Ruby
This is another 386 based amp like my Havana Soul that was based on the little gem. this amp is the based on ruby from runoffgroove. It leans hard to a Fenderish sound. It sounds very good clean or just breaking up imho. Its nice I can dial in to break up or stay clean based on my pick attack. The great thing about this 386 amps there really is a low parts count. It makes them easy to understand and easy to mod to your liking. They also seem to pedal friendly and sound good with boosts, distortion, and fuzz. They are an easy build that can be done without too much trouble on or strip or perf board and small enough you can mount in or on lots of things and a enclosure like this one is not necessary. And they can drive all kinds of speakers form real cabinets which they probably sound best to what ever you have lying around. They have a low cost to build and do not seem fussy which makes them junk shop friendly. Old radio speakers and that kind of thing can sound great with the Ruby if you are looking for a all it one package. A fun little thing that sounds good that there really is no commercial alternative to.
Havana Soul
This is my slightly modified version of the ROG Little Gem I call Havana Soul for obvious reasons. Most people use it drive to cabinets at practice volume. It is powered by a 9 volt but it will still drive most cabs. I wanted a little portable Pignose type amp so I mounted in a cigar box I got at the junk store for a whole $1.50. Then I hooked a small speaker up and I had me a little amp. I really like it. If I were to play even my 5 watter at enough volume to get a little nasty I would get evicted. It really makes me miss speaker break up and rattle. This gives me all I need. It is hard to keep it clean which is not as much the case when using a little gem to drive a normal cab. With a regular guitar speaker it sounds well good. Most people would be amazed at the sound coming form a tiny thing with only a few parts. "Good" wasn't exactly what I was looking for but what I got was alright by me having a crunchy little box was what I was looking for. Ahh, speaker break up(even though it is nasty & weird.) I need some work on my grill cloth hanging skills I think. Oh, well.
Cmoy
This mint tin holds my cmoy headphone amplifier. These are often refereed to a mint tin amp. So, I felt obliged to use a mint tin but leave it to me to try and fit a square peg in a round hole. It barely fits in there. I am going to rehouse it so i can use 2-9 volt batteries to up the power. It really is a good little amp. Sounds great. Despite the fact that it was made for headphones I use it in between small speakers and my ipod. It was a different build for me actually trying to avoid distortion. Weird.
Tangetsoft has all the information you need to build his thing plus info on other amps of this type.
EVJ
So, cool that it desvres its own page.