My Guitar Amp Business FAILED. Here’s What I Learned.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Thanks for watching. I really thought dropping that amp from that high would have turned out differently…

[@TomOLeary-mn5zd]

It must have been a solid build. Maybe start a speaker cabinet business. 🤔

[@peterdaam6447]

😂​@@TomOLeary-mn5zd

[@contentconsumer487]

Just saw 20 seconds and I want to buy your amp!

[@lamech006]

Wow tube amps and Olly Moss art ? Wow!!

[@fourortwelvestrings]

I hope you saved the tubes before dropping it ... ! ;)

[@brendanf8969]

“I didn’t want a 9 to 5, so I started my own business. Now I work all the time.”

[@JohnSmith-in1tt]

Working for something that you’re truly passionate about and getting to be your own boss and keep all the money is FAR better and more rewarding that working a 9 to 5. IF it works. Unfortunately for this dude, he tried and it didn’t work out but I give him a lot of credit

[@vibrolax]

I'm a guitarist who spent 15 years studying, repairing, building, and designing guitar amps. It was a great hobby, being able to make exactly what I wanted without waiting for someone else to manufacture it, or dealing with the collector market. I was so glad my day job was good enough that I was never tempted to turn my hobbies into a livelihood. I've known so many top notch musicians, techs, and builders who have to hustle 24/7 to eke out a living in the music/entertainment business.

[@joenoneofyourbusiness6487]

Everything about the music business sucks, except for playing music. I'd rather wash dishes. Musicians are the most messed up narcissistic, cheap people ever. It is an ugly business.

[@dekalbes335]

You didn't mention , how important it is to marry a girl with money , before starting a new business. Or marry a Doctor Surgeon preferably Neuro , or heart . Also...if she invents and designs/ patents ..sells , medical devices , she could share the love of making things with you.

[@Empyrean55]

What are you on about? XD

[@KarmaMechanic988]

I married a gynecologist. She brings me everything delightful, gives me everything I need. takes the wheel when I’m seeing double, pays is my ticket when I speed…

[@jonathanvalentin3499]

Most of my “successful” musician friends are married to wealthy partners.

[@pllpsy665]

You could skip all that junk by getting really rich parents like a boss.

[@DannyUnderwood]

@pllpsy665 man, generational wealth would solve so many of my problems. If only.

[@LucasLeCompteMusic]

This video kinda proves what is wrong with guitar KZbin right now. Channel is small but puts out a great video that you can see has lots of time spent on it. Meanwhile massive channels put out the most lazy boring videos of all time and get massive views. Gave you a sub!

[@DannyUnderwood]

Really appreciate your comment, and I feel this. I think the challenge is that the big guys who do it for a living need to have a faster cadence of output, and sponsors which can dilute the story, and make it feel lazy. It takes me 2+ weeks, what a lot of those guys need to crank out in a couple of days. I also feel strongly that with KZbin becoming a TV replacement, straight up product demos (ads) are not what people want to watch anymore, so creators need to adapt and tell more stories. Not to bash any one of course, cause I still love that stuff! haha!

[@FastRedPonyCar]

Yeah. I've been reviewing gear for 16 years now and never used YT to make money so I never felt pressured to do any of these sort of "drive by" reviews where you just rattle off some specs from the product page, play a few riffs and end the video. I take everything that I review on the stage before getting in front of the camera. It extends my lead time a week or more depending on our band's schedule but by that point, I'm INTIMATELY familiar with the product. I've also turned away products after I got them if they just sucked that I simply did not want on my channel because there really wouldn't be anything nice to say about it so I have to email back my honest feedback, decline the video and wish them luck. I say that because I've seen other youtubers reviewing the same gear with sponsor links or receiving payment for their review and they praise those products while saying nothing about the things that were glaring deal breakers for me. I still sub to a lot of youtube guitarists and it kinda bums me out when a big new product drops on the market and the NDA lifts and there's like a dozen videos in my feed all about that same piece of gear and all of them leave me wanting for more insight on the product. Since my channel isn't as big as theirs and I'm not a Sweetwater affiliate partner (yet) I have to wait until after it's on the market and sometimes come out of pocket for the gear if Zzounds (who I AM partnered with) don't have it.

[@DannyUnderwood]

@@FastRedPonyCar great insight, seems we’re seeing the same thing. The rattle off spec and noodle videos are atrociously boring. Love that you are doing your thing, subbed!

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Unfortunately, he could have presented all this in half the time, easily. Just the NECESSARY facts, ma'am!

[@DannyUnderwood]

@FlipDahlenburg what’s the rush! We out here telling stories!

[@RuthlessMojo]

I am a luthier, guitar tech, audio electronics enthusiast and guitar teacher. I’ve been playing for nearly 30 years (I started late) and have accrued and built so much gear over the years I no longer have any more room in my house. Just before the pandemic I set up an online guitar shop, selling guitars, hardware and accessories. When COVID hit it crippled my business. I couldn’t get stock from Asia as everything had been shut down. I ended up going under. I simply couldn’t fulfil orders in a timely manner. Years before I tried to launch my own line of guitars. They were going to be made in China and shipped to me. That was 2008. I had just gotten enough money together to place a minimum order. Then the Market crash happened and the dollar tanked. All of a sudden the currency was worth nothing. I was heartbroken. I won’t open a guitar business again. Now I just build and enjoy guitars for myself. I’m now on disability because of degenerative disease but if I had the cash I would’ve commissioned an amp from you. They look and sound great. I’m now a subscriber.

[@modelcitizen1977]

The dollar didn't tank enough in 2008 to impact purchasing power in China. I think you're misremembering stuff.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Thank you for sharing your story. Keep the passion going!

[@the_panos]

@@modelcitizen1977 err yes it did. It tanked enough to impact everything. If all he had was enough to make a minimum order then the crash absolutely would've put him below the line enough that it would've felt impossible to make up the difference again.

[@RuthlessMojo]

@@modelcitizen1977 Actually it did affect the dollar severely. I live in Australia. In July of 2008 the Australian dollar was worth 95 US cents. By October it had fallen to just 60.5 US cents. As I mentioned I had gathered enough money to make an order and I put a deposit down. The minimum order at the time was $5000 US through the company I was using. I had budgeted a certain amount for the purchase. I paid a deposit of $1000 US which cost me $950 AU. As I mentioned previously, by the time full payment was due the Australian dollar had dropped to just 60.5 cents US. So the remaining $4000 US I owed was going to cost me $6680 AU. That was on top of the $950 I had paid for a deposit. Plus I had to pay shipping on that. That was way over the $5000 AU I had scraped together for the order. If you’re going to be critical and correct somebody you should probably gather all the facts first.

[@RuthlessMojo]

@@the_panos Thanks for your reply. I appreciate you. I have put up a response to the comment. People are so quick to criticise these days without knowing the full story. Thanks again and have a great week.

[@TeagueChrystie]

"Treat your patrons as the saints that they are" is a wonderful turn of phrase. Very useful video, sorry it went wrong, but it's all fodder for the autobiography. Onwards and upwards.

[@Sol7Studios]

Not everyone is cracked up for doing “The business of doing business”

[@ninocarlitos5229]

10 years Pedal Builder here, I was started my pedal business just because I've build several clones for myself (and friends) and it was really fun tho, just like you did. Then I realized that there are TONS of NOS/Vintage componets around my hometown for really cheap! Ofcourse I smell how much "money" that would be doubled from that because almost everyone on the planet talking about vintage stuffs (mostly fuzz) through social media back in the day (2015-2021). I took the gamble then lend money from bank to grab every vintage transistors, resistors, caps, opamps, from all across my country, then I build lots of vintage Fuzz back then (they're really primitive circuit tho, so it's not hard at all to build). Perhaps I sold over 1K pedals. However, my inventory goes out overtime, and NOS obsolete parts were near impossible to find this days. So I decided to contemplate wether should I stay in the pedal industry or just start something new to feed my familly & pay the bills. Right now I am still have no complete decision about that, I feel like i won't give up that fast. I just try to learn digital stuffs so i can keep up with what the market wants recently. Let me give some advices for everyone who think to start a business in electronic: -SMD/SMT is absolute invesment. -Digital stuff is a MUST. -Cost saving is inevitable unless you are selling ARTS. -If you're not smart enough to learn the fundamental of electronic, then you should stop and keep it as hoby only before you go BROKE too soon!

[@velvetsound]

Simon Jarrett from Kingsley amps chose to focus on pedals instead. He said that Amps are expensive to build and ship, have variable parts costs, and if you need to provide customer support you lost all your margins from shipping due to weight. Pedals are cheap and easy to support and ship. I’d highly recommend Business Model Canvas to anyone thinking of starting a business- your job as an entrepreneur is not to build products… it is to build a sustainable business model.

[@DannyUnderwood]

I'll check out BMC! Simon is awesome, whatever he does, I'm there for it.

[@0megalul309]

Also pedals have high profit margins. The only people buying amps are those who play high gain and metal. There's no market with low gain and pedal platform amps since they will always sound as bad as a solid state pedal

[@vancitycanucks]

Yep. Business model canvases and simply understanding your business in a deeper model will go along way. I love Kingsley amps!

[@bavarianmonkey8326]

The battery is for biasing the Tube to -1.5 V on the control grid which is pretty suitable for an ECC83. Fixed bias.

[@virescenticious]

I’m surprised no one he talked to had seen it before. Pretty common in old equipment for biasing or a voltage reference.

[@jjcale2288]

@@virescenticious It's America, you know...

[@DannyUnderwood]

Canada, actually. Maybe that book never made it up here.

[@bavarianmonkey8326]

The thing that surprises me in a lot of cases is that a lot of people that are good at something do not have the ability to think "outside the box" and figure stuff out that they see somewhere....

[@DrScientistSounds]

Man your amp sounded fantastic, the HiWatt too, and awesome playing! Lotta wise words in there, Danny, especially to treat your patrons like saints. I bet that red amp you dropped still works and sounds fantastic too...

[@DannyUnderwood]

Love you Ryan! Don't worry the red amp will be repurposed into a head! I think one of the reasons the cabinet never sounded good is I used too many screws and wood framing on the inside it just sounded boxy and lifeless.

[@markfdesimone]

Agreed - your OG amp sounded beautiful to me!

[@FuzzImp]

I’ve been so close to failure many times. The only thing that kept me alive so far was having way less overhead than anyone I’ve met in the industry. Even so far down to living with my folks and using their garage for my shop.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Keep it up your stuff looks badass

[@TheMasonator777]

Low overhead is the way.

[@MrJesusCrisp]

Good points! Building tube amps in 2024 is definitely a brave endeavor with all the hype around amp modelers and plugins plus many affordable options being out there. Having played with the idea of building amps just for myself, the material cost is rather high and at the end of the day selling it for profit you will need to do some considerable markup unless you want to work for free, at which price point you are playing with some of the "big boys".

[@DannyUnderwood]

One of the reasons I was impassioned to learn to build was the tube amp tech I knew was retiring and he really felt that his vocation was becoming a lost art - fewer and fewer tube amp techs are around and they are aging. He helped a lot with my first builds cause he was excited to pass his knowledge on.

[@JakeStrange66]

After playing for 30+ years & recording for about 25 years, I finally got around to trying a few DAWs & plug-ins a few months ago. I always put it off because I don't like recording on computers; I like to be hands on, use real amps & mics to record guitars.... I was very unimpressed. After months of playing around I can't get anything even close to the same sound with the plug-ins... Old friend i was in my 1st band in as teenagers started using DAWs & plug-ins in the early 2000s, when I was still recording on tape, & even after years his recordings on a DAW are awful too (listen to the old punk band Crass; that's kind of how his guitars sounded on his recordings.) 😂😂 I tried to give him some recording tips I learned but he apparently didn't take the advice, but that's another story itself. But I can't understand the big deal with DAWs or plug-ins or why they're so popular. Nothing beats a real amp with microphones.

[@MrJesusCrisp]

​@@JakeStrange66 honestly, I think the easiest answer to why you don't get it is probably user error. I LOVE real amps, pedals, speakers etc., but it would be disingenuous to say that plugins and amp modellers aren't sounding great these days if you know what you're doing. My main issue is just the amount of tweaking you need to do to get there compared to a "traditional" recording setup. Also don't discount the fact that especially young guitarists/musicians often can't afford or don't have the recording space for real amps.

[@jackp8583]

As a tube amp DIYer I appreciated everything about this video. Your amps sound beautiful, Danny. Your frankenHiwatt *really* got my attention! I'm impressed by your fortitude, I'm not sure I could've resisted the temptation to pick-up from where the mad scientist left off instead of restoring it.

[@AveragePicker]

No sane person would wire a AAA battery directly.... oh that hit a little too close to home for me....and brought back memories of my feedback machine. That 6 volt battery was the secret to it working...don't know why...but it solved it. I've turned hobbies into "businesses" before...well small side businesses and discovered really quick I love my hobbies as hobbies and not as something I had to do. That amp you dropped is a great looking amp by the way! I suddenly want an Underwood! LOL

[@JakeBisognin]

A master at storytelling! I'd love to hear more of your amps in depth on the channel too

[@fxdfxd]

I'm 13 years in this business, and still earning barely enough to live. But I still keep it going :)

[@DannyUnderwood]

If you still love it, keep it at it!

[@justaregularrobloxplayer5678]

One important factor is customer service. If you are not able to provide support, receive amps back to fix them, and attend to emails and do troubleshooting with your clients it will be very difficult to stay afloat. I tried it for a very short time and it ended quickly. Didn’t have the time for be an amp builder 5 days a week 8 hrs a day. I still build amps, but just for me.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Very true! Customer service is so important but it would slow down your assembly time by a huge amount if your product wasn’t dead simple and indestructible

[@bretfuzz925]

I had considered doing this in the mid 90s. Transformers were expensive and preformed chassis were unavailable. Instead of buying a set of greenly punches and a sheet metal bender, I bought some vintage amplifiers with the money. Do I ever look back and think “what if?”. Of course. I had a few Ideas to do things different but it turns out it is tough to improve things that have already been optimized. Great story from you. Thanks for the content!

[@SpakManGtr]

90% of the world wouldn’t have the guts to start their own business related to their passion, so kudos to you. Hope you keep going even if it’s just as a hobby.

[@Metal_Vistas]

It's a simple but very important message that you are relaying. Just because you enjoy doing a thing does not mean you will enjoy making a business of it... particularly if you do not enjoy doing business stuff - sales, marketing, package design, web design, sourcing components and materials, bookkeeping, etc.. You have to love (or at least be willing to do) those part as well, or you won't be willing to spend the time to do them properly. And you can't just hire people to do those things - you have to at least be competent in those areas in order to direct and oversee your employees. No matter how much money you are making, all business owners end up wearing multiple hats.

[@MikeGervasi]

Actually, when I turned on my first amp build and it worked I thought "I can't believe it works". More shock than happiness or sence of accomplishment. I'm on my 3rd build now.

[@DannyUnderwood]

It’s a WILD feeling, my second amp didn’t work the first try as I mistakenly used a 1k resistor instead of a 100ohm. It took me a week before I asked my tech friend to look for the problem and it took him 5 minutes to notice the mistake! That’s experience for you.

[@audionine6616]

Excellent video, Danny! Lots of great info here. Over the last 6 months or so, I dove down the rabbit hole of amp & pedal circuits/building. Currently on my second amp build. Just learning to build and mod my own stuff for now, but certainly noted your points here if I ever choose to sell my own builds. Your amp sounds phenomenal, great work. Thanks for sharing. Subscribed 🤘🏼

[@officialWWM]

This is the same reason why most musicians fail. Creating great music is one thing. Marketing and sales is something completely different…

[@txkflier]

The best way to ruin a hobby is to turn it into a business..

[@jjcale2288]

Absolute truth right there!

[@jonathanvalentin3499]

I believe this.

[@hemihead392]

Great vid about a topic we all romance. I grew up with what are now vintage fenders, marshalls, traynors, vox, etc. and always enjoyed tinkering on them and making scratch builds and reviving dead amps from whatever I could get my hands on. Read all of Gerald Weber's books, frequented the old AMPAGE and AX84 sites. My guitar playing buddies would have me work on their amps, etc. Then I got the idea that i could build them for profit. I did build a bunch of 18 watt and D-klone type amps and sold them...but beinga one man show the time to build each amp made them marginally profitable. Also, had a great day job and no way was I going to quit. So, stopped trying to build for profit a long time ago and now just do a few amps a year for friends or local players making them the best I can without regard to the time. I have a good rep for fixing vintage fenders and marshalls and will work on cool vintage stuff occasionally. So, I still have fun and enjoy the amps. it is the balance that works for me.

[@EricSteinberg]

One possible reason for the AAA batteries: there are some old tubes that have very low filament voltage and can be powered with battery voltage

[@klauswigsmith]

If you're considering starting a business from your hobby.....DON'T. Your heart will cloud your judgement. Start a business because you want to start a business. Pursue a hobby because you love the hobby. Don't mix the two.

[@UnwelcomeGuestVideos]

Hey Danny, great video, got a question about that champ clone: did you screen print the front panel? It’s very clean and I often struggle with fit and finish like that on my builds! Thanks again!

[@DannyUnderwood]

It's actually a plastic nameplate that uses the pot/switch nuts to hold it on, similar to what Hiwatt does. I had a local company screen print these on a high quality plastic that I laid out in photoshop including the drill hole markers that would then give me a template for drilling/punching the chassis. It worked out wonderfully, though probably in hindsight it was a bit expensive at such a small scale.

[@JoeyJoJoJr51]

In my early 20s I got my “dream job” working in the assembly area for the biggest guitar company in Australia. Well I soon realised it was basically just production line work, but it gave me a lot of experience in a short time, and it did confirm for me that being a luthier was indeed my goal. So I left and got a boring office job that paid a lot more, and for the next 15 years or so I worked my ass off saving all the money I could to buy a house with a large workshop area, tool up with all the machinery and specialised hand tools I wanted, and in the meantime learnt everything I could about lutherie. Well eventually the time came where I was ready to jump in. The guitars were turning out great, people loved them. I had orders coming in. Unfortunately at that point I realised that I hate dealing with customers. I felt uncomfortable when they would praise my work (imposter syndrome!), they often had ideas and requests that I thought were bad that I didn’t want to put my name to, and when you don’t like what you’re building, you don’t feel motivated to dedicate hundreds of hours to building it. I also hated charging what I had to in order to just break even. I always thought to myself “why would anybody pay this much for one of my guitars when they could buy a big name guitar for less?”, even though I knew the quality of what I was building was worth the money. I quickly realised that making guitars for a living was not going to work out for me due to my personality, and went back to having a boring regular job. I still build for myself and love that freedom, but when I walk into the workshop and see how much money I invested only to realise very early in the game that it was not going to end up how I’d hoped all this time, it does make me shake my head.

[@micktheman6]

Most businesses fail and amps are not popular anymore which sucks I love my hiwatt too. This video is great. I hope you can have some success on KZbin here.

[@60CycleSteve]

Great listen while prepping notes for my own show. Didn't know this channel existed, but I'm a sub now!

[@DannyUnderwood]

WELCOME STEVE.

[@MrRafaztar]

The filmography is top notch 😊 great video all around

[@Mrlz56]

The reason that champ clone sounds like sheit is the tubes used. Use a short plate Mullard preamp tube ecc83 a RCA 6V6GT black plate and a diode instead of a 5Y3 you can get a 15 watt alnico speaKER from Weber 60/70 bucks. Everything you do goes back into the price of the amp and evertbody has their hand out. In the Tube amp world 99% of the people will never need more than a 15 watt tube amp, they just don't know it yet. 40 watts tops un - mic'd. Keep it simple with enough iron to get the job done right. sell them at flea markets. look at the Kalamazoo model 1 from 1960 add some minor upgrades / no death cap etc. a killer bedroom / studio amp that takes most pedels well. The more you add the more it sucks tone.

[@deviantmultimedia9497]

I build amps and the imposter syndrome is so real to overcome, especially when it comes to pricing. When you're starting out, and you're just one guy building one amp at a time, you learn right away that you aren't able to take advantage of the same things that the big amp companies take full advantage of; specifically markups. Even more specifically, the markup of raw materials waiting to be turned into goods. I buy my parts from a distributer in varying quantities. In a way, I play by the same rules as the heavyweights; the more universal a component is, the more I can buy, the lower the price will be. The difference is, I don't have 20 different products to spread those components across, along with 4 different sister companies each with 20 more products to spread those components across. Resistors, diodes, all amps will pretty much use the same ones and they're inexpensive to begin with so they cost me a couple cents each. Capacitors are a different story; they're expensive and a little more model-specific. The price of one high quality film capacitor for me is around $1.50 if I buy 500 units. Tubes are even more expensive $10 - $20 each. But where I really get hurt is on model-specific components like transformers. I pretty much have to pay retail for those- $50 - $200 each. Chassis- $50 - $100 each. The big amp companies have contracts with the parts manufactures themselves and buy hundreds of thousands at a time so the same capacitor for them costs about 1 cent. Transformers- a couple bucks. I can't price my amp at the same price as a comparable big-name amp, it would go against consumer logic to choose mine over theirs. But if I set my price lower then I don't profit at all from the sale. I have to work my angles- build quality, customization, and incentives. I can offer a more customized product that's finely-tuned to the customer's preferences. My amps are handmade in the USA and the customer can choose hand-wired or PCB. They can also choose old-stock components if they want authentic vintageness. I'll test & verify them of course but then I'll pop 'em into a brand new amp because who's stopping me!, The best thing I offer that the heavyweights can't ever match is an immersive amp-building experience. Before I even start building, I ask a bunch of questions that trick you into extracting the tone out of your head so I can put it into the amp. And if that doesn't work you still don't have to worry because I also do this thing I call "three-weeks free-tweaks" where you take the amp home, play it for three weeks, then bring it back with any notes you have about the tone or functionality and I'll make those adjustments for free. If your notes say "It needs another amplifier attached to it" I'll kick your ass out the door! haha

[@AnasoundsPedals]

This was a very good video! It's great to have these entrepreneurship vibes in the guitar world. We are very much missing this and it's true that start a business from scratch is a daily challenge! Looks like the next video will be "Why I switched to KZbin?" Which is also very interesting if not already filmed/published ;) Congrats Danny!

[@DannyUnderwood]

What a great idea for a video! 😉 And congrats to the success your brand has had, well done carving a niche and great visual style in such a crowded market.

[@AnasoundsPedals]

@@DannyUnderwood thank you very much Danny :) Keep up the good work!

[@pedrolourenco2707]

The amp had a hum Issues, most likely cause by filament windings... Batteries can power filaments without noise

[@sammathis]

This is good content. That green amp is gorgeous.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Green is the best colour!

[@James-Customs]

The battey is used to set a constant voltage source to either the cathode or a negative voltage to the grid with the cathod grounded. There's a tube cad journal article from about 10 years ago, but yeah, I've never seen it done in person.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Interesting, since batteries have a shelf life, would this be a temporary use case or would you be able to use permanently?

[@James-Customs]

So reading through the articles, if the battery is on the grid, no current flow, just a reference voltage so no drain on the battery, so would last "years", in the place of the cathode, they talk about using a rechargeable batteries, then the circuit itself charges the battery while at idle. For a guitar amp, I completely agree with your mad scientist comment, I remember coming across the concept years ago but your picture was the first time seeing it.

[@James-Customs]

the tube cad journal article says about 10 years when using as a grid voltage reference. in practice i don't know, Personally if looking for a constant cathode voltage, I'd go with an LED, it's at least something I've played with that in a couple of amps.

[@DGsixtyFour]

@@James-Customs The LED will shift voltage slightly with current variation, so less stable reference than a battery.

[@rsr_brian]

Fantastic video. As someone who took a hobby of roasting coffee and turned it into a business nearly 10 years ago (and it’s still going), I can wholeheartedly affirm your lessons learned. Thx for being awesome!

[@DannyUnderwood]

Thank you! I've recently fallen down the coffee rabbit hole. Next time I'm heading down to my PO BOX to the US I'll order some of yours. Congrats on 10 years man thats amazing.

[@221b-l3t]

Never start a business unless you wish to burn all your money, give up all free time and expect not to pay yourself for 3-5 years and loose at least 10 years lifespan due to stress.

[@lyndellecoats8459]

Exactly

[@jjcale2288]

Unless you are Bill Gates

[@tonylewis1803]

Disagree entirely. Ran my own sheet metal business for thirty years. Much better than working for the man under a quit/fire contract which all businesses now use allowing one administrator to change your life. Also, this person is trying to keep analogue alive. Social media and zero’s and one’s are short term gains. That emperor has no cloths. We’re seeing the chickens come home to roost in that we’re losing our blue collar middle class. AI still cannot build a house or fix your plugged toilet. This is a great vid in explaining that one needs to be savvy in all aspects of business. And there are many billionaires who started out in their garages.

[@1rgam3r]

Great advice. Most have no idea how much work is involved in running a business. Keep making your own on the side for fun but be sure it stays fun. I’m that same kid, btw… it drove my family nuts. 😁

[@olen4317]

As far as I know this is not commercially done but you can use batteries to set the 1.5vdc bias on preamp tubes like 12ax7s

[@DannyUnderwood]

Crazy! I wonder why someone would do it over the regular ways?

[@DGsixtyFour]

@@DannyUnderwood this is a method used in hi fi phono preamps for fixed bias in the low level stages. This gives a stable operating point (less distortion) as well as no added noise (as opposed to a negative bias supply like used for the power tubes). There is no current draw so the battery will last for its rated shelf life.

[@daytonpracht2741]

This was a fantastic video! I tossed around the idea of starting an amp company, and ran into these issues myself and decided it wasn’t worth it, wish I had heard these words two years ago haha. Although I don’t regret everything I’ve learned, and it’s nice to be able to fix and build gear myself, time is so valuable. Also love the production value in this video!

[@DannyUnderwood]

Thanks so much!!!

[@diegoquiroz5166]

loved the sound of your amp man.

[@geneevans7885]

Props to you for taking the chance. Takes a real set of balls.

[@stomp1Krr]

Thanks. Some good points, and I recognize where you are coming from having scratch built several pedals, a tube amp, 5 guitars, wound pickups, etc. As nice as it would be to monetize some of these pursuits, the competition is tough and margins can be low, as well as finding later your fun, creative, expressive hobby is now your day job. Trying and failing is also a good message, as you generally learn a lot and make fewer mistakes over time. I'd like to note, however, that you have quite mangled the imposter syndrome on several levels. It is almost the opposite of the point you raised and has to do with psychology, not guilt over introducing natural product improvements over time. It's where you believe that you don't deserve, or did not legitimately achieve the praise or recognition or skill or status you have or are known for (and are thus an imposter).

[@DannyUnderwood]

Fair comment, when talking about imposter syndrome I cut a part about having to display my amps at guitar shows amongst builders who had way more experience, but I rambled a bit too much and cut it.

[@GuitarFinds]

Solid points! Thank you for sharing your experience 💪

[@AlexBtvmusic]

So true. Thanks for sharing your experience. Cheers!

[@joenoneofyourbusiness6487]

I've been building my own amps for about 25 years now and I used to go to the LA amp show in van nuys every year. One year I saw this guy in his booth (actually rooms in a hotel) selling an amp that he must have spent 100 hours on. The cabinet was very special and took a long time to build. He was bragging how many orders he got at the show and all I could think of was 'be careful what you wish for". Now you have to build 20 of them.....Go!

[@TheMasonator777]

You know… If the first one sounds and works great, why not stick with it? I never got the newer/louder/better dragon chase. As a maker, you don’t have the same pressure for a “sophomore” album. If you did a thing that’s great you can keep repeating. If it sucked, well then you need to go back to the drawing board. Just take that first beautiful amp and plug along with it. You got lucky, and you made your own luck. The first one was the one. But hey, what do I know?

[@ibanezleftyclub]

The batteries were an alternative source for -3v grid bias relative to the cathode. But you probably now know that lol

[@DannyUnderwood]

I legit didn't. I wonder why you would use a battery over a typical bias circuit?

[@ibanezleftyclub]

@@DannyUnderwood most likely lack of a direct -3v off the main rails and/or the want for a fixed bias. Batteries were the old school way of doing it going back to the earliest days of tube amplification. You can even still find old radios with carbon batteries in them. I would have to trace out the circuit he had, but perhaps he did it so he could switch between a variable and fixed bias.

[@Fostext]

Amps, guitars, legos, Star Wars, retro video games - I’m subscribed

[@DannyUnderwood]

🤩

[@peacefulruler1]

Thank you for being vulnerable and real.

[@LothyBluesCave]

When I look what's on the market today, I'm glad I've learned how to build tube amps a few years ago. I started from zero and over the last 5 years I've built the 3 amps that I desire the most. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot, but it took a shit ton of time also. But as you said, to make a business is a total different story. I've been asked from time to time, if I can build one but I have absolutely no time to service or repair the stuff, that's why I will never build an amp for other people.

[@moddaudio]

I was considering starting a business making drone flight controllers. I had a novel on screen display solution that I developed. When it came time to order 100+ PCBs for sale, I realized that I do not have a personality for sales and marketing. Nor do I enjoy(suck at) smoozing, hyping or ass kissing required to get them in hobby shops. It was a hard decision to quit, but the right one for me.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Great point. I feel like I’m above average confidence but talking and selling your product is still hard. It’s such a huge representation of yourself.

[@Tonetwisters]

You MUST be capitalized. You MUST have an advertising / marketing plan.

[@Stu66orn]

Thank you for openly sharing your experience! Selling guitars is probably easier than amps theese days. People buy a lot of guitars but maybe 1-2 amps. Would you consider video series of amp building tips or stuff you have learned about amps for donations? Some mistakes your have learned from? Maybe some schematics with explanations. It is a lot of work for sure but would be a big gift for people just getting into building amps.

[@johnathanwarner7406]

On a journey of my own trying to monetize a hobby, great advice! Love the content, earned yourself another subscriber. Keep it up brother🤟

[@Souldoubtrocks]

I have an old acoustic Corp G60 tube amp I bought for 25 bucks at a garage sale. It works but missing knobs, hole in the grill cloth, tears in the tolex. Someone had put the wrong type fuse in it and it constantly blew the fuse so much so that the last time the plastic fuse housing exploded. lol. I pulled the chassis to fix that and put in a proper power cord and noticed rust inside. Tubes mounted through the pcb board which irks me on something this old (1978) that I don’t feel I can trust it. I’ve thought gutting it for the experience of building a hand wired amp but wouldn’t know where to start. I’ve build pedal kits and even played around with breadboards but no experience on the engineering side. I believe if I had a schematic and parts list I would be fine. But at that point I’d pull an uncle Doug and bend a new chassis and of course a cabinet. lol. So……….

[@BarneFred]

Great video! Poor little amp 😢. Thanks for sharing. Well done.

[@kierenmoore3236]

I thought I’d built my own amp … but, the Speaker Output says “Noooooooo” … 😕🇬🇧

[@jeremyversusjazz]

It does sound great brother…sorry your biz didnt work out. Thanks for sharing what u learned…Love that Frank Bro. guitar btw…also, you got the yt video thing down dude! Great edit…great delivery. Keep it going👊said the dope with way less subs than u lol

[@mcsniper77]

If you take apart some really old radios they have bias batteries in them.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Very interesting!

[@EdoCFH]

You are the top underrated YT channel in music gear, It's great storytelling as always.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Thanks for this, really appreciate your comment!!

[@garycrosby7658]

Hey Danny, Another great video. I remember trying out one of your amp heads that you brought into the shop and I was so impressed with the sound, build quality and just the fact that you were expanding your horizons by trying to start a business. Great Halloween shot of the crew at the old Delta store. All the best, keep the videos coming, please 😎👍

[@DannyUnderwood]

Good times, Gary, I hope you're great, I'm sure your gear collection has grown since we last chatted! haha

[@chrisreese2361]

I’m a guitar player and I actually thought the amp he made was really cool, cuz that’s exactly the kind of amp I would use and I would’ve actually bought one. But I can understand the huge amount of stress of doing a business by yourself.

[@christosfragias592]

Great insights. And thank you. What was that olive guitar at 4:27?

[@DannyUnderwood]

That’s a Frank Brothers! Without a doubt the nicest instrument I’ve ever owned, made by an incredibly talented team, and the nicest you’ve ever met! www.frankbrothersguitars.com

[@BrianAdoff]

Coming in to say nice Frank Brothers then saw this comment. I just got one a few weeks ago and it's also hands down the best guitar I own.

[@rodhorncastle]

I love my Hiwatt Custom 50 (built by Harry Joyce! Black Crowes fame). Your recording of your Hiwatt is one of the best i've heard EVER! Well done.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Hiwatts are so cool eh?

[@briansotobassist]

Im an engineer and a bassist. I never thought to make bass stuff just because I'm more interested to be an artist. But I always repair the electronics of my stuff and sometimes makes changes in bass inboard preamp or passive electronics. Btw I have a lot to lose if I quit my job and start a business. First is losing my rehearsal time.

[@DannyUnderwood]

This is where I stand. I’m so incredibly happy I can repair things, or make something simple that I need, but I have no desire to monetize this operation.

[@romansson4005]

Such an interesting video! This might very well be the contrasting bookend to Mike Soldano’s origin story. Like you, he started small. Two years in, no buy-in from guitarists. Mike then decided to take some time away and decide whether to fold up the business. While Mike was in the wilderness (contemplating his future…and fishing, if I recall correctly), some rock star tried out an early Soldano and began to talk it up). By the time Mike returned home, his phone recording machine filled up with recorded messages from musicians insisting on Soldano amps. The rest, as they say, is history. Despite Soldano’s success, he has more recently redefined his place in the guitar amp pantheon, choosing to only work on activities that give him greater satisfaction. Danny: I salute you; very few people have the resolve to start something AND the self awareness to know when to pull the plug.

[@Cobra-ky9bt]

Your amp sounds FANTASTIC!

[@alanpecherer5705]

I've built many a guitar amp, starting in the late 60's. I never tried to sell them, but I "beefed up" many a Deluxe and Princeton to 6L6 power. Some of those turned out awesome. I lost one of each in the Northern California fires a few years back, two great amps with Altec and JBL speakers that I had just recapped. I don't care how long you've been doing it, it takes a lot of time to do a good job wiring up an amp. And unless and until you are building quantities, you cannot build a guitar amp with the nice cabinet and handle and tolex covering for much less than it costs to buy one. And when you are building quantities, you have to have employees and a place to build them aka a factory of some sort. The other thing is that you have to finish them 100%. You can't sell a 98% complete amp for anything. For a while I tried building amps in dead solid state amp carcasses. It still took a tremendous load of time, and parts costs are through the roof now.

[@MicroSBs]

You see the same thing in the guitar business. So many guys through covid thought " Oh I can become a luthier " and they spend a ton of money on tools etc. Just to go out of "business" because its hard.

[@MadScientistGuitarLab]

I’ve been a tinkerer for as long as I’ve been a guitarist. Now retired, I have hoped to turn that hobby into some sort of sustainable business. Your advice is well appreciated. I still think there is value in “business be damned, I’m going to do what I love.” I keep working farther away from playing. lol.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

A story as common as a penny. Believe it or not, it's an all-consuming lifetime endeavor. If you truly love it, that's not a bad thing.

[@IndyRockStar]

The Wee British does sound great. Do you happen to have any for sale?

[@thehighend4545]

Is one of the lessons you learned was high value video production to make tv quality youtube shows?

[@DannyUnderwood]

Someone called me out in the comments that instead of making videos shouldn’t I be playing guitar then? Got me. I love the process of filming as well so it’s definitely two hobbies combining into one, so thank you for watching this and bringing validation to my obsession, I mean hobby. lol

[@FilipeReishandmade]

That red combo is built like a tank ! Kudos to you

[@DannyUnderwood]

I think that may be why it didn't sound great. The cabinet is heavily reinforced inside because of my lazy woodworking.

[@DykyKryl]

Whats about that guitar pedals powered by 28 v dc giving THAT sound ?

[@DannyUnderwood]

That sounds like Kingsley, he is local to me here and makes incredible tube based pedals. kingsleyamplifiers.com

[@spinaltap22]

Love that the amp just casually survived being thrown from the top floor balcony

[@atech9020]

The AAA batteries are likely being used as grid bias for a fixed bias preamp tube setup. Imagine the preamp tube being wired up much like a power tube. You now need a negative bias for the grid, and a 1.5v battery does just the trick. No sane amp builder would do that these days. Just as no sane builder would use a diode biased preamp either. I recently released a video with fairly similar business advice. The premise was basically that a good story was often more important than making a great amp. Sans a great story, you do have to be a businessman, among other things. I think you should keep building amps, and keep making your story. I think your product will speak for itself and sell eventually.

[@jpozzoli]

Next time, you need to charge way too much, become an unreachable hermit and take months - or even years - to build new amps, and fix or modify existing ones. This is the Dumble model and he’s considered a legend.

[@DannyUnderwood]

Haha totally. I’d love the job of making up crazy phrases that add to the allure. “Yes these amps are 10 grand because they have way more electrical biosupressents in the bing bong circuit”

[@8KilgoreTrout4]

Gritty tough life lessons suck but are best for us. Thanks for sharing real life

[@doctorskull8197]

Outstanding video ‼️ But doesn’t producing a video take away from guitar playing?

[@DannyUnderwood]

best comment. 😂

[@gregsteffey1266]

Thanks for sharing!

[@rebeccagunderson1216]

Haha I forgot about the batteries!

[@vilenius187]

All musicians creative and curious enough to fix or build their own shit deserve my utmost respect. I truly hate the average musician mindset of "don't try fix it, you will break it, take it to a luthier/technician/service".

[@weevilsnitz]

Someone heard to feed the heaters with DC to lower noise and went to town with batteries.

[@umrmech84]

I have a friend who started his own amp business in his "free time." He started producing his design, had it included in a Guitar Player "amp shootout", where it did very well, and even picked up a "celebrity" endorsement. He eventually decided that the money it was bringing in wasn't worth the time away from his family. So, he finished out the remaining chassis that the had bought and closed up shop. I had been all ready to buy one of his amps when the opportunity to buy a '62 Bassman came along. I discussed it with him and he said to buy the Bassman because "Who knows when a deal like that will come along again. You can always get one of mine later." But I never did. They come up on Reverb every once in a while, but it wouldn't be the same.

[@MrLuigiFercotti]

Started building high quality audio speakers while I had break in employment. Lots of time and money just to get some initial prototypes. I got compliments but that doesn’t pay. Unless you have a big bankroll, you need sales to fund it and to keep the momentum.

[@christopherellis6209]

Great video. I wish I had seen it before I started my business.

[@tomcoryell]

I think you built that cabinet too well.

[@DannyUnderwood]

haha totally!

[@tito.tarantula]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Hey, you tried. That's much more than the majority can ever say. At least now you know that if the opportunity ever came around again to get involved in a similar biz (or anything guitar oriented), what your role in such an endeavour would be. Not everyone's a CEO, marketing/sales person, etc. And thank goodness for that. But what a pity you threw that red amp off of the balcony 🙈 New sub here, Danny 👍

[@xCaffeine_Fiend]

This is some high quality production 🤘 Imposter syndrome is a real killer, for guitar *players* included 🤷

[@wintermoonomen]

Thank you for sharing. Very informative and insightful.

[@averagejer]

Great video man!

[@willjones8801]

man your production quality is insane you deserve way more recognition

[@jas_bataille]

Starting a business after a few months is completely BONKERS!!! I've been a sound engineer for 5 years and I'm tip-toeing to transition to owning my own studio. You're an amp building prodigy and you'll go far! I think you should totally do custom orders only. There are quite a few tech who became amp builders for some of the best artists in the industry without having to keep a stock and stuff like this.