Mini Guitar amp, Paper miniamp! LM386 Make your own DIY mini guitar amp! #papercraft #miniamp

 Make your own mini guitar amp from paper and an inexpensive LM386 amp! This little amp can be functional or just decorative.  If you decide to make a decorative one, you won't need to buy an amp or speaker. It's as simple as gluing together a paper box!

Here's a one minute video of me making this amp. The music was recorded with the amp:

 To start, print a picture of your favorite guitar amp, or print mine below. The body should be big enough that it will fold evenly from one sheet of printed paper.  

 

Click here to print a copy of my "Priceless Amp"

  Next, glue it to card stock, the heavier the better. Cut out your box design. 

 

  

Now, trace the back folding edges with a pen or dull pencil to make it easier to fold.  

 

Now, fold up your box and glue it together. Add a back now, if you just want a cool little decorative amp.  

 

Or, to make a miniature working amp, continue below.

Cut out 4 holes from the amp.  1 for the speaker, one for the input jack, one for the power cable and one for the volume knob.  

Now, install your speaker and glue it in with your favorite glue.  I used super glue, which worked fine.  I've also used E6000 and hot glue. Most glues will work fine, you just need to figure out the drying time.

 

Next, wire up your LM386 amp to the speaker, input and power.  If your LM386 amp has a 1/8" input, figure out how you'll plug that in.  I removed the jack and soldered in a 1/4" input and wiring harness.  For no soldering, you could use a 1/8" right angle plug.  If you go this route, I'd make sure not to glue the top on- make the folding top that will open or close.

 

Now install the amp into the box and tighten the nut. 

Don't forget to add your knob

 

Mount the input into the back of the amp, and glue on your extra backing cutout.  Make sure your power supply cable is installed if you're not using a battery inside.

Fold and close the top.  Now it's ready to plug in and play!  

 

The guitars you hear in the video are all recorded through this amp with an SM57 exactly as shown above.

 Here's where I bought the lm386 amp:

Assembled Amp: https://amzn.to/3ltljtr 

Speaker: https://amzn.to/3ltljtr

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