Amp building Book

[leeh]

Hello

I have been searching the web for a book that covers everything about building your own amp from Scratch, there are loads out there, you find what you think is the book for you, you do some research start looking through web forums and reviews on the book only to find the book is not what you want, you read things like, (if you think you can use this book to build a guitar amp forget it!) or you go on web forums and you get forum members saying they have read half a dozen books, but they don't ever come up with one single book that stands on it's own, that gives them All the information you would need to build your own Amp

Is there Actually a book out there that you can read/study and actually Build up a Guitar Amp, or as I am starting to come to the conclusion that these people who write these books do not want the home builder building his own Amp

thanks
lee

[tubeswell]

Many books on this subject. Reading material on steroids!

[Enzo]

It sounds to me more like you want the instruction book from a kit, rather than a text. Any book that purports to be a step by step on how to build and amp will necessarily have to pick a particular amp to build. SO books have to generalize. Imagine a cook book without recipes. I think a recipe is what you are looking for.

You can buy a kit, and follow the directions, and learn zero about how amps work. All you need to know is how to solder and how to use tools. But to do any more than blindly assemble it, you need to have some understanding of how it works, how electronics works. And that is what a lot of books try to do. Even experienced builders make mistakes or have problems, and without at least some basic understanding of what you are doing, how would you correct that?

A kit might be the perfect start for you. But there are sites like AX84.com that cover projects that MANY people have built successfully, and the discussions cover most things you need.


At each step in building an amp, you have to make decisions. What kind of amp? How much power? head or combo? Once you select a project, then you have to have the parts. You will need a chassis - the metal box it lives in - so are you planning to make one from sheet metal? or buy one already punched and bent? A book would have to cover both paths. DO you expect the book to include the wooden cabinet? Bought or made from boards? Again, more paths to cover. SOme kits have printed circuit boards. You could buy a board, or chose turret boards or eyelet boards or even true point to point wiring. More divergent paths. This is going to be a REAL thick book. You will need to chose transformers. Want to chose your own, then you need to learn how. Want to just use someone else's recommendation, OK< got to find a source. And on it goes, you will need to have a schematic - design your own, or clone a succesful design. From that, a parts list, and so you need to source all the caps and resistors and tube sockets and volume controls and fuse holders, etc etc.

I'll stop. All that is why there are not many books that completely cover building an amp. Not unless you find the building instructions for some particular amp.

[Resonator Guy]

Dave Hunter's book " Guitar Amplifier Handbook - Understanding Tube Amplifiers " has a pretty good chapter on how to build a specific amp. His writing is understandable and I would think this would enable you to build AN amp.

[GregS]

Kevin O'Connor's "The Ultimate Tone 3" is a good book for information on how to build tube amps from scratch. It has a lot of general information that applies to any build such as layout, wiring, grounding etc. In addition it has many amp projects with schematics, wiring diagrams, and layout diagrams. It has been a very useful book for me and I have scratch built many very successful amps including original designs from information in this book.

If you have at least a basic level understanding of electronics, know how to solder and prepare wire, and have basic building skills you can scratch build a very good tube amp from information in this book. I highly recommend it.

[leeh]

Hello
Thanks everyone for your replies, it's most appreciated

I think the book that I would of gone for is Kevin O'Connor's "The Ultimate Tone 3, that GregS said about, until I worked the price out to get it over here to me in the UK , getting on for a £100, I just cant justify that, So I have decided on making a kit from here in the uk Amp Maker: Guitar amp kits and parts, this person has good reviews from what I see and hear
I would like to mention so to let you know I am not a complete novice/newbie, I have built a few Electric Glass/ceramic Kiln, Electric Guitars, Alcohol stills and electric heating element power Controllers and lots of other things, all from very much the bottom up,
Thanks
lee

[Zozobra]

Barry at ampmaker is a stand up chap. I've used his transformers before and they are of high quality. His instructions look to be of good quality too.

[leeh]

I email him, he said he will have the 18-18-w vintage plex1 kit up for sale soon, but don't know when, sure this is exactly what I am looking for, in the meantime I decided to buy a book and study all the heavy stuff about building amps

lee

[eschertron]

I email him, he said he will have the 18-18-w vintage plex1 kit up for sale soon, but don't know when, sure this is exactly what I am looking for, in the meantime I decided to buy a book and study all the heavy stuff about building amps

lee

Sounds like you're on a good path. Keep us all posted on your progress!

[big_teee]

You can build a amp without any books.
Just start looking at Layouts, Schematics, and all the parts suppliers.
Lik Enzo said, just start making decisions on types, power, and layouts.
All the kit builders have layout plans.
CeriaTone.Com - DIY Guitar Tube Amp
Weber Amplifier Kits
Triode USA Tube Amp Kits Transformers Tubes Dynaco Upgrades and Parts
Vintage Amplifier Kits - Mojotone.com
For amp Tech info I use the Merlin site.
How to design valve guitar amplifiers
For Parts I use these.
Amp Parts - Mojotone.com
Welcome to TubeDepot.com!
Antique Electronic Supply
Good Luck,
T

[defaced]

I posted a large reference thread on a different forum. There might be something in there of interest to you: Build Your Own Clone Message Board ? View topic - Tube Related Books, Sites, Forums, and Parts Sources

[Jim Thomas]

Dave Hunter's book is A+. I used it and the Weber kit for his 2-stroke amp (the Maggie) and have a great, very flexible 8-10 watt amp.

The Weber kit-building forum is a great source of amp information with a very competent group of gear heads. You don't have to buy a Weber lit to benefit from the forum or to build your first amp. That said, the Weber kits are a good place to start. On rthe Weber webpage, each kit has its schematic and layout, and there is a file that has all of the parts for each kit. The denizens of the Weber forum don't limit themselves to the Weber kits. Best wishes.

[leeh]

This is great! thanks everyone for posting.
I do like the looks of the weber site/kits

Many thanks for being so helpful
lee

[J M Fahey]

Chiming in to suggest a good reading about the AX84 site .... and rereading .... and rereading

Then gety whatever's needed to build the basic one (i.e. do not start by the highest gain one or with most options), you want to *successfully* build a nice working amp.

You can add as many frills as you wish later.

FWIW in 1969 I bought JackDarr's Guitar Amplifier Book (there is a downloadable excerpt , google and read it) , it carries a lot of schematics (not available in the downloadable section) and I built the simplest "good" one; a Gibson GA5, their version of Fender's Champ and very similar to te simplest AX84.
As you say, I do what I preach

Here's the schematic , drawn in the "old" style (not quite clear formus):


"Modern" redrawn:


"But it's a crummy single knob amplifier !!!! "
You'd be surprised at its versatility :
Gibson GA-5 Les Paul Jr. Amp Demo with Plexi GA-5 Shootout -Gibson Goldtone- - YouTube

From there on, the sky is the limit .... literally.

But, besides *building* them, get the "theory" books too, you need the full background.

[Enzo]

ARRRRRGGHHHH... those darn Joe Piazza drawings. Always manages to include a couple mistakes, like the unidentified volume control or changing the power tube bypass cap. But most infuriatingly, he always omits the part numbers, so we cannot refer to R3, R6, or R11, we must then describe each. On a small amp like this, we can deal, but when you are looking for an Ampeg V4 or something...