I would appreciate any helpful comments, i'm trying to teach myself enough electronics to build or hack a small amplifier for my guitar and acoustic instruments. I made one of the internet project 386 opamps. and I hacked in to an old portable radio to make another, but i need a preamp for my quiet instruments. I tried the combo op-power amp from forrest Mimms' Radio Shack book, but couldn't make it work, I tried the 741 project that I saw on the internet,and it worked on the breadboard but not after I attacked it with a soldering iron. i saw many comments about the crappiness of the 741, and some alternate suggestions, like theTDA2822, but that is stereo, so would that also work for a mono preamp? Someone said the LM386 was a battery eater, and sounded like a clock radio. For some applications, I like that crude funky sound, but not for everything. I guess I'm looking for suggestions alternatives to the 741, and the 386 opamps, but must be equally simple and easy to assemble, that would sound good in a large room or maybe a coffee house. I would appreciate any comments, thanks.