New To Forum - Interested in learning the ropes of tube amps

[joel_ostrom]

Hey folks,

i'm new to the forum here, i'm sorta interested in learning the ins and outs of amps and electronics. I was directed here from the TDPRI (telecaster forum). Just thought i'd say hi. Any good advice for a young gun looking to sort of learn the ropes from scratch? any good links to some info pages? or possibly some advice on where to get started on learning?

Glad to join the forum
Cheers,
Joel

[selloutrr]

welcome,

read through the forum posts - lots of knowledge in the forum archives.

go to your local library and check out all the tube books in the dusty section.

tubesandmore.com also sells books.

read up and when you have an understanding of how tubes work.
buy a small kit amp like a fender champ (no a Trainwreck or dumble are not a good idea to be the first amp you build) but understanding how they work can be applied to any amplifier.
then if all goes well with the champ move on to another amp.

make sure you have the right tools and a healthy respect for and understanding of electricity before you go poking around and get hurt.

[flood]

hey there joel, welcome to these pages! i've been a member for a couple of years, and i can assure you that i had very little knowledge about tube amps before that. there is a LOT of information on these pages and practically every thread, old or new, contains something useful or something new.

to start from scratch, i would also head over to www.ax84.com and check out the info there. try looking for a simple amp with 2-3 tubes in kit form - kits are a great, hassle-free way to start.

either way, this is a very rewarding, and seriously addictive hobby you're looking at here i do have to ask though - how much theoretical and practical knowledge of electronic circuits do you have? certain basic skills, like soldering, understanding the behaviours, risks and dangers associated with high-voltage circuits etc. will be essential.

[joel_ostrom]

i do have to ask though - how much theoretical and practical knowledge of electronic circuits do you have? certain basic skills, like soldering, understanding the behaviours, risks and dangers associated with high-voltage circuits etc. will be essential.

Honestly, not a whole lot. Circuits and electronics i feel like i have a very minimal amount of knowledge, at least when it comes to active circuitry. I've done lots of soldering, albeit quite sloppily, on my guitars before. As for the dangers associated, i'm well aware that tinkering around inside amp chassis's can be very dangerous. What might i need to have as a tool for discharging stored voltages in things like resistors to make them safe to work with?

Thanks for the link and the advice, i might be a newbie but i love to learn.
Cheers!

[M Fowler]

Welcome Joel, I had recommended a few on TDPRI to come this way.

You need to be careful of the stored voltage in the large filter caps, they need to be drained before sticking your hand in an amp. Also, there can be 250v up to 600v in a typical amp and even higher in some cases.

What type of amp were you interested in the most?

Mark

[tubeswell]

Reading material

http://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... sc&start=0

[PCollen]

Hey folks,

i'm new to the forum here, i'm sorta interested in learning the ins and outs of amps and electronics. I was directed here from the TDPRI (telecaster forum). Just thought i'd say hi. Any good advice for a young gun looking to sort of learn the ropes from scratch? any good links to some info pages? or possibly some advice on where to get started on learning?

Glad to join the forum
Cheers,
Joel

Study the Fender Bassman 5F6-A circuit and you know a lot about the roots of most Fender and Marshall amp circuitry. Jim Marshall simply duplicated the Fender 5F6-A Bassman amp for his early amplifiers. This is considered Tube Amp 101:

http://www.pentodepress.com/home/classi ... n-summary/

http://www.drtube.com/schematics/fender ... ematic.gif

[David Root]

Welcome Joel. Once you get past the basics I highly recommend Designing Tube Pre Amps for Guitar and Bass by Merlin Blencowe.

I wish I'd had that book when I was starting out. Doesn't cover power amp design or operation, but for first stage thru phase inverter it is very good.

[MCK]

Welcome to the forum. This is one of the friendliest forums with amazing signal to noise ratio. I am much in the same place as you are, gradually learning as I go along.

Other than all suggested earlier, my humble suggestion is that you get the following book :

The Guitar Amp Handbook by Dave Hunter

No doubt there are many similar books perhaps even better ones. This one worked well for me since the author takes the time to explain things in a more or less layman's way and walks you through some circuits like the Fender Princeton and finally walks you through building a simple amp. I didn't build his example but generally I found it very useful.

Other books I would recommend are :

How to service your own tube amp - Tom Mitchell
Tube Amp Talk for the Guitarist & Tech - Gerald Weber

Good luck in your quest.

[selloutrr]

A Snuffer Stick can be used to discharge high voltage from filter caps. It has a 200K, 2 watt resistor in series with the nose probe and ground wire. It will safely discharge the high voltage supply within two to three seconds.

if you have an extra multi meter test lead you could cut the cable in half and solder in a resistor make sure you heat shrink it very well to insolate you from getting shocked. clip off the plug that would plug into the meter and solder on an alligator clip.

Clip the alligator clip to the chassis ( ground ) use the probe it's insolated and safe to hold, most are rated for 1000V. Touch the tip of the probe to the (+) positive side of the filter cap. shorting the stored voltage in the cap through the resistor to ground and making the amp safe to work on. Repeat for each capacitor. Meter DC Voltage on the caps before handling. HIGH VOLTAGE!!! DEATH!!!

[byobkim]

Jump in
Remember to discharge Caps
Wear shoes when working on amps
Keep your polarity straight

[Structo]

And wear pants when soldering damn-it!

[selloutrr]

don't forget to wash your hands

[morcey2]

And wear pants when soldering damn-it!

And shoes.

And a helmet.

[gearhead]

Honestly, not a whole lot. Circuits and electronics i feel like i have a very minimal amount of knowledge, at least when it comes to active circuitry.

A Gem of a source for Basic Electronics (and Tubes too!) is a series done by the United States Navy, the Navy Electricity & Electronics Training Series (NEETS).

Purpose is to get folks who don't know electronics up to speed in an understandable format.

Free: http://www.phy.davidson.edu/instrumentation/NEETS.htm

Suggest modules 1, 2, and then 6.