help with amps, kits, ideas?

[emankayker]

Hi all
I would need your help to pick an amp to build, or a kit to buy or ideas:
After a back problem last year, I can't move my larger amps anymore.
I would like to build an amp that is light enough for moving around to rehearsals and small gigs. It could be a single clean channel, I add dirt with external boxes. I have a classic 50 from Peavey with 4x 10 and a Rivera head with 2 x12. I wouldn't mind I guess a clean channel like the Peavey that is more like a Fender, maybe with a 12 cabinet. I could do a head and a separate cabinet, so it would split the weight when carrying.
I also thought about extracting the amp from the Peavey, cutting the 4x 10 into two pieces of 2x 10, but a friend convienced me it was a bad idea and I should keep it as is, and get something else. But this was tempting...
I also have a very small Epiphone Valve Junior clone, a GS5 from Harley Benton, just not loud enough to play against a drummer, and certainly not clean enough at high gain. But the idea of an amp with a volume and maybe a tone control is fine.
I am open to recommendations, I have been building DIY pedals, preamps, but never high voltage, but I guess I can deal with it.
I live in Europe so it has to be 220V.
I could use either the 10's or the 12's speakers in the peavey and rivera
I found this kit:
http://www.musikding.de/product_info.ph ... eluxe.html
but maybe it's got too many features for what I need and I don't know about the component's quality.
Any thoughts? 2 cents? any kits? Ideas?
Cheers

[Cygnus X1]

5E3.

Try Mojotone, Ceriatone, Weber VST, etc.

[emankayker]

Thanks
Just one question regarding the 5E3, can you get a clean sound loud enough for small gigs?
Is there a way to have simplified single channel?

[emankayker]

found this about the Tweed Deluxe clone
However I had the volume pots changed to a more gradual taper, substituted a 12ay7 for one of the ax7's and used 6l6's instead of 6v6's (also had to change the rectifier tube) and put a greenback in there instead of the Jensen. Then I had enough headroom. I played it mic'ed and unmic'ed. Sounded great. Most importantly, I could hear myself.

well, would that mean a basic kit wouldn't be loud enough?
enough clean headroom?

[M Fowler]

In my opinion no because of the type of music I play even the soft songs require headroom with clean volume so I use nothing smaller than a two 6L6 type power supply.

Now if your are the kind of guy that mikes everything up you maybe able to get there but I seriously doubt it.

Mark

[emankayker]

nothing smaller than a two 6L6 type power supply

nice info, but could you give a few names of amps with that?
... the smallest with two 6L6?
thanks

[M Fowler]

I forgot that you have a bad back so you need a smaller lighter package.

I find that once you bolt in a heavy chassis (larger transformers) into a Deluxe size cabinet and the weight of a high quality speaker the total weight problem remains.

Would spliting it into a head with a 1-12 speaker cabinet work?

[emankayker]

yes, splitting into pieces would work, I wouldn't call it a totally bad back but I am just carefull with what I (can) carry ; )
a head and a 12' souds reasonable. Any suggestion of amp design with those 2 6L6?
I was thinking of another sollution, I have a spare active speaker, a Genelec 1031, quite in a bad shape but still kicking, I could use the small GS5 with a mic, I have a Royer 121 that would be nice, use a behringer mic pre (not the best but 1U and ok for live) directly in the speaker as a second source. It is quite silly, expensive and not rug at all... but could work... like a private PA system on stage.
I'd still prefer a nice amp, but wanted to share the idea. Maybe somebody has tried this?

[emankayker]

I think I pinpointed my needs, but now, would that sound good?
I would like to build a power amp about 30 to 50 watts and build a cabinet with a 12 inch. The power amp would have only the basics, like one volume knob. (well... and a tone if needed?)
If this can be accomodated, I could use my pedals and separate preamps. Some are tube pre (mesa quad, soldano but I guess I wouldn't carry those) some are distortion and fuzz boxes in pedals ans some other pedals are designed from amp circuits, like the supreau, watt, vox, orange, from Officialy licensed circuits, and runoffgroove. Some I like a lot.
So these would work as different flavors for preamp. I am wondering if that is possible to have an amp that would sound good with those inputs?
has anyone tried this?
I used to plug in directly into the return loop in my rivera with different tube pre, I think it would be the same? this should sound good, shouldn't it?
Could I use the amp part of a TW or a Dumble to do my thing?
Or any other design? suggestions?
Thanks

[Structo]

I think it would be a little more involved than simply chopping off the power section of one of those amps you mentioned.

For example this is the schematic for a Marshal power slave amp.

http://www.schematicheaven.com/marshall ... p_9005.pdf

[emankayker]

Hi Tom
Thanks. I don't speak fluent schematic, but it does look pretty impressive.
isn't it a much elaborate amp though? It looks more complicated than some full preamp+amp to me, I may be wrong but I still have hope ... : )
Any way this could be stripped down to the very basics?
or any other simpler design?

[emankayker]

bump! : )

[Zippy]

Check out some of these kits from Allen - very high quality.

You'll see that many of them have the options of 2-6L6 and 1-12.

http://allenamps.com/hotfudge.php

[benoit]

As you said, that marshall is more circuitry than some full amps. You really might as well build a full amp. If you run a lot of pedals and such maybe something with an effects loop. This would let you run one of your standalone preamps with that poweramp if you wanted to. You could potentially build the amp head so that other preamps could be racked in with the amp, but that's getting heavy again. A poweramp-only build is probably not going to work great with just pedals on the front end, so you'd probably end up having to use one of your tube pres anyway.

My suggestion would be to build an amp head (again, maybe one with a loop if you wanted to use another preamp with it), and then build or buy a cab to go with it.

[emankayker]

Thank you very much Zippy and Benoit,
The allenamps look gorgeous but I think they are running on 110V, didn't get the info for European contries.
And Benoit, I think you just expressed what I am looking for:
A Loop In device!
The preamp beeing optional.
This I want! (I think) Well I am not reinventing anything, huh?
In your opinion, what does sound good or bad in an Loop return:
fuzz, muff, distortion, amp design pedals (a la original licensed circuit) tonebender, clean sound (no effect)?