Getting Started - Recommend a Book

[Jim Nasium]

I am getting started in the world of tube amps. I am working through getting an old Gretsch up and running, but would like to try building some progressively complex amps in the future, from existing designs.

What is a good book to get started. I was looking at the The Tube Amp Book by Aspen Pittman, but figured everyone on here might have knowledge of a good place to start. Also, I really need to gain an understanding about how the transformers are specified.

[acheld]

Merlin Blencowe's "Designing Valve Preamps for Guitar and Bass" is probably as good as any a place to start.  Make no mistake, it is a dense read, but not as math centric as some others.  I think the book is in its second edition.   You will see Merlin quoted often in most amplifier forums. 

Richard Kuehnel's "Guitar Amplifier Electronics Basic Theory" is very good, but far more dense and probably not the place to start.

Edit:  Almost forgot, an RCA tube manual is essential !

Hopefully others will chime in with suggestions.

As for learning about how transformers are spec'd, I think this forum is as good as any book that you can find.  PT's are spec'd simply by knowing what voltage and current you need.   To be honest, most folks just copy the transformer specs from a known working amp circuit, and that approach works just fine.

[pdf64]

Is a book even necessary?
There’s a vast amount of info on Aiken’s and Merlin’s websites; including the excellent 1st chapter of his book. So at least you can get a taste of it before purchase.

http://aikenamps.com/index.php/tech-info

http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/

http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/Common_Gain_Stage.pdf

Actually, Jack Darr’s book is excellent for the methodology of fixing amps.
https://ozvalveamps.org/jackdarrhandbook.htm

And make sure to work safely inside an amp!

[Electron Tornado]

This one is also quite good:


https://www.amazon.com/Amplifying-Vacuum-Tubes-Circuit-Design/dp/1721146083/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=Carl+Gauss&qid=1628040504&s=books&sr=1-5


This fellow shows a few books as well:


 

[SILVERGUN]

This is one of my favorite sites:
Guitar Amp Design Books for Professional Builders (ampbooks.com)

And the Basic Theory book is a fairly new release and not a bad place to look for answers: (mentioned by acheld)
Guitar Amplifier Electronics: Basic Theory (ampbooks.com)

This was my first, about 15 years ago:
How to Service Your Own Tube Amp: A Complete Guide for the Curious Musician: Mitchell, Tom: 9780962817007: Amazon.com: Books

I also enjoyed this video. It came out when my curiosity was peaked and the classroom approach was helpful for me to tie some concepts together. If you're starting from nowhere, this is pretty good: (I think I only paid $40 - $70 is a stretch)
Kendrick Amplifiers Online Store: DVD 2 - Understanding Vacuum Tube Guitar Amplifiers (kendrick-amplifiers.com)

[Latole]

What's a shame with all these suggestions here is that you won't know which books to buy


If you want to get to the heart of the matter without breaking your head too much with theory ( RCA Receiving Tube manual for example even if a must ...later ) I suggest you these two books; clear, well illustrated and ideal for beginner as well as advanced.

I own most of the books mentioned or their equivalent mentioned here.
I recommend you ;

"The how and why of guitar tubes amps as Gar see it "   Second picture
Gar Gillies is the founder of Garnet amps



Second book ; "TheTube Amp Book " by Aspen Pitman

Another very good books are the five books wrote by Gerald Weber; last 3 pictures

[Rontone]

Hi there,

I am also a beginner in theory and very new to building my own amps, I had my eye on the Aspen Pittman Tube Amp Book for a long time and always wanted it and finally found a cheap copy

But it doesn't have much if any theory in it, for me as a beginner especially, 3 pages of biasing tips, a section from Jack Darrs book [posted above] and a small section on mods for Fender/Marshall and Ampeg,

But it is fantastic for schematics [ I can only just read those properly now] and other reference, tube values etc, it can be expensive though for those older copies, and I'm not sure what the new edition is like, it may have more in there now

The Kendrick/ Gerald Weber DVD recommended above taught me in a few months, more than I learned in 5/10 years! Its just the way he explains power flow, signal flow, AC/DC current and the basics of transformers and tube theory worked for me and my mind [ its that Texas drawl just pulls me in...]


So for me with little theory of the amps workings or power section/safety the best books for me were:-

-Merlin Blencowe "Designing Valve Preamps for Guitar and Bass"
-Gerald Weber "Tube Guitar Amplifier Essentials"

and I'll throw in Dan Torres "Inside Tube Amps" too if you see it for a good price!

My best videos are:-

Gerald Weber "Understanding Vacuum Tube Guitar Amplifiers" DVD

Gerald Weber "Advanced Tube Guitar Amplifier Servicing and Overhaul" [Has a good slow explanation to help me with transformers, finding a mystery transformers wirings and taps, and working out an output transformers ratios by inputting voltage etc]

Uncle Doug on Youtube, his theory videos on power and single ended amps helped me,

I am getting started in the world of tube amps. I am working through getting an old Gretsch up and running,

Also thumbs up for safety first, I am recommending these, you know what they say about curious cats, high voltage etc

As I have never found a good demo of the spark from discharging caps, out of all the videos I have watched for years, they were always still pictures or diagrams to show where to discharge with a screwdriver, or what kind of lead or probe to make, and not many recommend putting a resistor on there and showing the actual discharging with voltage etc,

Please be careful out there, and read as much safety information on mains power and filter caps as possible first, even those times you put your fingers inside to pull the chassis out of the box on that ol' Gretsch

I have been lucky so far, but saw my grandpa fly across a room as a kid.... He was ok after, but kinda put me off fiddling with things for a while!

[pdf64]

The big problem with Pitman and Weber is that there’s a sprinkling of BS mixed in with the facts.
So it’s 2steps forward, 1 step back, maybe more, having to clear that out of your mind.

[sluckey]

As I have never found a good demo of the spark from discharging caps, out of all the videos I have watched for years

You must be sleeping during the videos. 

Watch the Electric Lady video you just posted. Keep your eyes open from 6:10 to 6:12.

[shooter]

YUP, that's the spark!

[Rontone]

Yeah, I didn't explain that very well at all, I meant to say I hadn't seen cap discharging demonstrated in action on a 'live amp' until I found that Electric Lady video, and found that one helpful to show the process

The big problem with Pitman and Weber is that there’s a sprinkling of BS mixed in with the facts.
So it’s 2steps forward, 1 step back, maybe more, having to clear that out of your mind.

There was some strange advise in there for sure, and some explanations did confuse me for a while

[Latole]

The big problem with Pitman and Weber is that there’s a sprinkling of BS mixed in with the facts.
So it’s 2steps forward, 1 step back, maybe more, having to clear that out of your mind.

We all have our favorite authors and like all of us here, there is no one who has the exclusive right to the truth.

Otherwise we would know and no one would ask which book to recommend, there would be only one.
In my opinion they all complement each other

[dragonbat13]

What about Ken O'Connors books?  Lots of info in that series, although expensive.  Volume 3 is helpful to get started building.

[dragonworks]

Here is a great book. The price has gone up quite a bit I see.https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1292000830&searchurl=an%3Dhugh%2Bmoon%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title10
Here is a great resource to download old tube books for free.http://www.tubebooks.org/technical_books_online.htm

[PRR]

Slightly better price through Amazon Market. (It is often the other way: ABE a buck cheaper.)
https://www.amazon.com/Simplified-electronic-circuits-procedures-troubleshooting/dp/0138100365

[dragonworks]

Abe Books has it thirty dollars cheaper?

[Willabe]

Abe Books has it thirty dollars cheaper?

The Abe listing is for a used book.

[PRR]

The book is 1975.

All the listings I see are used, from the mid $30 zone (and up!!).

[dragonworks]

I bought two about 6 years ago from Abes. They were about 3.95 each! One for me and one for an electrical engineer I was working with. Nothing wrong with used, I bought both used in pretty good condition.

[PRR]

> They were about 3.95 each!

I bought a 2nd copy of a book I liked, a decade ago, at about $4. And mentioned it on a forum. The price quickly shot to $25, and is still $28-$40 on Amazon. (ABE does have cheaper copies, always worth looking at bot. And eBay if you can stand it.)

[dragonworks]

I have recommended that particular book a few times on forums but I doubt it had anything to do with todays prices. Usually I will find a book on ebay that I want and then find it cheaper on Abes. Only once has ebay had a cheaper book and I buy a fair share of books. This gents series is pretty good also. It is basically the course the navy used in the fifties and sixties. The prices are going up. I have both sets Basic Electricity and Basic Electronics  and i bought them pretty cheap. They have both series in two volumes also instead of the five and six. They are a bit harder to find.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&an=van+valkenburgh&tn=&kn=

[dragonworks]

The big problem with Pitman and Weber is that there’s a sprinkling of BS mixed in with the facts.
So it’s 2steps forward, 1 step back, maybe more, having to clear that out of your mind.

I bought both books and found them to be basically useless and sold them.

[SILVERGUN]

> They were about 3.95 each!

I bought a 2nd copy of a book I liked, a decade ago, at about $4. And mentioned it on a forum. The price quickly shot to $25, and is still $28-$40 on Amazon. (ABE does have cheaper copies, always worth looking at bot. And eBay if you can stand it.)

That makes you a social media influencer