# Has Anyone Built One of the StewMac Amp Kits?



## tomsy49 (Apr 2, 2015)

I was sort of looking for a new project to work on during the winter this year and got an email from StewMac about their amp kits. I checked them out and seems like they are very good quality as far as components and I checked out the instructions and they are about as clear as any instructions could be for a beginner. Has anyone ever got one of these? They are a little on the pricey side (maybe thats the norm for kits), but look like a good option to get into this kind of thing. Are there any other brands or companies offering these that i should look into as well? 

Amp Kits + Parts | stewmac.com


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Are those prices in CDN$ or US$?

Looks like US...

Same as just buying it?

I am a huge fan of Kevin O'Connor's work, and I own my share of it. But I gotta warn ya --

I have a buddy in Winnipeg, very technical dude, teaches HVAC at a community college. He bought all of Kevin's books and a bunch of kits. He found himself in over his head. 

I have had coffee with Kevin a couple of times in Thunder Bay. Good guy who will back you up all the way. He likes phone calls. E-mail OK too. Phone is better. 

Tube Amp Kits & Mods


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

You might want to consider this Canadian kit supplier...

Kits


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Trinity stuff is excellent, and at least 5-6 years ago when I did my TriWatt, support was great. Both email with owner, and on their forums with experienced builders. I was a first timer doing a fairly complex build (though I'd built a zillion pedals), and it all came together nicely, with a couple of small easily fixable hiccups along the way.


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## tomsy49 (Apr 2, 2015)

Thanks for the Trinity suggestion. Those looks fantastic. The instructions look like they are pretty good too. Not quite as pretty as far as explaining in full detail but still look very good too.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

tomsy49 said:


> Thanks for the Trinity suggestion. Those looks fantastic. The instructions look like they are pretty good too. Not quite as pretty as far as explaining in full detail but still look very good too.


I think you can even download the instruction package. It's step by step all the way through, though there were a couple of small mysteries or easily misunderstood wordings that stalled me for only short periods of time. The printed layout comes oversized, and is very nicely done, so you can see where everything goes.

No matter what kit you build, highly recommend a multi meter for reading the resistors unless you can read the stripes. That said, an out of tolerance resistor ended up going in the wrong place in my build (it measured real close to the called for value) and I ended up being short 1, but also had an issue with the stacked pot, so he sent both along in a hurry and there was essentially no real delay in the build.

Here's my build thread, with my old photobucket pics https://guitarscanada.com/index.php?threads/anyone-built-or-running-a-triwatt.52818/page-3


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Go with whatever suits your needs or desire for sound, granted budget might be important too. I’ve done Trinity and now am doing my own 5e3 from all the instructions I used last time. They were good to deal with. London Power I’ve never used and pretty much have never heard of except from this one member here. I don’t think you need to necessarily use a Canadian company, you’ll probably find more variety and competition south of the border, although the exchange rate stinks. I just got the StewMac email today and have yet to check it out but they usually have good stuff.


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## Doug B (Jun 19, 2017)

I think I read that the StewMac amp kits are made by mojotone.com. They've been making amp kits for years.


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