Need a good book on tube amps

Simon_F

Super Moderator
I really need to understand more about the internal workings of tube amps. What are some good books on this subject?

Thanks.
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

just do a search= ton's of stuff will come up= you can start by reading Randall Smiths stuff on the Mesa/Boogie site
Aspen Pittman has a book also
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

I Just bought a phenomenal book at the guitar show called "The Guitar Amp Handbook" Understanding Tube Amplifiers And Getting Great Sounds by Dave Hunter...

Excellent book,explains how tube amps work,has alot of inside amp chassis photos of some of the most popular amp circuits,interviews with Ken Fischer,Michael Zaite(DR Z),Mark Samson(Matchless,Star amps)Mark Baier(Victoria Amps)Victor Mason(Mojave Amps)....I Own a ton of tube amp books and this one ranks right up there with the best...Easy to understand,lots of pictures and everything is broken down....It's not a book on how to mod amps,but it does explain why certain amps sound and perform a certain way...

Here's a link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...f=pd_bbs_1/104-2113945-2125536?_encoding=UTF8
 
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Re: Need a good book on tube amps

STRATDELUXER97 said:
I Just bought a phenomenal book at the guitar show called "The Guitar Amp Handbook" Understanding Tube Amplifiers And Getting Great Sounds by Dave Hunter...

Excellent book,explains how tube amps work,has alot of inside amp chassis photos of some of the most popular amp circuits,interviews with Ken Fischer,Michael Zaite(DR Z),Mark Samson(Matchless,Star amps)Mark Baier(Victoria Amps)Victor Mason(Mojave Amps)....I Own a ton of tube amp books and this one ranks right up there with the best...Easy to understand,lots of pictures and everything is broken down....It's not a book on how to mod amps,but it does explain why certain amps sound and perform a certain way...

Here's a link

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...f=pd_bbs_1/104-2113945-2125536?_encoding=UTF8

That one looks great! It's in the basket. Thanks John. :)
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

Simon_F said:
That one looks great! It's in the basket. Thanks John. :)

It's a great book....Very easy to understand,great info,great chassis photos showing component names and location,talks about the differences between cap types,resistor types,how to build your own amp,interviews with some of the top builders in the world....Just a phenomenal book! Has some servicing info on filter cap replacement and other maintainence stuff good to know...You won't be at all sorry!
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

STRATDELUXER97 said:
It's a great book....Very easy to understand,great info,great chassis photos showing component names and location,talks about the differences between cap types,resistor types,how to build your own amp,interviews with some of the top builders in the world....Just a phenomenal book! Has some servicing info on filter cap replacement and other maintainence stuff good to know...You won't be at all sorry!

I just ordered one as well. Thanks, John!
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

Gee John........ your recomendation is quite catchy today. I just bought this book off of eBay too!! Thanks buddy! :beerchug:
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

A friend and I are planning to build a couple of amps, so I bought two books. One is Aspen Pittman's "The Tube Amp Book," which is pretty cool, cause there's a section for me and a section for my friend: He's the electronics expert, so his section is part 2, which is all detailed technical stuff. I'm the musician, so I get the first section, which is gearhead pornography: descriptions of pretty much every major and minor tube amp manufacturer, past and present, and their products. The book is extremely droolstained already.

The other is called "The How and Why of Tube Amps as Gar Sees It," written by Gar Gillies, the mastermind of Garnet Amplifiers. He still lives here in Winnipeg and is where everyone goes for tube amp work. That one is extremely technical, so it was basically a gift for my friend. It's available at www.garnetamps.com.
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

RevJToad said:
A friend and I are planning to build a couple of amps, so I bought two books. One is Aspen Pittman's "The Tube Amp Book," which is pretty cool, cause there's a section for me and a section for my friend: He's the electronics expert, so his section is part 2, which is all detailed technical stuff. I'm the musician, so I get the first section, which is gearhead pornography: descriptions of pretty much every major and minor tube amp manufacturer, past and present, and their products. The book is extremely droolstained already.

The other is called "The How and Why of Tube Amps as Gar Sees It," written by Gar Gillies, the mastermind of Garnet Amplifiers. He still lives here in Winnipeg and is where everyone goes for tube amp work. That one is extremely technical, so it was basically a gift for my friend. It's available at www.garnetamps.com.

Aspen's books are great,however they don't offer as much beginner or layman's terms on the subject....I Own alot of books on the subject,but this brand new one is really a great one....Even better than the Tube AMp book(Which is mostly schematics)is Gerald Weber and Dan Torres's books on the subject...Another great book is Dave Funk's Book About Tube Amps and geared towards the Fender amp...

This new book is easy to understand and is loaded with great info and great photos.. The book is $25 or less and was well worth it!
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

:hijacked: RevJToad........ dude your avatar gives me nightmares!!! LOL!! Is that you? If so........:yourock: :beerchug:
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

My Amazon order:

Shipping estimate for these items: February 5, 2006
Delivery estimate: February 8, 2006 - February 10, 2006

1 "The Art of Electronics"
Paul Horowitz; Hardcover; $74.10


1 "The Guitar Amp Handbook : Understanding Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds"
Dave Hunter; Paperback; $16.47

:dance:
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

KGMESSIER said:
My Amazon order:

Shipping estimate for these items: February 5, 2006
Delivery estimate: February 8, 2006 - February 10, 2006

1 "The Art of Electronics"
Paul Horowitz; Hardcover; $74.10


1 "The Guitar Amp Handbook : Understanding Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds"
Dave Hunter; Paperback; $16.47

:dance:

Awesome! Maybe this Dave Hunter guy will give me a kudos for helping with the sale of his great book and not sueing me? :laugh2:
 
Re: Need a good book on tube amps

KGMESSIER said:
Because of my delivery estimate, would y'all please not talk about this book for the next ten days?

I'll just keep sending little snippets of the book for ya! :27: I could of saved about $8 on the book,but I had the book in my hands and it was just too good to put back on the shelf at the show..
 
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