Ampeg b12n schematic 25 watt 112 guitar piggyback portaflex design. If your amp doesnt make guitar sounds at startup check those first. It shapes the tone and often adds distortion that can enhance the sound you want to create. Sep 12, 20 check with the manufacturer first to see if your amp is a cathode bias design. Complete guide to vintage tube amplifiers volume 1 fender. Profusely illustrated, the book uses graphic aides and basic algebra and scientific principles to teach you everything you need to know to fully understand tube guitar amp. Ampeg a120 schematic 120 watt rms rack mount power amp. Thats why sweetwaters own tube amp expert, greg bowers, decided to clear things up and end the debate once and for all. Some of this material is general and applies as much to hifi circuits as to guitar amps, but some of it is very. Book for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading inside tube amps. Good reference book for explaining tubes, and how tube amps work, plus it covers lots of tubes amps that are available. Merlins designing tube preamps for guitar and bass. Half the book is a bio of nearly every amp company in history. If you order from lulu, use the code turkey at checkout for a 10% discount. Beside that, el34, el84, and 12ax7 vacuum tubes are used in many practical examples, to design the various parts of the circuits and to. How to build 6v6 boutique tube guitar amp start to finish homebrew kit duration. Secrets of the fender deluxe reverb the best fender amp. The intention of this book is to show the world in as simple manner as possible how tubes work and how to use them for amplifiers. Tube combo guitar amplifiers 220 tube guitar amplifier cabinets 4 tube guitar amplifier heads 2 tube guitar amplifier stacks 27 tube guitar power amplifiers 3 tube guitar power attenuators 1 tube guitar preamps tube mini guitar amplifiers 2 search refinement options. The second is a low voltage audio amplifier njm386d lm386, which can be found. The design, modification and repair manual for vacuum tube guitar. The tube amp book deluxe revised edition book and disk. When doing wiring work on the tone and volume control section in the guitar, please make sure that the guitar cable is not connected to the.
When buying a set of power tubes for your amp, i recommend buying two sets that are matched to the same specif you can afford it. Load line analysis was used to determine the behavior of this stage. Along with guitar amplifier handbook by dave hunter it will help making a decision twords choosing an amplifier for sure but it may make you want to break the bank and buy a collectors item. The other half of the book are a series of articles taken from guitar magazines or drafted. Here weve listed our collection of guitar amplifier schematics. Tube amp design wikibooks, open books for an open world. Tube guitar amplifiers handmade in the usa jmp guitars amps. I started out with the previously mentioned dave hunter bookthe guitar amp handbookas well as tom mitchells how to service your own tube amp. Books, calculators, and tutorials for guitar amplifier circuit design. Designing tube preamps for guitar and bass, 2nd edition. It is intended as a companion to design and construction of guitar and bass speaker systems, also available here. Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers by. Mar 15, 2014 how to build 6v6 boutique tube guitar amp start to finish homebrew kit duration.
It is relatively easy to find introductory information on how to design simple amplifier stages, and it is also fairly easy to find extremely advanced information on complex circuit design, and nearly all of it is. The internet continues to make it easier to find books and parts to help you build your own boutique quality guitar amp. Detailed circuit analysis of several classic fender amps. Jul 30, 2018 more than you ever thought you wanted to know about the blackface and silverface fender deluxe reverb amp. No i am not affiliated with these people just helping builders. The tweed bassman model 5f6a is the amp that brought many players back to the sonic glories of vintage, nonmastervolume tube circuits. Designing tube preamps for guitar and bass merlin blencowe. The choice of a driver tube is the 12ax7 which is a common small signal tube. Fundamentals of amplification this chapter deals with the design and analysis of the basic triode gain stage, which is the main building block of a valve preamp. Another good one that is fenderfocused is dave funks tube amp workbook. The other half of the book are a series of articles taken from guitar magazines or. It is here that the designer gets a first crack at setting the amps gain, frequency response, and distortion limits.
There are two kits, or amp modules, id recommend for making your first cigar box amp. The design, modification and repair manual for vacuum tube guitar amplifiers kindle edition by torres, dan, torres, dan, strong, robert w download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Dave hunter has made a career out of explaining the relationships between guitars and amp tone, and the technology that creates it. This is another excellent book, a companion to the preamp book listed above. Basic theory a 21stcentury approach to understanding preamp, power amp, and power supply design. Its a good practical guide to the design of amplifiers, with many example schematics using the gec and mullard valves of the time. The 6l6 was an americandesigned tube to circumvent the patent philips held for their pentode design. Circuit simulation a deep dive into spice tube amp modeling. Written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers provides a complete yet easytounderstand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps. How to design valve guitar amplifiers the valve wizard. From the input to the phase inverter this book discusses in detail the inner workings and practical design of every part of a conventional guitar preamp, including the use of triodes, pentodes, tone controls, effects loops and much more. It is intended as a companion to design and construction of guitar and bass speaker systems. Jan 17, 2017 the tube amp book by aspen pittman if you read this whole article, you probably already own this book.
The design, modification and repair manual for vacuum tube guitar amplifiers kindle edition by torres, dan, torres, dan, strong, robert w. It remains one of the most emulated designs on the boutique scene, while, at the other end of the spectrum, is still a popular diy kit for players looking to sniff a little solder for themselves. The myth about the lowly standby switch on guitar amplifiers has gone on since they first came on the scene in the 1950s, so no. If you have not been trained to work with high voltage then have an amp technician service your amp. The book begins with the fundamentals of electronics and vacuum tubes. Building your own guitar amp is a rewarding pastime, but learning how to do it can be time consuming and frustrating sometimes. Sep 19, 2019 the 6l6 was an americandesigned tube to circumvent the patent philips held for their pentode design. A bibliography of must have tube electronics books aiken amps.
Its a longstanding debate about what the standby switches on fender amps are used for. For solid state guitar amplifiers, the preamp is probably the single most important part. Or use circuits not normally associated with guitar amps, like cascode circuits often used in audio amps. The other half has nearly 800 schematics for common amplifiers for research. The science of electric guitars and guitar electronics. Check with the manufacturer first to see if your amp is a cathode bias design. Most amps will need to be biased by a qualified amp technician when retubing. Tube guitar amplifier heads 212 search refinement options.
This book, in print from 2008 until 2020, has been updated, expanded, reorganized, and replaced by guitar amplifier electronics. How to layout and build a guitar amplifier chassis. This uk book is one of a series on the technique of sound reproduction. It thus has three electrodes where two of them called anode and cathode reflects the diode function of the tube according to svwp. This is the book that jumpstarted the boutique tube guitar amp business. Design of the driver stage is concerned with voltage amplification as well as linearity in order to provide the output section with a strong and relatively clean signal. Features online access to 800 available schematic and layout diagrams, from ampeg to. Back in the 1940s 50s there were no books or schools for making guitar amplifiers.
The chai 18 combo is a sweet amp with shimmering reverb and classic touchsensitive tone. This book presents vacuum tube amplifier theory using modern, webbased design tools and computer visualizations to eliminate the usual litany of mathematical formulas. Following is a list of must have books for the serious tube amplifier designer. It then proceeds through each stage of a modern guitar amplifier, including preamp voltage amplification. Never touch the amplifier chassis with one hand while probing with the other hand because a lethal shock can run between your arms through your heart. Cliff jacks are isolated from the chassis and must be grounded via a ground wire. Written for electronic engineers and professional amp builders. More than you ever thought you wanted to know about the blackface and silverface fender deluxe reverb amp.
Ampeg b12x schematic 25 watt 112 guitar piggyback portaflex design. The quickest way to get acquainted with the parts and standard layout techniques used in tube amp building is to build an amp kit. Due to better availability in the usa albeit under various pseudonyms, for example 5881 many american amp builders used this tube for their amps. Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers book for sale. It is the user interface for the amp, giving a wide range of control over how the amp will sound.
This is my favorite tube amp book, merlin blencowes, designing tube preamps for guitar and bass, 2nd edition. Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers book ebay. Design and build your own tube guitar amp guitarsite. The amp that started it all, the fender bassman was loaded with a duet of of 5881s. In this video, well do a complete general service and overview of a pristine example of. If your amp has problems see the tube amp troubleshooting guide. Everything is here from building your own class a amp from scratch to sorting. Chances are, youll want to plug it in and annoy your neighbors.
We all love the sound of vacuum tubes for guitars, bass, electric piano, vocals. Product title vox ac10c1 custom 1x10 tube guitar combo amp average rating. His 2nd book on power supply design for guitar amps. An indepth understanding of preamp circuits is essential to creating a guitar amplifier design that stands out from the crowd. Great book for a reasonably short introduction to tube amp design for the nonengineer. How to build a tube amplifier rob robinettes car and tube. Inside tube amps is clearly written in a musician friendly style. Classic british 18w tube guitar amp kit 1x12 combo. It deals with guitar amplifier power amp designs from an engineering standpoint, and contains derivations of formulas for all phases of power amplifier design. There is something about the glow of hot glass and the imposing sight of weighty iron through the grille that seems to sum up so much of whats cool about the electric guitar. A guide to basic tube amp maintenance guitar world. The tube amp book by aspen pittman if you read this whole article, you probably already own this book. A bibliography of must have tube electronics books. If you need a guitar amp schematic for your amp repair that is not listed here, contact us and well try to locate it.
Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers robert c. Vacuum tube calculators basic theory using 21stcentury technology to design vacuum tube preamps, power amps, and power supplies system design a professional methodology for crafting a complete guitar amplifier. Some of them are long out of print, and can only be obtained from used book sellers, although they are occasionally seen for sale on the internet. The design, modification and repair manual for vacuum tube guitar amplifiers. Sep 01, 2009 written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers provides a complete yet easytounderstand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps. The physical function of the tube the most common tube type in audio amplifiers regardless if it is in power stages or in pre amplifiers is the socalled triode svwp. Books about guitar amplifier electronics usually focus on individual circuits. This guide discusses all relevant aspects for an integrated pushpull vacuum tube amplifier design, including the power supply unit. Singleended classa tube amplifier design and construction. Designing tube preamps for guitar and bass is the most comprehensive guide to the design of tubebased preamplifiers for musical instrument use, in a single volume. Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers by robert c.
Obviously, the heater power requirements are practically identical. If youre interested in understanding, designing, or building greatsounding amplifiers and speaker systems, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers and design and construction of guitar and bass speaker systems contain the information you need. He has authored or coauthored dozens of books on guitar topics, columns in guitar player and vintage guitar magazines, and is considered a top authority on amps and effects. It is a complete manual on tube driven guitar amplifiers and covers design, modification, troubleshooting, and repairs. Most guitarists are fairly fanatical about the tube amp.