A blue all-in-one amp sits on a workbench. The main front face is taken up with silver grill fabric covering the speaker, and there is a silvery control panel with all the controls at the top.

    The practice practice amp

  • Circuit: Classic tweed style, mixed 5F1/5F2A
  • Speakers: 1 x 10" Celestion Ten 30
  • Rectifier: 1 x 5Y3 valve
  • Pre-amp: 1 x 12AX7 valve
  • Power-amp: 1 x 6v6GT valve

One can’t be properly excited about electric guitars without being excited about amps too. Having played some great sounding tube amps, when it became time to get my own, building one seemed a logical step.

This 5W practice amp was not just practice in terms of letting me practice at home, but it also was a platform for practicing other skills. It was the first wood work design I took from scratch through to manufacture in Autodesk Fusion 360, teaching me the power of parameterised designs and the ability to go straight from design to CAM. It was also the first serious bit of analog electronics since I was at university.

Based on early tweed champ designs, this amp is a great starting point for future amp designs that will deliver the right tone to match the guitars I build.