Hot damn....I made my own amp

rodvonbon · Post by **rodvonbon** » Wed May 09, 2007 2:21 am

Ive been thinking of doing this for a while and finally got to it this past weekend. I gutted a Bassman 135 and home built a 2204 board. I re-used a few parts from the Bassman, but pretty much ordered all new parts for a Jcm 800 50 watt. I stuck to the schematic and didnt run into any major problems. I might goof around with a couple of mods....not sure yet, but for now this thing fucking screams. I will try to post sounds later this week.

Oh yeah...the case is for a Twin Reverb project im going to build.

zoinks · Post by **zoinks** » Wed May 09, 2007 2:23 am

thats awesome! how much did it cost you though? you know you could of got an 80's 800 for around $850 or something.

rodvonbon · Post by **rodvonbon** » Wed May 09, 2007 2:25 am

It came in around $550. I already have an 82' Jcm 800, I just wanted to build it.

zoinks · Post by **zoinks** » Wed May 09, 2007 2:27 am

rodvonbon wrote:It came in around $550. I already have an 82' Jcm 800, I just wanted to build it.

Looks and probably sounds awesome anyways. :cheers:

Post by **Mike** » Wed May 09, 2007 7:43 am

Wahey! Nicely done.

Can you post up schematics?

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed May 09, 2007 8:26 am

nice dude. how much did the transformers set you back, or did you use the bassman ones?

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Wed May 09, 2007 8:28 am

awesome. I want to build an amp, but I think a guitar will be my first DIY project

paincake · Post by **paincake** » Wed May 09, 2007 9:32 am

when you put up sound bites.. can you play "Stairway to Heaven"? that's my gold standard for sound bites.

JJLipton · Post by **JJLipton** » Wed May 09, 2007 11:13 am

Impressive! I wish i had the tech skills to do stuff like that, would probably save me alot of money. A jcm800 in bassman's clothing, not too bad of an idea either.

rodvonbon · Post by **rodvonbon** » Wed May 09, 2007 11:46 am

Thanks for the replies guys. This was a fun project.

Mike wrote:Wahey! Nicely done.
Can you post up schematics?

I have a couple of books and found this web site and followed the wiring layout.

paul wrote:nice dude. how much did the transformers set you back, or did you use the bassman ones?

The transformers were the most expesive parts. I used Mojo for both the power and output trans adn were around $220 for both. I didnt reuse either of the Bassman's since it was a 135 watter and I worried the voltages would be too high and the output trans was only 4ohm. "Next time" I will use Hamond, they are a lot cheaper.

paincake wrote:when you put up sound bites.. can you play "Stairway to Heaven"? that's my gold standard for sound bites.

My version wouldnt do the amp justice.

JJLipton wrote:Impressive! I wish i had the tech skills to do stuff like that, would probably save me alot of money. A jcm800 in bassman's clothing, not too bad of an idea either.

All you need to know is how to solder and pay attention to detail. I'm surprised at how easy this was.
I used the 135 Bassman because it has a 24 1/2 inch cahssis and will also fit into a Twin Reverb cabinet. I have an unused one that im holding on to for my next amp build, but could throw this in ther instead.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Wed May 09, 2007 2:36 pm

HOLY CRAP! Very cool. Me, I just want to play with diff colors of Tolex.

rodvonbon · Post by **rodvonbon** » Thu May 10, 2007 2:51 am

Well i've done my first mod to the amp and nothing blew up

It's amazing that changing one resister value in the pre amp just gave me a TON more gain. The nice thing is, I can dick around with this thing without worrying about fucking it up too much. I'm going to order a few parts so I will have a -Plexi-Normal-Brown Sound- switch. Should be interesting.