Rate the TUT's

[LeftyStrat]

I have Kevin's TUT1 and TUT3. Very satisfied with the purchase of both. I'm wanting to get another, and just wondered which in the series you guys liked other than the two I have.

TUT4 is especially interesting since it covers GMX which I'm very interested in, as well as alternate ways to get sag. It is pricey at $110.

Any comments on 5 and 6?

[bluesfendermanblues]

TUT6 covers among others
- Dumble circuit (not relevant if you've build one or two af these designs)
- and High Gain preamps. Soldano, Peavey etc. - very interesting IMO

[LeftyStrat]

TUT6 covers among others
- Dumble circuit (not relevant if you've build one or two af these designs)
- and High Gain preamps. Soldano, Peavey etc. - very interesting IMO

Thanks. I might get that next.

[gingertube]

I have all six TUTs
TUT 1 and 2 are intros to tube amps and cover mods to Fenders Marshalls etc and some basic design stuff. They are "starters". They assume that you know nothing and set out to fix that.

TUT3 has the "Icons" of Tone clone designs, build your own AC30, Plexi, Bassman, SVT etc.

TUT4 is more for the guy wanting to chase down power scaling etc.

TUT6 has a good section on high gain preamps. It covers Gmx (gm multiplier) etc. For those wondering what Gmx is, in practice it is basically adding one or more MOSFET slave device around a small power tube (eg EL84 or 6V6) to exactly copy its running current (or a multiple of its current) in order to scale its power output up to high power. It takes the gm of the small tube and multiplies it, thus (for example) you can get the
sound of push pull 6V6 at 100 or even 500 Watts.

TUT5 was handy for designs to build too. I built the "Standard" from this one. The "Standard" is where most of Kevin's ideas have been combined into one amp.
London Power Standard Preamp (2 Channel footswitched, separate tone stacks and volume + gain on lead chan), tube buffered effects loop, tube driven reverb and tube reverb recovery, triode pentode switching and cathode fixed bias switching and transformer coupled line out, SAG control etc.
Instead of a quad of 6L6 or EL34 for around 100W max I used a quad of 6V6G for 25 to 30W max. Full Power Scaling. This amp sounded stunning coupled with a Weber P12 Buldog Alnico in a loose tuned box (loose tuned is a fancy name for a box with cuttouts for 2 x 12" speakers but only one fitted). See below.

For your average hobbiest Joe (or Jill) wanting to learn a bit and maybe build his own amp then TUT3 and TUT5 are the go. Enough designs in there to keep you building for years.

I'm an EE in the day job so a little extra theory and maths does'nt bother me and for that I prefer Merlin Blencowe's "Designing Tube Preamps for Guitar and Bass" for preamp design stuff. Get the 2nd Edition. There is a very handy couple of pages on voicing your preamp which was'nt in the 1st edition.

Lefty,
I would go TUT5 next, TUT 4 and 6 cover more esoteric stuff.
Cheers,
Ian

[vibratoking]

I own TUT1 and TUT3, so I can't speak about the content in the others. KC covers a lot of information. A lot of it useful, some lacks important detail, and some of it is directly influenced by his heavy bias against many amp builders. Some of it is justified, think Gerald Weber, while some of it is not, think Marshall. Much of it is 'random' facts without any backup or real explanation. I often find KC's explanations lacking in foundational detail. His books are organized as ramblings of the top of his head with seemingly little forethought or planning. Finding topics is a PIA. I also don't like the references that point you to another book. Way too much huckstering for my taste. The cost doesn't match the quality at all! The books that I own look like they were written and printed in the stone age. Hand scrawled drawings and a Sears typewriter. Every time I consider another I remind myself that the first purpose of this series is to grab money. Conveying technical information ranks at least third. You can learn just as much and more here for free IMO. Merlin's stuff is great and so is Kuehnel's stuff. Both are well done, well written, and technically sound. Allowing beginner to intermediate electronics guys to learn and build a foundation. There is very little foundation in KC's stuff IMO.

Sorry for the derail...just trying to bring some perspective to those considering a purchase.

[LeftyStrat]

Thanks for all the info Ian. I think I will go TUT5 and then TUT6. I have the first edition of Merlins preamp book, looks like I need to grab the second edition also.

[LeftyStrat]

I own TUT1 and TUT3, so I can't speak about the content in the others. KC covers a lot of information. A lot of it useful, some lacks important detail, and some of it is directly influenced by his heavy bias against many amp builders. Some of it is justified, think Gerald Weber, while some of it is not, think Marshall. Much of it is 'random' facts without any backup or real explanation. I often find KC's explanations lacking in foundational detail. His books are organized as ramblings of the top of his head with seemingly little forethought or planning. Finding topics is a PIA. I also don't like the references that point you to another book. Way too much huckstering for my taste. The cost doesn't match the quality at all! The books that I own look like they were written and printed in the stone age. Hand scrawled drawings and a Sears typewriter. Every time I consider another I remind myself that the first purpose of this series is to grab money. Conveying technical information ranks at least third. You can learn just as much and more here for free IMO. Merlin's stuff is great and so is Kuehnel's stuff. Both are well done, well written, and technically sound. Allowing beginner to intermediate electronics guys to learn and build a foundation. There is very little foundation in KC's stuff IMO.

Sorry for the derail...just trying to bring some perspective to those considering a purchase.

Yeah, I do wish he would consider something other than hand drawings. I find them hard to follow. I haven't checked out Kuehnel, I will take a look.

Merlin's books have a very high info to cost ratio. I've read them multiple times and refer back to sections all the time.