This seminar will teach the fundamental construction skills necessary to assemble and properly wire a Fender-style tweed tube amp. Utilizing amp kits, students build their own amp all under the helpful eye of the instructor.
SEMINAR DESCRIPTION
This workshop will be divided into part lecture, part demonstration, and part hands-on training. Over the duration of three days, students will observe stages of the kit building process and then carry out the work on their own amps under the supervision of the instructor. While this is not a design class per se, students will obtain a foundation level understanding of the way a vintage tube instrument amplifier functions, stage by stage. Students will also learn the craft of point-to-point wiring and how to modify a circuit to shape its tone by changing component values. Moreover, by building an amplifier, students will begin to develop the diagnostic skills necessary to troubleshoot and repair other amplifiers.
This is an ideal seminar for those working as a guitar technician, roadie, music store employee, touring musician or for anyone interested in working on instruments. Useful handouts will be provided and a Certificate of Completion will be awarded to all students who complete the course. Enrollment is limited to 8 students.
Students have the choice of building one of the following amps:
- Tweed Champ (10-watt)
- Tweed Deluxe (15-watt)
- Tweed Bassman (50-watt)
For first time builders, we strongly recommend the Tweed Deluxe kit. It is the perfect level of involvement for the three day seminar. If you are a first time builder and have your heart set on one of the higher-powered models, simply bear in mind that some additional hours may need to be logged to complete the build.
The kits are supplied by Mojo Music. The parts included are excellent quality and the cabinets are pre-assembled and beautifully covered in authentic tweed fabric (or authentic Tolex for Marshall) . Every aspect of the kits is as faithful as possible to the original design. Each kit comes with its own schematic and layout diagram (there are no assembly instructions included).The legendary circuits used in this seminar are the same ones that have made true Tweed-era amplifiers so revered among musicians. These amps are bullet-proof workhorses that are easily serviced, modified, and maintained. Through this workshop, students will discover the beauty of cloth-covered wire, heavy transformers, chassis-mounted components, and finger-joined pine carcasses.Click here to visit Mojo’s web site and read more about the kits and their contents. Our kit prices include shipping to the school and the kits Mojo makes for our school include upgrades to certain better quality components and more sensible features. Also the school pre-drills all the chassis and motherboards to prepare them for the seminar.
NOTE: We are combining this seminar with our Hi-Fi Stereo Tube Amp Building Seminar. By combining these seminars, students have the opportunity to learn/observe both traditional point-to-point construction and the classic Fender/Marshall motherboard construction. All the tenets of lead dress (wiring) remain the same regardless of what method is used.
Workshop Materials and Supplies
The school will provide each student with their own individual workstation and all necessary tools. Students can select which amp kit they will be building. The workshop fees listed include the class fee and the amp kit fee. Payments for both the class and the amp kit will be made to Specimen at the time of registration and all amp kits will be shipped directly to our shop. 
