Building my own Tube Amp | Pedal Platform Amp + Schematics

[@diegoambrosio9121]

Dude, you know tone, know electronics and play well. You are a Jedi Guitarist. Terrific amp sound!

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you, this means a lot to me!

[@colettefreiberg]

an excellent execution of your design. very well thought through concept. congratulations! you have made a wonderful push pull amp.

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you a lot :)

[@juleslacrapule]

Amazing work. Build quality looks incredible, sounds great too.

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you!

[@alexcarpen3201]

I just got to this channel and im glad i did. Great job!

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thanks a lot!

[@timburle4980]

Finally, someone builds an amp that actually sounds good, great job!

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you a lot. I think there are other that build also amps that sound good, but often they won't share the schematics...

[@gregmetzler6828]

Wow. Love the tone! The craftsmanship and attention to detail is impeccable.

[@Fight4Madness]

Great work!!! And the esthetics of your design is outstanding! I really like the clean and straight design of the Faceplate. It's looks like an old laboratory electronic devices. Also nice playing and sound! The northern Germans now how to build tube amps 👌👌👌

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you a lot! I am planning to do a stereo version of it in future, since I really dig those pan delays and reverbs. But still in the planning stage.

[@frankstetka7206]

I’m impressed yet again, nice touch to add in the load resistor, it seems an obvious choice for consumer electronics to do this and yet it is not a common practice for $$ reasons you know😄. This is exactly the kind of amp I was thinking about almost every time I think of low wattage amps for recording and practice. There may be a nice chime and clarity to single ended designs but where is the tight and present bass ? Push Pull wins each time for me. I have had wild ideas of hybrid amps that use an electronic crossover to combine solid state on lows and run the mids on up with a single ended amp but all that complexity for what? It may sound better in my imagination or in practice sound nice when I combine two amps with separate speakers but all in one? It’s just easier to go with a less complicated signal path and get good clarity. In today’s world this amp is all anyone really needs on guitar for the real deal tube sound, the rest can go to a console or PA. Add an Effects loop, possibly one more boost gain stage and a line out - ehhhh I digress, it’s so good as it is. Simple is how to keep the sound of your hands involved.

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you for those words. In fact, over the years I built much (!) more complicated amps with two and three channels, push pull pots etc. But to be honest: I didn't used them that much. I am still playing this amp almost every day and I am happy with its features. You mentioned the lack of tight, presence and bass. This is not correct, on the left and right are switches for bass, and some kind of presence control :) For a lot of sounds I am using pedals anyways.

[@mohitrahaman]

You are among those rare gems of YT with low audience but highly documented projects. I wish you all the best. Would you recommend adding a FX loop mod here by tapping off before the master vol pot or after Sw5?

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you a lot! An FX Loop could be added, but since it does not overdrive that much, personally I do all my overdrive / distortion with pedals.

[@mohitrahaman]

​@@Aeon_Electronics I understand that the preamp type pedals will have to go in front of the amp with your design here, and that's perfect as a platform for driven tones. It sounded amazing with that Boss MD-2. I'm thinking of using a clone of Wampler Pinnacle or MI Super Crunch Box or a Revv G3.

[@danielkongmusic]

Amazing work, and your playing is incredible!

[@lichen8855]

Great work! Sounds awesome! And very nice of you to share the schematic and such!

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you a lot! I will always share my schematics, since I have no commercial interests but want to share knowledge and fun in playing the guitar & engineering.

[@СашаПетровић-н6х]

Trebble controll looks like from 18 wat Marschall. I had build unique amp with it - 2 EABC80 (from tube radio) with treble and volume controll in between and single ended EL84 autput. I used it with radio speaker and it was poor, but, with real guitar cabinet (combo) it was the best lead/crunch sound of the guitar i hear in my life, way better than stock amp that come with that combo. I did not needed additional tone shaping or pedals.

[@MartinRonky]

Very cool! Add outro to wrap things out

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you for this suggestion, I will do in the future!

[@Terk_]

Love it! Great sounds and beautiful design and execution!

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you! :)

[@MrNekket]

Amazing

[@voidvoidvoidmusic]

Beautiful work

[@MrNekket]

Please, uploade more guitar electronics! You playing is very tasteful, too

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you! I will do! Any suggestions?

[@serranodavid3247]

Sounds really good, awesome job...

[@hanswurst9120]

Cool stuff! Putting everything on PCB makes this a great DIY project. I may have to build this one day... Anyway, what's the deal with the power amp having no PI? I tried to do some quick research but there is hardly any info. Intriguing! Overall a very unique design. Hearing a bit more about the design process and ideas behind it would be so exciting. P.S.: Also, would you please do yourself a favor and move F3 before the rectifier? It might one day save the power transformer :)

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you for your comment. In the video I said the goal was to (somewhat) radically reduce complexity squeeze the most out of just 2 triodes, therefore a Phase Inverter (PI) isn't needed. Of course everything comes at it's costs. This design is called self split and isn't new at all. You can find books from 1948 with those designs (e.g. "Phase Inversion Circuits" by John W. Straede in Radio-Craft, 1948.) The goal is - as I mentioned - to eliminate the need of the PI tube. Typically, the driven push-pull tube operates only in Class A, and the other push-pull tube has a mirrored signal applied to it, therefore the maximum output power is lower than for Class AB. Furthermore, the mirrored signal linearity can suffer as grid-conduction and cutoff regions of operation of the driven tube are approached, so acceptable output power can be even lower. That is the downside as mentioned above. But since I this is a guitar amp, there is no need for "ultra" linearity. You are right it is always better to put the fuse before the rectifier, since the rectifier diodes itself can fail. But in that case the main fuse will do the job. But in the end you are right. I am not quite sure, maybe on the PCB I corrected this.. I have to check..

[@hanswurst9120]

​@@Aeon_Electronics Now this is dedication, thanks a lot for your detailed reply! I regularly work on typical mainstream guitar amps, so I have a very narrow view on tube amplifiers. I definitely have to do some catching up about PI-less power amps. Thanks for the info, I need to read more about this. Sounds like a great alternative to single ended power amps for home use! About the fuse, I didn't mean to be pedantic. It was just the only thing I could ever contribute, since your design looks very well thought out. Perfectly tailored to the needs of a home guitarist! To my knowledge, I haven't seen silicone diodes fail short myself. Such a picky placement of the HT fuse may only be relevant in old amps with irreplacable original parts to sleep peacefully. Should be unlikely to ever matter in practice. :)

[@erikr968]

Nice design! I see one potential issue. You say the amp can output about 2W (probably more when cranked). The main load resistor for the attenuator is shown as 2W. It will see most of the output power if you crank the amp and turn on the attenuator. 2W is simply not enough to handle that. It may burn, and even if it can handle the power, it could get so hot it damages other components around it. I recommend using at least a 10W resistor in this position. You need to have a significant margin of error for any resistor that sees a lot of current.

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Thank you a lot, you are right, this is not quite right in my schematic. In reality I used a 5W resistor. The cranked output is around 1,95W. I'm glad that you pointed this out, I will correct this in the schmeatic!

[@parkinsane]

Has it been corrected in rev2.1? Excited to give this a shot.

[@Aeon_Electronics]

@@parkinsane This is just a typo in the schematic (R20 states 2W) I reality I've designed the PCB layout for a 5-10W resistor (the footprint). In my design I used an 5W resistor. So you are fine if you want to order my PCBs with the linked Gerber files. :)

[@MrNekket]

It would be smazing to see some controls walk through

[@santiagomoreno696]

Sounds really good, what was the cost of all the parts to build it?

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Since i've only used high quality parts like F&T / WIMA capacitors made in Germany, Miyama & APEM switches made in Japan and France, as well as all _custom_ made parts like "one of a kind" CNC made front & rear panels, I paid around 1100€, that would be 1.207,80 US-Dollars. My rackmountable head and the cabinet is handmade out of real wood, too (not plywood). If one wanted to build this on cheap, without care about the look or quality, I guess it would be possible around 500$ (with cab!).

[@Bricklinsv1970]

Now you should build an amp to out do a Mesa Boogie Strategy 500 Stereo ;)

[@Aeon_Electronics]

That's a lot of Watts! Maybe for an active on-stage guitar player.. But for home use? :) But indeed I already thought about an stereo amp! Good for stereo effects like chorus or ping pong delay.

[@Bricklinsv1970]

@@Aeon_Electronics A amp like that is fun to play thru because the entire neighborhood can enjoy your guitar playing ;)

[@parkinsane]

Just got my pcbs! I have a few minor questions, may I email you?

[@Aeon_Electronics]

Of course you can email me (messier31[at]posteo.de). Maybe your questions would help others, too? Feel free to post them as reply / under this comment! Otherwise of course you can email me. Greetings!

[@mohitrahaman]

I had one question about the type of Power Transformer used by you. I cannot find any 215V secondary transformer. Please suggest alternative. Primary voltage in my region is 240V. As per Rob Robinette's designs and specs for 2W-5W amps, can these be used for your design here?: AnTek AS-05T200 toroidal power transformer 200v @ 130ma (50VA), 6.3v @ 4 amps; Output Transformer Hammond 125B @ 5W 22.5K:8 ohms.