Re: 386 amplifier "overdrive"
We had loads of LM386s available as 'generic op-amp' in the component boxes in labs when I was at university in the early 1990s. Needless to say several of us built guitar practice amplifiers using them.
They can be a little hissy, but if you overdrive them (and experiment with non-linear components in the feedback loop) you can create some great distortion effects. And if your style of guitar is more thrash metal than clean pop, the sound can be perfect. Some of mine sounded amazing when I was playing Metallica or Megadeth rhythm parts.
Do consider a heatsink if really overdriving it though, I've had some pop, and one partially unsoldered itself (but sounded really good up to that point). I did make notes on component values and circuit layouts that worked well, but I suspect after 30 years I've no chance of finding them. And unlike then - LM386s aren't cheap or even free now...
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