Potential first time amp build - BYOC Tweed Royal

PunkKitty

PunkKitty

Horny bag of electric meat
I'm considering a BYOC Tweed Royal as a first time amp build later this year. This would be a Christmas present to myself.

I've never built an amp before. But I have extensive experience soldering and designing guitar circuits. The instructions are very clear with a lot of pictures. My thought is that as long as I carefully go step by step, and take my time in the process, the build should be successful. I have a Weber 5e3 head cabinet that I think the amp will fit in.

For those that have built amps before, what are your thoughts on this as a first project?
 
If you can solder and follow instructions, it shouldn't be tough. I built a Weber Pro about 10 years ago and all I used was the layout sheet and at the time, I hadn't even built a pedal. My only soldering experience was swapping pickups.
 
I have been wanting to do something similar for awhile, but if it was me, I would probably start with something a bit simpler like something Champish to start with - and I have the soldering and electronics troubleshooting background, too :wink:
 
I think you'll do great.

Read up all the tips on lead dress. You don't have to know anything about amp design/repair to build amps, it was done by skilled labor in ye olden days. It's all about attention to detail and best practices.
 
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BYOC is good at instructions and they put together great pedal kits.
I would not hesitate to dig into one of their amp kits.

Number one warning: amps have dangerous voltages. Use extreme caution.

I know you probably already know that, but it doesn't hurt mentioning it.

If you have it plugged in and then realise you need to work on it some more. Turn it off, unplug it, and walk away for a while. Let the caps drain. If you stand there and wait, you'll get impatient and stick something in where it doesn't belong.
 
dodgechargerfan said:
BYOC is good at instructions and they put together great pedal kits.
I would not hesitate to dig into one of their amp kits.

Number one warning: amps have dangerous voltages. Use extreme caution.

I know you probably already know that, but it doesn't hurt mentioning it.

If you have it plugged in and then realise you need to work on it some more. Turn it off, unplug it, and walk away for a while. Let the caps drain. If you stand there and wait, you'll get impatient and stick something in where it doesn't belong.
Click to expand...

I've always heard to unplug it first.
 
The easiest way to drain the caps is to turn the amp on and unplug it when it gets warm. Then let it cool down.
 
If the drawing make sense and are clear to you, I say go for it. If you get in the weeds a good amp tech can help you get sorted.


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PunkKitty said:
The easiest way to drain the caps is to turn the amp on and unplug it when it gets warm. Then let it cool down.
Click to expand...

That is easy...but not correct, not even for the "lazy man's method," which I won't repeat because you shouldn't do it. (But why would you opt to unplug the direct ground connection from the wall when the idea is to bleed out caps to ground?)

Drain the caps the proper way with a bleed resistor and jumper wire, test with a MM, and leave it jumpered until you are done.

As I said before...best practices.

I burned off my fingerprints on an amp that hadn't been plugged in for a week.
 
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Some amps have bleeder resistors that will drain the large power supply caps.

That doesn't mean you don't drain amps that have them - if a component in the b+ power rail of an amp fails (such as a dropping resistor), it could leave some caps down the line fully charged, even when unplugged, turned off with the standby on, and any other method that supposedly drains caps.

Drain them properly, check them for residual voltage - each and every time. If you don't know how to do this, learn, preferably with a real live human by your side, or don't f with an amp.
 
I think that is pretty cool!

If you have the soldering skills and can follow instructions, I say go for it!
 
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