Stripped down low end dirty Silvertone/Danelectro/Supro/Valco style DIY amp head

stylesforfree · November 2022

I want to build something and I want to build something fun. Im looking into a small amp head similar to the sounds of the old cheap amps of the 60's.

Also, I was wondering if anyone had a simple design or schematic I could follow as a starting point.

I have been in touch with robinwood amps who has offered to build me something to the specs I require but I want to give it a go myself.

Starting with a single channel, single ended design, I was wondering if anyone could chime in and offer any advice.

thecolourbox · February 2023

Hi, was just looking through my bookmarked threads and saw nobody had responded on this one. Did you get anywhere with it?

stylesforfree · February 2023

thecolourbox said:

Hi, was just looking through my bookmarked threads and saw nobody had responded on this one. Did you get anywhere with it?

Besides a load of 2nd hand research, anecdotes, obsolete and abandoned forum posts and a few DIY projects from yesteryear I stumbled across on YouTube, not really.

I ended up buying an audio kitchen big trees to see how close I could get to the sound I was lusting for. It made me realise how easy it would be to build a small 2 watt amp inside a large pedal enclosure.

I actually haven't given it any thought for a few months though.

stylesforfree · July 2023

Im still thinking about this.

I know there's a few places that offer kits for vintage sounding american amps but I think I want to go the route of starting from scratch...maybe.

Has anyone here built their own amp in a similar vein to what im talking about?

paulnb57 · July 2023

Not sure if its similar to what you want but the Ampmaker WF55 is pretty good, I made one ages ago and it was pretty straightforward…sounds good too

https://www.ampmaker.com/shop/wf-55/

stylesforfree · July 2023

paulnb57 said:

Not sure if its similar to what you want but the Ampmaker WF55 is pretty good, I made one ages ago and it was pretty straightforward…sounds good too

https://www.ampmaker.com/shop/wf-55/

Thanks, I have been looking at the kit before, ultimately I ended up with a Panama Conqueror head recently, it's a modified 5F1 circuit with a tone knob.

Did you ever make anything else?

SteveRobinson · July 2023

When I built a couple of amps I used the plans from ax84.com but that now seems to be defunct although all the content is archived. They had modular designs that you could mix and match and modify to suit.

paulnb57 · July 2023

stylesforfree said:

paulnb57 said:

Not sure if its similar to what you want but the Ampmaker WF55 is pretty good, I made one ages ago and it was pretty straightforward…sounds good too

https://www.ampmaker.com/shop/wf-55/

Thanks, I have been looking at the kit before, ultimately I ended up with a Panama Conqueror head recently, it's a modified 5F1 circuit with a tone knob.

Did you ever make anything else?

I didnt make another, Im utterly clueless regarding how they work etc! But the WF55 was almost “paint by numbers” very easy if you get organised

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Stripped down low end dirty Silvertone/Danelectro/Supro/Valco style DIY amp head

Comments