'50s Record Player - Cigar Box Tube Guitar Amp Robot Conversion

[@kennethgroves6552]

I just scored a 1960s vintage audiotronics classroom record player, with a little tube amp. It has a single 6T9 tube. After determining that the motor drive for the record player was shot, and wanting another tube amplifier. I dissected the unit and gave it a guitar Jack input. The output was kind of underwhelming even though the speaker sounded okay. Dinky little nichrome magnet. So I hooked my linear power booster, from electro-harmonics before the input, and wouldn't you know it it has gain. And this thing sounds better than my soul food pedal. So I've pushed it into my big amp, as a preamp with a treble boost. And it is amazing. Sounds like 1950s raw early distortion not artificial distortion. I very much enjoy your videos thank you. I wanted to tell someone that would understand.

[@floattheboat100]

You’re a badass, very modest, with confidence and humility , great guitar player as well… I can tell you really enjoyed playing that amp. And although we never know for sure via KZbin and our phones, you can REALLY tell that thing sounds incredible, and I am a total tone snob.. would love to mic it up… Track with it..I happen to land on this because I found the joy, it hit me all at once… The wild wonders that lay inside these old record players… Anyway, thanks for this video it’s awesome. I appreciate you tons…

[@rexoliver7780]

That is one neat,and GREAT sounding little guitar amp from that old TT.Loved the corded tools!Was kinda nice to see someone using them.Today you see a lot of videos where cordless tools are used.Nothing wrong with either.I have both.You DID a GREAT job!Loved how the old items were salvaged to make "new"!Might be interesting to see what the "robo amp" sounds like with it opened?And the amp atop the doll!!!!FUNKY!

[@DeadKoby]

Hmm... I never seem to find stuff like this floating around my part of town... Usually I end up fixing 70's peavey stuff. That's fun too, but it's usually such a simple fix... What survives Nuclear fall-out? Old Peavey amps and Cockroaches.

[@TheGuitologist]

They keep the interesting stuff in the back.

[@bucyruserie1211]

Great little build, really sounded great....... You forgot to add that although available in Blonde finish, those Robette's require more maintenance!

[@TheGuitologist]

She was created out of a piece of 'Mitchell' and has had a chip on her shoulder about that ever since. :P

[@robertjohnson5795]

LOL.. Was going to ask about the Diet Rite. I'm amazed by your knowledge of this stuff. Fascinating to watch. Awesome work. Thanks for putting this stuff up here!

[@TheGuitologist]

Thanks for watching dude. And for commenting. I enjoy sharing my foibles, good and bad.

[@raymondheath7668]

That's the cutest little amp, I would love to build one of those!

[@audiotechlabs4650]

Nothing like corded power tools! I have the exact same cigar boxes for my projects. Where did the high voltage come for the plates of the tubes to make them work? It looked like the only voltage supply was the 120 volts AC. Great as always! Love your posts. Thankz

[@TheGuitologist]

Yeah, it's a series filament amplifier. The rectified DC voltage is only around 120VDC or so. With a decent cab and an efficient speaker they can sound fairly loud for what they are.

[@umajunkcollector]

It sounds better than I expected, kewl! Don

[@TheGuitologist]

Wrong amp for Madison Square Garden, but cool for the side table in the living room.

[@AlejandroLapeyre]

Your audio improved to perfection now 😀

[@rzsdad1]

That is so cool! I want to do that I have an old record player that has 2 tubes 50C5 and a 35W4. Just waiting for enough knowledge to attemt something like this!

[@roscocsa]

A couple of red on/standby lights behind those sound ports would be awesome

[@TheGuitologist]

roscocsa ooo...that would look awesome.

[@roscocsa]

:D

[@JJ-JOHNSON]

Nice build, enjoyed watching, keep them coming.

[@miltowntubes4142]

i love the robot look dude !! Great job & i have my share of little phonograph tube amps laying around in my little workshop. i'm going to try it out 1 rainy day !! thanx again for another great kick ass video !!!

[@TheGuitologist]

Yeah man, I thought this little guy came out real cute. He looks surprised, or like he's always happy to see me! :D If you end up doing some projects, give us a link here so we can check them out! Happy building!

[@brandon3525]

this is so cool...I have a question though. I hooked the jack up to the wires that were vonnected to the needle and it works but, it's really quiet. do I need to use a preamp or something? clearly I'm new lol. thanks

[@benwright6330]

..could a little amp like that be made to run on batteries,. ..kind of like a Pignose amp?

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

I recently got a very similar record player, in great shape (apparently it has been restored recently). Already ordered an isolation transformer from a local guy who makes them to order, and I'll be adding an input for guitar (I'll use a switching jack, so I can still use it as a Record Player). It doesn't have a tone control, but I'm thinking about adding one.

[@benwright6330]

..how hard would it be to add a small spring reverb tank to something like that?

[@jasonkirkham550]

Another cool conversion !

[@redfishbum]

Great video and very inspiring! Thanks for making these. Bart

[@TheGuitologist]

Thanks for watching!

[@seanpangborn8138]

I recently acquired a symphonic 1524 tube amp and controls and I wanted to do a something similar to what you have hear. I was wondering if you might be able to assist me in the conversion.

[@cliffgeiger8173]

That Robo Amp, has a slight over-driven/chorus sound to it...I didn't know if it was me or did you notice it as well? Still, that is one sweet little amp and its very impressive!

[@johnstrange6799]

Hey Brad (anyone), are familiar with the Jewel Radio Corp 5020U radio/phonograph from the same era? I have the guts of one and was wondering if it's a viable candidate for amp conversion.

[@TheGuitologist]

Not familiar, but radios and phono amps usually take a lot of modifying.

[@johnstrange6799]

Thanks, man.

[@benwright6330]

Could somethin ng like this be run off batteries?

[@roberthocher7157]

Hey Brad, Been watching a ton of your videos. Cool stuff! I have a one tube record player That I am converting to a cigar box amp. I cant figure out how to cut the motor out of circuit and get power to the tube. Any hints would be greatly appreciated.

[@killercurl1]

now, i need to find your video about converting a broken equalizer stereo head into some kind of effect processor.

[@KevinRandall-w3t]

Robo amp? I would've named it Mr. Bill amp as it looks like Mr. Bill going Oh no! lol.

[@goldenboy5500]

what modifications did you make so 100 mv guitar pickup would work in place of a 2.5 v crystal phono pickup ?

[@wembry432]

Even though you have a three wire cord installed, there is still a safety issue. I have been shocked when using a three wire socket with a ground pin which was incorrectly installed (black wire to neutral, white wire hot!). If you plug into something like this the ground on your input jack and shield on your guitar cord would be hot with 120V AC. You could separate the ground connections in your amplifier using a separate ground wire not connected to the metal chassis, but you would have to install an insulating wafer under the metal filter capacitor. The "death capacitor" (which now connects the input audio ground to the AC "hot" amplifier ground) should be no more than 0.01mF and at least 600V in parallel with a 1Meg. resistor. I never have liked "AC/DC equipment from the 1930s through the 1960s for this reason.

[@tvtommm]

sounds great

[@tyschmidt5609]

Oh my that's super cool. Is this for sale? I make cigar box guitars and I also make my own pickups with old motor wire. This could match a ACID cigar box guitar that I'm making.

[@stephengent9974]

A cool little amp. I have wanted to do such a build for a while, but am not experienced with electronics. I don't think your videos are too long, in fact it would be nice to do a more in-depth build of this kind showing exactly what you do, what to replace components with, valve alternatives etc.

[@jackallen6261]

I use the Hookers and Blow line all the time when people tell me I spend too much money on my hobbies, "Hey it's better than spending it on hookers and blow!' I've had some people look at me like "WHAT!" Some people really need to buy a sense of humor! Great little amp! Sounds awesome!!

[@davidsix8907]

Hey Brad, I recently picked up my first phonograph to convert. It hums the same level at any volume with no output. I have heard that I need to replace the Filter Caps. Is this true? Thanks.

[@TheGuitologist]

+David Six yes, sounds like it.

[@davidsix8907]

The Guitologist thanks!

[@davidsix8907]

The Guitologist another question for ya. Could I convert a 1929 RCA Radiola 66 radio into a guitar amp? There’s someone in my town selling one for $40 and I’m wondering if it’d be worth the work. Thanks.

[@larryhaase7132]

Awesome brother

[@AdamRainStopper]

I would've used the original cabinet, and maybe a bigger speaker (cut a bigger baffle-hole of course).

[@TheGuitologist]

I considered that, but the top and back of the record player cab were just cardbaord.

[@AdamRainStopper]

The Guitologist Must be some damn good cardboard to have survived all these decades. I realized after watching this, I don't HAVE a little amp that I can just set up anywhere and play. I need to put together some kind of little 1x8 combo or something. Maybe something battery powered......huh, wonder if there's a battery-powered tube amp I could build. I mean, not with a car battery, but like a 6-pack of D's. Maybe some submini dual triodes in the pre and a pair of submini pentodes in P/P for like half a watt. Or I could just go on ebay and find a little solid state practice amp. I am just looking for something to mess around on.

[@TheGuitologist]

Battery powered tube amps have been around as long as there have been cars. They used vibrators to simulate AC and step up transformers. There are better ways to do this now, more efficiently. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHnUZ6l3p7GJmZo

[@AdamRainStopper]

The Guitologist Vibrators....

[@TheGuitologist]

At the end of the video I should have thrown a glass of water on t so I could have included the word "wet" in the title. Imagine the hits then. This video might be as popular that one of the kid's brother biting his finger.

[@AdamRainStopper]

Ha....you used a jigsaw to cut the baffle-hole. . . I used to build cabinets semi-professionally, and I always just cut out the hole with a jigsaw and then sanded it until it looked like a pretty perfect circle. I also did finger-joints the same way, trace and cut, until I could afford a router, THAT was a tedious process! People loved my cabinets though.

[@TheGuitologist]

Jigsaw's a good tool.

[@davekimball3610]

that jigsaw is legit!

[@davemassie3726]

NICE AMP

[@TheGuitologist]

Thanks, Dave. I took a shine to this little guy.

[@mdparent]

I wish that I had the knowledge to fix these things. I just picked up a 5 tube Phono-Art version and am scared to death to do anything to it.

[@TheGuitologist]

Your fear is partially warranted. You should exercise caution when dealing with hot chassis amps. You should service them using a Variac or other isolation transfofmer.

[@iandoesallthethings]

How do you feel about playing them without an isolation transformer? I just got an old silvertone with the exact same tube set, so I'm curious if I should install one permanently and deal with the half-wave rectifier issue or just be uber cautious while working on it and just play it as is.

[@larryshaver3568]

replacing the power cord would always be a given with me

[@icebob8555]

Cool amp great vid

[@krang07]

lol great video sir. btw, that is the best angle ever for a guitarist to see what another guitarist is playing. who cares about the right hand, its the fretting hand we want to see. lol drink diet-rite pure 0 lol eleven bux in parts, x10 for labor cost, with buyer`s discount, $89.99 but wait, if you order now,,,, :-)

[@TheGuitologist]

I've been in talks with Diet Rite about a sponsorship deal, but they say I'll have to stop drinking coffee. I told them to get bent! :P

[@TheGuitologist]

You're all about camera angles, aren't you! :D One of these days I'll have to shoot a whole video upside down just for you.

[@krang07]

lol

[@CoolTim44]

I guess you don't drink maxwell house coffee lol

[@SeanDamonGreene]

Lulz at how this video ended. Hilarious!

[@stephenquail3168]

Nice

[@marceloalvesdeamorim3869]

No Brasil seria uma jóia rara

[@brianyork5510]

Cool!

[@Curtislow2]

hey that my record player. I want it back.