The Stella Amp, a Cigar Box Guitar Amp

John Wilson of Minneapolis, MN, created the Stella Amp, his own twist on the cigar box amp.

The Stella Amp is a portable battery powered guitar amplifier! Perfect for making your own mini-practice amp, cigar box amplifier, headphone amplifier, or any other kind of battery powered amplifier you can think of.

Engineered for a good clean tone, the Stella amp uses a TBA820M for the back end, with a rail-to-rail opamp on the front end for maximum headroom. But unlike other amps, you don’t have to crank it to get it to sound good! The Stella amp was designed in an apartment late at night while my kids were sleeping. Anything that didn’t sound good at low volume levels got fixed early in the process.

Many mini-amps use an LM386 for the power stage. The LM386 has a,,, shall we say, characteristic sound. If you love that sound, then great! If you’re not a fan of the LM386, or if you just want a little versatility, then check this amp out!

John sells these kits for $35 a pop, though they’re on sale until 10/23 at five dollars off.

8 Responses to The Stella Amp, a Cigar Box Guitar Amp

mh crispo on October 18th, 2011 at 8:04 am said:

Hi there! I tried to buy one but just saw that you don’t ship to Canada. I AM SO SAD!

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- Anonymous on October 18th, 2011 at 11:56 am said:
  
  Send me an e-mail to crazybutable at gmail dot com and I’ll look into what it takes to ship one to you.
  
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  mh crispo on October 21st, 2011 at 8:52 am said:
  
  I did 2 days ago, did you get it?
  
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mh crispo on October 18th, 2011 at 8:05 am said:

Hi there! I tried to buy one but just saw that you don’t ship to Canada. I AM SO SAD!

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Michael Honza on October 19th, 2011 at 7:12 am said:

If you can find a 6 or 12-pack of Shiner Bock in cans, the box is currently designed to look like a guitar amp.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/shiner%20bock%20can%20amp/guitarzan58/0710011742.jpg
This would make great housing.

If Shiner in cans is not available in your area, send me a message & I’ll mail you one, after I empty it! ;^)>

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Chet on February 6th, 2012 at 2:51 pm said:

Oooooo! Just found this and I’m likin’ it alot. Hope they’re still for sale John. I’m a St Louis Park resident myself!

-Chet

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- crazybutable on February 8th, 2012 at 8:34 am said:
  
  They are still for sale! http://www.crazybutable.com/store
  
  Although I recently upgraded my store software. Everything appeared to work, but if you are having any problems ordering then drop me a line at admin@crazybutable.com and I’ll be glad to help.
  
  I’m sorry I don’t have a local pickup option for shipping but if you drop me an e-mail before you order we can probably work something out. If you’ve got any questions about the kit itself you can post on the forums.
  
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istillgotmyguitar on May 2nd, 2012 at 6:39 pm said:

i really need a battery powered amp so i can play on sidewalks, vagabond style.IStillGotMyGuitar

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