My first project was working on my fender hot rod deluxe amp in high school. It then proceeds through each stage of a modern guitar amplifier, including preamp voltage amplification stages, cathode followers, tone stacks, power amps, phase inverters, and power supplies. Tube amp building workshop american archtop guitars. Your choices will surely be somewhat different but i hope this helps, in particular, the new builders. I started out with the previously mentioned dave hunter bookthe guitar amp handbook. Most people start by working on lowvoltage guitar pedals, building amplifiers from kits, or modifying amps with help from the internet. Circuit simulation a deep dive into spice tube amp modeling. A guitar amplifier may be a standalone wood or metal cabinet. A well organized and easytounderstand approach to guitar amplifier repair. His bestselling books include the interactive fender bible, interactive gibson bible. Fundamentals of amplification this chapter deals with the design and analysis of the basic triode gain stage, which is the main building block of a valve preamp. The signal chain that works to create any electric guitar sound is made up of several major building blocks, each of which has lots of smaller building blocks within it. Tube amp making course guitar, bass, or stereo hi fi quantity.
The gilmore jr and ardmore kits are uniquely voiced amps. The right amplifier channel construction is inferred from the lefts. Computerbased visualization replaces the traditional litany of mathematical formulas. Youll want to take notes as you read, but its written with musicians in mind. Fortunately, every book written about amplifiers covers safety in the first chapter, so read it well. An acoustic guitar amplifier has three main components. Unfortunately, a couple of the important notes on the document that discuss how to attach. His is a former editor of the guitar magazine uk, has contributed to tv and radio documentaries, and has edited and contributed to books such as. More than all this, the book will provide tutorials, parts lists and diagrams to enable the reader to build a small range of popular classicstyled tube amps, and will.
These main ingredients that influence your sound include your guitar, any effects pedals you use, and your amp. The guitar amp handbook by dave hunter who has written many a book on guitars covers everything you need to know about the sought after tube amplifier. This 3day workshop is designed for anyone and all skill levels. Dave hunter portsmouth, nh is a musician and writer and a former editor of the guitar magazine. The second is a low voltage audio amplifier njm386d lm386, which can be found on ebay and similar sites. The book begins with the fundamentals of electronics and vacuum tubes. Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers by robert megantz this is a great book to get involved in the theory of amplifiers. This is the second guitar amp ive built in the style of a dumble amp. Each chapter would have been a separate articleissue. My first dumble ods clone was number 124 and i have been playing it on stage for about 7 years now. Welcome to the reverb price guide, the ultimate resource for music gear pricing and information.
I read all of gerald webers books, and while those certainly have some great information, they are very hit and miss and not very well organized. The instructions consisted of a single sheet of paper that contain a semischematic of the power supply and left amplifier channel. It includes many graphs to help make the material easier to understand. Given the cost of handwired or pointtopoint tube amplifiers, you might wonder if building one is realistic. Amplifiers especially tube amps contain high voltages that can kill. It is intended as a companion to design and construction of guitar and bass speaker systems. This 5 page spiral bound book contains, but is not limited to, the following topics. A brief discussion of the whys and whatfors of how i build amplifiers. Im not 100% sure where i should start, so ive come here to ask the experts. Guytronix low watt diy guitar tube amplifier kits guytronix.
The chapter on amp construction explains tube theory, capacitors, and special effects. Following is a list of must have books for the serious tube amplifier designer. Tube amp making course guitar, bass, or stereo hi fi. Details about build your own portable guitar amplifier book diy kit project book on cd. All the topics presented in this book are composed together from already known facts, which means that very little new information regarding the topics is produced. If you want to learn about the working and design of tube guitar amplifiers. The book covers constructional issues such as chassis manufacture, wiring and testingfaultfinding. The building blocks of the guitar signal chain dummies. We try to maintain a comprehensive list of guitar amp kits and sources so please let us know of any needed additions or changes by emailing us at editor at guitarkitbuilder dot com. Some of them are long out of print, and can only be obtained from used book sellers, although they are occasionally seen for sale on the internet. Some of this material is general and applies as much to hifi circuits as to guitar amps, but some of it is very. To read our articles about building these guitar amp kits please click on the category of interest in the orange menu. Written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers provides a complete yet easytounderstand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps.
Guitar amplifier encyclopedia provides an expansive education on all the best amps every. The gilmore jr or ardmore kit is an excellent choice for those who are building for the first time, yet challenging enough for those who have built before. Build your own portable guitar amplifier book diy kit project book on cd. This book describes the detailed construction of five vacuum tube amplifiers. The books graphing calculators, free on this website, are designed for smartphones and laptops, making them as portable. Instruction book for specimen single ended stereo tube amp.
For info click custombuilt guitar amps in addition to building oneofakind guitar tube amps, tonetron amplifiers specializes in repair, restoration, and modification of all brands of vacuum tube and solid state amplifiers as well as many other types of audio equipment. A visual tour its fairly technical but its the only book written specifically about guitar amplifier overdrive. We maintain an extensive list of amplfiers and their required components browse to your amp manufacturer below and select your amplifier to see a listing of the components which you can replace. How to design valve guitar amplifiers, from the power supply to output stage and pre amp. Thus, the chapters fail to build upon each other as one would expect in a more formal book. Guitar amplifier book discussion in ampscabs tech corner. Guitar players, audio enthusiasts, woodworkers or anyone who wants to learn the art of tube amp building is welcome. Books, calculators, and tutorials for guitar amplifier circuit design. A guitar amplifier or amp is an electronic device or system that strengthens the weak electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are typically housed in a wooden cabinet. Best amp buildingmoddingrepair books telecaster guitar. Books, tutorials, and technology for guitar amplifier circuit design.
Get money off my book at, find todays voucher code on the lulu home page. Basic theory explains the design of guitar amplifier preamps, power amps, and power supplies using 2020 technology. That said, the advice online can be somewhat difficult to make sense of, given the breath of options, and differing levels of experience among diy builders. Basic theory a 21stcentury approach to understanding preamp, power amp, and power supply design. Build your own portable guitar amplifier book diy kit. Tarquin is the author of several book, including guitar encyclopedia allworth press, winner of the 2014 usa best book awards, in the performing arts category. Awhile back, i shared two sets of vintage diy plans for an electric guitar and a tubedriven throbbing vibrato this week, ive discovered another treasure from the eisenhower eraa onetube amplifier that uses a 117l7m7gt tube. Welcome to guytronix diy guitar tube amplifier kits featuring the gilmore jr kit 12 watt and 2 watt and the ardmore 8 watt kit. Vacuum tube amplifier building thoughts and practices. This is guitar kit builders directory of amplifier kits. Darr, jack, electric guitar amplifier handbook, third edition, howard w. Ive been thinking a lot latly, about trying to build my own tube amp.
The science of electric guitars and guitar electronics. The answer is that building a handwired tube amp is within the reach of most players. Guitar amplifier encyclopedia by brian tarquin nook book. Design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers book ebay. There is a very heavy warning on page seven about the danger of opening up an amplifier so i read this book for interest only, rather than intending to get a screwdriver out. This book appears to be a collection of instructive magazine articles that appeared over many months or years. Building valve amplifiers is a very useful book to any diy audio enthusiast looking at scratch building a valve amplifier. Guitar amplifier repair training and education program. There are two kits, or amp modules, id recommend for making your first cigar box amp. Profusely illustrated, the book uses graphic aides and basic. Tonetron amplifiers tonetron ampshand built guitar tube. Tube amp building class build your own boutique hand wired tube amplifier upcoming class dates and registration deadlines are to be announced.
The easiest approach to building an acoustic amplifier is to salvage parts from old or broken acoustic guitar amps. Building a dumble overdrive special 102 style guitar amp. All suggested books, including dan torres, are good. Oct 12, 2019 associates degree programs in electrical engineering technology can. A bibliography of must have tube electronics books. The thing that makes this book differ from other similar publications is the view into the whole chain of scienti. It is a nice complement once you have read the selfs book. Warning if you are not a qualified technician please do not attempt any repair you are not confident with. These price ranges utilize a combination of expert research, external market data, and realtime reverb transactions to estimate the current value of items in.
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