Isn't the P1 Extreme a kit? have you looked at the Epi Valve Junior? I think it would be worth trying to build here, the design is pretty simple, and the results are satisfying, not to mention the modding capabilities. I'm interested in a 5-10 watt, Class A tube amp, for home use and recording. The trouble is that my budget is limited to say abt 6-7k. I know how to solder, but I can't be bothered with designing from scratch.
The P1-eX is indeed available as a kit but importing it can set you back quite a bit. This is also very moddable and sounds amazing with a single EL34 (think Crystal planet sound), plus at 12 watts its LOUD enough for say a Hard Rock Cafe type gig. The Epi Jr is another smashhit and can definitely be built within your budget. In fact that's a worthwhile project for those who don't know what to do with their Stranger cube 10/20s
How can I mod my Cube 20 to an epi Junior? I mean where do I get schematics? And then if I replace the speakers with 8 inch celestions(from music123.com) will it sound good?
Yeah, then it would be a valve jr and not a stranger i think there were schematics in my zipped file.Check it
Good Wood and Good Speakers can cost a bomb. Ordinary cabs are available ready made from these PA guys. There's no reason why you couldn't just build a Combo into one of those, although I really don't like that ply they use. Near where I live now they have these antique furniture shops from where you can pick up an old bed fairly cheap and make a couple of heads. At least that would be my angle on it. Those woods are hard and seasoned, some even look great
Can i get a good cab for like 5-6k? I dont need one now. My laney is powerful enough. But in the future i might. And im not gonna spend like 10s of thousands on Marshall cabs
I think 12 watts is too loud for my purposes. I want to be able to push it hard, and not be kicked out of the house. 5-8 watts will be enough. I can use a 4 X 12 for gigs, besides, most gigs here worth playing will be mic'ed. At the moment I can't spare too much time to build, and I'm trying to source the Epi Jr from UK, if it doesn't work out, i'll look into building it.
You reuse the cab and chassis and throw out everything else, or ship me your cube and I'll ship you back a Jr . I'd rout the speakers plate for a 10" or simply just leave it and hook the amp in parallel to a bigger speaker cab. That's the beauty of tubes. You can power a 4x12 with a Jr Ha! try that with a 5W SS
5W Hi-Octane Paisa wasool I actually have a transformer set lying around so If anyone wants a 5W Hi-Octane, Class A let me know, 7k
Speakers come in 4, 8 16 (or rarely) 32 ohm impedences. It matters in a cab beauce combining say two 8ohm spkrs in series gives you 16 and in parallel 4ohms effective impedence which needs to be matched to the power tubes impedence. In a tube amp this done through a transformer with 4,8 and 16 ohm outputs practically, if i'm connecting one speaker I plug into the 8 jack, both in series into 16 and both in parallel into 4. geeez, hope that makes sense
A decent speaker might cost more You can always use another head with your Laney's speaker if you want. If its a direct wire connecting amp to speaker you could cut it and make a jack connection