vox escort....first posted in "how did you find ssguitar"

[enigma3]

i wanted to know if it is possible to learn how to make a clone of my vox escort that i've owned from new in 1976.
i own a fender twin (yes the 94 twin) wayyyyyyyyy to loud for home use, and the laney pro-tube is not much better, so i'm putting the little vox through the fender twin's speakers                                                                                           
and i have to admit it sounds bloody great. so i'm looking to learn how to build a clone
i've had a quick look through some of the threads, looks like theres some vox love here lol...thanks for any help. (ps) great looking forum chaps.

[J M Fahey]

Yes, you can basically clone it.
The original power integrated circuit (TBA810) is obsolete and unavailable but no big deal, you can replace it with a current TDA2030, I can give you the new values, and you can build it on perfboard.
A 12V 1A transformer is enough to power it.


this is the battery only version, same as above without the power supply.
In fact you can power it with a surplus 18-20V Notebook supply, go figure.





Nice project for galaxiex ... although he will *insist*  on the original unavailable IC

[tonyharker]

If you feel like trusting China you can get TBA810 from both Ali Express and eBay.

[enigma3]

thank you for your help. i have no idea why i didnt put it though the 12" speakers in the past :loco
anyway it sounds really good, what i'm after is to make a mini amp (like the hotone)but housed in a polished wood box, i wont need the option for battery/mains and i'd prefer to run it on external power. so to make it simple it's the same 2 inputs/vol/tone/line-out/mains-out and a mains switch....

[J M Fahey]

Post a couple pictures of the one you have today.

IF you get a TBA810 then you may clone the original PCB 

You can scan it , import photographic image into a graphics program such as Corel Draw, Autocad  or free open source one (is it inkscape?) and redraw it black on white to get proper artwork without need to install and learn some PCB software.

Or do it the old way which I used for decades: I´d simply tape some semi transparent transparent paper on the solder side, and hand trace it using a drafting pen and China/India/technical drawing  ink.
Then use that to make a PCB , even by hand.

If not you can build same preamp and a TDA2030 power amp (will sound exactly the same) on perfboard, last night I checked and TBA810 was set up to have gain about 50X , easy to do with TDA2030

In fact I liked this project and in a near future might design a PCB for it and make a few.