Solid State Guitar Amp Forum | DIY Guitar Amplifiers

Solid State Amplifiers => Amplifier Discussion => Topic started by: joecool85 on April 24, 2020, 10:49:55 AM

Poll
Question: Should the SSGuitar battery amp have...
Option 1: no extra on-board options votes: 7
Option 2: headphone jack votes: 3
Option 3: aux input jack votes: 0
Option 4: headphone jack and aux input jack votes: 16
Option 5: other (please explain below) votes: 4
Title: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: joecool85 on April 24, 2020, 10:49:55 AM
It's been decided (https://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=4805), we're doing a battery amp!  It's all pretty much nailed down on paper, I'm ordering parts soon to breadboard it in completion.  I have a couple more decisions to make, and I'd like you to help!  Please vote on what we should do for our on-board options!
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: joecool85 on April 24, 2020, 10:56:19 AM
To be clear, this PCB will have spots to mount the gain, tone, and volume potentiometers.  Guitar input and speaker output jacks will be off board.  1/8" jacks work well on-board, so I would consider doing them that way.
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: Oooscar on April 24, 2020, 11:19:09 AM
Looking forward for the schematic...
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: joecool85 on April 24, 2020, 11:21:37 AM
Quote from: Oooscar on April 24, 2020, 11:19:09 AM
Looking forward for the schematic...

Once I get everything verified I will share the schematic so folks can check it out.  Then I will gets the boards printed.  Should be slick!
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: Ymel on April 24, 2020, 11:32:14 AM
other:
I have been searching for (battery) small amp for 2 reasons: practice and small venues.
My requests
- wide range speaker (or plus switchable (!) tweeter)
- onboard effects: reverb, distortion
- built in tuner
- built in drum samples with odd rhythm patterns added!!!!!
- USB
- Bluetooth to add more effects
- microphone input - the tweeter active
- acoustic channel for the guitar - the tweeter active!

So far the best up to now is the NUX Mighty 8 Bt , though lacks of some features above but price/value range is the best recently
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: sowhat on April 24, 2020, 02:29:01 PM
Have not been here lately, so you're making an amp eh? Is it a chip amp or is it a discrete amp where you can do things with stuff like negative feedback. If so there once was an amp called the Redmere which emulated a Fender, a Marshall and a Vox all by clever switchable routes within the amp circuitry itself. That would be cool but it all depends on what your approach is.
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: joecool85 on April 24, 2020, 02:32:36 PM
Quote from: sowhat on April 24, 2020, 02:29:01 PM
Have not been here lately, so you're making an amp eh? Is it a chip amp or is it a discrete amp where you can do things with stuff like negative feedback. If so there once was an amp called the Redmere which emulated a Fender, a Marshall and a Vox all by clever switchable routes within the amp circuitry itself. That would be cool but it all depends on what your approach is.

It's going to be a discrete preamp (MPSA13 circuit) running into a modified BMP tone stack feeding an LM386.  It's quite versatile, fairly inexpensive, and easily mod-able.
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: mckayprod on April 25, 2020, 12:14:36 AM
I like having the headphone out, but I'd like to see some provision for variation of supply voltage.  Maybe two 9v batts for an 18v circuit and more headroom, or two 9v in parallel for more current or longer battery life.  I vote "other".
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: Sfmag1 on April 25, 2020, 11:52:17 AM
I would say for busking outdoors, a 12volt battery to power probably a class d amp. Simple but loud is the way to go. I would have to say use Phil jones briefcase and double four as models. xP
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: g1 on April 25, 2020, 12:24:38 PM
I voted for aux. in & headphone out options.
I figured it would be easy enough to omit those with jumpers if someone doesn't want them (make them optional).
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: LateDev on April 28, 2020, 01:50:21 AM
Headphone and DI out (pre-tone)

Any reason for using the darlington for i/p, why not a FET opamp, which would sound better imho.

The addition of a driven MOSFET output pair with variable bias to get a cross over distortion, rather than the usual clipping types that use diodes.
This would be variable between clean biased correctly and increasing offset bias for the distortion.

Just a thought based on an old design
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: tpb03 on July 24, 2020, 07:21:58 PM
Any update on the progress. I see in the news that the pcbs have arrived   :dbtu:
Title: Re: Official SSGuitar kit, on-board options
Post by: joecool85 on July 27, 2020, 03:20:00 PM
Quote from: tpb03 on July 24, 2020, 07:21:58 PM
Any update on the progress. I see in the news that the pcbs have arrived   :dbtu:

Things got tied up with me being crazy busy at home and work.  It's still progressing, just slowly.  I'm about to get another small run done for a second prototype with a few changes in the tone stack and some new artwork on the board.   :dbtu: