NoSo (No Solder) Amp
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- Shimmer
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NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Yesterday I made a little breadboard guitar amp - <0.5W of solid state power from a LM386 Chip, powered from a 9V battery.
I followed the instructions from:
http://www.ampmaker.com/infocentre/forum-37.html
I used an old Sony bookshelf speaker. I removed the top two speakers leaving just the larger bottom one. The guitar input goes where the top speaker used to be, and the LED is where the small tweeter used to live. The 9V input is on the lower left when facing the amp. Not as retro looking as cigar box amps, but still up-cycling!
The breadboard showing the huge number of components! Mounting the board. The finished product
I followed the instructions from:
http://www.ampmaker.com/infocentre/forum-37.html
I used an old Sony bookshelf speaker. I removed the top two speakers leaving just the larger bottom one. The guitar input goes where the top speaker used to be, and the LED is where the small tweeter used to live. The 9V input is on the lower left when facing the amp. Not as retro looking as cigar box amps, but still up-cycling!
The breadboard showing the huge number of components! Mounting the board. The finished product
I want all the pedals!
- Single coil
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Dank
Is it any good?
Is it any good?
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.
- rickenbackerkid
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- Shimmer
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Yeah - surprisingly good for what it is. And louder than I though it would be.Single coil wrote:Dank
Is it any good?
It is a bit raspy (which I like) but also cleans up a bit with the guitar volume wound down. Sounds best playing some crunchy blues or big Malcolm Young style open chords.
I want all the pedals!
- sizzlingbadger
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Very cool, maybe high freq tone cut control would help.
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...
- Shimmer
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Thanks - a fun little projects, especially for those of us afraid of 240V!sizzlingbadger wrote:Very cool, maybe high freq tone cut control would help.
Yeah - there is an option for the NoSo Plus which includes adding a pot and JFET boosting (?)
That actually has an option to add a switch to the bass frequencies... (not the highs.?)
http://www.ampmaker.com/infocentre/thread-161.html
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Yeah it does a bit. Just looking at the circuit board of those amps online - looks very similarcodedog wrote:Wonder if it sounds anything like https://smokeyamps.com/
I want all the pedals!
- Shimmer
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Added a short (16sec) clip on the tube. (It's about as long as I can play before making a mistake...)codedog wrote:Wonder if it sounds anything like https://smokeyamps.com/
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- Danger Mouse
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
If you trawl the forum Shimmer posted in the first post, they actually point interested people in the direction of the smokeyamps vids for tone clips.Shimmer wrote:Yeah it does a bit. Just looking at the circuit board of those amps online - looks very similarcodedog wrote:Wonder if it sounds anything like https://smokeyamps.com/
The older I get, the more disappointed in myself I become.
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Well done, that's probably higher quality and better sounding than my first practice amp from the early 80sShimmer wrote:The finished product
(my old amp was all plastic, a small spearer and a couple of transistors. Mind you the Kay catalog guitar wasn't really much better)
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
I'm really impressed! Did you order a kit, or just source the components locally?
The older I get, the more disappointed in myself I become.
- Shimmer
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Thanks - I was pretty please with how it turned out.Danger Mouse wrote:I'm really impressed! Did you order a kit, or just source the components locally?
I just bought the bits locally but followed the instructions on the ampmaker website (pretty cool imo how he provides all the necessary info there for free) .
The components were pretty cheap - the little breadboard was the most expensive. I didn't have any solid jumper wires, so I actually used those paper clips you can get with a plastic-y covering snipped to size
I want all the pedals!
- Danger Mouse
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
Nice! I may have to try the same.Shimmer wrote:Thanks - I was pretty please with how it turned out.Danger Mouse wrote:I'm really impressed! Did you order a kit, or just source the components locally?
I just bought the bits locally but followed the instructions on the ampmaker website (pretty cool imo how he provides all the necessary info there for free) .
The components were pretty cheap - the little breadboard was the most expensive. I didn't have any solid jumper wires, so I actually used those paper clips you can get with a plastic-y covering snipped to size
I say try because it most likely will end up as a bag of components tucked away in my drawer next to the bag of components that is the FuzzyBro tube screamer kit that I bought several years ago and will "get around to building eventually"
The older I get, the more disappointed in myself I become.
- Shimmer
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Re: NoSo (No Solder) Amp
At least with this one, there are so few components. And using the breadboard means there is potentially no soldering - just plug and playDanger Mouse wrote:Nice! I may have to try the same.Shimmer wrote:Thanks - I was pretty please with how it turned out.Danger Mouse wrote:I'm really impressed! Did you order a kit, or just source the components locally?
I just bought the bits locally but followed the instructions on the ampmaker website (pretty cool imo how he provides all the necessary info there for free) .
The components were pretty cheap - the little breadboard was the most expensive. I didn't have any solid jumper wires, so I actually used those paper clips you can get with a plastic-y covering snipped to size
I say try because it most likely will end up as a bag of components tucked away in my drawer next to the bag of components that is the FuzzyBro tube screamer kit that I bought several years ago and will "get around to building eventually"
I want all the pedals!