My first Cigar Box Amp

Posted by Darren Withers on April 21, 2010 at 3:45pm

Hi everyone ive just been recently introduced to the world of cbg / cba ..I play guitar and write my own songs most with a bluesy tone to them. Had a play around on my friends cbg setups and they just felt right. Id like to have a go at building a cba and was looking for tips to get me started.

 

Ive purchased a couple of wooden cigar boxes and discovered this website am i going in the right direction.

                   Thankyou Darren..

 

 

Thanks guys this is some really appreciated advice im getting here...Im like

a dog chasing his own tail not sure which way to go .Decided to dive in head first and and ordered a nice 1 watt amp circuit kit from Maplins.Wish me luck shall keep you all posted.

 

                    Thankyou Darren...   

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Replies

  • Darren Withers April 22, 2010 at 2:52pm
    Thanks phillip decicded to go with a kit form to help me off the ground . Runoffgroove.com gots some interested things going there.

    Philip Daniel said:
    Hi Darren,

    I'd suggest building an LM386 based solid state amp. They have few components and can easily be built. The "famous" smokey amps use the LM386 chip and are dead easy to find and build, they sound great too. You can find a schematic at

    http://www.runoffgroove.com/littlegem.html

    also Beavis Audio has some great information on building little amps and electronics in general.

    What's a schematic I hear you say??? Op amp, resistor, transistor WTF????? In this case I suggest trying to find a kit at your local electronics store. This is what I do in fact as it can often turn out cheaper than buying the components individually and you get a nice printed circuit board. In Australia, Jarcar sells an amp kit for $9 which has all the parts you need to an LM386 amp, I think they even throw in some solder. These kits and also good to modify and experiment with.

    If you are new to electronics talk to your local store or look at some "how to solder" guides online. It's a good skill to have.
  • Darren Withers April 22, 2010 at 2:47pm
    Thank you wesley guitarfuel.com will be getting a lot of use

    wesley carl said:
    the easy way is guitarfuel.com you can buy a complete kit or just the circuit board and add what you want the are the shits and i mean that in a good way
  • Darren Withers April 22, 2010 at 2:45pm
    Thanks jules

    Julian Perry said:
    Yo Darren, if you have a look at member 'Mark aka. Junk Box Instruments' page, in his photos there are some very good pics of some amp internals, which should help you visualise what you want to achieve. I'm sure he wont mind me pointing you his way!
  • Darren Withers April 22, 2010 at 2:43pm
    Thank you mark a 1 watt amp circuit board is on its way to mine

    Mark aka. Junk Box Instruments said:
    Many thanks for the mention. I got into building amps because I met Smojo at the UK CBG festival last year (I think he now producs a small "how to" booklet). Hearing his little LM386 amps inspired me to check out the work of others, notably Beavis Audio (http://www.beavisaudio.com) and runoffgroove.com. Beavis has a lot of general electronics info that could be useful for a beginner while runoffgroove are the best source for circuit designs. I think I now have a pretty reasonable grasp of LM386-based circuits (eg. Smokey/Ruby/Cricket etc) and I'm moving on to other things.

    If you're a relative beginner to electronics building then I'd agree a kit is a good thing to start with. Handily, Maplin do a little LM386 amp kit that is perfect for modifying into a small cigar box amp.

    Here's the web page for it http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=220054

    And here's a link to my page with a slightly modified version of the circuit http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/circuit-diagram-for-simple-amp

    By the way, those boxes in the pic look perfect for CBG building.
  • Darren Withers April 22, 2010 at 2:41pm
    Thank you alan your advice is appreciatedAlan Roberts said:
    Romeo y Julieta makes good boxes. I can't help you with your amp, but I've build a few guitars in my day (and a LOT of just plain weird instruments!)
    All you need is a piece of wood for the neck. Most people use a 3 foot section of 1x2. What kind of instrument did you have in mind? How many strings? How long do want your neck to be?

    Best advice I can give is just to hang for a bit, and look at some the photos people have posted here. There's LOT of photos... If you see one that REALLY calls to you, you can ask the maker specific questions like "what are you using for a resonator?" There's a discussion for first builds, and check out the "Hall of Shame" discussion for ideas about what NOT to do.
  • Mark April 22, 2010 at 8:12am
    Many thanks for the mention. I got into building amps because I met Smojo at the UK CBG festival last year (I think he now producs a small "how to" booklet). Hearing his little LM386 amps inspired me to check out the work of others, notably Beavis Audio (http://www.beavisaudio.com) and runoffgroove.com. Beavis has a lot of general electronics info that could be useful for a beginner while runoffgroove are the best source for circuit designs. I think I now have a pretty reasonable grasp of LM386-based circuits (eg. Smokey/Ruby/Cricket etc) and I'm moving on to other things.

    If you're a relative beginner to electronics building then I'd agree a kit is a good thing to start with. Handily, Maplin do a little LM386 amp kit that is perfect for modifying into a small cigar box amp.

    Here's the web page for it http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=220054

    And here's a link to my page with a slightly modified version of the circuit http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/circuit-diagram-for-simple-amp

    By the way, those boxes in the pic look perfect for CBG building.
  • Julian Perry April 22, 2010 at 5:50am
    Yo Darren, if you have a look at member 'Mark aka. Junk Box Instruments' page, in his photos there are some very good pics of some amp internals, which should help you visualise what you want to achieve. I'm sure he wont mind me pointing you his way!
  • Philip Daniel April 21, 2010 at 6:13pm
    Hi Darren,

    I'd suggest building an LM386 based solid state amp. They have few components and can easily be built. The "famous" smokey amps use the LM386 chip and are dead easy to find and build, they sound great too. You can find a schematic at

    http://www.runoffgroove.com/littlegem.html

    also Beavis Audio has some great information on building little amps and electronics in general.

    What's a schematic I hear you say??? Op amp, resistor, transistor WTF????? In this case I suggest trying to find a kit at your local electronics store. This is what I do in fact as it can often turn out cheaper than buying the components individually and you get a nice printed circuit board. In Australia, Jarcar sells an amp kit for $9 which has all the parts you need to an LM386 amp, I think they even throw in some solder. These kits and also good to modify and experiment with.

    If you are new to electronics talk to your local store or look at some "how to solder" guides online. It's a good skill to have.
  • Alan Roberts April 21, 2010 at 4:34pm
    Romeo y Julieta makes good boxes. I can't help you with your amp, but I've build a few guitars in my day (and a LOT of just plain weird instruments!)
    All you need is a piece of wood for the neck. Most people use a 3 foot section of 1x2. What kind of instrument did you have in mind? How many strings? How long do want your neck to be?

    Best advice I can give is just to hang for a bit, and look at some the photos people have posted here. There's LOT of photos... If you see one that REALLY calls to you, you can ask the maker specific questions like "what are you using for a resonator?" There's a discussion for first builds, and check out the "Hall of Shame" discussion for ideas about what NOT to do.
This reply was deleted.