How do tube amps work?

Re: How do tube amps work?

DrNewcenstein said:
The trouble with books on given subjects is they have a minimum word count, which is generally much larger than your average College-level dissertation. They need "filler", so they go into details the average Curios George has no current interest in - the first guy to propose the idea, the evolution of the concept, the first one, the myriad improvements/refinements, the Big Names and how they got their start, quotes from famous users, the author's personal views, the extremely technical in-depth explanation of how the subject operates, ad nauseum.

There's rarely the "in-between" reference that gives an explanation that's "just deep enough" to convey the core elements, just the stuff for the person looking to get into the building of it.
Click to expand...


You're freaking kidding me. You are really trying to slag the suggestion of books to read? Books you yourself havent read? How about this, offer a better suggestion? You think he should just ask on forums? You think forums will do any better job of providing only the info hes after? Thats freaking delusional.

Of course no book is perfect no source every is. But its a million times better than trying to sift through the crap on the net.
 
Re: How do tube amps work?

Not at all. I'm merely pointing out that publishers have unreasonable and unrealistic demands - it's either got to be a gripping tale that appeals to the widest possible segment of the targeted audience to maximize sales, or it has to be a technical manual that preaches to the choir, or an instructional series; there is no "...For Dummies", or "...for those who don't want to pursue electrical engineering as a career, but just want a question answered".

The core relevant information can be delivered online in fewer pages, removing all reference to the why and wherefores of the discovery of Henries, the technical details of impedance, resistance, oscillation, and capacitance, Thomas Edison, Tesla, RCA's vintage texts that are the core of electrical engineering to this day, and who first proposed the idea of a vacuum tube and his sixteen siblings and his lineage.

This subject actually might fare better as a 30-minute How Stuff Works episode.
 
Re: How do tube amps work?

Edgecrusher said:
You're freaking kidding me. You are really trying to slag the suggestion of books to read? Books you yourself havent read? How about this, offer a better suggestion? You think he should just ask on forums? You think forums will do any better job of providing only the info hes after? Thats freaking delusional.

Of course no book is perfect no source every is. But its a million times better than trying to sift through the crap on the net.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about him, He knows everything. He is infallaible.How could anyone measure up to Him?? How DARE you even try!?!!
 
Re: How do tube amps work?

MetalManiac said:
Don't worry about him, He knows everything. He is infallaible.How could anyone measure up to Him?? How DARE you even try!?!!
Click to expand...
I don't think he was suggesting he knows everything or that he was infallible. Let's get real for a second here. If he can post a question on a forum, it's reasonable to assume he as an internet connection and could have found the answer to his question almost immediately. While it doesn't bother me and I'm happy to assist people no matter what their level of experience is, I can certainly understand why some people would be a bit annoyed by such a general question. It doesn't have to devolve into infighting.

A great way to get experienced with the hubub about tube amps is to try some out.
 
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Re: How do tube amps work?

Beer$ said:
I don't think he was suggesting he knows everything or that he was infallible. Let's get real for a second here. If he can post a question on a forum, it's reasonable to assume he as an internet connection and could have found the answer to his question almost immediately. While it doesn't bother me and I'm happy to assist people no matter what their level of experience is, I can certainly understand why some people would be a bit annoyed by such a general question. It doesn't have to devolve into infighting.

A great way to get experienced with the hubub about tube amps is to try some out.
Click to expand...

I wish I knew everything. If I did, my life would end and I'd be happy :lol:

However, perhaps the OP was intending to ask "where can I find reliable information on how tube amps work, online, that does not involve following the electrical engineer path or a Journey Through The History Of Tube Amplification And What It Means To Humanity's Survival by L. Ron Hubbardumble. and does not require me to sift through 40 billion Google results that contain any combination and variant of the words "tube", "amp", or "works". Surely someone before me has thought of this and made that journey and has links?"

Yes, the interweb is full of monkeys at typewriters who just bash the buttons and hope for the best. However, there are resources available that condense all knowledge (i.e. facts) of a given subject to the crucial elements that do not involve printed media, which banks (literally) on the three genres mentioned above: technical manual, educational series, and The History Of.
If those resources have been discovered, please share.
 
Re: How do tube amps work?

DrNewcenstein said:
I wish I knew everything. If I did, my life would end and I'd be happy :lol:

However, perhaps the OP was intending to ask "where can I find reliable information on how tube amps work, online, that does not involve following the electrical engineer path or a Journey Through The History Of Tube Amplification And What It Means To Humanity's Survival by L. Ron Hubbardumble. and does not require me to sift through 40 billion Google results that contain any combination and variant of the words "tube", "amp", or "works". Surely someone before me has thought of this and made that journey and has links?"

Yes, the interweb is full of monkeys at typewriters who just bash the buttons and hope for the best. However, there are resources available that condense all knowledge (i.e. facts) of a given subject to the crucial elements that do not involve printed media, which banks (literally) on the three genres mentioned above: technical manual, educational series, and The History Of.
If those resources have been discovered, please share.
Click to expand...
I learned what I know about tube amplifiers by using them. Even the stuff I read, I was inspired to read them by using them, so that's my advice. It's pretty hard to screw up using a tube amplifier correctly even if you don't know much about how they work. Your version of the question is much more specific. "How does a tube amplifier work?" is like asking "how does a plane work?" or "how does a particle accelerator work?". Where do we begin? It isn't wrong to ask, it's just difficult to answer worded that particular way. I don't know if he's referring to how the tubes factor in as opposed to transistor amps or why tube amps sound the way they do. Anyway, I think he has enough to work with so far.
 
Re: How do tube amps work?

There's a 7 part series from Texas Blues Alley on youtube that I found incredibly helpful learning to learn the general bits

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc-78AKIo5A (Why Tube Amps)
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U648loKYZ8 (Structure)
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pgOzjKhXww (Pre-Amp and Power Tubes)
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b871FRjDWAs (The Distortion Chain)
Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8h5_CZ7_bM (Volume)
Part 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bOBFIuCx5k (Attenuators)
Part 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNADk5ct3YU (Effects Loops)

Hope this can help :)
 
Re: How do tube amps work?

Ugh, that's so much video watching. Too tiring, did not watch. Can't someone just read my mind and tell me the answer I'm looking for?
:firedevil
 
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