What five tools have helped

[rms]

At least one good nights sleep......zzzzz

[pezed]

#1 tool thats helped me to build better amps:
AutoCAD
its really nice to build the amp in CAD first (including the turret board) to see exactly how everything is going to fit in. Its harsh when you get half way through an amp design and find out something isn't going to fit.

otherwise.. a good pair of wire strippers is a must, good weller soldering iron (i just use a 25watt pencil, not fancy heat station), good weller soldering gun (150 watt).

[rms]

Yup number 1 for me. A vector based software is the only way to go. I do just exactly as you do pezed, except I use Illustrator. I carefully plot every sqare inch of the chassis, where every hole is located, etc. I then roughly draw my main board and power supply board in.

Then plot the board with a matrix of turret locations, start plugging in all the passives where they will line up with each tube stage. That way it will have the shortest route for the ptp.

Then start drawing the ptp wiring, showing the shielded wires as well. I like Illustrator for being able to show all the wire color coding inside the chassis. Print it out and there is the layout. Its the best way to fit every piece in the chassis and avoiding parsitics 95% of the time.

I'll print the turret board next as 1:1 on legal paper to use as a drilling template. I wasn't about to give $100 for Hoffmans drilling guide so I machined my own. Saved myself $85 right there. Drilling guide has to be the second most valueable tool yet!

[Andy Le Blanc]

I build completly by hand
planning and fabrication
I go looking for ways to make it myself
selfsufficent independant

[Mickey_C]

Toss the CAD, and get on the Alibre Design bandwagon. Once you do solids, you'll never look back. It's never been cheaper or easier to use!

[briane]

my brain
wire stripper
unibit
table saw
beer

the rest is brute force and gum-ption! (ps. my nickname is gum....)

[benoit]

Toss the CAD, and get on the Alibre Design bandwagon. Once you do solids, you'll never look back. It's never been cheaper or easier to use!

Google sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/) is pretty easy to use and is free.

[jjman]

Toss the CAD, and get on the Alibre Design bandwagon. Once you do solids, you'll never look back. It's never been cheaper or easier to use!

Google sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/) is pretty easy to use and is free.

Is Google sketchup free forever or will it expire or something?

[benoit]

It's free forever. There is a pro version too with more features.

[drhulsey]

... Google sketchup ... is pretty easy to use and is free.

I haven't used it for amp layout, but I did use it to help design an isolation cab.

[Tonegeek]

Google sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/) is pretty easy to use and is free.

Does Sketchup do layers? I used to use Paint Shop Pro, but just switched to Paint.Net (a freebee). It is very intuitive and light weight so the learning curve is minimal. I love the line drawing. It could use a better grid system but otherwise it is very useful for everything but the cab design which Sketchup looks ideally suited for. Paint.Net is also still under development so it is improving constantly. I suppose I would use Visio if money was no object.

[gearhead]

Greenlee Step Bits
Wider solder tip
Curved tip pliers
Prescription glasses tweaked for bench distance
Building a jig to wire up the pots -outside- the chasis.

[benoit]

Google sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/) is pretty easy to use and is free.

Does Sketchup do layers?

It does indeed. I haven't had a chance to mess with them yet though. I have really been enjoying it so far though. On a mac it's really solid. On my PC it doesn't behave quite as nicely though in fairness it's an old machine compared to a new intel-based mac tower.

[CaseyJones]

This might sound arrogant but I've always been able to think visually. Know how some of us have a tone in our head and that's what the amp is supposed to sound like? I've always been able to visualize complex assemblies in 3D. I work without schematics or blueprints because I can see (in my mind) exactly what the assemby is supposed to look like. Some people can do that, some people can't. I used to think everyone could.

About the only thing CAD does for me is allow to me to easily communicate my ideas to other people.

[drhulsey]

...Does Sketchup do layers?

Layers in Sketchup are not like layers in programs like Photoshop.
"Caution - Remember, layers in SketchUp do not work exactly like layers in 2 dimensional programs. Namely, entities drawn with one layer appear in all layers in SketchUp."
For a better explanation, check out their tutorials:
http://sketchup.google.com/gsu5vtvideos.html
For Mac users, ConceptDraw is a program akin to Visio for Windows PC's
Does anybody still use Windows PC's
Sorry I couldn't help myself