kt-66 Archives - tonefiend.com

I almost always play small combo amps of 20 watts or less. But I wanted something with a bit more clean headroom for a possible upcoming project — and to demo my stompboxes. I’ve always enjoyed playing JTM-45s when I’ve reviewed them for guitar mags, so I ordered Monotone’s British 45 kit.

I’d previously had a great experience building Mojotone’s Marshall 18 watt clone kit when I reviewed it for Premier Guitar a couple of years ago. It turned out great, and I use it regularly.

Mojotone provides high quality parts, nearly labelled and organized in plastic compartmented boxes. But beware: The company provides no build instructions — just a layout diagram and a schematic. You need amp building experience or help from an expert. Click play for a slideshow about he build:

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This is Mojotone's new offset head cabinet. (The amp chassis first in other Mojotone cabinets as well.)

The two power tubes can be either EL-34s or KT-66s. (I chose the latter, just for a new experience.)

The parts come neatly labeled and organized in plastic bins — a BIG help!

Warning: the kit includes no build instructions — just this layout diagram and a schematic.

I ALMOST managed to assemble it, but I needed a rescue at the end. (Thanks to Bruce Clement of BC Audio, a brilliant boutique builder here in San Francisco.)

Mojotone supplies their own branded transformers (which sound fab).

It's a turret board build. (The board and turrets are pre-made, as opposed to some kits, which require you to insert the turrets yourself.)

This is probably not a good first build — maybe start with a nice little tweed Champ kit?

The a plexi faceplate, which I left omitted. I also substituted my own knobs.

I nearly made it through myself. (Translation: I soldered everything together and it didn’t work.) So I had to hire Bruce Clement of BC Audio here in San Francisco to rescue me. (Bonus: Bruce loaned me one of his JTX50 heads. Man, it’s one of the best-sounding Marshall derivatives I’ve ever heard. It’s among his Octal-Plex series amps, which use octal preamp tubes in Marshall-inspired designs.)