18 watt kits?

Brentsp · Post by **Brentsp** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 3:27 pm

George 18 watt amps are a hot item these days..........just something to think about.

Wicksy · Post by **Wicksy** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 6:45 pm

The 18 watt kit market is probably fairly difficult to break into when you consider the number of high quality kits out there already. George has the plexi kits sewn up as his are arguably the best in the world with maybe TAD coming close. I do need a good 18 watter kit though with a nice RS clone OT

I got to play an original 1974 combo belonging to a plexi palace forumite and it rocked hard!

Good luck to George though if he puts one together!

Brentsp · Post by **Brentsp** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:31 pm

Wicksy wrote:The 18 watt kit market is probably fairly difficult to break into when you consider the number of high quality kits out there already. George has the plexi kits sewn up as his are arguably the best in the world with maybe TAD coming close. I do need a good 18 watter kit though with a nice RS clone OT I got to play an original 1974 combo belonging to a plexi palace forumite and it rocked hard!

Good luck to George though if he puts one together!

Webber and Mojo is the only 18 watt kits I know of........?!?

myfoot · Post by **myfoot** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:01 pm

check out http://www.18watt.com Quite a few respected amp and amp kit sellers there

http://www.reasonamps.com/

http://gdsamps.com/

and others

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:41 pm

There are others as well. The 18W page used to link to all of them. There are a lot.

thousandshirts · Post by **thousandshirts** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:20 am

For those of us in Canada, Trinity Amps out of the Toronto area supposedly does wonderful 18w Marshall clones, a nice 15w Matchless Lightning clone, and a good tweed Deluxe clone. All reports I've heard are two thumbs up.

http://www.trinityamps.com/

Wicksy · Post by **Wicksy** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:56 pm

Yeah, Trinity amps do some nice stuff. I hung out at the forum there for a while after 18watt.com's latest problem. I'd probably go for a Trinity kit or a GDS kit when i finally get around to building a proper 18watter.

tooloud · Post by **tooloud** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:32 pm

My 18 Watt was a trem head at first now looks a little different as a TMB head This picture was when first built.......

18 Watt Stack 2X12 straight and slant cabs

Roe · Post by **Roe** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:37 am

ceriatone also make several versions of the 18w

jun · Post by **jun** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 7:05 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZY1koiZZ20

That's not to bad.

FrankieFeenixx · Post by **FrankieFeenixx** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:33 am

There are many kit sellers out there. Prices vary quite a bit. I built two from scratch. It's really not a hard amp to build, and the schematics and layout diagrams are easily found on the 'net. It's possible to get one together on the cheap if you scrounge around a bit for parts.

joeyvelour · Post by **joeyvelour** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:31 pm

I'm torn between an 18 watt and a JTM45 kit for my next project. Obviously 18 watts is very attractive for the home studio volume factor, and from what I read and hear these things completely rock at 11. I'm worried that they don't clean up quite as well as a 45 when not pushed. Is the 18 watt a one trick pony? I can listen to sound samples for days, but I would trust and appreciate the opinions of this forum comparing the two amps.
Thanks so much.

Joey V

chubs · Post by **chubs** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:46 pm

An 18w is pretty loud man.... They break up nice and you can get some nice AC/DC dirt going on. Back off the guitar volume and you get some nice chime too...

shakti · Post by **shakti** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:09 pm

Well, if George does decide to make a kit one day, I'll get one. Just because his kits are the best in town, and I'm willing to pay a little extra for that.

neikeel · Post by **neikeel** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:57 pm

I built one recently to take to rehearsals.

I used a Ceriatone chassis and trannies with Alpha pots, some NOS sockets and retainers. I built the board myself using Georges stuff (turrets, resistors) plus some mustards and silver micas I had.

I have to say it is pretty loud for what it is using a spare G12H 55Hz blackback (from 76 cab). I had to put a LarMar style PPIMV onto it. Not the clean headroom of bigger amps or the same presence/spread as multiple drivers (2x12 or 4x12)

I am still struggling with getting the EF86 circuit to run quietly but the TMB does rock out even with a strat and no pedals.

However, if I had to choose one amp to build and use it would still be a Metro 50watter into a 2x12 Bluesbreaker with PPIMV and Celestion Golds.

That is what I am using now for rehearsals and possibly for next gigs. Does not have the visual impact of my usual 1/2 stack but it sounds brilliant and is very versatile.

I am also going to try my JTM45 in the same set up too but it does not have a PPIMV, yet......