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Do you collect tube amps or work on them? Do you go to guitar shows and take pictures? Do you know tips and techniques for playing amplified blues harp that you'd like to share.
I need bloggers who are willing to post to harpamps.com a few times a month on Tube Amp related subjects (not spam). Your posts will reach 20,000 readers each month. Let me know if you are interested.
Thanks, Keith
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June 26, 2008
  Build aTube Amp - Do It Yourself Tutorial
I came across this tube amp tutorial. I like the absolute thoroughness of the tutorial, Everything is covered from soup to nuts. The schematic is customized, which may be a good or a bad thing. It uses relatively low voltage power tubes, which means it might be good for harp. Lower power means sweeter tone and less feed back.

The article offers a great many good ideas about where to get parts, how to salvage stuff to save money, even how to build a neat cabinet.

Even if you are not going to build this particular amp, it is worth while checking out the process. It may be just as easy to build a deluxe or bassman clone (I suggest looking at a tweed Fender Super Amp). 
Comments:
If you're going to do a blog on harp amps, learn something about amps.

"It uses relatively low voltage power tubes, which means it might be good for harp. Lower power means sweeter tone and less feed back."

It's a low-wattage amp, which is not the same thing as a low-voltage amp. Learn the difference. And the first thing the author states is that this is a high-gain amp (i.e., a lot of pre-amp gain), which is bad for harp and generally triggers feedback.

"It may be just as easy to build a deluxe or bassman clone (I suggest looking at a tweed Fender Super Amp)."

Do you have any idea at all how amps are built? A four-input amp with a midrange and presence control (i.e., a Bassman) is going to be harder to build simply because you've got to string wiring to all of those jacks and pots. The tweed Super is very similar. The tweed Deluxe is simpler -- it uses a single tone control and two volumes. Don't even get started on blackfaces with reverb and tremolo circuits.

You really need to bone up on some amp primers if you're going to dish advice.
 
Pay attention to what I wrote. The amp in the project uses 6DG6 tubes and the power transformer puts out only 200 volts. That's low voltage for a guitar amp. The preamp stage is high enough gain for a guitar amp, but a harp player would put in lower mu tubes.

I've built many bassmans and the stringing all the wires is not a big deal. It just takes a little longer. I've wired a bassman in about an hour.

Why would you post like this if you haven't read the article and obviously don't know about amps?
 
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