Amp building experiences? I think I'm gonna build one.

[ledvedder]

I've been going crazy trying to decide on a low wattage (20 watts or lower) plexi like amp to get the great classic rock tones. After watching what seems like a million videos and starting a few recommendation threads, I'm seriously thinking about building one. I've never built an amp, but have worked inside amps, changing components, etc. I've also built a few pedals, and wired up many guitars. I'm curious to hear other's experiences.

I like the mkii version of this Trinity kit, https://www.trinityamps.com/product/trinity-18-kit/. They have a good builders forum, as well as great instructions specific to the build. What do you guys think? Is it worth the time, or should I just shell out the money for an amp?

[jgreenwd]

If you enjoy building stuff, an 18Watt is a relatively simple amp to start out with. My first build was an 18W I assembled from an old Kenwood receiver that I gutted (after the power supply caps literally went up in flames due to lack of maintenance). I can't speak to the quality of the Trinity kits, since I have never used them. The schematic on that one may be a little bit confusing for a first time, but it's manageable. The layout is pretty straight forward. You'll probably be into it for $500 or so after buying transformers. So, there may be cheaper ways to get the tone you're after. But, if the build experience is what you want, this is a decent way to get it.

[Tortuga]

Definitely interested in what you come up with, ledvedder

[long standing member]

I recently built a Two-Stroke.........
It sounds great and does all kinds of great things.

Building it was an enormous PITA.

I was really surprised, b/c I fix everything, love watching guitar amp fixer vids, reading the, e.g., Bassman rebuild threads, etc, and have plenty of soldering experience, etc., etc.

AND I hated building it, and I couldn't wait to get it over with.

Admittedly, I decided that I love the lunchbox format, and I squeezed it into a chassis that was way too small, and made soldering a pain in the ass, b/c just about every time I soldered one thing, I had to contort the soldering iron into kamma sutra positions in order to avoid burning the wire next to it.

Here's my list of mistakes for you to avoid:
1. Make sure there's plenty of space.
2. Make sure the chassis is TOTALLY finished in terms of drilling holes, painting, labels, etc. BEFORE you start assembling/soldering
3. Look at the size of the holes of the tube terminals, and make sure you buy the right size wire that will fit into the hole, especially when you've got say, three wires that need to go in there.
4. I strongly advise buying the cloth insulated wire, as you can push back the insulation, and will return to cover the whole wire. Plastic insulation will melt back, leaving uncovered wires that make you worry about "will they short out and kill you?"

I suppose a kit will avoid all this............

Make sure you read all the safety rules you must follow, easily found on the interwebz..