How about....

[bluesy]

......a sub forum for amp newbies (like me) that can deal with some of the amp "issues" you pros don't necessarily like dealing with in the existing forums? A lot of this stuff is over some of our heads, at least my head, and this site is very civil; we could get answers to questions "broken down" a notch or two without the "you should read this or that book" attitude. I understand that there is a lot of danger lurking inside an amp and responses to newbie questions can be~~well, held back some due to not wanting someone to get hurt; but I feel that the responses here would be a lot better than some of the information all over the net.

[Structo]

Well we do sort of.

The Technical section is full of useful information.
That is the go to section for information about vacuum tube theory and
other reference material.

That section is for amps not covered in the Trainwreck, Dumble and the Sleeper section with
Fender, Marshall and Vox/ Hiwatt.

Say you have an old Supro tube amp.
Go to the technical section to ask questions, after your introduction of course.

The first post a new member makes is critical to how he is received.
Introduce yourself, where you are from, your experience with tube amps, etc.
Be sure to include your location in your profile, that will also save time.

Then you can ask the question about your amp.

Pose the question with specifics about the amp and the trouble with it.

Rather than saying you have a Fender amp that makes a humming noise, describe the symptoms or or other faults.

[ToneMerc]

Considering how much help is given here, particularly to the "drive by posters", I think there should be a link to Paypal for donations to help run the site. I'm on a shooting site and there's a link for any visitors or members that want to contribute.

TM

[cbass]

..... we could get answers to questions "broken down" a notch or two without the "you should read this or that book" attitude.

Don't be comin at me with all that readin and shit!

[Leo_Gnardo]

I always recommend Tom Mitchell's "How to maintain your own tube amp". Book only is @ $30, Amazon has it, Stewart-McDonald also, & I'm sure other places besides. Tom takes you from the basics on up. Since the book was written some 30 years ago, it doesn't cover amps with computers built in (AKA digital effects systems & modeling amps).

There's an "upgrade" version too - $80 used to get you the book plus a VHS tape. Now it's probably a DVD and I don't know what the cost of the combo is. However, for the novice, I expect the video would be well worth the extra cost.

[matt h]

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