Goofy Little 9V Amplifier Project…

I have a Fender Mini Twin MT-10 9V amp that I recently dug out of a box in the basement. Obviously I don’t use it much. It’s the one in a plastic enclosure, and it sounds like… it’s in a plastic enclosure. The battery compartment cover has decided to move on to better things.  My little Smokey Amp kicks its butt where 9V rocking is concerned, and it drives a cabinet if you wanna get really crazy.

I have the boring MT-10 on the right in the incredibly awesome sounding high-quality black plastic enclosure.

If it looks like a duck, and sounds like a cat getting its tail pulled, it must be a... guitar amplifier?

One of the clamps inside that was supposed to hold the speaker busted off of the plastic enclosure anyway, so it was all in there rattling around.

I have been a fan of the stuff that the dude from Artistic Amplification is doing for a while.  The other day I got the brainstorm to turn my Mini-Twin into something like that dude does.  He uses the Ruby circuit from Runoof Groove, but I already have guts to a perfectly good amp.

9V me!

All I need is one of those 9V battery connector things (the amp has a stupid box w/ prongs), a fun shell, maybe some longer wires, a drill, some time and I’m good to go.  Even my level of poor soldering skills should work for this venture.

I was thinking something neat and goofy like a skull model or a Darth Vader helmet would be cool…

These would certainly make badass little novelty amps.

I could possibly route out the eyes of the skull for the Twin Speaker placement.  Was thinking the same with with Darth Vader’s eyes, or even mount them in the mouth-piece.  Somehow I could maybe even work in that control panel…  If the speaker was in the mouth, I could make the eyeballs light up or something even crazier.  I can even use the integrated AC adapter, but I have read online that sometimes they produce an additional unwanted hum.

Then again, I thought trolling an antique store or two for an old box or transistor radio or crazy piece of kitsch would be kind of fun.  I might come across something that hits me as the perfect vessel for the Frankentwin.  (And a wooden box or old leather-covered transistor might sound better than yet another plastic enclosure.)

HELP ME!

I pulled the amp apart with ease… I’m sort of stuck with the knobs.  They’re not coming off with a gentle pull, and while other goofy replacements might be fun, I don’t really want to bust these (or the circuit board inside) yet.  I guess I’m going to have to try to get something thin in behind them to pull them off.

The world of cigar-box guitar & amp building & case-mod type hacks is neat.  There are a ton of mini/travel amps out there, why not make one that’s all mine?  (Check out this coffin-shaped mini amp, this one from a mint container & this cracker-box amp!)

I’m asking you the reader if you have any tips, tricks, advice, suggestions, etc.  Have you done this before?  Have you seen anything similar?  Have you ever had the urge to build your own amp?  Would you buy one if I learned how to make a circuit & started making/selling weird stuff?  (Provided it sounded cool?)

Related articles

• Guitar Insanity – Looking for input from gear heads & guitar geeks. (aixelsyd13.wordpress.com)
• Tom Bingham Vinyl Record Guitar (aixelsyd13.wordpress.com)
• Inspiration from Hoke·E·Geez (My new ‘New York Pro’ Strat copy) (aixelsyd13.wordpress.com)
• Little ones with @littleBits! (adafruit.com)
• Darth Vader on a unicycle, playing Star Wars themes on his bagpipes, because why not? [Video] (io9.com)
• Darth Vader Playing Bagpipes While Wearing A Kilt And Riding A Unicycle Is… Wait. What? (gizmodo.com.au)
• Guitar Danelectro Spring King Reverb (gearslutz.com)
• Holy Paper crafted Darth Vader by Lobulo Design (likeellebelle.wordpress.com)
• NEW PRODUCT: littleBits Starter Kit v0.2 (adafruit.com)
• Line 6 Ships DT25™ Guitar Amplifiers (prweb.com)
• Build the Eyeboard Open Source Eye-Tracking Project (makezine.com)
• TOMORROW’S PRODUCTS are in kit-form today-with Heathkit electronics (Aug, 1974) (modernmechanix.com)
• How to Start Making Your Own Electronics with Arduino and Other People’s Code [Video] (lifehacker.com)
• Sonic Bird Repeller (smoorns.com)
• Guitar Amps Bugera V22 (gearslutz.com)
• Sound and Portability Merge with the Mighty Moe Ampstrap Combo, the Latest Leather Guitar Strap Amp Innovation from Intime Design (prweb.com)
• Can I use these DIP relays to switch speakers? (gearslutz.com)
• Amplifier through Audio Interface (gearslutz.com)
• Conjoined Spherical Amplifiers – Distil Union Gives Philips Speakers a Stylish Modern Look (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
• Amplified badgers, cam-driven gnomes: David Cranmer’s world (news.cnet.com)
• Amplified badgers, cam-driven gnomes: David Cranmer’s world (news.cnet.com)

Advertisements