Build Guitar Tube Amp For Sale (2024 Update)

Because the Stage Right 5-watt tube amp (#611705) has control knobs only for Volume and Tone, I found that I get the best-to-my-ears guitar sound when I put an equalizer pedal between the guitar and amp and then adjust the equalizer to the tone that I'm looking for. On the guitar the Volume and Tone knobs are set fully open and on the 5-watt tube amp the Tone knob is fully closed and the Volume knob is set to the volume level acceptable to the environment (for home practice the Volume knob is set to level 3 at full 5-watts). The Stage Right 5-watt tube amp is my first tube amp after having used modeling amps for at least five years. I had heard that tube amps more often than not sound better than modeling amps. After now having experienced using a tube amp I agree that tube amps (at least the Stage Right 5-watt amp) sounds better than the modeling amps I've used (which to me sound great too). If you're looking for your first tube amp (like I was) or you are looking for a low-watt tube amp for home use then I highly recommend the Monoprice Stage Right 5-watt tube amp #611705. Review about Monoprice customer support: The 5-watt tube amp that I initially received had a cosmetic defect (a hole) on the textured surface on the front side of the amp. The Volume knob when set to fully opened level 10 produced normal speaking level sound instead of the noise-complaint loud volume that I expected. Monoprice customer service was great and easy to work with in submitting an amp replacement request. I described the problems, sent pictures of the cosmetic defect and a video demonstrating the Volume problem. After Monoprice customer service reviewed the pics and video they sent me a free shipping return label, a RMA label, and they ordered me a replacement amp which arrived within 7 days after I submitted the replacement request. The replacement amp that I received had no cosmetic defects and the Volume knob set to max level 10 is loud enough to generate noise-complaints from neighbors, though I normally use the amp at Volume level 3 for home use.New User

For the price (I got it when priced $119) it is fantastic. It's simple, straightforward and sounds good. Nice warm tones. If you're a fantastic guitar player, this amp will sound fantastic. If you're an okay guitarist, you might want to invest in some pedals (or just keep practicing). I only say that because it is very clean and bright and it really shows off what you're playing. (I've been known to hide my sloppiness with reverb, distortion, etc.) BUT It does take pedals well – thankfully! Adding a good reverb pedal, delay and an overdrive to go along with this little guy is a good idea. The Pros: Value to Price ratio. Looks well built. Warm tube sound. The handle (yes I am talking about the amp's handle) is nice! Better than I expected. In fact, everything looks pretty good (except the cheap control knobs). 5 watts is plenty loud for home/recording use. The Cons: Good sounding, but there are better sounding. Please don't buy this thinking that this is a $500 amp. It is not. But sub $200 it is a good one. The chickenhead knobs are cheap looking. I took them off and painted them. But that's a dollar or two easy fix (if it bothers you at all). Overall: I totally recommend for $150 or less. Probably for $200. If the prices climb too much beyond that, I think there are other options. If you want to jam at home and record with it, I think you'll be happy.Brad

The Monoprice 5 watt guitar amp arrived just a few days after ordering, and arrived in good shape, due in part to the excellent shipping carton. Upon taking it out and inspecting it, I could find no flaws in the cabinet, and due to the cream color of the covering, it seemed a little bigger than I was expecting. I plugged it in, let it warm up for almost an hour, and then plugged in an ES339, using no pedals. At first, I wasn't all that pleased with the sound I was getting, but it was my fault. I had it adjusted as I do with my Albion Hybrid, but that wasn't the way. I found the best sound came from turning the Monoprice all the way up, and then use the guitar controls for volume instead. That did it, and the little amp came a alive in a big way! Sounding very similar to a Fender champ, it could go from nice clear tones to crunchy heaven with the ES339's humbuckers. I plugged in a Strat with an HSH configuration, and the single coil really made it sound Fenderish. Sweet. The only thing I found one might improve on the amp, is the speaker. As such, I plugged into the built-in external speaker jack on the back, a little Randall 8" cabinet. That really did it for me. The sound was fantastic through the entire spectrum, and was loud enough to be heard down the block. I then bi-amped it with the Albion, and the sound had all the creamy goodness I've been seeking, and that is how I now have it setup for daily use. That said, there's nothing wrong with the stock speaker on the Monoprice, and I suspect it will satisfy most users. Am very happy with this purchase, and glad I bought it for such a great price. Almost every electric guitar player could find a use for this amp. Buy before the price goes up, or they quit making them!T

I just completed my Mod 102 kit. An excellent experience! I was delighted with the quality of components, clarity of instructions, and, perhaps most importantly, the sound of the amp. It is very loud – currently running into my Fender Twin Reverb cab (2×12) and very sweet! I will be running it into a new 1×12 cab with a new Celestion G12 M Heritage 'Greenback' when I get a case for the speaker (on order). My only criticism (and something to look out for) is that the chassis is very nicely painted in gray gunmetal paint. Even following the directions to file all the holes, it is very hard to get a good ground connection at every point a terminal strip connects. I worried about this, and about 1/3rd of the way through the build, took an ohm meter to check all the connections, and as I had suspected, some of the connections were not great (9-10 ohms or so!) So I removed the terminal strips (with the components I had already soldered still attached) and scraped away the paint under the tabs of the strips to ensure a good connection. Re-testing showed virtually zero resistance. I'd strongly recommend scraping the paint away at all holes under the chassis before getting started on the build. Even better, suggest that Amplified Parts leave the inside chassis unpainted (at least around the important holes). Aside that one criticism, I am delighted with the kit and with Amplified Parts. Everything was delivered promptly and they are a class outift. I'll probably try some of their other kits soon.vpmerlyn

I spent three evenings building the MOD102. The instructions are very easy to understand and the amp has a great Fender sound. I had one grounding issue that was easily fixed with a little help from tech support, which was excellent. If you're good at following step by step instructions and can solder well this is a fun little amp to build. Only small issue is the labels. They could stand an improvement.Brandon

I just finished this amp build and it sounds fantastic! I also just finished a Marshall 18 Watt clone and I have to say that the Mod102+ holds its own very nicely alongside the Marshall. In fact, I will probably use the Mod102+ for recording because it sounds amazing at lower volumes (the Marshall is loud AF). Honestly, if I were only going to build one of them today, it would be the Mod. I'm blown away by the tone! Great kit with excellent instructions. Great bang for the buck. The parts all seem to be top quality. I love the old style cloth solid core wire, too. I find it much easier to work with than modern stranded wire. The labels are a bit lame but I covered them with packing tape as suggested before cutting them out and they look fine. If you're thinking about building an amp, build this one.danjbeckett

I had to make myself stop playing this Amp long enuf to write my review. This 30 watt 1 X 12 Celestion V30 Tube Stack simply Rocks my World! Bucket List item for me! Always wanted a Tube Stack with a creamy rich mid – range and a narly distortion channel. Foot switch turns reverb and overdrive on and off. 3 band EQ, 1/4" speaker cable. I love me some pedals and they blend well with this Amp. Quality build. Simply the best Amp my Guitars have played. Jazzmaster , Kramer and Mike Rowan all sound amazing. Arrived quickly in sturdy and well packaged shipping cartons. Guitar World review was spot on. peace, MarnyeMARNYE

Very nice tones from this amp, clean or dirty! I have been using it mic’d with a 609 clone, haven’t had the chance to crank it yet. I use a roadhouse Strat and fine on the dirty channel with the gain at 5 I can get a great, clear cleanish tone, and then hit the Strats preamp and have some nice grit! Not fizzy fuzzy grit, but nice organic breakup that is very pleasing to the ear. I run a TC Plethora in the FX loop and get great results, no jump or drop in volume, just sounds natural. For some extra gain I use a Boss OD200 into the front of the amp, glorious!! Quite surprising that an amp of this build and sound quality is available at this price point but it is and I’m glad I pulled the trigger on it. Looks to be plywood for amp cab and speaker cab, nice touch. All this and a V30 speaker! I don’t know when or if the speaker will “break in” but I’ll be using the amp mic’d most of the time so it may take awhile, and honestly couldn’t imagine it sounding any better! Only had it a few days, and haven’t moved it since I set it up so I can’t speak for how long it will last in the long run, but fingers are crossed.Ronald

Just received my stack on 3/16/20. Packaged great!. Overall build quality is very very good no particle board here all real solid wood cabinet for the head , speaker with a nice ply baffle I think it's 3/4 ". Light weight. Asthetics ,cosmetics tolex and Grill cloth with piping perfect. Reverb is digital no tank or Springs here it is not tube driven. Bright switch works great pedal for Reverb and gain Channel works great extra-long cable to connect the head to the cabinet with power cord great. Clean tones on this amp whether a low or hi channel are amazing . kind of somewhere between vox/ marshall cleans. Definitely Fender sounding w bright switch. Gig Worthy!. Loud amp!. Digital Reverb is okay. You must turn it up to around 4 or 5 to hear it. It's clean channels are where this amp shines . On the gain channel, Ican get some good tones but not super high gain here more in the classic rock 1960- 1970's tone. Great but no super High gain. Kinda on the thinner side, Not very Fat. 3 chinese 12ax7, ( maybe a swap out in this area may give better tone), all 4 el84 Are Eurotube JJ'S!!!! So happy to see this. Celestion V30 spkr cab sounds great, full with depth. Classic rock tone!. Highly recommended..strange looking chinese power tnsfrmr, but Ot looks good. Voiced similiar to monoprice. 15 watt duel el84 model, but not as aggressive. Blows away the Bulgara V22.. Etc. Nice product monoprice!New User

I recently completed the British 18W head kit from Tube Depot, and can't say enough good things about it! From start to finish, the kit exceeded my expectations. Ordering, shipping, and customer service were top-notch. No issues with components. The instructions and documentation were amazing, worth their weight in gold. The end result was an amplifier that sounds incredible! I incorporated a few of the suggested options- PPIMV, Tremolo HI/LO sw., Tube/SS Rectifier sw., and choke. The sound is amazing, I'm finding it very difficult turning the amp off- once I start playing through the amp I don't want to stop. I would absolutely recommend Tube Depot for anyone interested in building a guitar amplifier. The clear, well-written instructions really made this an enjoyable project. This was my first amplifier build, and I had no issues thanks to the great documentation.Dave R

I ordered this kit with a mod to use KT 66 power tubes. The changes were easy to make and it sounds fantastic. The classic JTM 45 tone at a manageable volume level with the master volume control. Just to test it out I've used a power soak and the tone is exactly the same using the master volume. A couple of real nice features of the design are the negative feedback switch and the ability to switch between solid state and tube ratification (the tube sounds better to my ears). Great product!Clint

I recently completed the British 18W head kit from Tube Depot, and can't say enough good things about it! From start to finish, the kit exceeded my expectations. Ordering, shipping, and customer service were top-notch. No issues with components. The instructions and documentation were amazing, worth their weight in gold. The end result was an amplifier that sounds incredible! I incorporated a few of the suggested options- PPIMV, Tremolo HI/LO sw., Tube/SS Rectifier sw., and choke. The sound is amazing, I'm finding it very difficult turning the amp off- once I start playing through the amp I don't want to stop. I would absolutely recommend Tube Depot for anyone interested in building a guitar amplifier. The clear, well-written instructions really made this an enjoyable project. This was my first amplifier build, and I had no issues thanks to the great documentation.Dave R

I ordered this kit with a mod to use KT 66 power tubes. The changes were easy to make and it sounds fantastic. The classic JTM 45 tone at a manageable volume level with the master volume control. Just to test it out I've used a power soak and the tone is exactly the same using the master volume. A couple of real nice features of the design are the negative feedback switch and the ability to switch between solid state and tube ratification (the tube sounds better to my ears). Great product!Clint

Nice little kit! Instructions are pretty clear and it's certainly not overly complicated to build. Having some amp repair/building experience helps, but I'd say even a beginner could buy this, build it, and be playing it within a day or so. Once built it sounded pretty good as well. Fun to swap tubes around, substituting the 12AX for a 12AT, AY, or others. The 'effect' changes on the pull switches are pretty subtle, so don't expect anything dramatic there. But, the amp makes a great platform for learning, and even 'expanding' from the original design. I've put an EIA connector in the back of mine so I don't have a cord sticking out. I put some tall 'feet' on it so it would clear a speaker box handle. And, the power transformer is suitable for adding a 6CA4 rectifier, which I plan to do in the future. I'll have to move the filter capacitor section around some to make clearance for the socket, but it's a 6 volt 9-pin rectifier, so will work perfectly in this amp. I might even 'upgrade' the output transformer….or play with some yellow jacket type adapters to try a different output tube. In all, a lot of fun to build, sounds great for what it is, and I'm very glad I made the purchase!! A 'GREAT' value!!!Tom

This is a great kit. I wanted to build a small amp so i started researching schematics online. Then i found this kit. All the leg work has been done as well as step by step instructions. I just started it so i can’t comment on tone, but the ease and design of the kit is excellent. Full parts list, schematic and instructions include. It gives you a proven simple platform to start with and you can add your own modifications if you wish. Thanks MODRonnie

I built this amp 4 years ago, and have used it a lot. It's connected to a pair of ELAC DB62-BK speakers. It was fun to build and has been very reliable. I upgraded it with Hammond 1615A output transformers, and the extra iron makes it sound much better. I haven't replaced any tubes yet, but would be interested in options for tube upgrades.Shayne

This is a great little amp, easy to build and has great sound and gain. If you haven't built your own stereo amplifier before, start here, you won't regret it!Lester

This amp is loud and it rocks. Sounds lovely Like original 1957 specs to my ears. Tube one at 12ax7 is too hot and changed to 12ay7. Nice amp good quality.sunsterdog123

I LOVE the 5F1 kit: This was really enjoyable to build, and I had the benefit of a pro adviser to help me when I had questions, so I can even say it was easy. I am going to go as far as to say it sounds really fantastic. I use this amp almost all the time now, and with an attenuator, I can crank it all the way up and play at bedroom levels with the crunchy tube tone I crave, without disturbing the neighbors. It is every bit as great sounding as my Victoria REGAL. If you don't know what that amp is, it is all tube, has a variable power output all the way up to 35W, driven through a 15" speaker with reverb and tremolo. Obviously, this Champ kit is only 5 W, and doesn't even have an EQ (or any other frills whatsoever) and YEAH, it sounds THAT good. Rich harmonics, great crunch when cranked, sounds clean at level 3 or below, and responds well to the volume knob on your guitar. It is incredible. BUY IT!Bobby Bellpepper

I built this amp 4 years ago, and have used it a lot. It's connected to a pair of ELAC DB62-BK speakers. It was fun to build and has been very reliable. I upgraded it with Hammond 1615A output transformers, and the extra iron makes it sound much better. I haven't replaced any tubes yet, but would be interested in options for tube upgrades.Shayne

This is a great little amp, easy to build and has great sound and gain. If you haven't built your own stereo amplifier before, start here, you won't regret it!Lester