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You could definitely use the cab, but I don't know about using the radio itself... I've been looking for a good Fender Champ-type DIY kit to put into a vintage radio cabinet, in fact...
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6120 Reverend Horton Heat, 6134 White Penguin, DRRI
"My guitars are a lot like my cameras: amazing objects capable of so much more than I'm able to do with them and they make me look better than I really am."
I hope I don't create a problem or offend this forum but I would suggest posting on the guitar-electronics-forum - the most stunning array of experts who are amazingly knowledgeable and generous with their advice. I couldn't have gotten started amp building without that site. Not a knock on this forum, I really like it here. But if you look at their various amp building and modification sites you will be blown away by the depth of the resources. You will also get expert help if you get into trouble building an amp.
I hope I don't create a problem or offend this forum but I would suggest posting on the guitar-electronics-forum - the most stunning array of experts who are amazingly knowledgeable and generous with their advice. I couldn't have gotten started amp building without that site. Not a knock on this forum, I really like it here. But if you look at their various amp building and modification sites you will be blown away by the depth of the resources. You will also get expert help if you get into trouble building an amp.
I agree about the guitar electronics forum, but when it comes to amplifier knowledge, I would recommend this forum instead:
The folks over there are absolute amplifier fanatics.
The amp section of the radio can easily be converted. Your biggest issue will be disabling the tuning section from within the circuit and replacing it with an open instrument input of suitable impedance. Not impossible, just a little tricky if you are not familiar with the circuit design.
The folks over there are absolute amplifier fanatics.
The amp section of the radio can easily be converted. Your biggest issue will be disabling the tuning section from within the circuit and replacing it with an open instrument input of suitable impedance. Not impossible, just a little tricky if you are not familiar with the circuit design.
That site is actually what I meant - I misnamed it. The music electronics forum is THE place. Its where I got a tone of really sound advice - no conjecture and no advice from people who did not really know what they were talking about!
You could definitely use the cab, but I don't know about using the radio itself... I've been looking for a good Fender Champ-type DIY kit to put into a vintage radio cabinet, in fact...
Good advice. I think you get the best of both worlds: keep the cabinet and retrofit in another cheap guitar amp like a Blackheart or one of the new Fender pawn shop amps. That way the circuit will be EQ'd properly and have the proper impedance for guitar.
If it is a project to learn about circuits then yes the music-electronics-forum is the place to go but keep in mind a tube amp is not a great place to be poking around for the first time. Power supply caps found in tube amps are lethal if they discharge through your body (ie. if you touch them).
Here are some combos or heads you could potentially shoehorn into the cabinet:
just wire up a big fat resistor between two alligator clips and you can discharge the filter caps within about 25 seconds - always clipping the ground end first so that you don't accidentally group it to yourself (Ouch). But start at the music electronics forum and you quickly learn whether the idea is doable or worth doing. My instinct is that a radio circuit and tubes functions very differently from an amp and toward a very different end sound. Keep us posted about what you learn. And one other piece of advice I got from Bruce at Mission Amps was when poking around keep your left hand in your back pocket.
YES YOU CAN MAKE A AMP OUT OF THAT! I have seen it done and been thinking about a similar project....All the specifics I don't know but it is possible.
Should be able to do it though. I remember as a kid we had an old radio with record player and it actually had a jack where i could plug my guitar in and it made a good amp. Then again i am really old! Good luck and be safe.
Somewhere or other, I saw a rundown plus video of someone doing just this. I have an old radio that I had the same thought about. It was quickly evident that turning a radio into a guitar amp is not easy or quick. I'll try to find the link again for you. But my conclusion was exactly as above--new amp, old radio cab!
The input stage is amplifying the antena and the resonance circuit. Put it this way, the antena is the "guitar" and your guitar needs to see a 1 meg input. I did that with an old tube tape recorder modifying the input at the tape head. It sounded horrible, was fun to experiment, I learned alot but was a lot of work. Remember, it's a radio and is not going to sound like a classic Orange amp or something.
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Ya know..... the fat, warm stuff with the "kerrangy" high end.
Guy in Australia does it. Buys lovely old radiograms (as they were called here) and turns them into beautiful sounding guitar amps for home use. He refurbishes the outside and turns the guts into a tube amp with a BIG speaker. They look like an antique piece of furniture, and make your guitar sound terrific.
Guy in Australia does it. Buys lovely old radiograms (as they were called here) and turns them into beautiful sounding guitar amps for home use. He refurbishes the outside and turns the guts into a tube amp with a BIG speaker. They look like an antique piece of furniture, and make your guitar sound terrific.
And they are in high demand, so I'm told.
You thinking of Valve Child here in Vic Fletch?
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" Enjoy every Sandwich " Warren Zevon
many of us in the early days used valve radios and record players as first guitar amps. I used a valve stereogram my parents had. Can't remember exactly what I did, but I do remember the sound was awful
Go for it! That would make the coolest looking amp and have a great story behind it. If you do it, please post your progress. I'd love to see it evolve.
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"Dogs know everything. Maybe not math, but that’s okay."
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A friend has an old rca transformed... The sound is wonderful, but typically vintage, probably depend on caps values and types of tubes! But, yes, it works and well!!
Turn tubes radio amp into guitar amp?
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