Books/ Courses / Etc

[verbity]

My buddy and I are thinking about opening a repair shop soon. He's pretty proficient at repairs but I wanted to know if anyone had any good book titles or online courses or something so I could get up to speed with him....cause right now I'm just the money!!

[bulldogguitars]

You might try Tom Mitchells book " How to service your own tube amp". It is a book and video set. Or maybe Aspen Pittmans " The tube amp book". Theres a couple for starters.

[Enzo]

Geez, I am writing exactly the book you want - all about running a repair bench. But who knows how long it will take to see it in print. For now a couple three ring binders full of notes is what it looks like. I try to watch myself as I work - Hmmm, this needs to get covered in the book... scribble scribble.

I think Kevin O'Connors books are interesting. I thikn Gerald Webers books are interesting, but be ready to discount about 10% of it as BS. And he doesn't discuss theory at all, just change this part and that part and now it will do this or that.

Get a copy of RCA tube manual RC-30 - available from most any place that sells tube amp books. There are chapters in there about how tubes work, not to mention the specs on most tubes you will use.

[Euthymia]

Dave Funk's Tube Amp Workbook is good for Fenders. His stage-by-stage walkthrough is indispensable.

The aforementioned Tom Mitchell book is useful.

Tino Zottola's Vacuum Tube Guitar and Bass Amplifier Servicing is useful.

Jack Darr's Guitar Amplifier Handbook is a classic (he covers solid state as well as tube, which no other guitar amp repair book does), and blessedly back in print. The newly-reprinted edition has many impossible-to-find-elsewhere schematics.

For getting into design, the Kevin O'Connor The Ultimate Tone books are essential.

The very first amp-specific book I recommend, though, is Dave Hunter's relatively recent The Guitar Amp Handbook (not to be confused with Jack Darr's book). Gives the best overview on the subject of tube amp electronics in general, not just repair. His debunking of the gibberish around "Class A tone" (specifically as it relates to Vox AC30's and their offspring) is masterful.

Be sure to check out The Tone Lizard web site. Good test gear techniques and lore.