New to tube amps

[NicholasBarrios]

I'm pretty new to tube amps. All I know is that they sound pretty damn good and they use power tubes and that they're a bit more complicated to turn on. But could someone please explain to me the differences in between an amp using el84's, el34's, 6l6s, etc... I know some people on here are eager to school somebody, so I guess it's gonna be me :]

[gearhead]

For guitar/bass amp purposes, there are three types of tubes;

Preamp
Power
Rectifier

Although in most peoples books, an "all-tube" amp can have a non-tube rectifier (solid state).

[tubeswell]

Google is your friend.

This page has good links for explaining tube amp stuff for starters

http://www.aikenamps.com/TechInfo_2.htm


This explains tubes gain stages in simple terms (and also has handy links)

http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/tubedummy.html


... same thing, but much more theoretical

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard1/gainstage.html

[M Fowler]

NicholasBarrios,

Welcome to the forum and remember have fun while your learning about tube amps okay!

https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?t=9023

[NicholasBarrios]

Thanks for all the links and info guys. It really helps, still lots of things to know about amps though.

[tubeswell]

This page has got some animations to explain the electron flow etc.

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/fun ... iodes.html

You have to understand this stuff to understand how tube amps amplify. The more you read and see, the sooner others will be able to help with answering specific questions.


Saying 'teach me everything there is to know about tube amps' is like asking someone to explain everything about the universe. So my advice to people at the beginning is start reading and learning

[gearhead]

If you really want to learn amps, need to understand electrical principles.

The Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series (NEETS) was designed to provide "beginners with fundamental electrical and electronic concepts". It's a series of topic-oriented modules, freely available at:

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

Tube operation is in module 6, but ifin you're a newbie, at least read modules 1 and 2 first.