Recommended reading...

[FunkyE9th]

Hi all,

Newbie here. Been trying to learn about amps, so that I can maintain/repair/mod my amps (i.e. Reverends and Valve Junior). Do you guys have any recommended books for guitar amp design/buidling/repair/maintenance/mods? I was thinking of getting the Ultimate Tone Vol I and II. Any thoughts on these books or any other?

Thanks,

-FunkyE9th

[Firestorm]

Howdy,
Pretty new here myself. I've got a ton of amp and tube books; some I still use all the time; some have served their purpose.
KO'Cs TUT books are pretty cool: TUT1 has some "introductory" info that will still leave you scratching your head, plus a lot of info on using solid-state devices if you go in for that sort of heresy. Somehow, I never got TUT2, but TUT3 is neat because it's all observations on improving "iconic" amps. There's also a little TUT volume on building your own speaker cabs.
I think the best "how does it work" book is Dave Funk's Workbook, even though it's almost entirely about Fenders. O'Connor and Funk both take a couple of potshots at Gerald Weber, who is another mostly-Fender guy. I like Gerald (and even have all of his books), but these don't tell much about the "why," just the "how." There are also quite a few "questionable" suggestions, to put it politely. Dan Torres' much-maligned book actually has a lot of decent info on how things go together and a little bit of why, but you have to ignore all of his little tables on tube gain and frequency response 'cause they ain't right. The bias tables are essentially right, but only useful if you can't figure out how to mutiply voltage times current.
If you want to jump off the deep end, get the N.E.E.T.S. course. You actually have to be IN the military to get it directly from the Navy, but you can order a CD from www.militarymanuals.com
Also check out the "tech info" on www.aikenamps.com
And get a tube manual.
Cheers
DK

[Structo]

If you don't have any background in electronics you should maybe get a book on basic electronic theory.
It will answer the basic questions like:
What is current?
What is resistance?
What is capacitance?
Etc.
Can't recommend one but a good library should carry some to check out and when you find one that speaks to you go online and buy it.

I have several tube amp books but they all pretty much take it for granted that you have the basics down already.

Gerald Weber's Tube Guitar Amplifier Essentials.
Dave Hunter's The Guitar Amp Handbook
Aspen Pittman's The Tube Amp Book
Dave Funk's Tube Amp Workbook
Kevin OConner's TUT books are a bit technical but good.

[briane]

Depends what you are looking for.

I would suggest tut 3 or 5 for more detailed info. I dont have 1 or 2, but the writeups look so hokey I could not justify the dollars. That said they may be good for beginners, but nothing you probably wont learn on your first build or 2.

Theres no substitute for experience and reading ALL(!) of the forum.

Also the mullard design handbook is really great, but more of how to than why (and you need to love your ef86).

Weber has some nice starting out books too.

[FunkyE9th]

I probably should have mentioned... I have an electrical engineering background, so I know some basic electronics. However, they were not teaching tubes when I went to college. Anyway, technical books are good as long as it's backed up by something practical and I don't have to prove/derive an equation.

BTW, I have read the NEETS introduction to tubes (i.e. module 6). Actually the NEETS modules are available online for free. I found it to be a very, very good introduction. And it's good at getting me started on answering the "whys". However, IMO the NEETS is more geared to troubleshooting an existing design. I wanna learn more about the "whys". For example, some questions in my head....

-If I'm doing a SE design with an EL84, why do I need an OT with 5K primary impedance?

-Why does everyone keep saying you get better bass with a bigger OT? If I have a smaller OT with same freq response as the bigger OT, and meets my power requirements, will I really get better bass if I go bigger. If so, why?

BTW, I like the Aiken site. I was lurking at the aiken site. That's one of the reasons I was considering getting the Ultimate Tone books. Aiken says if you only get one book, get TUT.

Thanks to all the input so far...

Oh and if you know the answers to the above questions please let me know...

-FunkyE9th

[gearhead]

I'm no expert and for the life of me can't find the source this second, but transformer output effeciency (EMF) is frequency dependent (higher=more effecient). A "smaller" transformer will put out full power, but less in the lower frequencies. The idea is to not limit your frequency response because of the transformer, but shape the frequency output by circuit design.

[Structo]

I copied this but it says it well enough.

Lower frequencies lead to saturation of the core.
The more iron there is in the output transformer, the fuller the amp sounds. The extra iron in the core of the transformer will allow the transformer to continue outputting in a linear manner at slightly higher volumes before the plate current draw from the output tubes causes it to saturate.
When it happens the amp starts to sound thin and compressed. Having a larger output transformer in a amp should cause the amp to sound fuller, provide more note definition and compress a bit less.

[FunkyE9th]

Thanks! That helps a lot, but leads to more questions...

If a newbie like me goes to tubesandmore.com and looks at the specs for the Hammond 125CSE, 125DSE and 125ESE, they all show +/- 1 dB from 100Hz to 15KHz. So that would tell me that they have the very similar performance provided I use them within their power spec. So why would I get better bass response with the 125ESE? The only thing I can think of is they have very different saturation characteristics below 100Hz. I guess I was assuming they rolled off the same way below 100Hz.

-FunkyE9th

[oldhousescott]

Lots of good stuff online here:

http://www.pmillett.com/tecnical_books_online.htm

Should keep a person busy for a while....

[Lonely Raven]

Thanks for that link! I'm downloading some books.


Funky, don't forget that different metal compositions in the steel laminates can effect the magnetic fields and how the transformer functions.

I didn't look at those parts you mentioned, but if they are the same size but offer different output specs, I'm betting they are different metal compositions.

[FunkyE9th]

Hmm...That's interesting here's a slightly different link to the books... http://www.pmillett.com/technical_books_online.htm Slightly different content.

Also here's a link to the NEETS modules... http://www.phy.davidson.edu/instrumentation/NEETS.htm

[FunkyE9th]

I didn't look at those parts you mentioned, but if they are the same size but offer different output specs, I'm betting they are different metal compositions.

Actually they are different sizes but the same frequency response between 100Hz to 15kHz, but different power handling capabilities.

[oldhousescott]

Wow, I must have found an older version of the page. Note that "technical" is spelled incorrectly in the link I provided. Curious.....

Definitely check out RDH3 and 4 (Radiotron Designers Handbook). They are regarded as the "bible" of tube circuit design and operation for many people.

[David Root]

There is a good basic introduction to the whys and wherefores of OT transformer design as it affects tone/power on Mercury Magnetics' website. It is not easy to find though, at least I just sumbled on it.

After that the next level involves some math, and above that it gets real hairy real quick. There is some extensive stuff on patrick turner's site, just Google Patrick Turner amplifiers.

[Rich M]

London powers TUT series is full of good ideas (disclosure: I have a set for sale in the classifieds), but you need some electronics background to fully get the things talked about (even TUT1/2 are not intros). london power does sell an intro book called something like "ready set go", but I haven't seen it. RDH is way over most folks head including myself - useful at times as a reference (I have a copy on CD ROM if any one is interested). I have Dan Torres book, which is a little too cookbooky for me, but if you're into fenders and a cookbook is what you want, I'd say it's pretty good. Morgan Jones has a couple books - one on design and one on construction. I found them pretty informative. BTW, THe High-performance Marshall book you see floating around is by far the most useless and misinformed text on the subject around. As has been said, there are lots of great websites out there like the Aiken amp pages.