Thanks, Bardsley. I keep thinking that the money I've spent on a pair of 100-lb Ampegs would have paid for a small tube amp that I could use anywhere, plus a massive transistor P.A. amp!

I understand that it will take a while to convince people that it's worthwhile to spend almost the same money for a 5 Watt amp as a 60 Watt head. The front-end preamp would cost the same, and the lower-power components are almost as expensive as the big stuff, especially in small quantities.

I've almost got all of the parts for my home-made 5-Watt amp, (based on a single 6AQ5A or 6V6), and I've spent about $200 CDN. If I added a reasonable fee for my time to design and build the "WeeBeastie", it would be about $500CDN for a one-of custom 5-Watt power amp. A manufacturer would be able to bring it down to about $250 or $300, plus the preamp.

A fella's gotta believe before he'll be willing to part with that kind of cash. Obviously, I believe.

'Anyone else?