Spring 2007:

A guitar practice amp!

For some reason, i started getting (back) into electronics tinkering, and thought it might be fun to build a little guitar amp for practice. Even a regular 15 watt amp gets WAY too loud for my needs, and i found a cool schematic for an easy-to-build 1/2 watt amp. I also got several versions of a tremolo circuit, which i thought would be a cool vintage-y effect to have in this thing. I hand-wired the circuits on perfboard, and housed them in the enclosure of a late 1950's tube radio.

The result is a one-of-a-kind amp that works and sounds great for my needs, which amount to occasional noodling sessions on the guitar and/or the theremin.

	I got this old tube radio on eBay for cheap. The plan was to use the cabinet and the speakers, and build in the new guts.
	This is the inside view of the radio "before." It's got two 5.5" speakers, which were just right for what i wanted out of this amp.
	(7 May 2007) Here is the "after" picture. I made a new speaker baffle, covered in black cloth, and screwed on my homemade control panel. I did save the "Musaphonic" logo plate from the old radio grille.
	Here's the "gut shot" showing the 3 circuit boards - on the left is the power supply, then the tremolo, then the 1/2 watt amp itself. Actually, the power supply is sort of superfluous: the whole thing could run just fine on a single 9 volt battery.

Last updated on 12 May 2007, by Penny.