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which is best way to build tube guitar amp

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  • which is best way to build tube guitar amp

    Which is best ways to build tube guitar amp
    The theory of tube guitar amp is simple, Many people who only have little knowledge can understand it easily. But it is difficult to build good tube guitar amp. There are three main ways to build the tube guitar amp.
    1. Point-to-point, Hand wire. It is good to repair and DIY, But it need higher skill and lower efficient,
    2. PCB . It is higher efficient, But many time, The lines between components are too longer, It will cause many hums .
    3. Half PCB half wire. Resistor and Cap are on PCB. The tube sockets are on chassis. Connect them by wire. The efficient is lower than all PCB, But higher than PP.
    China tube Guitar amplifier and home studio manufacturer kldguitar

  • #2
    It also depends on the circuit and layout you are working with. I rewired an old point-to-point amplifier using a turret board for the power supply filters and the power distributing components (plate resistors, etc.) and rewired the signal path using point-to-point. In that case, it didn't make any sense to route a signal from a jack or pot to a board, then back to another pot, etc. without adding wire and complexity. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. I would advise to keep the wiring short and pay attention to grounding. Sometimes point-to-point is too simple to do any other way. Using the board as I did for the power supply served to separate the power from the signal wiring too. Look at the layout advantages to determine the layout efficiency over the choosing a method guided soley by principle.
    Black sheep, black sheep, you got some wool?
    Ya, I do man. My back is full.

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    • #3
      I'd say, for a one-off tube amp, use PTP. Designing a *good* pcb is tricky and you might need some attempts. Not only the hum, but also the capacitances between traces might play tricks on you. But, if you want to make a larger series of amps (let's say 10 amps or more) you could take the time and design a pcb.
      Just to show what effects these capacitances can have: I recently modded a Randall amp, and I forgot to connect the grid of a certain tube (I believe the 3d or 4th gain stage). The capacitive coupling through the PCB traces was enough to still get a loud tone, with the grid connected to "nothing".

      And, as gibsonlover points out, some wiring will have to be done by hand on high-power components.

      This is from aikenamps.com, a very knowledgeable guy:
      Q: Why do you use point-to-point instead of PCB? Because it sounds better?
      A: No. There is no difference in tone between a properly designed PC board and a properly layed out turret board or other point-to-point construction technique. Note that I used the term "properly designed". There is a world of difference in the tone of an improper PCB layout and a proper one, just as there is between a proper PTP layout and an improper one. If high-impedance traces are run too close to other parts of the circuit, unwanted coupling can occur, leading to oscillations in the worst case, or just odd tone caused by frequency cancellations. This is not a problem that is unique to PC boards, as some "gurus" would have you believe. If you run a wire on a PTP layout too close to another wire or component, you will have the same problems. Don't believe the hype about "tiny capacitances" and "co-planar" traces robbing high end. PC boards are used in the gigahertz range, and are perfectly adequate for the audio frequency range. The problem comes in when an amp manufacturer uses a layout guy who doesn't know anything about proper layout of high-impedance circuitry, and when cheap, single-sided PC boards with non-plated-through holes are used. Now, why don't I use PC boards? Simple. A turret board provides better mechanical reliability and ease of maintenance or modification. I have seen far too many PC boards with pads and traces ripped up after one or two component changes. A turret board allows both a good mechanical connection and a good solder connection, and components are easy to remove and replace many times without any damage to the board. Turret boards can even incorporate ground planes or circuit traces, without the downside of worrying about traces and pads lifting up during repeated removal and replacement of parts. I don't use eyelet boards, because they don't allow a good mechanical connection; instead, they depend solely on the solder for mechanical strength at the connection. In addition, solder tends to blob up on the underside of the board, potentially leading to loose solder balls inside the amp, or accidental short circuits. Will I ever use PC boards? Probably at some point, especially on the more complex amplifier designs, mainly for consistency of manufacture or when the order volume outruns our small manufacturing capability, but you can bet that they will be better and more serviceable than any PC board you've ever seen in a guitar amplifier. I have been laying out PC boards for many, many years in my previous audio/video/medical engineering jobs, some of them being very complex multi-layer boards with traces/spaces as fine as 5 mils, some even using surface-mount components on both sides of the board, operating at frequencies from DC to the high MHz region, so I know all the ins and outs of proper PC board design and manufacture, and won't be at the mercy of an outside contract layout guy.

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      • #4
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        • #5
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