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How to Make a Solid State 50 Watt Guitar Amplifier

Building a homemade 50 watt solid state guitar amplifier involves knowing a bit about woodworking as well as electronics. The project marries furniture making with electrical wiring and connecting speakers to a sound-amplifying system. Do it correctly, and you just might be able to make an impression of Jimi Hendrix in your garage -- at least for a few seconds. Do it wrong, and you could start a fire. Then again, Hendrix liked to burn his guitar on stage, too.

Things You'll Need

A wood box at least 16 inches x 16 inches in size
Pencil
Power drill
Jigsaw electric saw
Matte black spray paint
Screwdriver
Wood screws
12-inch diameter speaker
Metal screen
Metal chassis box
Power drill
Audio pre-amplifier
Audio output transformer
AC power transformer
Dials and knobs
Rivet gun
Rivets
Electrical wire
Solder gun
Solder
Wire crimper
Power source
Electric guitar and cable

Instructions

- 1
  Find a wooden box that is at least 16 inches high, 16 inches wide and about eight inches deep. Draw a 12-inch circle on one side of the box with a pencil. Drill a hole in the box near the drawn circle. Insert a jigsaw's blade in the hole and cut the circle out of the box. Paint the box with matte black spray paint.
- 2
  Obtain a twelve-inch diameter speaker. Insert it into the box hole. Drill screw holes where the speaker frame meets the wood. Insert wood screws and tighten them with a screwdriver. Check that the speaker is firmly attached to the box.
- 3
  Build another wood rectangular box on top of the first box, this one being at least six inches high and 16 inches in length. Paint it matte black with the spray paint. Place it aside for the moment.
- 4
  Go to an electronics store and purchase a metal rectangle box to be the internal chassis for the electronics. Drill the chassis to create holes in which to attach the transistors and electronics. Attach an audio pre-amplifier with a guitar cable socket, an audio output transformer and an AC power transformer to the chassis. Connect your dials and sockets to the chassis and secure them with a rivet gun and rivets after drilling holes for them.
- 5
  Attach all the dials, the guitar cable socket and knobs to the various electrical units via electrical wiring by soldering the wire ends to the components with a solder gun. Assemble the network so that the connection runs from the guitar cable socket, to the pre-amplifier unit, to the master volume control, to the final amplifier unit and then out to the speaker wires. Strip the wires first with a wire crimper. Color code the wiring so you know which line goes where. Connect this network to the power transformer unit.
- 6
  Line up the chassis with the upper box of the amplifier constructed in Step 5. Drill holes in the upper box so that the chassis knobs, socket and dials can poke through the wood and be accessible to the outside of the amplifier case. Secure the metal chassis to the upper box with wood screws. Connect the upper box to the speaker section of the amplifier after using a power drill to create a hole for wiring to go to the speaker below. Secure the two boxes to each other with brackets and wood screws.
- 7
  Connect the wiring from the audio amplifier unit to the speaker connections in the back of the speaker. Confirm they are secure. Keep the back of the box open for heat dissipation. Attach a smaller metal screen to the back of the chassis to allow air flow but keep the parts protected. Secure the screen with wood screws drilled into the upper box.
- 8
  Plug your homemade amplifier into a power source. Flip the on switch to power status. Play with the volume switch to confirm the power is on and humming. Attach an electric guitar to the amplifier unit and test it.

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