Tube amp design books (merlin and robert megantz)

[bruno]

Not sure if this is the proper place to ask!

I'm thinking about getting either the merlin books, so many of you mention:

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Power-Supplies-Tube-Amplifiers/dp/0956154514/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333026040&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Tube-Preamps-Guitar-Bass/dp/0956154506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333026040&sr=8-1

or this one by robert megantz:

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Construction-Tube-Guitar-Amplifiers/dp/0615291805/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1333026040&sr=8-9

any advice?

thanks

[John]

I have both the Merlin books. The preamp one is excellent, it explained so many things so well to my small brain. The power supplies is good as well, except that for the most part, it's either over my head or not what I'm building at this point. Does a great job explaining ripple, how to drop voltage, negative bias supply and all that stuff though. My 2 pennies.

[Willabe]

I have both of Merlin's books, I like them, but not as much as others here seem to?  

I don't have Megantz's book, but I do plan on buying it. KOC on his web site does recommend it highly.

KOC's TUT series is well worth looking at buying, IMHO. TUT 1 is more $$, but has a lot more info in it and covers the basics and more very well. If you go with TUT 1, TUT 3 is a great follow up, it's on building amps and is a project book.

I seem to remember PRR saying, read everything you can.

Here's a list on tube amp books,

http://www.amptone.com/booksamps.htm

[jjasilli]

Bruno:  What is your goal in getting the book?  They seem to serve different purposes.  Megantz's book: "Written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, Design and Construction of Tube Guitar Amplifiers provides a complete yet easy-to-understand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps."  I have Merlin's preamp book & highly recommend it.  Merlin is not an easy read.  He focuses on design theory and the inner operation of tubes at an intermediate to advanced level.  (But not calculus-intensive as Kuehnel's books which are largely incomprehensible to me.)  It also depends on what books you already own & have read.

[bruno]

I've fixed and built a good number of tube amps.

I'm familiar with ohm's law and it's variations, but I believe I'm not familiar with a big number of basic conceptions regarding tube amps.

So I need a book I'm able to follow, so maybe megantz is the ticket.

[echuta13]

I have them all and the Megantz book is collecting dust.  The problem is that it doesn't go into enough detail.  I think Merlins books cover the basics fairly well, and doesn't go too deep into rabbit holes where you could get lost.  Definitely look on his site though to see if his books may be right for you.  All of the info on his site I'm pretty sure is in one of his books or the other, so you should be able to get a good feel for the info he'd present: http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

My first noob book was this: http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Amplifier-Handbook-Understanding-Amplifiers/dp/087930863X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333037545&sr=8-2  Good for some general concepts, and how individual components may affect an amp build.  Needs to be updated, and was written by a guitar player more than a builder of amps, but still relevant IMO.

[kagliostro]

I've both Merlin's Books, Kuehnel preamp and Power Amp Book, KOC TUT 1-2-3-4-5

in KOC Books you can find lot of interesting things but I rate those books as expensive

Kuehnel books are very interesting but full of math, and that isn't fine for me

Merlin books are very fiendly, a lot of things are explained in a fantastic easy way, Blencowe to me is a great popularizer and I don't consider his book as expensive

I don't Know Megantz Book

To me the first boos to get are Merlin's Books

Kagliostro

[bruno]

thanks guys!

[The_Gaz]

I have them all and the Megantz book is collecting dust.  The problem is that it doesn't go into enough detail.

+1. As I was reading it, it seemed almost like pages were missing! Perhaps it's just the level where I'm at, but I feel like a little more depth and practical information would be helpful. There's actually quite a few books like this, and I wish they'd just go a little deeper.

[jjasilli]

Bruno:  Checkout this thread if you haven't seen it:  http://www.el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=13171.0

[Fresh_Start]

I got a heck of a lot out of TUT 1 and TUT 3.  Those helped me "get" more of Merlin's preamp book when I read it later.  Jack Darr is great, especially some basic safety stuff in servicing electronics.  Seems like I've read parts of the Radio Designer's Handbook when I got really stumped, but that's a tough slog for me.

Both Merlin & O'Connor have a tendency to write their opinions as medical facts.  Not to be confused with all of the actual facts in their books.  It takes a while to figure out what is fact and what is opinion - sometimes only by building amps yourself, but you (Bruno) have more than a few under your belt.

Cheers,

Chip

[Colas LeGrippa]

I must admit Robert Megahertz is  a bit over what I can hear. He may be expert in frequencies, but even a dog can't hear what he says.

[Colas LeGrippa]

In fact, he is a microwave expert, so what is he doin' in a forum dedicated to tube amps building? I just can't say. P.S.: did you kiss your wife recently ? ( or your husband.hey hey ) Ok, now, if it's been more than one hour  since your last kiss, move your ass, get up , go kiss your woman with no apparent reason. Do the test. She'll ask you: oh darling, you have something to ask or the be forgiven about ?

[Colas LeGrippa]

One question: who is Robert Megahertz ??????????????????????????

[Colas LeGrippa]

Who is Robert Megahertz ?[color=orange][/color]

[Colas LeGrippa]

Please , Mr Administrartors, don't kick me out of here. Degrade me to level 2 if you want to , but pleasr tell me who is that Hertz guy.........wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Colas Coca.....

[John]

http://www.tactec.biz/Bookhome.html

Put down the cerveza before posting. 

[Colas LeGrippa]

wine.

[Willabe]

LeGrippa! GET A GRIP on your self now son!

Please, be the gentlemen we know you are.     

[Colas LeGrippa]

son.......gentleman..........you're really nice to me, you're like my lady and I must not trust you 'cause you surely have something to ask me 
P.S.: why should I get a grip ? Oh my God !!!!!!!!!!!! thought we were on facebook here

[tubeswell]

'nother vote for Merlin's books

[archaos]

+ 1 for Merlin ; KOC TUT2 & Randall Aiken notes as well.

[spacelabstudio]

I've read both of Merlin's books and a good bit of his website.  I also recently read the Megantz book.  I'd say it probably kind of depends on what level you are.  If you already basically know how to put an amp together, the Megantz book is probably a little too superficial.  Its probably a good intro, though, if you're starting from a place of relative ignorance.  You'll at least have a better idea of what the parts are in whichever amp you're cloning.  I really liked the Merlin books, but they can be a bit advanced, so I can see how some folks might have trouble with them.  I tended to gloss over a lot of them, figuring I can come back to a section and study in more rigorous detail when I need to know about it.  I do find myself referring back to the Merlin books constantly.  In contrast to Megantz, Merlin does arm you with enough knowledge to get creative with your own designs.  The Megantz book does have a decent introduction to phase shift oscillators for tremolo circuits, which Merlin doesn't discuss at all.  I'm waiting for Merlin's power amp book.

Chris

[John]

+ 1 for Merlin ; KOC TUT2 & Randall Aiken notes as well.

Completely forgot about Aiken's website. I like that a lot too!

[Willabe]

Completely forgot about Aiken's website. I like that a lot too!

It's currently listed as "under reconstruction" and it's been like that for at least a month or two now.     

[kagliostro]

I'm waiting for Merlin's power amp book.

I too 

about tremolo oscillator & Merlin:

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard1/trem1.html

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j207/merlinblencowe/Vibrotron/

Kagliostro

[Colas LeGrippa]

Hi,

In the Merlin's oscillator / phase shifting paragraph, there is a frequency control knob, but not a word on the intensity. Where would you place the intensity pot and what would be it's value ? Thanks.

Colas The Grip

[Willabe]

He's only talking about and showing the oscillator and not the driver. It's only 1/2 the circuit.


                          Brad     

[Colas LeGrippa]

Thank you papa, I am really not familiar with oscillators and trying to install one in one of my builds. I'll study one of the Fender Vibrato schems.

Regards

Colas

[John]

Completely forgot about Aiken's website. I like that a lot too!

It's currently listed as "under reconstruction" and it's been like that for at least a month or two now.     

Some pages are still up then. I just re-read the 6sl7 PI page.

[Willabe]

Thank you papa, I am really not familiar with oscillators and trying to install one in one of my builds. I'll study one of the Fender Vibrato schems.

Colas, to me, your the kind of guy who want's to _ AND _ will get a good grip on want you want to learn!

           
                   
                       

[spacelabstudio]

Thank you papa, I am really not familiar with oscillators and trying to install one in one of my builds. I'll study one of the Fender Vibrato schems.

There are a couple of common ways to take the oscillator and use it to modulate the volume of your guitar signal:

1) Use the LFO to drive the light source side of an optoisolator.  Use the variable resistor side of the optoisolator in a voltage divider that attenuates the guitar signal proportionally to the LFO drive.  See Fender AB763 schems for this circuit.  Doug sells the basic Fender optoisolator.

2) Superimpose the LFO output with a bias voltage for tube somewhere.  A lot of folks think this sounds nicer the the optoisolated trem, but it's also fussier to deal with and could fry your tubes if something goes wrong.  This is the method used in most tweed era fenders that have tremolo, which use the LFO output to vary the bias of the output tubes.  Doug's version of the AB763 layout actually uses this method, because he likes it better than the optoisolated trem.  The Vibrochamp uses this method but uses it to vary the bias on second preamp stage rather than the power stage.  This also sounds pretty cool and is probably a little safer.

Chris

[Colas LeGrippa]

That's what I call an answer.
Best regards
Colas

[bobmegantz]

Here are a few comments from Robert Megahertz himself...

1. As pointed out by others, my book is introductory.  It attempts to provide a complete technical understanding of the basic building blocks that is accessible to non-technical readers with high-school level math and science skills.  So, if you already understand all the basics, I would recommend a higher-level book.
2. I also have Merlin's books and all the TUT books, all of which I find to be very useful.  Both writers are very knowledgeable, and the information provided in their books is, to my knowledge, accurate.
3. It was accuracy (or rather, lack thereof) that led me to write "Design and Construction..."  I found other introductory books to be misleading or just wrong on a number of topics, such as class of operation, tube substitution, biasing, distortion, grounding, etc.  My hope is that readers will have a better understanding of why their amp sounds the way it does by gaining the technical knowledge in the book.  I chose a balance between depth and accessibility and, as with all such choices, some may think it tilts too far one way or the other.
4. I am about to order the 3rd printing, and am in the midst of making corrections and changes.  I would welcome specific suggestions for improvement from anyone; several readers' ideas were incorporated in the 2nd edition.

Finally, I think I prefer Robert Million to Robert Megahertz if Megantz doesn't float your boat...

Cheers

[HotBluePlates]

Finally, I think I prefer Robert Million to Robert Megahertz if Megantz doesn't float your boat...

Cheers

 

I've seen you on the forum, but didn't make the connection.

But just imagine... if you used the "Bob Megahertz" pseudonym, you could author a book on transmitters...