A little guidance

Hi all! I'd like to learn more about the nuts and bolts of amplifiers, what would be the best place to star? I remember in the old days they had these "mail order" electronic courses, and don't know how good they were but I guess they might've been good for beginners. Anything similar to that nowadays?, I know the interent is an invaluable source of information but, where to start???? Thanks.

This forum is pretty helpful.

The Gerald Weber book of hip guitar amps is good.
I like the reprinted 1952 book "Basic Theory and Application of Electron Tubes"
I think the most useful thing for me personally was really hacking up a couple of old PA's and getting guided out of it by an old amp tech. That and the internet.

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

Begin by reading everything on this site until your eyes glaze over. It is good info and it's free.

Thanks guys, that's a good start!

Ed

As a total newbie myself I was recommended this book by an excellent tech I admire a lot.
The Guitar Amp Handbook by Dave Hunter
It's a very introductory book, lots of pics and examples and not deep into the science/ math.
I also like Electronics for Dummies and Getting Started in Electronics. I hope that's not too embarrassing/ uncool!

Following that, I think the next step is doing and making a simple tube amp, then maybe understanding how it works after the fact! That's my plan anyway.



@ Hackworth thanks for the link!

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

And lots of reading this site.

I finished my first not long ago (and am loving it) and I learned nearly everything from Merlins site and this one.

Sadly I have taken much from here and given nothing back except my appreciation. What am I to give? One day maybe I will know enough to contribute back.

There is a series of books published in the early 50's. One set of 6 is called "Basic Electricity". Start there. The other set is "Basic Electronics", a series of 5 books I think. I read somewhere these books were used in the military to teach, so they are well written and in lay-mans terms. I own both sets and refer to them pretty often. I learned alot from these books after trying several others including the Dave Hunter book mentioned above. It too is pretty good but glazed over many terms I wanted to know more about. For example Dave tells you about tube rectifiers, and cathode bias. The definitions are not that easy to grasp. The Basic Electronics book breaks everything down with lots of illustrations. Breaks down a tube, all the parts spread out, the heater, cathode, grids, diodes, triodes, tetrodes, pentodes...I get it and a lot more thanks to those books.

Nothing teaches like experience. Build a Champ or a Deluxe from a kit, and the process of building it while researching the best practices & making mistakes, will really teach you a lot.

Nothing teaches like experience. Build a Champ or a Deluxe from a kit, and the process of building it while researching the best practices & making mistakes, will really teach you a lot.

Yes building a 5F1 will give you experience. However keep in mind some amp kits come with pretty thorough step by step instructions. Kinda like putting together the big K'nex Ferris Wheel. You could be done, and be able to point at the rectifier tube and power transformer, but have no real idea how they work, or why they are there. You could be very frustrated with a non-working project and give up. Troubleshooting can be hard with little to no understanding.
If you truly are interested in the workings of a tube amp, read, then read some more. Build one, read some more, build another one. You'll learn a ton building one for sure. I just don't personally recommend the average novice jump right in without some study time.

Nothing teaches like experience. Build a Champ or a Deluxe from a kit, and the process of building it while researching the best practices & making mistakes, will really teach you a lot.

Didn't I read one time that you added reverb to a 5e3?

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

Begin by reading everything on this site until your eyes glaze over. It is good info and it's free.

...That is AWESOME... I'm new to this too (amp building/repair) and I'm REALLY thinking that with my ability to do really good cabnitry work (I grew up in a "wood working household" of sorts and have access to any and every tool known to man - plus, I know how to use them!!!! :D) anyway, I just figure that I can MAKE anything if I have a schematic and what not. The end goal would be (for me and my wants/needs) would be an adjustable output from 30-80 watts (this is SUCH a huge WANT of mine) so it would truly be a "do-it-all" rig. Built in reverb, an external cab jack, effects loop and possibly channel switching (with pedal)... I rezalize this is alot to ask of your first amp build, but I have the skills. For me something just clicked the other day and I thought "these things aren't build by mythical creatures, they're built by human beings just like me..." so it's totaly do-able aye... Just a matter of taking my time and doing it RIGHT... I can think of few things that would make me more satisfied then to be on stage blowing folks away through an amp I BUILT!!!!!!!!!

I think that there's a kit out there for a higher wattage amp??? I've only found the MOD 101 but if you can build a regular old production tube at 2-100w you can build anything in between and greater right... Plus if you can MOD said factory amps I figure you can add anything to an amp you build aye. Am I just dreaming here or is this level of build possible. keep in mind I have alot of soldering/welding experience and I've wired alot of electrical systems for overland trucks (think Toyotas on styeroids built to go out exploring self-contained for weeks on end-on board welders, hot showers, dual batery systems, inverters, air-systems etc.) and alot of wood working/cabinet-making experience too. They sure seem simple enough looking a them. Am I kidding myself??? I don't expect this to be an EASY project nor a quick one, but if I'm not concerned about speed and just take my time it should be doable I think...

anyway, rambling over, I've got alot of reading and searching to do aye ;)

Cheers

Dave

Build a 5F1 Champ First. Its the right thing to do. Stepping stones.

Build a 5F1 Champ First. Its the right thing to do. Stepping stones.

/\ This. Even a homebrew one instead of a kit. I didn't want to just follow a schematic so I made myself learn what every componant did in a 5f1 before I built one. It is not a complex circuit but has a lot of what you need to understand. And they are actually pretty cool amps.

Didn't I read one time that you added reverb to a 5e3?

Actually it was a 5E9a Tremolux, which can be built with just a little extra parts & a tube added to the 5E3. Reverb didn't add much to the sound. That amp has since been demolished & remade into a Tweed Overdrive Special.
Tweed circuits like 5E3, 5F6, etc. really don't need reverb if that's what you're thinking.

Actually it was a 5E9a Tremolux, which can be built with just a little extra parts & a tube added to the 5E3. Reverb didn't add much to the sound. That amp has since been demolished & remade into a Tweed Overdrive Special.
Tweed circuits like 5E3, 5F6, etc. really don't need reverb if that's what you're thinking.

Yeah can't make my mind up,

Once you build a couple of amps, start modding them...change tubes...change coupling caps etc. It will really show you how tube amps can be voiced to diff tones and it's alot more fun than just a straight forward build