How to build a 2 Watt Tube Guitar amp for under $5 in tubes Unique 6CL6 design Cheap tunes 4 Free

[@BladeDoomer86]

Wow.. This is one thing I feel society is slowly losing, the skills to build something great with your hands and brains. This amp is wonderful, and for that price.... Bravo

[@quistador7]

nah dude you couldn't be more wrong. never in the history of modern man has there been a better time to be a tinkerer / builder. Your average hobby person can make things your father could only get through a special order from a factory. I can 3DP a resin cured part in a matter of hours. It take 2 days to get the best soldering iron you can buy and any type of solder I want right to my door. I built a programmed my own drone with zero beforehand knowledge of electronics, soldering, or programming. Took a month of reading and watching youtube videos. Easier now than it has EVER been

[@reachingout9285]

I agree with you that it’s easier than ever before, however I get the same feeling as this guy that the general public are slowly losing touch with these skills. Shop classes don’t exist in most high schools anymore (at least in the US) for example. Personally I find it very hard to find certain fountains of knowledge like this man here, Google these days is unreliable for searching the web, there aren’t as many unique websites as there where 10-15 years ago Google keeps the stuff at the top that pays them ad revenue, forums outside of big websites like Reddit are dying. If I’m wrong please tell me

[@BladeDoomer86]

@@quistador7 Not saying the passionate individuals like yourself don't exist, just that the high majority of folks wouldn't know what to do with a hammer and a nail most of the time. Too many middle man jobs, maybe too many people also..

[@robbietremblay9745]

While less people might be building physical items, the access to doing so is still widely available to anyone willing to put the work in. Not to mention that coding is the 21st century type of handyman work. Same type of problem solving that someone like OP would be doing

[@robbietremblay9745]

@@BladeDoomer86 I didn't notice your name when I replied, I love all them witches I saw them a few years back in Boston when they played the middle east with plague vendor, one of the best shows I've ever been too. Lol if I had a buck for every time my band jammed on marriage of the coyote woman I'd probably have more money than Gates Edit: and a MF DOOM pfp? Don't listen to what everyone else says about u, I think ur alright

[@ross3818]

That tuning is perfect for showing off the amp's distortion.

[@rciancia]

Terry - wonderful and beautiful little amp. That distortion does sound unique for sure. I would love to see Tony's reaction. Its ok to break strings, just don't break wine bottles. Excellent my friend.

[@jrose92081]

I have done electronics repair for years and being a guitar player I have always wanted to build my own amp. I have modded amps and guitars but never a full build. I have been looking at mojotone kits but after hearing this little gem I know what I want to do for a first build. Love this channel!

[@srvpoet]

Same here. This is the year I build one

[@silvamorphisphaeble7863]

@@srvpoet Same 😎

[@wa4aos]

Excellent re-purpose of a vintage device which is beyond any utilization for other projects. Very Well done !

[@bradrebar101]

Terry I just finished the 3 watt (6aq5) and it sounds really nice, and it didn't cost me very much. Thanks! I like that I can have a hobby that doesn't cost me a million dollars for each amp!

[@vonclod123]

Appreciate builders/designers finding uses for non typical tubes

[@joelprenovault3633]

You have contributed to my continuing education. As a musician and a music teacher, I thank you. 🎶

[@JaimeCerrada]

As an amp builder, Electronics degree... etc... I really love this repurpose desings!! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@bradconklin2878]

I love that the guitar is like, rocket science to someone so smart:)

[@fredflintstone8048]

I always get a kick out of these 'how to build for under dollar videos. Of course if a person needed to buy all the parts involved it would cost several times that much. The video creator always has some of the parts on hand and then enumerates the cost of the additional parts they need to buy, usually underestimating those actual costs as well. The titles of those video are misleading because they always state, 'how to'.. Well, they are not how to videos for other people, and would be more accurately titled, 'How I built for dollars', which would be more truthful, more useful. I do think that people clicking on the click bait title are thinking that they will be shown some secret on how they can save money, and find out they were wrong.

[@jeffreymckeown]

You are absolutely right 👍 I have the same filling in my mind. I was really disappointed when I watched this video

[@MM-ib6qh]

I love this channel! Gives me inspiration to do something with my garage full of junk I've been collecting for 20 years (transformers, chassis, tubes etc.). I need to start building!

[@daviddenoncourt757]

Just found your channel, you have a great presence and there's something warm and welcoming about the way you present things! Thank you!

[@squiggymcsquig6170]

I'm impressed. With the distortion, my mind heard the opening of an arrangement for "The End" by The Doors following those two sets of 4 notes.

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

What a fun little project! I love the re-used Heathkit casework. "Bottle with a straw..."..👍🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🍷

[@krislong9338]

Super cool, have long wanted to try some music gear DIY projects, now I have some ideas.

[@fc2p]

Awesome! One of these days, I may have to get around to building this. Very very cool.

[@chrisstevens2735]

I really like the distortion you get from this, beautiful little amp, well done

[@LitesLAB]

This is Excellent Terry! Great job!

[@satch72]

That is pretty cool. I need to get into these kind of mini amp builds

[@boboala1]

Clean setting it chimed like a Vox! Another great vino build!

[@nickjimenez4262]

Extremely cool. Ive got to make this

[@danielsaturnino5715]

Thanks Terry! I'm saving this one for later!

[@zbaby82]

That sounds fantastic! Like the Yardbirds on rocket fuel. That is a great circuit Terry.

[@roscoefoofoo]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your talents, D-Lab!

[@Czechmate.z]

Our vintage club had a amplifier build contest requiring tv tubes being used in the build . I used a 6EJ7 preamp and 6CL6 for output . 5 k output transformer and 330vdc on output tube .The amp played loud an clear . The 6EJ7 is a great alternate for the costly EF86 ,different pinout ,similar circuit components

[@mattdoliver1984]

That’s awesome, and yeah that overdrive definitely sounds unique 👍🏼 good job sir

[@jeffbrooks7246]

Fabulous and very creative. Love that distortion.

[@edcataldo7019]

Summoning another cool design and some good wine well done 👍

[@gillamb8669]

Definitely has a nice tone. You’re awesome Terry D-Lab 👍🤘

[@towmotornoises]

This sounds AMAZING. Building this immediately. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@g.gorrell2088]

Wow, your guitar playing has gotten so much better, I heard the MC5 needs a player.

[@soulman4292]

How on earth have I yet to find this channel? This is the tinkering musicians DREAM!!!!!!!! Especially one like myself that loves to rip stuff apart and figure out how it works. Subscribed!!!!! Definitely gonna be emailing for these schematics as I feel like this would be a perfect little amp for my home studio!!!

[@hardball107]

Awesome, thanks Terry. One thing you never mention is what kind of speaker fills your shop cab. Really enjoy these "Do more with Less" builds.

[@tomkane4326]

Thanks Terry .You made my Day.

[@OIE82]

Well, now that is pretty cool. I love the retro box it's in.

[@rickfennell7849]

Damn, I wish i had this kind of electrical knowledge 👍👍

[@axemonkey]

Super cool and cute little amp that sounds good. Great job man!

[@tremelo68]

Would love the schematic and a BOM if you have one! Sounds pretty unique and very good to me. Thanks!

[@f.k.burnham8491]

I remember working on the old B&W TV sets using the 6CL6's. Also have some ham gear that uses the 6CL6's.

[@jcool0122]

I love finding overlooked tubes to use in builds. I commonly use 6CM6, 12AB5 and 12V6 as subs for the ubiquitous 6V6. I generally get NOS tubes for 6-7 each from Antique Electronic Supply. Cheap preamp tubes are a lot harder, though I have paired up a 12SC7 with a 12V6 to make a 5C2 Fender Princeton close and it sounds great. I got both tubes with shipping for about $15. I did have to use seperate transformers for HT and filliment, but I managed to keep the whole build to about $150 including speaker and cabinet.

[@cameronstolhand7149]

How would you go about finding the power and output Transformers for his build? I built a 5 F1 before but it had a part number so finding the Transformer was very easy but I am a novice and do not know how to find a Transformer without the part number. What would you search for?

[@jcool0122]

@@cameronstolhand7149 the output transformer is all about impedence and wattage. For this one you need a 7k primary, and the secondary would be whatever speaker you're using. The easiest would probably be a hammond 125 series since they are "universal" transformers. They have a series of 6 taps for the secondary and you choose which to use based on a chart they supply. They come in several different watt ratings for both single ended and push pull. As for a power transformer, you'll just have to browse through manufacturers' websites looking at transformer specs. This project used a 440v center tapped HT winding @30mA and requires about 1A on the filliment. I know the Hammond 269GX is about right voltage-wise, but rated at twice the current. Looking at other manufacturers you might be able to find a closer match.

[@cameronstolhand7149]

@@jcool0122 Thanks for the reply. What's that part coming off the Transformer that says "WLO6 Bridg"?

[@jcool0122]

@@cameronstolhand7149 that is a 4 diode bridge rectifier. You can make one out of 4 1N4007 diodes if you have those on hand.

[@cameronstolhand7149]

@@jcool0122 Thanks!👍

[@pauldavis6356]

You really need to invest in a looper - an effect pedal ( around $40 used) that one of your friends can record on and you can play it thru any project for demonstration purposes. Absolutely ;ove your videos. Keep 'em comin'.

[@danvanlandingham3854]

I enjoyed your vid on this two watt guitar amp.I have an idea for you:use an old Califone speaker box that had a 12" speaker.Another speaker box to use would be an old Victor or Bell and Howell.If I could send it to you,I have the cabinet from a '47 Stewart Warner.The cabinet is wood.

[@bennoheritt8154]

Hi. Nice and simple project. The gain and tone controls are log tipe or linear ones. Thanks

[@CausingLewis]

Great Job on this build!

[@Pastor.Dragon]

Love the build! Don't worry about the string, guitar players break them all the time.

[@moewhocooper]

happen to randomly found a video from you and had to see how you did it i enjoyed the show and maybe someday ill build myself my own amp but i just got into guitar playing so im not doing any justice to any amp yet

[@HotVacuum]

6CL6 - is a good tube. It is especially good as an alternative to EL84 PP. The main thing is not to exceed a voltage of more than 300V because of the second grid

[@warthogA10]

Sorry for an off topic question. I have a Version 1, Yamaha G100B-212 amp and wondering how to drop the circuit housing so I can give a look over to make sure all is good. It's been sitting in my basement for years and I'm cleaning it all up and want to check the inside circuitry before I fire her up again... Make sure no mice got in there or something Edit: I figured it out, it just slides out nicely after removing the 4 top chassis screws 🤦. Yep, I'm an idiot.

[@LookingForEntertainment112]

Great little amp, it might be worthwhile getting a cheap looper pedal. That way, if someone records a few riffs for you, you can demonstrate your amps without needing someone to come in to play.

[@2drsdan]

Someone who goes through ALL the pickups and tone settings, not just grinding with the bridge PU.

[@cdshull]

That is sweet sounding! Am going to build!

[@joebloe9901]

Awesome. This looks like a lot of fun. I would go one step further and have an effects loop on it. A slave out might be nice too.

[@ari-pekkalaukkanen6848]

Terry, you should have a simple reamp box and feed it with some nice guitar DI signal played by some volunteer professional guitar player. The same nice riff or sample every time which we are familiar. You have some DAW in your PC? Just plug in that DI signal through a reamp box to your fixed amp everytime in a same level.

[@ThomasD66]

Super cool. Where are you sourcing the power transformer, and what is the model/part number?

[@historiclp4577]

Im surprised you dont make your own little tube amp kit, for people to buy and build themselves.Using this enclosure

[@SwanseaTitanFan]

Great job Terry.

[@johnathandavis3693]

I've been thinking about building Robinette's Micro Champ, but this is intriguing. I'm thinking that power transformer could make it way cheaper - that's the main expense....It sounds dirty AF....Thanks for this!

[@docjeffry]

Sweet, man! Love it!

[@tomasjones3755]

Great vid! Appreciate the alternatives (and I have boxes of old radio tubes)

[@Tony770jr]

Good design... Nice distortion too!

[@MarkErikEE]

Clean sound is awesome, the distortion is something for the avantgarde rockers out there.

[@Terk_]

Late to the party, but man this is a great sounding little amp! Definetly building one of these, such a great sound!

[@gerardcousineau3478]

Yep this little amp sounds great. I want one. 👍

[@ivonsmith2024]

Great!! Ive been looking around for a tiny fully valve amp for a while! Not easy to find!

[@joseislanio8910]

Great little amp! I'm also working in some small power tube amps, one with a compactron 6AL11, and another one with a 6AV6 and an ECL82, a la Fender Princeton.

[@douro20]

6CU5 is another one. Miniature version of the 6W6 which itself is a 6v version of the 25L6/50L6. It does need more filament current, though, than the 6CL6.

[@johnmcclain3887]

Thanks for showing this off, I'd like to build the circuit, haven't for many years, with tubes, and not much electronics build, since I retired, but this sounds good, and could be of use. Got to figure out this email thingy.

[@TheGuitologist]

Screw the amp...I need that liquor bell! :D

[@d-labelectronics]

I bought that bell at a Hamfest for ten dollars!

[@tinkerwithstuff]

You call that a bell? *This* is a bell! kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYqoqoCCjZimepo

[@mikkorintala2969]

Great video again.

[@fuzzygrapes6763]

Hey Terry, thanks for the awesome video! What kind of transformers do you have in there? Is there a parts list other than the schematic? I'm still learning how to read those.

[@SStudiopro]

Sounds pretty damn good Terry.

[@jerrystephenson1172]

I agree the distortion is unusual, but I'm not sure it sounds good, maybe a little too fizzy & strident. The tele mat have something to do w/that as they can be very bright. I think you could have a winner w/some tweaking.

[@808bigisland]

They can be built as extremely clean sounding. I made 2 SET monos to run two JBL pro compression horns that work best at 0.5w and paired with two 1000w ss monos for the 15' JbL clones. I do the distortion for sax on the input side of the usb interface.

[@michaelmenkevich5712]

Nice job on the circuit design and the repurposed chassis. I like the use of the 7 pin tubes, how about a design with a 6ak5 pentode into a 6c4 triode for preamp into a 6j6 long tail pair phase inverter to drive some 6aq5 power tubes? You must learn the song "Drinking Wine", you will be a star.

[@samchipner1131]

Nice sounds like it got some heat

[@dennisperusse3837]

Looks like a fun build. It would be interesting to see a build like that using a compactron tube.

[@RS-fj5yv]

Hey Terry. Keep a good Looper around that records different guitar licks from Tony. That way you will always have a real good guitar signal to use in your videos instead of you apologizing for not having a guitar player in your videos.

[@DetroitWrecker666]

Really cool little amp!!!!

[@paulbangash4317]

Sounds really nice 👍

[@michaeliadonisi1616]

May I have a copy of the schematic, please? Nice tone on that Thang !!

[@larryshaver3568]

that sounds very natural

[@Big_Uncle_Randy]

Is there room on these little gems to add an effects loop?

[@JimFeeley]

Terry, your channel is getting even better! Thanks for this video. And I'll email you a note asking for the schematic. Sounds fun!

[@ryanintopeka]

I have a bunch of 6SN7's laying around. I'd really like to build a stereo phono amp someday and maybe use them.

[@brentgilbert4208]

I would like a copy of the schematic! Haven’t built anything since high school electronics class. Back in 1970!!!

[@hestheMaster]

Clever design considering the old Heathkit cabinet but is very hard to find except maybe at a swap. Sound is very hot and so good for a class A amp. Time to learn some guitar chords like Colleen Fazio ❤does after working on a build Terry.😉 Bottle of wine with a straw indeed!🍾😂🤣

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

Yeah, thought I got lucky and found one on a local online marketplace, but the guy had already sold it on the side and forgot to delete the listing...

[@ronmorey3475]

Great little project Terry! During testing, I think you may have inadvertently written the intro to a new shoegaze classic.

[@franky2shoes660]

I commented on the other video, just an update. I'm cooking a 6dt6, @ 450v (300max, 🤣) 2x8ohm drivers and 16r into a 5500 6v6 output so the load resistance is around 22000ohms...no redplate, little distortion at the high-end....wish I had an ocilloscope. This thing is killer!

[@arminlinzenich1839]

hi Terry, this is super cool, we have in Germany EBC91 pulled out from old radios. EL95 is here better to find, this is good for a 7pin socket amp. Best Regards Armin

[@ronronstar8057]

Awesome build

[@jteichma]

Hi Terry I love the little amp you made and I have a little power transformer. How can I get a copy of the schematic to try and build? Tx

[@ronb6182]

I just looked up prices for 6AV6 @ 3.00 to 6.00 dollars a piece. The 6 CL6 was found @ 5.95 and higher. Still cheaper than other tubes but none were found at a dollar s piece. Maybe yard sales if you are lucky. Flea markets usually don't have vintage electronics. Ham shows I don't know I usually miss the ones in our area. Buyer keep looking. Amplifier kits are usually cheaper than buying piece by piece electronics. 73

[@flintdavis2]

D-Lab boutique amps and effects pedals! Limited editions! Please name one the Tornado.

[@mikeparker5008]

This would be great for recording - mic in front of speaker, and as you said, not drive everyone out of the room. Thanks for sharing your creative work on this little guy! Many of classic rock's most famous songs were recorded using tiny amps cranked way up high (think "Layla", or Zeppelin I ). I may well build this just for that purpose!

[@johnathandavis3693]

Yes - I just built a Champ clone, cost about $350 just for chassis parts and tubes. Hammond xfmrs. $150 alone!. You could do this with a little Antek Torroid for under 40. I'm going to do it!

[@elwrongo]

What a great sound, top work!!

[@jeffowen7897]

This question probably shows my ignorance in electronics, but here goes. I'm assuming this is US and 120 Volt AC. In Europe with 240 V AC, do we need the first transformer or could you just go straight into the bridge after the fuse? Great project BTW.

[@floattheboat100]

That little amp is bad ass… don’t feel bad about not being a guitar player, but even with that and out of tune you could really hear it chime through, especially considering it’s over KZbin, I know in person that’s a great little rig…would be great to drive it and mic it up in the studio, get some great recordings… As most of the pros use small amps very often…a lot of people Would not assume that .. I love it…

[@michaeliadonisi1616]

I love this. I'm age 67 and an old electronics analog guy enthusiast and a guitar player. I will build this. Do you sell a kit for this?

[@herbselectronicslab]

real nice job

[@richardweinberger2756]

Very cool. I wonder what a harp would sound like,,,,,