All those interviews for Overdrive Week last week got me thinking about tinkering, and I happened across this new DIY amp kit from MOD Kits DIY – the 102+. It’s an extremely simple 8 watt guitar amp that you assemble yourself from the parts they send you in the kit. MOD Kits was mentioned by all the pedal builders we interviewed, so if you’re considering getting into it, I highly recommend you check out some of their kits. Normally I’d never think to try building my own amp, but the idea of getting a kit with directions makes it very enticing….. Imagine the feeling when you finally finish it and hit the power switch, and something you built makes sound. I bet it’s magical!
Here’s some specific info on it from the website:
The MOD102+ expands on the same all analog vacuum tube classic American circuit design combined with a British style Class A output section as the Original MOD102 with some much added special “+” features. These special features include a three position progressive toggle switch for off-standby-power and additional push-pull functionality for each control – pull out the bass control knob for “mid boost”, pull out the treble control knob for “bright”, pull out the volume control knob for “turbo”. These new features and a JJ ECC803-S (a long plate 12AX7 known for its complex mid range tones) allow for a wider variety of tones and extra control for the user.
Other features include:
All Tube Design (solid-state diodes used only for full-wave rectification)
8W output power into 8 Ω
1 channel
Vintage channel controls with push-pull functionality: bass (+mid-boost), treble (+bright) and volume (+turbo)
Vintage pilot lamp and screw-on jewel cover for power-on indication
Output Impedance: 8 Ω
Tubes included: one ECC803 (JJ Electronic brand preamp tube), one EL84 (JJ Electronic brand power tube)
Hammond Mfg 269EX power transformer and P-T31 single ended output transformer.
Cathode biased class A power tube operation (no bias adjustment needed).
Point to point hand wiring using terminal strips
Carbon film resistors
Metalized polyester coupling caps
Pre-punched steel chassis
Assembled Kit Weight: 5.55 lbs.
Assembled Kit Dimensions: 10″ Width x 6″ Depth x 5 1/8″ Height
The site rates the difficulty of building this amp at a 5/5, so you might want to consider one of their easier pedal builds first, and work your way up to it. But if you’ve already done something like that, maybe you’re ready to start building an amp!
mrw55 / May 9, 2015 6:44 pm
This kit receives good reviews. IMO, there is a better way. That is, buy any 5 watt amp, either head or combo, of your choice and modify it. By doing this you have the amp built for you and you also get the cabinet. Cabinets purchased separately can cost as much as the amp kit. Where you go from there is up to you. There are lots of modifications kits available for DIY.
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