Single Ended Amps For Electric Guitar

Single Ended Amps using one, sometimes two, power tubes have been around since the beginning of the tube. The best example of an electric guitar amplifier using this design is the Fender Champ, which uses one 6V6 power tube.

These types of amplifiers are generally simple in design which makes them ideal for the novice amp builder. The amplifier below is a head based on a Weber Speakers design designated the "Maggie". It's a simple design with one tone control, and a three way voicing switch, allowing for a multitude of tone combination's.

One of the beauties of this type of amplifier is the inefficient use of the power tube. Unlike a push-pull amp such as Fender Deluxe Reverb, the single tube design produces low power. This means that there is tube break up at relatively low volumes, making it a great bedroom or practice amp.

As a novice amp builder myself I find the amp above much more enjoyable than the champ clone I built first. This amp relies on a 6L6 Power tube, but more importantly has a much larger output transformer than the champ, which means a much larger low end, and more volume.

The only changes I made to the design was to incorporate a standby switch, and a choke in the power supply. The choke makes the amplifier silent when on, with absolutely no hum at any volume level. I'll be adding much more info on my amp building experiences, so stay tuned, and as always I encourage all comments and questions. Thanks for reading J.B. 3-10-11

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