acoustic® B20 - Power upgrade?

[travatron4000]

So I have my little B20 that sits by my desk. And I'm bored. I've been tossing around the idea of modding it to bump the power so it's more usable for gigs. Obviously the speaker would upgrade too. Also, I know it's probably not "Worth" it and could buy/already have a bigger amp, that's not the point.

I'm a decent wrench and can work on a bass and use a soldering iron but not well versed in electronics magic.

Can you just swap the power chip? Or do you need to get a different Transformer and Caps too?

I'm not looking for much 50-100W would be plenty.

Any Amp mod/builder guru's want to point me in the right direction.

 

[lug]

no

 

[TAZ]

Swap out the amp and put a 800 watt head in it.

 

[abarson]

If you want something more powerful than your Yugo GV, don't try to turbocharge it.
There really isn't the equivalent to "engine swaps" when talking about amps.

 

[lug]

I'd gift the amp to some kid that needs a starter before futzing it all up and ending up buying something decent later anyway. Your odds of coming out the other end with something better and just not "different" are very very small.

 

[travatron4000]

More looking for a project. I have my 2x210 300W rig that I can use for most everything. Bring 1 cab for small gig, both for bigger. I was just hoping to tinker and learn something. I'm more interested in the Journey than the destination. GC has the new B100C (100W 112) on sale for $220 but, that's not the point.

 

[agedhorse]

For learning and a more productive and useful journey, you might look into a kit (that has good instructions with explanations and theories about how it's supposed to work).

 

[jeff7bass]

On sale now for 149.99.
Acoustic B50C 1X10 50W Bass Combo with Tilt-Back Cab Black | Guitar Center

 

[jeff7bass]

Even better. Steal at 219.99.
Acoustic B100C 1X12 100W Bass Combo with Tilt-Back Cab Black | Guitar Center

 

[JW56789]

I'd second the kit.

There's a big difference in soldering pots and pickup leads vs. poking around a live amp, even one that's powered down: Those bass guitar guts can't knock you into next week or worse if you touch the wrong thing.

 

[Al Kraft]

Re-engineering something low-powered into something higher-powered without knowing exactly how it was designed in the first place rarely ends well with machinery or electronics IME. Systems engineers select parts to optimize performance parameters and other design goals (size, weight, cost) within a defined trade space. There is no way to simply guess on an integrated design what things are over or undersized in relation to the changes you might propose making. Bottom line - enjoy what you have, spend the money on a fun electronics course and/or a well-engineered kit to build something like what you want.

 

[lucas303]

I'm more interested in the Journey than the destination.

This is a journey that could lead to burning your house down.

 

[ardgedee]

You could have an interesting project on your hands by putting the electronics into a standalone box and then building a speaker for it from scratch. You could potentially end up with something louder by buying a new loudspeaker and building a more efficient cab for it, without having to alter the amplifier. There are plenty of plans and kits available for speaker cabinets.

But simply upping the power of the amp isn't really feasible, relative to building a new amplifier from scratch.

 

[Bassic_desires]

For learning and a more productive and useful journey, you might look into a kit (that has good instructions with explanations and theories about how it's supposed to work).

This.

A kit can be an enjoyable experience to make and a great learning experience, too.

 

[Bassic_desires]

This is a journey that could lead to burning your house down.

@travatron4000 This might seem like a tongue-in-cheek comment and yet it is not! If nothing else, be very bloody careful with your tinkering.

 

[higain617]

Can you fit the chassis from an actual Acoustic Control head in there?

 

[Lowbrow]

The B20 is a great sounding amp. Don’t mess with it, and I really don’t think you’d achieve good or desirable results if you did so.

 

[And I]

If you are really REALLY bored you can expand the size of the speaker enclosure as well as putting a new amp and speaker in. Or... build something new from scratch / a kit.

 

[Beheroth]

the only thing you can do is change the speaker for a more efficient one, but is it really worth it ?

 

[skycruiser]

Invest in a quality fire extinguisher.