How to Build a Guitar Amp from Scratch

In this blog post, we’ll be discussing how to build a guitar amp from scratch. This will include a step-by-step guide, explaining each and every step required in the process. So if you’re interested in learning more about this topic, read on!

How to build a guitar amp from scratch: Step by step process.

There are two ways to build a guitar amp from scratch: either by buying all the components and assembling them yourself, or by buying an assembled device and modifying it. The first option is usually cheaper but requires more effort; you can purchase pre-made devices quite cheaply (so this option isn’t recommended), and you also need to spend time understanding how they work and how to modify them. The second option is usually more expensive but requires less time and effort; pre-made devices are hard to come across, so you have to purchase a really good quality one which you can then manipulate yourself. In this post we’ll be going over the first option: how to build a guitar amp from scratch by assembling all the components yourself.

2 Ways to build an Amp from Scratch

To build an amp, you’ll need three main components: a pre-amp, power amplifier and a speaker. The pre-amp takes your guitar’s signal from its input, amplifies it somewhat and then feeds it into the power amplifier. This does what it says on the tin: amplifying the signal even more, until it’s powerful enough to drive the speaker. Speakers are what you use to turn electrical energy into physical sound – they’re essentially like small versions of woofers and tweeters in your car stereo.

There are multiple ways in which these components can be combined together. We’ll build a generalised version of an amp here – not a specific model. Our amp will have a clean sound and a distortion sound, as well as an on/off switch to toggle between them. It’ll also have volume and tone controls, so you can adjust the volume and change the sound of your guitar – very handy!

Process to build an amp from scratch

Let’s begin: for this project you’ll need: * Soldering iron * Wire cutters/strippers * Multi-meter * Solder

A soldering iron is pretty much essential – you use it to connect components together. It heats up components so they can be joined together, melted and shaped into different forms. If you don’t have one already, go ahead and purchase a cheap one for this project – they’re only around $20. Wire cutters/strippers are used to snip wires and strip their insides so that components can be connected together. If you don’t have these, any pair of pliers or scissors will do just as well. You’ll also need a multi-meter, which detects current in circuits and tells you their resistance. If you don’t have one already, it’s recommended that you purchase one for this project – they’re only around $20 as well. Finally, solder is used to join components together once they’ve been heated up by the soldering iron. Solder comes in spools of wire which is then melted into tin with the help of the soldering iron.

To build your guitar amp from scratch, start by making a list of all the components that you need and then go out to purchase them. If you’re buying online, make sure they’re not too expensive – otherwise you may as well just buy a pre-made device. To create a clean sound with our amp, we’ll use the AC128 Germanium PNP transistor. This is an old-fashioned transistor that’s used in small amps – if you’re not familiar with transistors, don’t worry about it too much. Just know that it creates a clean tone when connected to the amplifier. As for the speaker, we’ll go with an 8 Ω 6W one. This means that it can handle 6 watts of power, and that it has an 8 ohm impedance. These terms will be familiar to anyone who’s built a device with speakers before.

When you have all your components, start making connections between them using the soldering iron. Generally speaking, you’ll need to connect the wires from the input to the transistor, from the transistor to the power amplifier and then from the power amplifier to the speaker. Soldering isn’t too difficult: just heat up both components that you’re connecting and then apply your solder in between them – it’ll melt when heated and adhere itself to both components at once. If you want more information on how to solder, here’s a great video that explains it.

Once you’ve finished soldering everything together, pop the speaker into your newly-made amp and test it out! If all went well, you should have an amplified guitar sound coming from your amplifier. Now go ahead and switch the power on – be careful not to touch any components when the amp is plugged in and receiving power.

If you want to add a distortion effect, use two NPN transistors (in this case we’ll go with an AC186 and an AC128) instead of one: connect them like so:

Now you can toggle between the clean and distorted sounds by flipping the switch! This is the basics of how to build a guitar amp from scratch – we hope you enjoyed it and found it informative! If you didn’t, feel free to comment with any questions and we’ll try and respond as soon as possible.