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+# Bdale's First Tube Guitar Amplifier #
+
+Once I started working on my [first guitar](../bdale-1), I started to think
+about what I wanted as an amp to plug it in to. Of course, my son already
+has a couple amplifiers he's happy to let me use:
+
+* Silvertone "Smart II S" that came with his beginner's guitar kit
+* Fender "[Mustang III](http://www.fender.com/search?q=mustang%20iii)
+ that some friends bought him after
+ [the fire](http://gag.com/blackforestfire.html)
+
+Both of these are fine amps, particularly for just starting out. The
+Silvertone is very small, with simple controls. The Fender is far more
+complicated because it's a "modeling amp", which means it has DSP innards
+that allow it to "fake" a bunch of different amplifier tone profiles. But
+both are solid-state amps... and Robert and I both felt that adding a real
+tube amplifer to the mix would be great fun!
+
+After a lot of reading and listening to various video clips and audio files,
+I started to narrow in on building a clone of the Fender "Tweed Deluxe", which
+was an early very simple amplifier with two 12AX7 tubes for the preamp and
+tone stack, and a pair of 6V6 power tubes in push-pull configuration for
+about 12-15 watts output into a single 12" driver in a combo cabinet. The
+schematics for this amplifier are on the web, and all the parts are widely
+available at modest cost. A good page describing more about this amp is
+available on [fenderguru.com](http://fenderguru.com/amps/deluxe-5e3). And
+in my searching, the
+[full kit from Tube Depot](https://tubedepot.com/products/tweed-5e3-vacuum-tube-amp-kit)
+seems like a great starting point.
+
+Then I stumbled over a reference to the book "Guitar Amplifer Handbook" by
+Dave Hunter. For me, at least, it did a great job of explaining how
+tube amps work and what makes the different vintage tube amp designs
+interesting. The conclusion of the first part of the book is a chapter
+showing the design and construction of a simple but versatile amp called
+the "Two Stroke" that instantly appealed to me.
+
+The things that appeal to me about this amplifier are:
+
+* It's a very simple design with lots of potential for experimentation
+* It can use any of several final output tubes down to about 4W, which
+ means it should be possible to get good tones at volume levels low
+ enough to be compatible with our basement rec room for practice, yet
+ with a single tube swap be able to make enough power for gigging in
+ a larger venue.
+* The tones I heard on demo videos with a strat clone into it direct with no
+ pedals are pretty cool, and please my ear.
+* The somewhat novel combination of one each inexpensive ceramic magnet
+ 10" and 8" drivers seem to yield a lot of flexibility at very low cost.
+* The kit price for everything except a cabinet is reasonable, and using the
+ custom build of a cabinet as an excuse to go buy more woodworking tools
+ appeals to me...
+
+Robert points out that he thinks the lack of reverb, in fact the lack even of
+an effects send/return circuit means he thinks we'll want a reverb pedal to
+put in front of it pretty soon. But to be honest, the tones available out of
+the box sound good, so I'm not sure how big a deal that will be to me. I've
+also found many opinions posted in forums about the 5e3 and similar vintage
+simple tube amp designs suggesting they really aren't the right amps to put
+lots of effects in front of... might be better to think in terms of something
+like a blackface amp clone with internal spring reverb for a follow-on project?
+
+If Robert is right, the
+[Reverb 2](http://buildyourownclone.com/products/reverb2)
+looks like it could be a completely plausible addition to the mix at some
+point.
+
+## Progress ##
+
+Not sure exactly when I'll start this project .. stay tuned!
+
projects / web / gag.com / blobdiff