2 Day Valve Amp Building Workshop – 26th-27th February 2027

Description

Build your own valve amp head in two days

After the success of the first 2 day valve amp building workshop in August 2026, I’m running another in February 2027. You’ll build a boutique single channel amp head over two days, and I guarantee that by the end of the second day you’ll have made your first working valve amp. You’ll have built it to a better standard than any mass-produced amp on the market, in terms of tone, reliability and serviceability.

Dates and times

Friday 26th – Saturday 27th February 2027
Friday 9:00–17:00, Saturday 10:00–17:00. Lunch and an ample supply of tea and coffee are provided on both days.

Choose your design

Design 1: Plexi style head. Tonal monster, low noise. Modding options include gain and tone tweaks.
Hear the clean/crunch tone: listen here
Hear the gain tones: listen here

Design 2: Black panel Fender style head. My personal favourite amp. You can build it up as Tweed, Blackface or Silverface. Blackface follows Fender’s mid-60s (’65-era) circuit, and Silverface follows the late-60s (’68-era) revision, which is a touch cleaner and brighter.
Hear the clean/crunch tone: listen here

Both amps are heads (you’ll need a speaker cab to plug into) in the 30–50W bracket, using either 6L6s or EL34s. I recommend fitting a really effective output stage attenuator (PPIMV, or post phase inverter master volume). In plain terms, it’s a master volume that lets you get the sound of a cranked amp at home or rehearsal volumes. I fit these regularly to tame loud amps for customers.

There’s a full range of cosmetic options too: colours, tolex and piping, and you can provide the graphics for custom front panels if you’re arty. Some cosmetic and modding options incur extra costs.

The amps don’t include reverb or an FX loop, but the chassis has holes for both, so I plan to offer these as a bolt-on short course in future.

What past builders say

“Really pleased with it. Sounds really fendery even with the celestion, especially with the strat. Cranked with the Les Paul it becomes a bit of a monster. Thanks again, it was a really useful weekend and I’m definitely going to build a few more…” (Ben, August 2026 workshop)

How the weekend works

The practical building is spaced out with simple valve amp theory, in a similar way to my pedal building workshops, and because these are small group sessions there’s plenty of time to ask questions. Here’s a video with a bit more info: watch here

Important: we can do a short soldering refresher at the start, but this workshop is intended for people who can already solder. If you haven’t yet learned the joys of soldering, please come on a pedal building workshop first 🙂

Price and booking

£1750, including two days of teaching and all the parts needed to build the amp. You can pay a 50% deposit (£875) to secure your place, or pay in full. If you pay the deposit, the balance (£875) is due by Friday 29th January 2027.

Only 3 places available.

Venue

Unit 15 Jessop Way, Newark, NG24 2ER. Attendees come from all over the UK, so I’ve put together a list of places to stay nearby.