I tried to build a couple of guitars but that did not go so well. I think I could perhaps build high quality guitars if I had the type of CNC machines I think I would need.
I got interested in designing and building tube amplifiers. Most were for guitar and a couple for other instruments. I was pretty happy with the results of that endeavor. Learning how vacuum tubes work was a bit difficult because so few people understand them now days.
Anyone here build that kind of stuff?
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
I got interested in designing and building tube amplifiers. Most were for guitar and a couple for other instruments. I was pretty happy with the results of that endeavor. Learning how vacuum tubes work was a bit difficult because so few people understand them now days.
Anyone here build that kind of stuff?
Billy
I've built plenty of solid state equipment (my background is in industrial electronics design and engineering), however, there are many here who are far more versed than me. I think our esteemed Irish friend has done a fair share of impressive development in this area.
BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
I have built many valve amps in the past back in the days of the Mullard 510 etc. Presently I have a commercial one a BUGERA set to run in triode mode for indoor use. I can switch back to pentode mode if I need the power for playing out (lol)
After a lot of research I opted for a 12 inch speaker combi 22 watt class A 2x EL84 power 3x ECC preamp and phase splitter good price of £271 incl. £45 vat Make Bugea V22 A useful feature is the output pentodes can be switched to triode mode less power for home use giving a slightly even more vintage sound at home levels, nice!
The main features of the Bugera V22 Infinium Guitar Amp Combo include:
22 watt Class A combo amplifier 2 channels Master volume 3x 12AX7 preamp tubes 2x EL84 poweramp tubes 12" Turbosound speaker Integrated reverb effect Infinium Tube Life Multiplier Technology Footswitch included (Channel select, Reverb) Vintage EQ Features: Manufacturer: BugeraPower Output (Watt): 22 Stereo: No Tubes (Poweramp): 2x EL84 (6BQ5) Pre amp and phase splitter 3x 12 ECC83 (12ax7) Speaker Manufacturer: TurbosoundSpeakers: 1x12" Number of Channels: 2 Amp modeling: No Reverb: Yes Internal Effects: No Effects loop: Yes Recording Output: No Headphone Connection: No AUX Input: No USB Connection: No MIDI Interface: No Foot Switch Connection: Yes Incl. Foot Switch: Yes Connection for External Speaker: Yes Wheels: No Front panel design: Straight Width (mm): 572Height (mm): 453Length (mm): 270Weight (kg): 19.4 0
One of several amps I have built. This one is a little like a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Around 20 watts and good for studio work...not so good live.
This one is a pretty complex 150 watt I designed for metal style music. Cost way to much money to build. You can probably hear it at your house every time I crank it up...lol
I have a small CNC mill to cut out holes with precision.
To comment on what Video Track said, I always had in mind to learn more about solid state electronics. I got so deep into tube/valve electronics I just have never found the time.
To Mike's comments about tubes/valves I have a supplier in California who has been able to provide most anything I wanted to my specifications. Between his and my own connections with Russian suppliers, I can normally get what I want.
Finding both electrolytic and other types of capacitors that I liked the sound of has been far from easy. There are a couple of very talented people that have built transformers for me more or less to my specifications...people who actually know what they are doing.
Fun stuff to mess around with!!
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
This is interesting...to be honest, I'm not much of a handy man. The idea of building my own equipment has never crossed my mind. I have have always been the person who wants to just pay the money and have my equipment work from the get go. I know some people get a lot of joy from tinkering though. And I can see how rewarding it'd be the build this kind of stuff yourself.
This has been fun stuff for me. Part of the reason for building amps is to be able to play through a type of amp I don't want to try to afford. Although it is normally less expensive to buy a modern tube amp than build one, that does not hold true for vintage amps.
There are at least four types of guitar amps nowadays. Solid state, vacuum tube, modelling, and hybrid. All have there use. What people like is very subjective.
Vacuum tube technology may be an old arcane science but it is far from going away. In fact you probably have it in you house today in your microwave oven. There are certain frequency's which can not currently be dealt with using transistors. Some of the latest technology is trying to use vacuum tubes to solve these issues.
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
I have built an amp, and made mods to a few things I picked up through the years. Mostly, the amps ended up burning up. Some were quite spectacular when the magic smoke and the mysterious sparks escaped. So I stick with factory built amps now days.
One design I built actually sounded really nice... crisp and plenty loud. It was based on the 50W Marshall amp. I could never get the bias on the output tubes quite right and that one ended up being taken back apart and stuck in a box where the parts sit to this very day. It would do really well for several minutes and then it would "run away" and fry the tubes. It was fun building it but I didn't really have the time to mess with it and tweek it properly.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 09/30/2004:38 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Guitarhacker...I had to chuckle about the parts stuck in a box comment. Yep, I too have some projects that are setting around which will most likely never be finished. One in particular that irritates me every time I think about it has about $2500 worth of new parts.
The road to my success has been paved with bricks of failure...
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
I have built many valve amps in the past back in the days of the Mullard 510 etc. Presently I have a commercial one a BUGERA set to run in triode mode for indoor use. I can switch back to pentode mode if I need the power for playing out (lol)
After a lot of research I opted for a 12 inch speaker combi 22 watt class A 2x EL84 power 3x ECC preamp and phase splitter good price of £271 incl. £45 vat Make Bugea V22 A useful feature is the output pentodes can be switched to triode mode less power for home use giving a slightly even more vintage sound at home levels, nice!
The main features of the Bugera V22 Infinium Guitar Amp Combo include:
22 watt Class A combo amplifier 2 channels Master volume 3x 12AX7 preamp tubes 2x EL84 poweramp tubes 12" Turbosound speaker Integrated reverb effect Infinium Tube Life Multiplier Technology Footswitch included (Channel select, Reverb) Vintage EQ Features: Manufacturer: BugeraPower Output (Watt): 22 Stereo: No Tubes (Poweramp): 2x EL84 (6BQ5) Pre amp and phase splitter 3x 12 ECC83 (12ax7) Speaker Manufacturer: TurbosoundSpeakers: 1x12" Number of Channels: 2 Amp modeling: No Reverb: Yes Internal Effects: No Effects loop: Yes Recording Output: No Headphone Connection: No AUX Input: No USB Connection: No MIDI Interface: No Foot Switch Connection: Yes Incl. Foot Switch: Yes Connection for External Speaker: Yes Wheels: No Front panel design: Straight Width (mm): 572Height (mm): 453Length (mm): 270Weight (kg): 19.4 0
Hi Mike
I went through the audio design guide. Thanks. Interesting curves on some of the tubes.
At one time I had an interest in trying to use different types of tubes.
I sort of came to the conclusion that I most liked the sound of 6L6 and EL84's and EL844's.
I have built amps using 6v6s, EL34, KT66, and 6550's.
All of those are pretty standard tubes which was one of the considerations. I had a guy who was asking me to design amps for him. I really had little time or interest in any of this from a business prospective but it probably influenced my choice of tubes. It took me a couple of years before I found the connections to get consistent quality tubes.
The further I dug into all this the more I began to understand the tone was as much a function of capacitors and transformers as tubes. Also that speakers type/brand made a huge difference in the sound.
I had always approached all this from a intellectual perspective. In the end I came to realize there was as much art as physic involved. Fun stuff!
Just a word of warning to any of you who may be thinking of building this kind of stuff. This is high voltage electronics and even when unplugged the charge in the electrolytic capacitors can kill you. Keep one hand in you pocket.
Cheers,
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
As one who once set a Heathkit shortwave radio kit on fire, and one who still has horrible soldering skills, I let the people who know what they are doing do what they do. I think my homeowner's insurance carrier would cancel my policy if they found out I was trying to build an amp. So I just buy them. I just bought a 150w Line 6 Spyder III modeling amp for $100 and that is way too loud to use at home so I still use the Line 6 practice amp. I haven't even made it through testing all the modeling presets on the Spyder yet. Then I have to find the amp setting I want and add to it the sounds from the Pocket Pod..... and I am not really a guitar player! I do like collecting guitars because it looks so cool to have a guitar farm!
Next up is the Harley Benton thin body acoustic, followed quickly by the white on white Squire Classic Vibe model Jazzmaster. The guitar will run $400, and the white pickguard will be another $20 or so. As soon as the dust settles on my house refi (I sign the new mortgage Thursday) and I can spend again, I will put a few more animals in that farm!! And somehow I never seem to get that I need more stands, more straps, more strap locks.... never stops.
Last edited by eddie1261; 09/30/2003:03 PM.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023? 2. Send it to us.
I have always wanted to build amps and guitars as well. I ended up buying a fender mustang II it is loud and has a ton of “voices” for me it has been all I have ever needed. Sadly anymore I can never find a place to air it out.
Lenovo Win 10 16 gig ram, Mac mini with 16 gig of ram, BiaB 2022, Realband, Harrison Mixbus 32c version 9.1324, Melodyne 5 editor, Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, Presonus control app, Komplete 49 key controller.
I have always wanted to build amps and guitars as well. I ended up buying a fender mustang II it is loud and has a ton of “voices” for me it has been all I have ever needed. Sadly anymore I can never find a place to air it out.
Then the next thing you need to build is a man cave! 12x8 shed kit would do you nicely!!
I think the fire clause of my homeowner's insurance has a clause in it that keeps me from trying anything that requires good soldering and 120v of AC current.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023? 2. Send it to us.
I've got a diploma in electronics production and repair, and have spent the last half a decade getting into tube electronics (since that isn't taught at college anymore). I've designed and built a number of tube amps and tube preamps, as well as guitar pedals containing tubes. I've also repaired piles of tube amps - my current favourite is my Rivera Knucklehead from the mid 90's, closely followed by a late 80's Carvin X100b (and I would love love LOVE to have the Mesa Single Rectoverb and the Vox AC30CC2 that I rebuilt for a studio partner of mine, and the original JCM800 50-watt I repaired for a former client).
I tend to prefer amps with 6L6 or EL34 over the smaller tubes, even at lower volumes. Little bit more "oomph" and loads more clean headroom.
Besides stuff with tubes in them, I've designed and built quite a pile of solid state guitar pedals, mic preamps, amplifiers, synthesizers, and a ton of other things. I'd love to get more into building and repairing microphones, as I have a few high-end condenser mics that could use a capsule re-skinning, though I did successfully replace the ribbon on a cheap ribbon mic, and re-attached a separated diaphragm on an SM57 (which for some reason now sounds loads better than my other 3 Sm57's, strange).
The nicest thing in the world is when someone asks "hey, how did you get that great sound? I want the same sound!" and I tell them "oh, it's this thing I custom built, nobody else has one".
Last edited by Simon - PG Music; 10/05/2001:08 PM.
Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 und mehr!
Add updated printing options, enhanced tracks settings, smoother use of MGU and SGU (BB files) within PowerTracks, and more with the latest PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 update!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
Did you know... not only can you download your Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK purchase - you can also choose to add a flash drive backup copy with the installation files for only $15? It even comes with a Band-in-a-Box® keychain!
For the larger Band-in-a-Box® packages (UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition), the hard drive backup copy is available for only $25. This will include a preinstalled and ready to use program, along with your installation files.
Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
Already purchased your e-delivery version, and now you wish you had a backup copy? It's not too late! If your purchase was for the current version of Band-in-a-Box®, you can still reach out to our team directly to place your backup copy order!
Note: the Band-in-a-Box® keychain is only included with flash drive backup copies, and cannot be purchased separately.
Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.
If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!
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