I've started this project with the idea of designing a solid state 1 Watt guitar amplifier. There are a few projects with similar objectives on the web but I didn't want a IC amp, for instance using the well known LM386. I was looking for some discrete circuit that I could modified to my needs. I also wanted an amp that worked at 9V, so that I could use my pedals power source. After looking or googling about it I didn't find any that would please me.
The basic inspiration came from the amplifiers designed by Nelson Pass and namely the De Lite amplifier. And so I ended up with this 3 resistors, 3 capacitors and a mosfet in a class A configuration and, of course, a light bulb.
An updated version will soon be posted ;)
Created: NaN
Last updated: 16-02-2026 [16:02]
For attribution, please cite this page as:
Charters, T., "The Bulbamp: 1 Watt guitar class A amplifier with a light bulb": https://nexp.pt/bulbamp.html (16-02-2026 [16:02])
(cc-by-sa) Tiago Charters - tiagocharters@nexp.pt
