The Amp Garage

...And its all in his book too, for anyone wondering.

VacuumVoodoo wrote:There are other ways, and cheaper than a switch, to prevent grid-cathode arcing in a tube direct coupled...

So you're saying you need a diode or you need a switch...

1) ...a Standby switch is very useful for working on an amp, or repairing one... Yes! 2) ...Sorry, but thats a myth. ...So again, there is no technical benefit from using a standby-switch. You're assuming a low potential on the grid. A stand-by switch can be beneficial - or even necessary - on a tub...

The Ultimate Tone, Volume 3, by Kevin O'Connor

I've received one shock while working on an amp. I had an alligator-clip type jumper securely connected to each end of a (10k) resistor, and was holding the free ends of the jumpers - one in each hand. Applying the free ends across some filter caps to discharge them, I got a pretty good jolt through...

-The Ultimate Tone (TUT), Volume 3, by Keving O'Connor
-Designing Tube Preamps for Guitar and Bass, by Merlin Blencowe

Don't doubt yourself. I can really understand your hesitation to accept your "cold" biasing of the first stage, because you rarely see people do it! We hear people refer to stages biased closer to cutoff as sounding "cold", implying inferior tone. Don't believe it! Trust your ears. My ears like "col...

To see where the "attack-splat" begins, tap and send the signal after each of your stages to a different (clean) amp. If, by chance, you've mistakenly installed a cathode resistor value that is too large or a plate resistor value that is too small, you could get a splat attack from a preamp stage th...

Do you have any THD images saved of some some other type stages that you care to share? Any kind of stage would be great - a typical stage (Ra=100k, Rk=1k5), an atypical stage, anything...

Thanks for sharing the cool images on the Garnet stage!

Do you have any THD images saved of some some other type stages that you care to share? Any kind of stage would be great - a typical stage (Ra=100k, Rk=1k5), an atypical stage, anything...

Thanks for sharing the cool images on the Garnet stage!

I'll try to throw out some more comments, based only on the schematic posted here. The intent of the attenuation of the bass at the very front, I believe, would be to lessen the build of harmonics in the bass frequencies. Rather than sounding "lifeless", the bass could then sound defined and clear. ...

Why? What's the point? what does this achieve? I like it, but I want to understand it more? What are the reasons for it? Is this a HiFi transformer spec? Is the volume drop compared to say 3.5k Marshall OT the only reason? etc.. etc.. real tech answers if possible. Thanks guys! A great technical re...

Isn't the key word here "damping"?

Fischerman: I'm trying to resurrect your old post... Did you ever fix your distortion problem? I have a great sounding amp, but it has a very harsh attack. When I heard you describe your problem, I wondered if it was the same as mine. As far as mine goes, it sounds great other than that initial "spl...

This was for my 'Wreck-ish style home build guitar amp. I play blues/rock mostly... I gotta believe this sound characteristic - the touch response or compression - is something most players would prefer, guitar players and bass players alike. I would describe this compression as a good compression -...