How many times have we all looked at a solid state amp that died on us and it wasn’t worth fixing to just have the same tone again?  Or we just got tired of the tone it offered and wanted something with tubes for a change?  Or even a recent production tube amp that gave it up big time and now what do you do with it?  A simple solution that I suggest to customers from time to time is to convert your old amp into something new.   Continue reading →

Everyone would probably agree that a 5F6A tweed Bassman sounds incredible when you get to crank it up, but how often is that for most of us?  I’d like to think that an amp should be a complimentary part of someone’s tone and not something that the player would have to struggle with, and while they are various ways to quiet the “raging beast” some can be quite expensive or just alter the tone too much to be of value.   Continue reading →

This is another question that comes up quite a bit so let’s take a look at it now.  I like the 6V6s a lot because of their tone which tends to be on the warm side with what I consider to be “smokey” overtones, plus they also have the early break-up which I prefer as well.  There seems to still be a lot of NOS 6V6GT tubes available which are my favorite as they have a smoother tone to them, and while the current production tubes being offered seem to have a bit more gain & edginess to them they also come in as a very solid tube as well.   Continue reading →

Regarding the transformer output ratings, I need to clarify how to interpret them.  I use the manufacturer’s specifications in the description of various builds, but I don’t guarantee that you actually get that output in every instance.  For example, a 6V6GT in a single ended amp like the 5F1 Champster or 5F2A Prince will only have an output of 5.5 watts regardless of the output transformer used.  An 8 or 12 watt transformer will give you more headroom and a bump in volume over a 5 watt unit, but it’ll never exceed the ability of the tube itself.  When you get into the push-pull circuits like the 5E3 D-Lux, then the output of the two 6V6GTs can go up accordingly with some of the larger output transformers but still may not yield the rating of the output transformer.   Continue reading →

I talked with Nathan on the phone a while back and he asked about the TopDawg LunchBox that was listed on the website. So I had to tell him that even though I had planned on it, I hadn’t worked out the details for that build yet but would get to it as my next project. Since that conversation I did follow through on that project.   Continue reading →

Things have been a lot of fun for me since I started building Li’l Dawg Amps, and I do appreciate all of the encouragement that I’ve gotten from everyone over the years as well as the instruction along the way. When Don came up with the idea for a blog I agreed right away as I thought it was a great idea. I’ve found that a lot of questions I answer on a daily basis tend to the same ones, and having a clearinghouse for them like this would be a good source of information as well as a real timesaver for me.  I’d also be able to keep you up to date on new amps as they come along like the new 5F6A TopDawg LunchBox.   Continue reading →

I’ve recently had Jim build me one of his new Wonderdawgs, 12 watts of blackface sweetness. It’s set up in the 1×12 combo with a 50 watt Weber 12F150. (update – now using a Tone Tubby 40 watt Alnico)

The last few Friday’s a drummer friend of mine has been coming by and we’ve been jamming and writing  in my families music studio. He’s got a very subtle touch, real tasty chops and we’ve been goofin’ with some different styles. One Friday things took a kind of old Fleetwood Mac track, and my LP through the Wonderdawg  really hit the Peter Green vibe on the mark. When we were done that day we both were kind of amazed at how great the amp sounded with the LP. The guitar straight into the amp with the amp volume around 4 and I hadn’t noticed that I’d kept my guitar volume around 5 the whole time. One thing I dig allot about Peter Greens old FM work is his subtle style, almost “conversational”, going from calm to excited, highs and lows, like listening to someone tell you a story. I’ve been a Les Paul player since I got my first one in 1973 and as LP players know, it gives a player the ability to be very expressive, but without the right amp, you can only get so far. Continue reading →