New and in need of guidance

[mbutler]

I'm am interested in learning more about how tube amps work. I've been playing for 20 years, understand signal flow well, and am very good with a soldering iron. I have a basic knowledge of electronics (I know the difference between a resistor and a capacitor) but have no idea about things like plate voltage and phase inverters. I would like to know the various parts of a tube amp and what they do, from the input jack to the speaker out and everything along the way, and the difference between the various designs (Fender tweed vs. blackface vs. Marshall, etc) but I don't know where to start. Can anyone reccomend a good book or website to get me started? Thanks in advance!
Mike

[chipaudette]

Hey,

This article explains so much about the standard guitar amp architecture. It's really good.

http://www.tone-lizard.com/Mods_and_Odds.htm


Chip

[mbutler]

Thanks! Hey, I see you are from Vermont. I grew up in Brattleboro. Small world.

[macwanj]

Hi,

Check out boozhound labs' introduction to a simple SE amp. Some of these ideas apply to almost all tube map design such as setting a bias point using loadlines etc.

http://boozhoundlabs.com/howto/

Max Robinson's site is also a great place for starters especially his article on power supply design:

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/

And finally if you reeally want to learn a lot then go ahead and purchase Morgan Jones' Valve Amplifiers; its a great book that starts with the basics and then goes into great detail.

This is pretty much how I started out; boozhound labs, fun with tubes and then the book...

hope this helps and for more learning check out this link:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...threadid=38278

Cheers!

[macwanj]

Also check out the tech info on aikenamps.com for great articles on phase splitters, biasing, classes of amplifiers

[stokes]

Jack Darrs Book is also a good reference and can be found here www.pacificrecone.com/JackDarrBook.html

[Joe Bee]

Derfinitely check out www.valvevizard.co.uk too, it has a wealth of article decribing every part of a tube amp.

[chipaudette]

Hey Macwanj,

I'm currently in Springfield. Are you still in Vermont?

Chip

[macwanj]

Hey Chip,

No, I'm from the northwest; Walla Walla is 4 hours south of Seattle on the border of Washington and Oregon....

[chipaudette]

Sorry, macwanj, I addressed the wrong guy. Let's try this again...

Hey mbutler, you still in Vermont?

Chip

[gypsydanger]

Good resources

If you want more information than you'll ever need, go to www.londonpower.com and check out Kevin O'Connor's TUT series. He starts from the basics all the way to advanced custom building. He's very opinionated about things and some may disagree with some of his methods but nevertheless it's the best resource bar none I have found. It's good to get multiple resources because everyone explains things a bit differently and that can sometimes be the difference between confusion and understanding...