Solid State Guitar Amp Forum | DIY Guitar Amplifiers

It seems to be all about pedals this year, and here is more of the same...sort of.

Chaos Audio Stratus is running a Kickstarter for their new pedal that they claim will be the last guitar pedal you will ever need.  Controlled by your smart phone, this pedal is all digital and only has one physical knob.  A winner?  I doubt it, but interesting none the less.

Next we have the TC Electronic Zeus Drive.  In their now-familiar stompbox size, they are offering for $60 USD a great little "Klon style" overdrive.  I think I may need to play with this one in person!

https://www.gearnews.com/chaos-audio-stratus-the-last-guitar-pedal-youll-ever-need/

https://www.gearnews.com/tc-electronic-zeus-drive-launches-with-2000-units-on-offer-using-germanium-diodes/

I've had a few people ask about these so I figured I would share them.  Attached are the manuals (with schematics) for the LM1875 and LM3886 kits BrianGT sold at Chipamp.com for a long time.

Thanks for purchasing your Honey Amp!  Time to put it together and start making music!

None of the parts in your kit will be labeled to match component numbers in the schematic.  IE, a capacitor won't be labeled "C1."  This means that you need to know how to read component values.  Luckily, this isn't difficult and there are a lot of resources to help you along the way.

AMZ's Capacitor Calculator: http://www.muzique.com/schem/caps.htm
Capacitors have varying types of labels on them.  Electrolytic capacitors (they look like tiny soda cans) are usually labeled with plain text that will tell you the size and maximum voltage of the capacitor (10uF / 63v etc).  Pretty much all other capacitors use a code.  To break this down, use the link above.

Resistor Calculator: https://www.resistor-calculator.com/
Resistors don't typically have values printed in numbers on them.  Instead, resistors use color bands.
 Thankfully there are charts, graphs, and calculators online available to help you decode this color band system - I like this one for it's simplicity.  It's easy to use, and it makes it easy to start learning how the color codes work so they make sense.

The rest should be pretty straight forward by following the silk screening on the PCB.  IE - it shows the direction to put the IC in, same with transistor and even diodes.

Now that you have identified your components, it's time to start soldering.

Always start with the shortest objects first.  When I say this, I mean the components that are the closest to the board.  In the case of the Honey Amp, it works well to start with the 1n4148 diode and resistors.  Put them in place, bend the leads slightly and then turn the board over.  Solder them on and then clip the remaining lead.  Continue on until you have installed the tallest component.  Now you are ready for off-board wiring.

Q: Why was the SSG-AMP-1 kit eventually called the "Honey Amp"?
A: My first build using the printed PCBs went into a tea tin.  The second one went into a Honeywell HVAC control box.  I trimmed the "we" in Honeywell and it made "Honeywell" (Honey II).  This means the first one was the Honey and I decided to go with the name.

Q: Where can I purchase a Honey Amp kit?
A: Currently these are not for sale.  The kickstarter has finished and I am mid-process shipping the kits out from that.  Once this is completed, I will be adding a store section to SSGuitar.com where you can purchase a kit then.

Q: How much power can I expect this to make?
A: The power output is dependent primarily on impedance of the speaker the amplifier is connected to as well as the supply voltage applied to the board.  Obviously there also needs to be sufficient input signal strength.  Maximum power for this board is 1.6w on a 16 ohm load using 16v supply voltage.  Using an 8 ohm speaker the maximum power output is going to be 0.85w powered by a 12v supply.  And lowest power comes from a 4 ohm speaker on a 9v supply coming in at only 0.35w.

Q: Can I use this for electric bass?
A: You sure can!  If using this for electric bass, you will want to adjust the output capacitor from the stock 470uF to somewhere around 2,000uF.  You will also probably want to make some changes to the tone stack (adjusted to taste).  Please remember that using a proper electric bass speaker will really be necessary to make this sound decent.

Q: Can I play music through this (mp3 player, cell phone etc)?
A: No problem!  I do this regularly with mine, it works great to drive some speakers for my desk when I want to listen to music on my laptop.  Use the aux input on the board and crank up some tunes!

Q: What about power supply?  What should I use?
A: Most little amps like this end up being powered by batteries, but any stable DC voltage supply ranging from 6v to 18v will work depending on what impedance you have hooked to it.  Recommended max voltage for 4 ohm will be 9v, max for 8 ohm is 14v, max for 16 ohm is 16v.

Q: Can I get clean tones from this amp?
A: While this amp does best for crunchy tones, it does have some tasty clean sounds as well - just at lower volumes.  To get this dialed in, start with gain all the way down and volume at half.  Turn your volume up to the desired level (it may well be maxed out and that is okay).  Then slowly turn the gain knob up until it starts to get a little distortion, back it down just below that point and that is the loudest clean setting you can get.

Hughes and Kettner have released the AmpMan Classic pedalboard amps.  50 watts of on-board power, 2 channels, and multiple controls but limited tone.  It has sagging, presence, and resonance, but only a "tone" control for both channels.  While I'm sure it sounds great, it is starting at almost $500 USD.  Full of mojo?  I sure hope so!

https://guitar.com/news/gear-news/hughes-and-kettner-ampman-pedalboard/

ProCo has released the Lil Rat.  It is supposedly identical electrically to the full-size version.  Not much else to say here, looks cool though! 

Pricing TBD.

https://www.gearnews.com/namm-2021-proco-lil-rat-will-let-you-stomp-on-a-mini-rat/

ST Modular has released it's new line of "Workmates."  They are DIY kits for passive circuits.  They include an Attenuator, EQ, Combiner, Swap, "Clipping Cat," and LPG (low pass gate).  These use SMD componentry and according to ST Modular, they are a very easy circuit to practice your SMD soldering skills.  I think they are really cool, but haven't seen anything on pricing or availability.

https://www.gearnews.com/st-modular-workmates-adorable-passive-0hp-eurorack-tools/