Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Amp tinkerers and people who aren't afraid of 700 volts or so in here....

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kdawg2a
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Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by kdawg2a »

I would like a simple, dynamic, home built 1 watt (or low wattage) valve amp for a little bit of home fun. Something that cleans up or distorts with the volume knob on your guitar.
I have a Jansen 5 watt amp box with still functioning 12 inch Rola speaker and original chassis, less a bunch of parts I gave away a long time ago.
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I think it would be cool to utilise these bits into a functioning amp. If the old bits are worth tons (they're not) and someone is willing to give me lots of money for them (no-one would) then it would be worth a resto. Seeing as it's not, does anyone have any experience with building little amps?
Could you do it for me and have it work with these components?
For relatively cheap?!
Champ, Deluxe, Plexi etc, all sounds work for me.
Any ideas folks?
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by Mattallica »

There was that one fella on the forum a while back doing just this... can't remember his name. He was in chch too. Jim (Miniforklift) bought some valves off him??

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by NippleWrestler »

You could always buy a kit from Weber or phaez or someone like that.

Otherwise there's a guy selling a Marshall dsl1c on FB for $350.

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by rickenbackerkid »

oh man, I'd build a tweed champ with tremolo into that. Would look super cool and probably sound as tweed-y as all heck with that old speaker!

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by jeremyb »

Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by PaulWD »

A little giant or champ would go easily into that. I can help with this if you like.

Mini Forklift

Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by Mini Forklift »

Mattallica wrote:There was that one fella on the forum a while back doing just this... can't remember his name. He was in chch too. Jim (Miniforklift) bought some valves off him??
PaulW, he is on here but don't think he checks in that regularly. Have his contact details if you needed to get in touch with him. Great guy and he's built tons of small amps, very knowledgeable bloke :thumbup:

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by kdawg2a »

PaulWD wrote:A little giant or champ would go easily into that. I can help with this if you like.
Champ. Tell me more....
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by tubeswell »

AC4 circuit would fit that
He who dies with the most toobs... wins

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by kdawg2a »

It's off to PaulWD this afternoon for a transformation! Thanks Paul!
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by PaulWD »

Rebuilt. Finished pics attached

I couldn't get a copy of the original circuit so put something close together using other Jansen schematics. For the power stage, I used a 6v6.
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Original speaker was knackered, so was replaced. The original tremolo can was a bit problematic, requiring a new light dependant resistor.

I tried to only use components that were available in NZ in the 60s, so it has mustard caps, Philips resistors, McMurdo sockets and beacon transformers.

I am happy with the end result. It is much less noisy than anticipated and breaks up nicely at low volume. A fun project.

Mini Forklift

Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by Mini Forklift »

Great job Paul, looks awesome and no doubt it sounds the same!

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by kdawg2a »

Picking this bad boy up in 30 minutes! Can't wait!
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by jeremyb »

kdawg2a wrote:Picking this bad boy up in 30 minutes! Can't wait!
Watch your back mate, she looks heavy!!!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: Wanted, 1 watt valve amp. Upcycling project with DeNCHE bits.

Post by Cdog »

Sweetness!

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