Epiphone Valve Junior Mods - A Total Waste of Time?
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- Опубликовано: 26 апр 2017
- There are about a zillion people on the net modifying these little tube amps, but most mods seem to be focused on adding features like a tone knob, a gain knob, or a totally useless standby switch. We aren't concerned with adding features, instead we will focus on refining the tone, which is fizzy, brittle and uninspiring in stock form. This appears to be the second version of the circuit with the DC filament supply.
FOLLOW-UP VIDEO: • The Gubment Slapped Gr...
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Here's the follow-up video: ruclips.net/video/xMpWcFX4wAg/видео.html
Love the walk through... good knowledge - great little practice amp now.
LOL - the power supply filter caps - THEY GO TO 11!
I would like to point out that the number 10 is considered unluck by the chinese. Something about the characters that make up the number 10 mean "bad luck" or some such.
purplexenno, ln the Philippines they're like that too, and do "o"s.
Marshall has been using 'cardboard' for their cabinet back panels since the 70s. I'm sure it was a cost savings move, but MDF also has desirable sonic qualities (lack of reflection) as a back panel. Also, like most amps, it's wrapped in tolex and therefore quite unlikely to fall apart. At the least, "you get what you pay for" logic certainly does not apply to this example, as 1960 cabs are not inexpensive. Not to mention, for many years, these 'cardboard' cabs were made in England. Many MIC products (e.g., the Squier Classic Vibe series) will stand toe to toe with their more expensive, made elsewhere, equivalents these days. Many of them are rebadged products from other, american and European companies (the result of our sending our labor overseas for cost savings).
Just sayin', the well worn absolutes are far from absolute...
all these people chasing the jimmy page tone and this little amp nails it.
He did use small valve amps in the studio.
The circuit, tubes and transformers that make of the amp are not bad at all. The real limiting factor is the 8-in speaker which makes it overall 'tinny' sounding.
You can actually manage to fit a 10-in Alnico speaker in there and it clears the tubes and transformers. popular are the Jensen P10 and Eminence 1028k. You do have to dremel a bit of the bottom of chassis and make a new speaker baffle, but this is an easy hour-long project on the weekend.
Really wakes the amp up and it's still beautifully compact
Had a few of these as spares it does nail the communication breakdown tone I'll give it that.
"100 bargain basement amps"
-J. Page
Did Jimmy play his stuff on that amp.
Your videos are very inspiring. I built my own amp from a kit about a year ago and after making a few tweaks and mods, I've realized I like messing around with a circuit even more than I like playing guitar. Just ordered my second amp kit and looking forward to that experience again.
Brad, I really like your channel and took away a real nugget from this Valve Junior mod video. As you reviewed all your mods, the one that didn't get any "air time" was the Zobel network across the output transformer. I design low-watt but high gain single-ended amps w/o global feedback. I can tame oscillations just fine but that "fizz" remains. The "ah-ha" moment was seeing you add the Zobel. I immediately clipped in 10R/50nF across the speaker and the results are amazing. Many thanks for the tip.
What do ur little. Amps go for? For a fellow guitologist fan ??!!
"disregard the noise, but let's listen to the tone... KSDHFHAWIUFEACKDJFA how about that for tone?" hahahahaha I think I woke up the whole house laughing. made my day. I love your channel, man. I've watched a bunch of your videos and I just want to build an amp now, you're doing a great job at demystifying this trade, your playing is fantastic, your commentaries are insightful and your love for tinkering is contagious. Cheers!
hahaha...yeah I knew that was gold the minute it happened. Thanks for the kind comment. Glad you enjoy the channel. Good to have you.
Haha same here!
You can be Brad Ramone in the New Band with that TONE!!
I'm an amp tech also and I really like your videos you are very practical and use common sense and logic. I have been repairing electronic equipment all my life and I am not to vane to admit I learn from you . thanks for the great videos.
Great video as always. Please keep them coming. Thanks for giving up your time for us to learn.
Love these things, got the head version. Only did one mod so far to boost the volume. And added two 4ohm speakers for portability without added cab. Great stuff. Good comments. Awesome results as usual Brad. Thank you again
The first difference in improving the sound is made by the speaker - Thanks for great job
The speaker used judging by the basket stamping is a Rola USA alnico . By 5his time Rola UK had bought Celestion and used large cylindrical alnico magnets.
That's cool! I almost think that your modified version and a regular version would sound dope together like a mini stack!
What an improvement! Great job :) Thanks for making these videos, I really enjoy them.
Awesome job Brad! I loved your attitude going into this. For what it's worth, I think it sound pretty good at the end. My first amp ever was a 15 watt solid state Fender amp with an 8" speaker. Since then, I've pretty much always preferred amps with 12" speakers and I suspect that this amp would sound pretty good through an open back cab with a low wattage, vintage voiced 12" speaker (or a pair of them). I'll check out the follow up video too.
That's what I was thinking also. The speaker is definitely the worst part of the combo in its original state.
My first amp was a similarly cheap tube amp combo with a cheap 10" and as soon as I hooked it up to a quality 12" speaker I stopped being as concerned about getting a new amp. It was a whole new world of tones.
New to your channel, love this content! Keep it up dude, this is a niche video type, but it certainly has an audience.
Thanks, man. I need the encouragement! :D
I used to have the head version of this, and I ran it through a Marshall 1960B 4x12 with 4 75 watt celestion GTs, it sounded amazing when you cranked it all the way. I don't know anything about messing with circuits like this, but i really want to learn. Love your videos. It seems like a super-valuable and handy skill to be able to modify electronic circuits instead of having to be at the mercy of manufacturers like the general public. Thanks for making these videos. It was super interesting to see how the tone shifted based on the capacitor and resistor changes you made. I'm learning a lot...
32:00 The 220k is for discharging the capacitors when the amp is turned off to prevent shock, and the .1 was a bipass cap.
You are correct on the resistor. I'm going to make another video testing discharge times with and without it in place. But the cap... It's on the power side of the plate resistor. I see there's an RC network set up by the plate resistor and that cap, but the fact that it's in parallel with a much large power cap makes it seem a bit pointless. Usually when you see those, you see an extra dropping resistor separating it from the larger power cap on the rail.
Here's the follow-up video: ruclips.net/video/xMpWcFX4wAg/видео.html
the small cap is there for bypassing HF
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@@TheGuitologist ii t U75d%tfs
absoloutly go to the eminence factory please!!! love watching what you do.
I would also like to see a scrapper amp build or builds using parts from various common "junk" equipment. instead of converting, rather using salvaged parts to create something completely different.
I have so much crap on my graveyard pile, it'll happen. Stick around.
Yes Eminence factory tour Please
I think it could be hilarious if you toured the plant and told them all about how the factory in China, you know the real one, does things. You could just make up a bunch of crap about them, what are they going to do after all? Just think of all the cost saving advice you could offer, lol.
Eminence factory tour please!
@@TheGuitologist cool I hope you find the time.
I've gone through most of your videos once and am going back over many for a second and even 3rd time or more, al a fantastic bandmaster to JTM conversion. Just ignore the occasional A hole and keep doing this. We love you dood...
I know this is older but this just popped up in my suggestions. Super cool man
Great job! I was wondering what you think about the Monotone Stage Right 5-watt amp?
You are a mad genius!!!! I wish you could get your hands on my Epiphomne Blues custom 30! I bet you could work magic on it. Great video!
Great channel ! Especially the dumpster finds. More bass gear please. I don't understand the the electronics but I know what my ear tells me. The little Epiphany amp sounded awesome after your mods. Cudos
Any modification so that the amplifier distorts without the need to turn up the whole volume? Could another knob be set to adjust the distortion?
Subscribed! Very relaxing and info-loaded videos
Welcome aboard!
Re. speakers for these, I put a 'Celestion Eight 15' in mine, which is a good improvement over stock.
Brad, with me being a guitarist/amateur guitar tech the stuff you do with amps is firmly in the realm of 'give it to someone else to fix', for me. But fascinating to watch and strangely addictive. Thanks for posting, keep it up.
Me too, but on a $100 amp, may be worth the risk. Fun to try
Hi Guitologist, question on that Zobel Network: Where did you exactly solder it in?
The high value resistor that was removed from the power supply (where it was in parallel with the caps) was a safety feature, meant to drain charge off of the caps after the amp is turned off.
Great video, as usual! A video like this about the epi blues custom 30 could be also very interesting.
Wow! I just started watching your vid on an amp mod,then I hear you demonstrating its tone prior to mod.your guitar skills are top shelf;the speed and fluidity you possess floored me,especially when I saw you only run with three fingers.Bravo!Keep it coming,please.
Thanks for the compliments. I appreciate that.
J
the j
What is the expected life expectancy of that 6BQ5 with the plate voltage up by 10%. The very first guitar amp I ever built used a 12AX7 and a 6BQ5. I used a couple of 6x9 car speakers. Tubes and old speakers seem to be a pretty good combination. Nice video. Thanks.
Interesting video, thanks. I see I am a bit late to the "It's a bleeder resistor" train from the earlier comments! I wondered if you siliconed those components down afterwards? I'd be worried about that ceramic 5w plate resistor shaking loose and damaging the tracks on the board. Thanks again.
5:00 I'd love to see you do a tour of the Eminence factory, while we still have a couple things being built in the US
R11 is a bleed resistor for those BFC's in the power supply. C11 is a high frequency filter cap to reduce noise going into the preamp stage.
Great job on making this amp sound amazing! How much would you charge for doing this service on an unmolested valve jr?
I was so glad to hear those two magical words: SPEAKER 🔊 REPLACEMENT.
Isn' the R1 input resistor typically directly on the input jack before the 68k resistor? Seems weird to me that it is second in line.
The order of those doesn't make much difference. The tube will respond similarly in either case.
Nice Improvement ....love the neck pickup sound especially
Is there a formula or a "trick" to making the amp sound totally flat: say you had it hooked up to a microphone and you wanted the sound to be as accurate as possible. Is that similar to what the factory does or is the factory more concerned with making the values all the same so the parts cost is less? I want to design an amp like this that is a hifi as I can get while still having that slight overtone /warm tube sound. since amps are so simple I want to hand select all the parts so I can have a macintosh sound without the price.
Very enjoyable thank you from the UK and subscribed
Nice video! Good to see all the process. A Eminence factory tour would be cool. Did you change those 12ax7 bypass caps from electrolytic to regular caps? And why?
You only need electrolytics in that position for higher values. Polarization isn't necessary there.
love watching your vids...even though i dont know what your talking about. maybe im learning subconsciously?
Osmosis is a good way to learn. But don't always take my word for it. As others pointed out in the comments, I don't always know what I'm talking about either. Brain farted on the power supply on this one.
yup.
STEVE LEITNER check out Uncle Doug's channel for some excellent basic tutorials.
Love me some Uncle Doug & Rusty.
STEVE LEITNER you read my mind. :)
The 22uF/220R/22uF circuit is a CRC filter to reduce hum cheaply, instead of using a choke. You could use 47uF/100R/47uF for better filtering and less sag. The 220k resistor is a SAFETY MEASURE, it's used to discharge the B+ caps, PLEASE put it back!!!
Absolutely, there is nothing to discharge those capacitors without that resistor aside from the very low leakage current. If you think it's going to affect tone, you can put in a bigger one so the caps discharge more slowly, but don't take it out.
Thanks for the comment! You are correct. My brain was farting out at 3AM again, got tunnel vision visualizing a typical Champ power supply. Vintage amps don't typically have drain resistors. The conduction of the tubes as the amp powers down usually takes care of smaller value caps like this, no problem. In fact, I should make another short video of the cap discharge rate with and without the resistor in place. Should be informative. My hunch is, it's a measure designed to clear regulations rather than actually discharge these caps, but I could be wrong.
If something happens to the tubes, like, the filament opens, or some other damage that stops them from conducting current, or you test the circuit without the tubes in, there's always a risk of shock right after turning everything off. The resistor is a very simple and effective safety measure to greatly reduce that risk of shock, and it only uses a few miliwatts off the B+.
Always better to have a resistor discharge a capacitor rather than yourself doing that job.
Here's the follow-up video: ruclips.net/video/xMpWcFX4wAg/видео.html
Just ask Brad, my email signature is "Discharge the caps? Oh......I think I just did."
I know this is unrelated to this video but I'd like to get your take on building a plate reverb. How would you return it to the board?
Haven't heard a valve junior for about a decade !! Used to own one. Nice video !
Your work's inspiring. I'm really enjoying learning tube theory, definitely something that was not covered in my electrical engineering classes, even in the late 90's.
Thanks for watching!
Sounds great! A buddy of mine totally redid my Junior 10 years ago, hand wired on a new board...and it sounds very Vox-y. I run mine through a 1x12 loaded with an EV speaker. It just kills. Great vid, as usual!
So can you NOT use that 32 ohm speaker? Or is it just not suitable? Can't you push uphill? just not downhill? Sorry I'm new at this.
I just got into your channel and love it. I just bought the Epiphone Valve Jr Head it came with a Sunn Tranducer 1216G speaker versus the Eminance stock speaker should I be concerned or is that an upgrade. I think that amp has been modified it certainly has been opened.
Cool video 👍 I like your laid back attitude
Thanks, man. I like that you like my laid back attitude. :P
My brother modded one of the Valve Junior Amp heads, then he built a speaker cabinet to go with it. That setup sounds amazing !
Excellent approach to testing different values. I’m on the hunt for one to add a tube and the Vox Top Boost eq stage.
Did you discharge the filter caps everytime you worked on it? I wanna try out modding my valve jr like this but I don't wanna get chocked. I already understand how a tube amp works and how changing different parts changes different aspects of the tone from watching Uncle Doug's videos, but I really don't know about discharging filter caps on a pcb amp.
Great videos, thank you for sharing.
How about a video on you repairing your capacitor box?
Another pedal slayer! Well done Brad, I cancelled cable tv, your my favorite show! Good playing also.
Digital cable is free now (for the price of an antenna), but I still would rather watch this!
*you're
nice bro..diggin your vids..got one of those Lil Dudes, loved it as is...but dayyyyum...You near Lex Ky?
I had this amp when it was new. Owned it for a looong time as my only amp, with just some pedals. Remember saving cash for this to replace my first amp which was a little 15 watt ss crate. Thanks for posting this video! Now I wish I've still had this thing.
Hey dude! I live in Bowling Green, KY. I play at Cafe Coco a lot. I love your vids! Thoughts on the Peavey Windsor? I use it myself and love it, but I'd love to see you take one apart. Thanks!;).
Glenn fricker of spectre sound studios raves about those as a cheap tube amp for metal.
The tour idea sounds good. Enjoyed the vid. Nice little amp.
I'm calling Eminence next week to see if they'll be cool with a tour.
Hello sir. I love your channel. I have a Valve Standard that I picked up minus tubes and speaker and I am to attempt breathing life back into it. I bought some tube covers that I figured I could use the bases that came with them and mount them in the little ear cutouts in the tube holes of the chassis but then I saw that what it needs is a different kind that your video showed! Thank you. What is that kind called called? Do other companies besides Epiphone use them?
I used to have the mini stack. It was all ply and looked great. It was a bit quiet and a bit dark (I used to use it with a homemade rangemaster). I had to source and fit a replacement output transformer after it died mid practice. I liked how it had a 'proper' pot after the nightmare blues junior pots.
I now have a Laney cub10, it's just beautiful sounding, and LOUD!
I'm shocked at how good that little thing ended up sounding!
Hey Brad did you check that 12AX7? Ive had a huge problem with those very same Jj 12AX7's Sounding Brittle and almost bassy on the back end of the note. Very weird tone. ive sent about 10 back to Tube Depot over that last 2 years or so. Sounds Much better!!
Brad have you had any dealings with the epi blues 30 custom?
Sooo, how can you know if you're buying American or PRC Eminence speakers when you're buying online and haven't seen pix?
If anyone is wondering about the purpose of some of the removed components. The resistor to ground in the power supply was there to slowly discharge the high voltage after the amp is turned off, it is a safety feature. The small capacitor in the power supply that is in parallel with a much larger one is there to handle high frequency ripple since the large cap has a high inductance. I would have left those two parts in place.
I can't imagine seeing a resistor in an amp that has seen enough current to scorch it and think "I'll just remove it and add a jumper. That will be fine." 🤣
why did you short the resistor and not replaced with a choke insetead?
I have the head version of this amp and at around the 24 minute mark is the noise I'm getting from my amp. The previous owner had done a heck of a lot of the well known mods and I'm wondering if the Orange Drop caps he put in there have gone closed circuit in the preamp stage?
If you want to upload some gut shots to a Photobucket account and start a help thread here, I'm ok with that.
You initially tested the amp at full volume. were all subsequent sound tests with the amp at max volume as well?
Yes, all cranked.
i bought one today at a flea market and mine had a 4 ohm / 8ohm toggle switch... what does that mean
I understand There are two taps off the output transformer of the version 1. Standard is 4 ohm. I believe an early mod is to fit a switch to select between 4ohm internal speaker and a more common 8ohm in an external cab.i just fitted a Celestion 4ohm 8-15 In mine. Sounds a bit better than the unbranded stock speaker. Mine is a Grainger version badged up for sound control shops Here In the UK. £36 for the amp on eBay!!. Also sounds ok through my 12 inch 8ohm cab. But not sure if should do that.
there are quite a few ready made mod kits for these amps, with what you did, could it be set up as a mod kit? Ive been looking for one of these to mod for the end table by the couch. No luck yet, but what you did sounds damn good! Only thing missing is a reverb.
I always get a kick out it when you take a bunch of parts out, and it not only still works, but works better than before. It's like what were the designers thinking? Just throw in a bunch of extra parts to make it look more difficult???? lol
Would have liked to hear it into a bigger cab, 15" single, maybe a 4×12.
I use this amp with Marshall 1936 2x12 cab. Its killer amp, dont know why people frown about it.
Brad, what brand tubes do you generally use?
JJs and Sovteks mainly. Some people will report problems with JJ but I buy them from Antique Electronic Supply. They do a good job sorting good ones out.
A 10 inch speaker would solve the fizzy tone I think. Great job for only a few parts. Your idea about a small Pico cap to ground or screen to plate works. I did this on an Orange Dark terror. Even across the plate resistors which I dont normally like to do, add a 100pf or 200pf there and trim off those fizzy overtones.
What happens if I plug a 16ohm and an 8ohm speakers at the same time?
Better audio quality in sound examples will be an asset to your (great) uploads in the future.
At the end, when you started the amp test with some feedback, I reached for my lighter and held it high.
I once had a Harley Benton 'clone' of this, the GA-5. That was cute and did have an extra knob on it.
I like the GA-5 a lot, sounds great with my Squier Tele
Jack Orman schematic!!! Theres a name I recognise. I'm using some of his tone control info for a preamp for a solid state acoustic chipamp amp I'm building?? Keen to try out ur mods. I own a little head only version, that been in storage for years..took pedals well and made a racket in a band room..good as a backup on occasion. It did sound better than the combo version when run through a 4x12 cabinet..from memory. will have to dig mine out and have a play around.
Modified versions of this amplifier can sound fantastic, the modifications to the power supply though in particular are random and ill conceived. You bypassed a resistor that is a section of an RC filter, you also removed a bleed resistor not even knowing why it was there. The 0.1uF capacitor across the 22uF is a common approach to mitigate self resonance that aluminium electrolytics are known for, it is not a great engineering solution. Randomly removing the capacitor likely had no effect at all.
😂😂him so smart 🥹😱
I suspect the fizzy sound is coming from the small output transformer + core saturation. Did you try putting something like a low E 80hz sine wave in and see if it looks noticeably more distorted at the secondary than the primary? The nice thing about these amps with no negative feedback between multiple stages, is that you can test each stage independently. Another option would be to try C2 to be 0.01uF or less with a speaker and cab that has a bass bump, so the output transformer does not need to deal with the low end as much.
Craigslist’s in America, gumtree in Europe, love your videos man, thank you
It has a very vintage look to it . I like its exterior . I know of a Gibson hollow body acoustic from 39-50 ?? . It looks like pete townshend started to do his thing but only gave it one good whack . Asking price is up to me ,but I have no clue what to ask . It has alot of chrome but no case . Its busted up but not that bad .Is it worth anything ? Made in USA !
so did you just turn it into a fender champ?
I like your playing... mad skills bro!
I'm curious about the zobel network as far as it's intended result. They are normally used in a system with a crossover to stabilize the impedence so the crossover work's correctly. It's mostly understood that with a full range speaker and no crossover it has no effect. At least that's my understanding. Just wondering what your thoughts were.
This is an idea I stole off Hammond. I did some AO-35 conversions and found this network fascinating. Found out Dr. Z swiped the idea too. It definitely has an effect, depending on the values used, it can be more or less pronounced. I see it as a sort of alternative to NFB to smooth spikes at the OT and smooth the tone without really affecting overdrive.
when you said "how bout that for tone?" i spit out my gatorade hahaa
Just wanted to say that I successfully installed an Eminence 1028k speaker in one of these. some dremeling and new speaker baffle was made with the original grill cloth stapled onto it, but it totally worked.
in conjunction I made all of the resistor changes in this vid, opted for Mojotone Dijon capacitors of same stock value. They really tame a lot of the brittleness inherit in this amp. 150pf ceramic 'bright cap' on the left and center lug of the volume control to "open it up" a little bit at lower volumes.
It's so perfect as is now, I'm afraid to modify it any further.
Oh boy what an improvement. I have an old 5w Epiphone Valve Junior Plus. It's basically the same amp but with a 3 band EQ and a standby switch. I should pull it out and have a look inside.
That tone at the end of the video is absolutely killer.
Another small note, the 220 ohm in the power supply isn't to drop voltage as much as with the cap before and the cap after is for filtering.
You are right. It's part of the filtering network. I only mentioned the voltage drop because I'd already decided to eliminate it and figured it wouldn't affect the voltage at the OT node much at all.
Was dyin to hear that amp variac'd down to see if the EVH sound was approachable.
You can't be so obsessed with gear to the point where you don't even know what purpose it serves. A variac would suffocate this amp from the already low 270-290v at mains, which is basicallly the minimum an EL84 function.
This is far and away from being anything that resembles a Marshall JMP.
He had the right approach in refining the circuit which really wasn't designed to shape the tone in any meaningful way.
I just bought this amp and have never made any mods perviously. It came with the head and the cabinet and I am considering modding it. I love the sound of this guy how much did it cost to Mod it? Do you think it is to much for a beginner?
Which tube amp design would you use for an onboard delay?
30:08 why would you not use the 16ohm speaker?, point
In Canada we have Kijiji. I had a valve junior and it helped me realize that I like Amps that compress and a class a amp is not for everyone.
Big fan of your channel here. I just got me a blues Jr for $40 dollars after watching your video, and I am going to do these mods.
I’ve been watching your videos for a long time and I think you’re brilliant lol would love to know the basics. Could you recommend a book or anything to get me started?
I have book recommendations in the descriptions of my videos.
The Guitologist I should really start reading the descriptions lol Cheers 👍🏻
Hello from Washington State.....and thank you for the video. I was forced to open my Epi valve Jr. (head) as I left it on overnight to a failed condition. And...now need a schematic....found by your hand to what I now study for repair end goal.
I use the unit as source by fender frontman to Fender Cab. And, I really like the warm tone. Just a bit of hum...but I find the crunch input is remarkable at higher volumes and what I enjoy from a Jackson set of pickups.
And, at unit open, first test run...did not find the failure. So I am studying the
values to continuing test and intended replacement. With no hurry, routine
repair (and or replacement).
I might be that person looking over you shoulder....and liking the clear presentation of mods...best avenue to improved performance as I am working to repair+ end damaged finding. I like the absolute best value as job process and reliable use.
This vid was awesome!
I have the separate amp version of the VJ, and since I don't know anything about electronics, I modded mine by connecting it to a 2x12 speaker cabinet. That made it sound quite good.
Don't ask what the speakers are. I've had that cab for quite a while.
Whats the normal voltage for the EL84 "GrooveTube" cause I have one and it exploded at 250V
Exploded? Literally?
Yes, the supply was 250V and to the specs that's well within B+ range. Fired up the amp, fed in a signal and one of the 2 EL84's Flashed over, then the glass package shattered. right after it direct shorted the power supply and I got the nice remnant of capacitor all over me as the main B+ electrolytic exploded too
Hey Brad, is this the kind of amplifier you would recommend to someone like me, who wants to start fooling with amplifier repairs? I am looking for something with a simple circuit. Something that I can start to learn on, ya know?
There are worse choices. Ideally, you'd want something point to point with PCB at all so you can modify and experiment without worrying about stressing pads on PBCs.
@@TheGuitologist Yeah, that's what I'm kinda looking for. I'm no dummy with a soldering iron, and I have fixed all kinds of electronics before. I'm just wanting a decent "starter amp" So that I can learn on the basics.
I actually have a pretty old tube radio that is currently not working. Maybe I'll use it! I have not opened it up yet but, it's certainly old enough to be all point to point. Well, shit! My starter amp maybe sitting right in front of me already!