Good day you Tubers!!

[The Deacon]

New to this forum, and it's wealth of knowledge!! Novice amp/pedal builder here looking to jump right in!

I've acquired a Hot Rod Deville and am currently installing the Fromel mods. About finished when I came across this website and now I want to to a full point to point wiring. I've seen the templates, I can't read schematics, but can follow instructions to a T!! I love the simplified diagrams and would love to follow those, but have no idea what is going on underneath/behind that board.

I currently own 2 RedBear amps and would love to someday duplicate them as I think they are the best around.

I'm located in the Houston area, love playing guitar and bass and would love to start learning more!!

[EL34]

welcome to the forum

[SILVERGUN]

Welcome, this is a very active and friendly forum and you will find a ton of answers here.

I can't read schematics...

...yet.
Do yourself a favor and use YouTube to try to get a grip on schematics.
There are many guys who rely on layouts and wind up frustrated when a layout doesn't tell the whole story.
Most tube amp schematics are super simple and actually become interesting to look at once you get familiar.
I see them as simple as cave drawings.

Imagine visiting another country as a tour guide and not knowing how to read the map.

Either way, good luck and have fun!
Here's a start:

[The Deacon]

Thank you!! Will do!!

So long as there is a Legend, I can follow it. To me it seems that Schematics show "how it works" and if they are done properly, give you a "Follow the yellow brick road" way to trace the problem.

I'd still rather look at a picture to get everything installed first 

I'll check out that video tonight!

Do you think jumping headlong into a Hot Rod Deville is a good start?

[SILVERGUN]

Do you think jumping headlong into a Hot Rod Deville is a good start?

I'm assuming you mean performing the Fromel mods you mentioned above.
That is a fine place to start.

After that, if you'd like to do a scratch build I would highly recommend following one of Doug's or sluckey's designs because of the perfected documentation they both provide.

Once you graduate from that, the sky's the limit and you should be completely addicted by then.