Books

[Weez]

I've got a decent collection of publications, mostly PDFs, of a broad range of subjects from effects and amps to old RCA manuals.

I'm currently working my way through an electronics fundamentals (circuits, design, applications) textbook, which is very good. O' Connor's TUT Vol. 3 is on its way, and I'll likely pick up Vol. 1 soon.

I've been eying Merlin's design books, too, but are there any other specific books you guys can recommend?

[Enzo]

The RCA manual is a great book, over the years I have worn out a pile of them. They stopped issuing them about 40 years ago, but prior to that, they came out each year. I used to buy one every couple years. Not only the tube data, but some great tutorial pages. I learned my electronics from the RCA manual and the ARRL Radio Amateurs Handbook. I was learning in the 1950s and early 1960s. The ARRL book comes out yearly also, so modern ones are great but say little about tubes. A 1957 edition will have darn little to say about transistors. 1962 was a good year, for whatever reason it was my favorite issue, and I have a bunch of years. No guitar amps in there though.

The TUTs are good, and Merlins books are also very good.

Can't hurt to read The Art of Electronics

But i also have to say that there is a limit to how much you can absorb just reading. Imagine trying to learn guitar or golf by just reading. You can read all you want, but then pick up a guitar and find out you can't play from reading. Or swinging a club, you might know all the tips and techniques, but you won;t have the skill. SO spend at least the same amount of time actually doing something in an amp. It puts everything into a real world context. You gotta do the wax on, wax off part.

Electronics is electronics, and circuits work the way they work. I may recommend ten different books to someone, not because i want them to read all ten, but I want them to find one that uses an approach that works for the reader. Every book has its own way of explaining things, and one book speaks to one reqader while a different book works for someone else.


Gerald Weber has several books, and I admit they are interesting, I own them. But to learn anything, look elsewhere. Not much other than fender stuff, which could be OK, but all the modifications are described like move this here, change that part to this, and so on. You will know how to change one model into something else, but there will be no discussion of why it works or what the changes were in terms of the circuit.. It is just instructions your mom could follow. PLus about 10% of it is baloney,m and you need to be able to know what parts are that. SO save them for later.

[diydidi]

Best book I know of, is the internet.

[eschertron]

Best book I know of, is the internet.

"it was the best of books, it was the worst of books" - Junior Chaucer

+1 to what's been said above. I started as a hobbyist in the 70s, so learned most of my theory from transistors. While the internet provides a lot of information, beware that much more than 10% of the stuff found on the internet is likely to be BS. It's still a good place to start, and sites other than discussion boards (I'm thinking the TubeCad Journal and Henry Pasternak's pages as examples) can give you some basic theory. Also find the data sheets for any and all valves that you're interested in. they will help when the discussion turns to load lines, transconductance, and such. I have recently started through Merlin's Preamp book, and it is cementing the basic concepts that I've been learning, but also taking me to the next level of understanding.

Oh! And yes, if you don't have an amp (or one that you can tweak on), get an old (or new) transformer and test the resistances and impedances. Simple experiments will help get that "theory-to-practice" connection running smoothly. And after you have a tranny that you understand and know primaries from secondaries, get a fuse block, properly sized fuse (another theory-to-practice exercise) and you have the start of a laboratory test bench! 'Course I have to warn you after telling you to play with potentially lethal voltages: read about and understand the cautions and electrical safety practices that the authors invoke while you're reading up on all that other stuff!

[Steve Conner]

I guess so, though Enzo's warning about baloney is extra relevant.

[Weez]

Oh yes, the sleeves are going to be rolled up soon...very soon, I can promise you that. Parts should be making their way to me within the next few days. The first projects are an o.d. pedal, a compressor, and a simple Champ-style amp.

Right now the only tube amp I own is my Mesa. I've come up short looking for practice specimens locally. There was a guy near the city who had a craigslist ad stating he was closing his repair shop and getting out of the biz. Various models (mostly Fender) in various states of (dis)repair for 15-50 bucks. I sent him three messages and never got a reply...now the ad is gone. Who knows, could've just been some jerk trying to peddle some stolen goods...

I'm gonna open up the Mesa this weekend and (attempt to) draw the schematic, should make for some good practice.

[Enzo]

Or could have been some jerk who posted an ad and got 20 phone calls the first ten minutes and didn't want to deal with it anymore, the stuff being gone now.

[Weez]

Yep, could've been any number of situations. But the one thing he wasn't was courteous. One of my pet peeves...maybe it's a character flaw of mine, I dunno.

Only takes a few seconds to either: delete the ad, edit the ad, or send a quick text like "Sry, all gone".

[T9c]

As books can get quite expensive, I might suggest used bookstores and websites. I buy electronics books from thrift books.com a lot for pennies on the dollar. Nothing is better than hands on too, so you might think about building a simple amp. Even a chip amp will bolster your knowledge and confidence pretty quickly. Try diyaudio.com for examples and guidance. Also get a cheap breadboard and build something with it. You could even DIY a decent dc bench supply for starters. A few books I've bought from thrift books are Electronics Troubleshooting by Olesky, Basic Electronics Theory With Projects & Experiments by Horn and of course The Art of Electronics by Hill& Horowitz, mentioned by Enzo.

[eschertron]

Don't forget the library! Sometimes they'll part with old old books dealing with (in their estimation) obsolete or under-demanded topics at sales or in their outlet shop, if they have them. Also, I still have the reprints of Craig Anderton's 'Technotes' that were used as class text back in the early eighties. Knowledge is where you find it.

...and BTW, Merlin's preamp book, only weeks old, is now dog-eared and well marked in the margins already.

[bbsailor]

I've got a decent collection of publications, mostly PDFs, of a broad range of subjects from effects and amps to old RCA manuals.

I'm currently working my way through an electronics fundamentals (circuits, design, applications) textbook, which is very good. O' Connor's TUT Vol. 3 is on its way, and I'll likely pick up Vol. 1 soon.

I've been eying Merlin's design books, too, but are there any other specific books you guys can recommend?

Try this web link for a good source of tube-based online books.
Pete Millett's DIY Audio pages

[Weez]

Cool, thanks guys...I appreciate the suggestions.