unclej Posted July 21, 2005 Report Posted July 21, 2005 i've been thinking about this a lot lately. here's a chance for one of you tube amp gurus not only to go down in history but to make a little money while you're at it. when i first got interested in repairing and building tube amps i bought several books on the subject. with no electronics background other than repairing and custom wiring guitars i started with an old navy basic electronics book that did an admirable job of explaining tubes and how they worked. i added "how to service your own tube amp", by tom mitchell, "the tube amp book" and a great little book titled, "how to test everything electronic." there were a couple more that i don't see right now but the point is that i read everything i could, bugged the devil out of you guys, thoroughly investigated every other site that i could find and even bought a couple of tapes. i can now do a reasonable job of fixin' them and haven't had a problem yet that i couldn't repair but during the entire process the one thing i found in common with all of the books, tapes and tutorials is that they assumed knowledge that wasn't there. things like where exactly to check b+ power, what a coupling capacitor is and does and where it is in the circuit, how to test a power transformer in and out of the chassis. things that are basic to a lot of you but were greek to me. i would have loved to see a fairly simple layout of say a fender bassman, for instance, with arrows pointing to various components and explaining what they do, how they effect input, output or whatever. a step by step troubleshooting guide with arrows pointing to the exact place to put the positive probe on your multimeter when you're checking bias. i'll admit that i still don't know for sure what all of the caps and resistors do and how changing their values would effect the operation and/or sound of an amp. i can test them and replace them if they're bad but what do they do? anyway, you get the point. if one of you wanted to be a real hero and get some serious mailbox money commin' in you could take all the spare time you have for the next three or four years and write the definitive text on learning how to be an amp tech with no experience necessary. i'd still buy the first copy and all you have to do is make a small mention somewhere in the book that it was my idea. Quote
JimRayden Posted July 22, 2005 Report Posted July 22, 2005 i've been thinking about this a lot lately. here's a chance for one of you tube amp gurus not only to go down in history but to make a little money while you're at it. when i first got interested in repairing and building tube amps i bought several books on the subject. with no electronics background other than repairing and custom wiring guitars i started with an old navy basic electronics book that did an admirable job of explaining tubes and how they worked. i added "how to service your own tube amp", by tom mitchell, "the tube amp book" and a great little book titled, "how to test everything electronic." there were a couple more that i don't see right now but the point is that i read everything i could, bugged the devil out of you guys, thoroughly investigated every other site that i could find and even bought a couple of tapes. i can now do a reasonable job of fixin' them and haven't had a problem yet that i couldn't repair but during the entire process the one thing i found in common with all of the books, tapes and tutorials is that they assumed knowledge that wasn't there. things like where exactly to check b+ power, what a coupling capacitor is and does and where it is in the circuit, how to test a power transformer in and out of the chassis. things that are basic to a lot of you but were greek to me. i would have loved to see a fairly simple layout of say a fender bassman, for instance, with arrows pointing to various components and explaining what they do, how they effect input, output or whatever. a step by step troubleshooting guide with arrows pointing to the exact place to put the positive probe on your multimeter when you're checking bias. i'll admit that i still don't know for sure what all of the caps and resistors do and how changing their values would effect the operation and/or sound of an amp. i can test them and replace them if they're bad but what do they do? anyway, you get the point. if one of you wanted to be a real hero and get some serious mailbox money commin' in you could take all the spare time you have for the next three or four years and write the definitive text on learning how to be an amp tech with no experience necessary. i'd still buy the first copy and all you have to do is make a small mention somewhere in the book that it was my idea. ← Ay for that. I'd be the second to buy that book. ---------- Jimbo Quote
unclej Posted July 22, 2005 Author Report Posted July 22, 2005 see..there's two of us..a couple more and our hero's ready for early retirement. Quote
GodBlessTexas Posted July 22, 2005 Report Posted July 22, 2005 Add me to the list. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... Quote
Hunter Posted July 22, 2005 Report Posted July 22, 2005 Hah, I'd gladly buy it. I need to learn about amps. Quote
sepultura999 Posted July 23, 2005 Report Posted July 23, 2005 Same here. I am thinking of taking electrician courses at college. They probably won't explain tubes and all, but I'm sure it will help. -Jamie Quote
Southpa Posted July 23, 2005 Report Posted July 23, 2005 I've got a pretty good book, scored bigtime at a used book store. I don't know if its in your collection but if not it will certainly fill some of your missing gaps. Its called "Vacuum Tube Guitar and Bass Amplifier Servicing" by Tino Zottola. Sections Covered: Tools And Test Instruments User Serviceable Problems Amplifier Disassembly Preventative Maintenance Dead Amplifiers (troubleshooting) Strange Sounding Amplifiers (troubleshooting) Special Effects Repair Signal Tracing Component Testing Component Substitution Bias Adjustment Matching Tubes Appendices: Generic Tube Element Voltages Voltage To Power Conversion Tube to Solid State rectifier Modification Reliability And Safety Enhancements Fixed To variable Bias Modification Master Volume Modification CBS To Pre-CBS Twin Reverb Conversion Tube Type Modification Quote
unclej Posted July 23, 2005 Author Report Posted July 23, 2005 I've got a pretty good book, scored bigtime at a used book store. I don't know if its in your collection but if not it will certainly fill some of your missing gaps. Its called "Vacuum Tube Guitar and Bass Amplifier Servicing" by Tino Zottola. Sections Covered: Tools And Test Instruments User Serviceable Problems Amplifier Disassembly Preventative Maintenance Dead Amplifiers (troubleshooting) Strange Sounding Amplifiers (troubleshooting) Special Effects Repair Signal Tracing Component Testing Component Substitution Bias Adjustment Matching Tubes Appendices: Generic Tube Element Voltages Voltage To Power Conversion Tube to Solid State rectifier Modification Reliability And Safety Enhancements Fixed To variable Bias Modification Master Volume Modification CBS To Pre-CBS Twin Reverb Conversion Tube Type Modification ← that does sound like a good book to add to the old reference library..thanks Quote
Paul Marossy Posted July 23, 2005 Report Posted July 23, 2005 A good one is Jack Darr's book called the "Electric Guitar Amplifier Handbook", published in 1973 or so. It's written more in layman terms than someone trying to impress you with what they think they know. I have some of this book here: http://www.diyguitarist.com/Misc/J_Darr.htm Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.