Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Ok. So I have my shopping cart all full to purchase all of the parts needed to do a 5F1 Head that has upgrades to use most other octals in the power section (6L6, KT66, EL34...). Total price for all parts except cab (which I will build) is $310. This includes tubes, blank chassis and all parts.
Then I get a coupon for Musicians Friend, poke around and find this: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/jet-city-amplification-picovalve-5w-tube-guitar-amp-head
The Jet City Pico Valve. 5 watts, lets you use any Octal you like...Shit, with 15% off that is $255. So now what do I do?
Build the 5F1 variant, or get the Picovalve?
Anyone use a Jet City Amp? Played one? I have never even seen one in person, but I am very intrigued by this.
-P

There is a great sense of accomplishment and pride playing guitar through a tube amp you built yourself, a one of a kind, made in your workshop work of art.

Does that help?

Build it. You know in your heart that it's the only answer.

It would if I didn't already have some amps I have built myself!
I know you guys are right, build it huh.
-P

Build it. You can pick up a pico valve for around $200 ( used ) at TGP later

Like this one... $200

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... ?t=1028771

Build the 5F1

Yeah, for me this is about keeping busy with a fun hobby. Buying takes a few minutes. Building? Well... let's just say it keeps my dance card full.

I don't know, man. I might have to say buy the Pico.

I love to DIY stuff, but my issue with amps is that the cost of parts usually exceeds what I can buy one for already built (and with a decent cab). Especially for small, simple amps.

This can sometimes also apply to pedals, but the cost differential is the kicker. I might prefer to build a pedal that costs me $60 in parts, even though I could get essentially the same thing for $40 used or from a Chinese warehouse. But I'm not as cool with spending $600 to build an amp that I could've bought for $400 or less. Those are just made-up numbers, but every time I go to price a tube amp project, I get discouraged because I can buy an amp with more features for less money.

Everybody enjoys different things, so please don't flame me for being a cheap bastard.

Ended up ordering the parts. Final total: $299 Shipped! Now I just need to get building once it gets here.
-P

You made your mind pretty fast!

Can't wait to see the finished product!


What CJ is mentionning is also one of the aspect that is keeping me away from amps at the moment....

I see bunch of cool 5 watt, vintage amps on kijiji...for less than 150$....

You made the right decision man. $299 for hand-made by a builder I'm sure you trust (because, you know, it's you) with the parts you specifically wanted versus $250 for factory-made by an underpaid person who probably doesn't know how to play a C chord using lowest common denominator parts. That plus the inherent value of building it - the knowledge, the enjoyment, the final satisfaction, etc.. No question.

What the big breaker was: I saw a snipped on the news about the place where Apple Ipads are made. They talked to a worker and she had never seen a completed Ipad, didn't even know what it did. That was pretty sad.
So yeah, now I know who built it (and I am a bad-ass, so that helps) and I am not contributing to the destruction of a culture because I wanted to save a few bucks. Plus, come on, $300 for a hand wired amp! Seriously now.
-P

Good. Build it and they will come.

I get what you guys are saying about "hand-made in the USA" and all that. I really do.

But $300 is just the starting cost. You're going to end up with an amp in a chassis. No faceplate, no cab, no speaker. Okay, so let's assume you're going with just a head and you already have a speaker cab, so there's no speaker cost. You still gotta fork out for a faceplate (maybe $50-ish if you want a simple one) and a head cab. If you're wizz-bang woodworker (and maybe you are), the materials won't be too bad if you go with plywood. If you need to buy a cab, I think minimum you're going to spend is $100.

So conservatively, you're going to spend $450 on the amp. And that was my whole point earlier. I like building stuff, but I don't like spending way more for the privilege. Even despite all the "Team America" stuff.

Incidentally, I bought my Univalve used for $500. And it's made in the USA by people who play guitar. For me, it's a no brainer to chose the Univalve over a DIY Champ at essentially the same price. Price does matter, at least to me, at a certain point. To borrow a term from the account execs at work, I'm not seeing the "value proposition" of building my own tube amps. And yes, I have built and moded a few in the past. So I'm not blabbering about something I've never done.

But hey, isn't it great we can all make different choices and still respect each other? Patrick, I hope you enjoy the shit out of building a playing that amp. Maybe you'll inspire me to build another amp one of these days.

+1

That said I've loved fixing up some cool vintage amps.... but they always end up getting sold. Folks love them.

Yeah see, Already have the Speaker Cabs (3 different types right now!), I don't need a faceplate to know that one knob and no switch means: On and Louder. As for building the cab, I have decent skills, and a good supply of decent wood, so really the cab will cost me about $25 worth of parts I need (mostly screen material or Lexan, if I get cocky). So final outlay will most likely be about $350. It's not really about saving the money or the world. I do like the idea of the pico valve.
When all is said and done, I will have another amp that I built (which does bring satisfaction) and it will meet the requirements that I had for an amp: takes pedals well, is in head form and will allow me to dick around with various Octal Tubes and mods (I've got a fat boost, tone knob and bypass and a few other little tricks up my sleeve.)
I am sure I will be happy. If cost was really the big issue, I would have gotten a Blackstar or Valve Jr Head used and done some mods. Thing is, I already have plenty of EL84 based amps, I have built a small 1W 2-Tube amp in the past (similar to firefly), and I really wanted something with big glass and reasonable power. Plus every 5F1 and 5F2 I have ever played, I really liked, so it just made sense to me.
I will post build pics as I go, and anything I learn from the process.
-P

Sounds like you got a plan, man. I figured as much.

I was just thinking about how I would've approached the project and what it would've cost me. I would've added probably half a dozen mods (resulting in at least another pot or two, a standby switch, etc) and I can't build a cab worth a damn. So it really would cost me $500 to get 'er done up the way I want it.

I've actually been meaning to mod this Valve Jr I have. I totally rebuilt one a few years back and it was fun (and pretty cheap).

Have any of you seen or read about the new Bad cat amp that has, instead of two channels, is two amps in one? Half is El84 power tubes and half is EL34s. Have the ability to use either preamp with either set of output tubes. Monster figgin idea. $2700 price range. Can any of you build it for less?

CJ, what do you think of the Pico Valve? I see one real cheap here in stockholm at the moment, and big payday is tomorrow

Honestly, I've not played one. But Jet City got Andy Marshall (the guy who designed the Univalve) to do the design for them. So it's kinda like a cheaper, lower-wattage Univalve (but minus a lot of the fancy extra features that you may not even need). If you want to do a lot of tube swapping, it's going to be a lot of fun.

So I did some more reading and while the manual of the PicoValve says that you don't need to bias it with each different tube type, it goes on to say that it is adjustable bias on the inside, but should only be biased by a tech (blah blah blah...kill yourself etc). I spoke with a guy who has one, and he says that the no bias thing is crap. He blew up 2 good tubes (an EL34 and a KT88) both were supposed to be plug and play. He contacted tech support and they told him that it is not necessary to re-bias the amp, but there has been instances of it nuking tubes without a re-bias. So while I like the idea, and I would be able to re-bias it, unless you are willing to risk the life of a tube (and some are $50 a piece) then you may want to be cautious with the pico valve.

Thanks P. I stick with my valve jr and Windsor studio combo for tubeswapping keyparties then

Bummer to hear that.

All depends why you are even considering obtaining another amp, really. Do you want and amp just to get great sounds out of and play? Yes?....then you'd buy the amp. Do you want to feel good about building something and feeling construstive with your time? Yes?....then build the amp.

assume a guy has some "decent" soldering skills....

I think from a player's prospective, DIYing an amp is not worth it....Like CJ pointed out $350-$500 (and closer to $500 for most guys), is plenty of money to get a solidly built, similar (maybe even better) amp. Someone DIYs an amp solely for the DIYing experience not for the cost/value/playing vs. soldering time/convenience factors.

DIYing pedals can be different though. For example, a Boss VB-2 is anywhere from $300-$500 used on ebay. I can build one from BYOC for $150. And the time is very reasonable, too.

Of course, this is all a matter of experience and perspective.

P, YOU WANT TO BUILD AN AMP.....and more importantly, as your latter posts indicated, you want to avoid buying an amp in that price range. Cool...good on you.

I, otherhand, have no interest in building an amp.....I have not the time, space, knowledge or desire to spend more than I need to for the pleasure of a working amp. That is MY position.

It's all good.

Oh and certainly get a build progress/report thread going. I love those...seeing a project develop. Might even inspire me to do it myself (though I doubt it, they usually have the opposite effect).

No doubt building is in my blood. I just can't stop. I have been building during my lunch break now for the past 2 weeks since I don't have a bench at home and trying to solder with a 2 year old is not a good idea. I just finished a MorC (GPCB), a Nurse Q (Perf), EA Trem (Perf), Cap Meter, and a handful of Bazz Fuzz, Electras etc all on perf/vero. The toughest part about building at work is that I can't really tool an enclosure. So enclosures need to go home, be drilled/painted, then brought back to work and loaded.
Also, I only have 2 enclosures left I am hoping that Mammoth does the 3 for $15 Blems again soon. Oh yeah, and I have the Klon board coming, and my Tele from Hell project...and now the Amp build.
This little 5F1 is actually going to replace the Super Champ XD I just sold. I never really loved the XD and so I figure with the $300 I got, why not build another amp? I have been really soured by the low-end tube amps that have come out lately. I figure that if you need to mad them heavily, then the makers missed something. Also, just as I find when people install shit in our house, (we just had shutters put in), the "handy work" and installers typically don't do as good a job as I do. I think that when you build something for yourself, you tend to be more meticulous and make sure everything is done the right way. See my post above about the Pico Valve nuking Tubes. That sort of thing just pisses me off. Even my beloved Classic 30 has needed some mods to get it to sound right.
Honestly, most amps in my price range don't sound quite right out of the box. Which is a bummer in my mind, but when you mass produce and keep cost down, often something is overlooked.
That is my opinion.
So I now have $300 worth of parts coming my way.
-P