will last much longer than a valve amp anyway. I do have a peavey tnt150 bass amp from the 80s that is still going strong.

Any thoughts? Is this a dumb idea?

Depends on your definition of 'solid state' and your definition of 'handwired'.

There are plenty of manufacturers making 'handwired' amps with PCBs. They just have a human solder the boards instead of a machine.
As for solid state, there's analogue transistor and there's 'digital', and there are no guarantees that you'll still be able to get the correct parts for either next year, never mind 50 years from now.
You've only got to read the numerous threads on other forums of people arguing the toss about which transistored Tubescreamer sounded the best. Another example, last time I looked, Mesa had made three 'evolutions' of the Triaxis - v1, v2 & v3. Version 2 had an extra board and upgraded firmware. Version 3 was Version 1 with the Version 2 firmware, because the parts to make the additional board were no longer being made.
I'd be surprised if the parts inside a new Helix were exactly the same as the ones inside a 2015 Helix.