ampmaker

“Here’s a picture of my SE-5a, a.k.a. High Five. The idea behind the name: it’s only five watts, but it’s loud. I run this though a Marshall 1965 cab (4×10”). “The donor cab came from a Marshall MG-100, so I had to make a new frontplate for it. Stickers and letters from an autoshop. Now […]

“Hopefully, I’ve attached some pics of the amp in production and finished. Sounds great! Thanks for your help. Using a 12inch Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. My work collegue, Ken built the cabinet from 18mm ply. Tried a few glues for the tolex and he decided on Evostik Timebond. Goes on as a paste and gives

“Well… I finished the amp, and as promised some photos. More by good luck than anything, the SE-5a was pretty much a plug-in replacement for my Velocette. The only thing I had to do to the SE-5a amp chassis was bring the IEC and fuse holder round the front (which is now the back). One

Rich’s build went well, except for a bad cap. “Great news, we’re there. I’ve just completed that final check and, with the 500pF removed, all is noiseless and the volume range is as expected. I think the amp is actually louder without the tone stack and had a nice sound when I was showing it

With an interesting approach to the 2×12, Marius’ SE-5a is complete. “I would like to share the end result with you. I decided to seal each speaker (Celestion G12M 25W each) and have the option of opening the back of the top speaker, if called for. That way I would have many more options. Now

It may be voiced for typical British overdrive, but there’s no reason why the SE-5a has to look like a British amp. :) Rod chose a more Fendery look and feel for his amp’s finish. He’s covered his Double Six in the same materials to make a double amp stack.

“I thought you might be interested in a couple of photos of my SE-5A in its cabinet. I drew inspiration from some of the designs on your site and also some plans for 18W combos I found. The cabinet control panel slopes back at 30 degrees for ease of use and for reducing the cabinet

A lot of amp builders can’t wait to show off their finished amps to friends and bandmates. Doesn’t always go to plan! “I sold the SE-5a and my cab to a friend as part of his stage setup. He was using a Marshall Class 5…. A/B with a Blues Deluxe. He was certain the Class

This amp is so well finished it really does shame many commercially made amps. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – it’s all about the details. From the ‘7ollis’ logo in the top-left corner to the super neat neat piping. “This shows the matching green, gold and white colour scheme of my

Now here’s a very different approach to building a combo cabinet. “I am just sending an email to say that I finished the amp today. The amp build went like a dream and I found your instructions very clear. “When it came to the enclosure I wanted to get the absolute best sound I could

“Just to let you know I have completed my amp build using a old donor PARK G25R solid state combo that had long since died and lay like Christopher Lee in my loft awaiting resurrection! Initial hum and feedback problems were eventually tracked down to poor cable layout on my part. Input transformer vibration on

Take one SE-5a amp, a G12H, some wood, and voila! Chris: “I made a case using the 1×12 18watt measurements for my amp, but reduced the dimensions to those more suited to a portable practice amp and made it 23x10x18 approx … the finish is rollered woodsheen paint, suggested by someone on the www.18watt.com forum”.

“Just wanted to say that I’m delighted with the end result. Looks and sounds fantastic. Better than I could have possibly imagined.”   Dave has done as good a job on his blog write-up as the amp build itself: “I’ll be posting more thoughts about the build and a review and future mods etc so

Here’s a gorgeous combination: beautifully finished blue tolex SE-5a against a stunning honey-coloured Explorer.

Pine was good enough for Fender’s vintage amps, so it’s good enough for today’s amps. For his SE-5a Andy used low-cost pine shelving from the local B&Q DIY store and made butt-joints with dowels for the corners. The finish is danish oil and he added a small logo printed on Lasertran inkjet paper to the

“Finally finished my amp tonight. It wasn’t the chassis, but all the fiddly bits on the cabinet. Have attached some pics for you. (‘m not a brilliant photographer either!!). Never mind I’ve really enjoyed making it and learnt a hell of a lot so going to enjoy playing it now. Always been a Strat man

“I am absolutely delighted with the finished article and the sound of the amp. Much better than I’d expected and much better sounding than the website clips as I can only play those through my computer speakers! I attach a photo of the finished amp which you may use as you see fit. I am

“Finally completed my Se-5a build and just wanted to let you know it’s working and sounds fantastic! I’m extremely happy with it – to say it’s an improvement on the horrible 5W Blackheart Little Giant amp it replaced is an understatement. That was shrill, brittle sounding – pretty horrible and a massive disappointment (I only

“Here are some pictures of my SE-5a head and speaker cab. Had great fun making it, with your email support. The SE-5a sounds great, very responsive when played hard! Good clean tones. Very loud. Fantastic. “The logo was all hand cut, filed, sanded and spayed by me. Just like the amp was hand-wired and the