Solid-State Amplifiers ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Solid-State Amplifiers

This is my favorite toy. 5 watts, battery-powered, or 9v, onboard distortion and delay. It's great for testing things on the bench. The big chrome Danelectro logo was missing from this burnt-out hulk, so I replaced it with "Craftsman".

Craftsman Amp Build

New 5-watt amplifier and Joyo delay pedal guts installed. I wanted a reverb, this gives that, and a whole lot more. The amp has built-in distortion. This thing does it all !!!

All controls and connections - a tight fit on this tiny chassis. Has 1/8" aux-in and headphone jacks. Since then, I added a second 1/4" input. Power jack on the left.

Electronics fit

Jensen speaker and battery pack - enough AAs to make 9 volts. It will also run off a regular 9-volt battery, or a wall wart.

Strap buttons on an amp? Why not? Battery-powered = portable !!!

Lots of room for picks, cords, extra batteries, power supply, even a tuner inside the storage compartment.

Amplifiers

Tube amps lend themselves more naturally to distortion than solid-state. When overdriven, tubes produce more of the nice-sounding even harmonics, while transistors produce more of the odd harmonics, which don't sound as good. Early solid-state amps distorted very un-musically. Bass is generally played clean and requires a good deal more power, which would require a very large, heavy, expensive, and delicate tube amp, so solid-state became a good alternative for bassists.

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May 25, 2026

Fender Legal Actions

May 25, 2026

Fender has set their legal department against any and all possible targets. I have been hit by trolling internet lawyers before. It costs them almost nothing to attack you, but it can cost you a great deal to be attacked.

I don't think Fender has a leg to stand on in this case, but they have two things in their favor: their own lawyers, and a piece of complete insanity known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA.

All they need to do is find the right judge somewhere - anywhere - and this case is a go, and they will probably win. It could go on for decades in appeals, all the while damaging Fender's intended victims, so that Fender wins even if they lose.

Such is our legal system, and I want nothing to do with this, so I have taken down all my Fender projects until this shakes out. Sure, I only built a few things for myself, and I'm not selling anything, but for the price of a stamp they can reach out and touch me, and as I said, I've been there before. The American legal system is not about laws, it is about lawyers.

Fender makes nothing from sales of used guitars. I say boycott all new (retail) Fender products. That includes: Bigsby, Charvel, DeArmond, EVH, Fender, G&L, Gretsch, Jackson, PreSonus, and Squier. If you want a new Fender-style instrument, buy a Music Man. Or buy used.

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