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#1
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
Does anybody here read or subscribe to Make Magazine (makezine.com)?
It's sort of an all-around DIY publication. I just checked it out for the first time with issue #9. Anyway, one of the featured projects is a $5 Cracker Box guitar amplifier made from Radio Shack components. It's based around an LM386 op amp and has about 0.5W output. I was thinking about trying a similar thing with a tube amp. It probably couldn't be $5 unless you scavenge tube(s) and power transformer. It probably couldn't be powered by a 9V battery and still be cheap except in the eyes of an aerospace defense contractor. |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
Also, this particular article is available for free:
http://downloads.oreilly.com/make/09...er_box_amp.pdf |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
in article , Theodore at
wrote on 5/3/07 11:36 AM: Also, this particular article is available for free: http://downloads.oreilly.com/make/09...er_box_amp.pdf Fred Nachbaur, a late member of this group, specialized in inexpensive projects: http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk/tubestuf/ He has a nice little guitar amp project listed, called the 4X4: http://www.dogstar.dantimax.dk/tubestuf/4x4index.htm |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
On May 3, 11:25 am, Jon Yaeger wrote:
He has a nice little guitar amp project listed, called the 4X4: Looks nice, but it's not exactly analogous to the project in Make-- too complex and too hi-fi(!). I perused his site briefly, and it looks like his "Real McTube" overdrive would be a more appropriate starting point-- The Cracker Box Amp circuit could pass for a cheap distortion box if it weren't for the speaker! I especially like that his power supply came from two 12V "wall wart" adapters-- who doesn't have a few of those to spare? |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
On May 3, 12:56 pm, Jon Yaeger wrote:
Well, one can't know what your "reference" is when you haven't bothered to provide a working link . . . . I did provide a link. You quoted it in your first reply. If you don't want to go to the full PDF of the article, try he http://makezine.com/09/crackerboxamp/ I'm sure if you ask Andre nicely he can whip up an amp that will sound pretty crappy like your LM386; he's got years of practice. It's not so much that I *want* it to sound crappy; I just don't expect it to sound better than crappy. I'm also not looking to just build from someone else's schematic (and definitely not a $200 kit!); I was looking for examples and ideas on economizing the design. As simple as possible, but no simpler... PS I hope someday I'm famous enough to be the subject of Wikipedia vandalism! |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
in article , Theodore at
wrote on 5/3/07 3:25 PM: On May 3, 12:56 pm, Jon Yaeger wrote: Well, one can't know what your "reference" is when you haven't bothered to provide a working link . . . . I did provide a link. You quoted it in your first reply. If you don't want to go to the full PDF of the article, try he http://makezine.com/09/crackerboxamp/ I'm sure if you ask Andre nicely he can whip up an amp that will sound pretty crappy like your LM386; he's got years of practice. It's not so much that I *want* it to sound crappy; I just don't expect it to sound better than crappy. I'm also not looking to just build from someone else's schematic (and definitely not a $200 kit!); I was looking for examples and ideas on economizing the design. As simple as possible, but no simpler... PS I hope someday I'm famous enough to be the subject of Wikipedia vandalism! I went to makezine.com and didn't find it. Sorry. You don't need to buy the $200 kit to build one channel of the amplifier. Can you make your own design from scratch? If so, there are lots of possibilities. You can copy or butcher a cheap radio or other consumer amp using a 50C5 output - the main thing is to get a cheap output transformer. But you have so many limits as to what you are willing and not willing to do .. . . It's a little hard to try to help you, so I'll stop. Jon |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
On May 3, 2:47 pm, Jon Yaeger wrote:
. . . It's a little hard to try to help you, so I'll stop. The link to Fred Nachbaur's site was quite helpful. His MiniBlok is an even better starting point for what I'm trying to do. |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
Theodore,
You can easily make a tube based amplifier for $5.00. All you have to do is purchase a junker tube radio, you will get a better deal if the cabinet is crappy/broken. You will have your power transformer, audio transformer, audio tube and even the tube to drive the audio tube. You don't want a AA5 (All American 5) radio as the tubes are wired in series and since there is no power transformer, you will not have isolation. I am sure if you go to rec.antiques.radio+phono group and ask you can get one for free. Regards, Sal Brisindi Theodore wrote: Does anybody here read or subscribe to Make Magazine (makezine.com)? It's sort of an all-around DIY publication. I just checked it out for the first time with issue #9. Anyway, one of the featured projects is a $5 Cracker Box guitar amplifier made from Radio Shack components. It's based around an LM386 op amp and has about 0.5W output. I was thinking about trying a similar thing with a tube amp. It probably couldn't be $5 unless you scavenge tube(s) and power transformer. It probably couldn't be powered by a 9V battery and still be cheap except in the eyes of an aerospace defense contractor. |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.tubes
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Cracker Box Amplifier
"Theodore" wrote in message ps.com... Does anybody here read or subscribe to Make Magazine (makezine.com)? It's sort of an all-around DIY publication. I just checked it out for the first time with issue #9. Anyway, one of the featured projects is a $5 Cracker Box guitar amplifier made from Radio Shack components. It's based around an LM386 op amp and has about 0.5W output. I was thinking about trying a similar thing with a tube amp. It probably couldn't be $5 unless you scavenge tube(s) and power transformer. It probably couldn't be powered by a 9V battery and still be cheap except in the eyes of an aerospace defense contractor. That's a coll site, Theodore. Thanks for sharing it. west |
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