New member! Weighing the possibility of an Ac15 type build

[Jbassfunk775]

Hey guys, new around here! I’ve been modding tube amps & building pedals (actually just finished the 8th since covid!  ) for at least a couple years now. I own a nice Hakko digital temp station and have most of not all the tools necessary to build an amp.
  However I’ve never built or attempted an entire amplifier on my own. I believe I have the knowledge required to make an amp, to a certain extent at least. And I’d absolutely love to build an amp, be it a pcb Kit or an original concept from scratch. And I’ve been wrestling with the decision to take on an AC style build. Nothing specific just considering the possibility (Although Ceriatone & Trinity come to mind plus Mojotone and others).
   
BUT... I know from experience how the multitude of potential pitfalls & everyday human errors  can lead to serious disappointment and frustration when a project inevitably doesn’t fire up first try.. In fact a project that doesn’t work perfectly right off the bench is something which occurs far more often than not. And remember I’m only referring to pedals and other things with far less personal approach and things like individual choices based on experience and considerations like specific preferences about certain practices. Bottom line I have nothing to reference when assessing the potential for failure..
Sure, I understand tracing a circuit & troubleshooting is as much a part of electronics work as soldering a resistor. But despite helpful people on forums like this I worry I’ll end up very much on my own with many hours used not playing guitar. And a very expensive assortment of parts which do not function. Thoughts???

 **Oh, one last thing I own a handful of vintage & modern Blackface & Plexi amps and I really don’t care for Tweed amps at all. Tweed Champ’s in particular..  Hence the AC type circuit choice. Thanks in advance!

[SILVERGUN]

If you have the ability to perfectly copy this plan, it's the only way I would suggest you attempt an AC-15.
This IS an advanced build and your lack of complete confidence makes me nervous for you.
https://sluckeyamps.com/VAC15/ac15.htm


If you're willing to dump the vibrato channel and do an AC-15 Lite your chances for success are much greater.

[Joel]

Well, you've come to the best forum on the web in my opinion.  The people here tend to be as helpful as they are wise in the ways of tube amps (hey, flattery will get you everywhere!).

You have some experience building electronics stuff.  Good.
You have some wariness about tackling this project.  I think that's a good sign.  The voltages present within a tube amp can be deadly.  Wariness is a good thing.
You expect things to go wrong.  Guess what?  Something will go wrong despite your best efforts.  Being prepared for this to happen is a good thing.  And, you can search this forum or ask questions here, and some of the fine folks will help you out.
I too have spent a lot of time building amps and not practicing the guitar...  But I do enjoy building amps, so it's not really a loss is it?

If you buy a kit from a reputable company, then the chances of being left with a "very expensive assortment of parts which do not function" is very low indeed.

[mcamelo]

I can only speak of my experience, of course. This was mine: I've just built my first amp a couple of weeks ago (a 5e3 and it sounds delicious). It did not work at first and that was disappointing but I was able to track down the mistake and correct it in about 30 minutes (a lead soldered to the wrong turret). My closest prior experience was swapping guitar pickups and speakers (not very close indeed). High-voltage warning notwithstanding, I think that anyone with the required tools, enough time in their hands and the desire to build a guitar amp can succeed at following one of the many set of instructions/kits available online and executing it to completion.

I don't know much about the AC15 and Sluckey did say his AC15 build was his most ambitious, but I think he was referring to designing it almost from scratch. Luckily for the rest of us (and thanks to Sluckey and Doug), we don't have to.

[jordan86]

I was in your shoes just recently. Heavy tinkerer for years on tubes/amps. Most of my soldering experience was with guitars though (pickups, treble bleeds, etc).

I bit the bullet and built a blackface Princeton this past May as my first build. Not a beginner amp. I consider myself fortunate that it worked on the first try.

My best advice I got was measure everything resistor before installing. Go slow and enjoy the PROCESS. Let me emphasize slow, and the need to triple check everything.

My Mojotone instructional was lousy if that matters to you at all. They are good about emailing back but the manual they ship it just caused more questions than answers for me.

My buddy built the Trinity TC15. It sounds great. He said it’s fairly easy too. I’ve also heard their service is stellar. You can find their manual for free too online. Just google Trinity TC15 manual. You’ll find the pdf. I even emailed about doing the TC15 but wanted more clean headroom on the ef86 side, akin to the DR z Stangray. They said they could include the components and instructions for like $20 more. So simple.

If you’ve built pedals you obviously have solder skill and ability to follow a schematic/layout. I think you have great chances of success.