Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi!

After I just finished my first electric bass, I'm planning to build a Tube amp.
Do you guys know where I could get plans, schematics, or either kits, supplies, etc?

Thanks!
Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Francis-
I've built a few tube amps 'from scratch' and repaired quite a few as well.
I built a clone of an Ampeg B-15N, which is a tube bass amp (great for guitar as well).
There is a LOT of info on the internet on building guitar tube amps- most of them could be easily adapted for bass, or you could just get a bass amp schematic and build a clone.
What sort of amp are you thinking about? (power level- for playing at home, gigging, etc?)

You probably know that most bass players prefer solid-state amps- it's a lot easier/cheaper to get the high-power levels needed for bass, and there's not much need for the 'tube distortion' sound for bass, usually..

I don't know of anybody producing tube bass amp kits - there are lots of Bassman kits around, but they're usually used by guitar players, I think. (Google 'Bassman amp kit'...)

Lots of schematics at http://www.schematicheaven.com/

Also, it is not particularly cheap to build a tube amp if you use new, good-quality components - something to keep in mind.
(The 'cheap' route is to re-use transformers from old hi-fi or PA amps)

Let me know if I can help with more info.

Cheers
John