guitarkid4143
New member
It's been really irritating me to know how tube amps work. I don't care if it's terribly long, I want to learn!
-gk
-gk
School me on how a tube amp works
- Thread starter guitarkid4143
- Start date
trevorus
Modsterbator
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
http://www.vacuumtubes.net/How_Vacuum_Tubes_Work.htm
Start readin'!
http://www.vacuumtubes.net/How_Vacuum_Tubes_Work.htm
Start readin'!
ehdwuld
A Ficus
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
here's a read
http://www.rockdog.com.au/amplifier%20myths.htm
and here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_amplifier
here's one not on amps but interesting anyways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_%28music%29
here's a read
http://www.rockdog.com.au/amplifier%20myths.htm
and here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_amplifier
here's one not on amps but interesting anyways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distortion_%28music%29
Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
plug in...turn on...make music
beyond that i take it to my tech
plug in...turn on...make music
beyond that i take it to my tech
sosomething
Seymour Duncan Customer Support
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
tube amps use vacuum tubes
they suck and suck and a suck suck suck
till they cain'tst suck no more
then they blow blow blow, man...
tube amps use vacuum tubes
they suck and suck and a suck suck suck
till they cain'tst suck no more
then they blow blow blow, man...
Boogie Bill
New member
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
You should check out the Mesa Boogie site, Randy Smith has a couple of articles posted there. One on Class A amps.
Also check the back of the Owner's Manual for say, the DC-3. He does this neat little article describing how a tube works by using the analogy of an Irish pub. Really cute article, very clever; and it makes a lot of sense.
Bill
You should check out the Mesa Boogie site, Randy Smith has a couple of articles posted there. One on Class A amps.
Also check the back of the Owner's Manual for say, the DC-3. He does this neat little article describing how a tube works by using the analogy of an Irish pub. Really cute article, very clever; and it makes a lot of sense.
Bill
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/
Lotta useful articles here, albiet from a design perspective. But the preview PDF of the book he wrote helped all I'd read before come together, and how tubes worked and make their magic sounds finally started to click for me.
http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/
Lotta useful articles here, albiet from a design perspective. But the preview PDF of the book he wrote helped all I'd read before come together, and how tubes worked and make their magic sounds finally started to click for me.
cakire82
Cake Mire
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
More more more
http://www.duncanamps.com/technical/technical.html
More more more
http://www.duncanamps.com/technical/technical.html
misterwhizzy
Well-known member
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
I'll take a shot at explaining in VERY basic English what's going on.
Your guitar puts in a signal, let's say a sine wave. Even for one note, there's more going in than this, but it's good enough for the explanation. That sine wave has a very small amplitude, and a very small amount of energy. The whole point of the amplifier is to add a whole lot of energy to the amplitude of the signal while keeping it the same shape (until you start talking about distortion).
The tubes are amplification devices. They take an input signal and amplify it, but each stage has a limit to how much it can amplify. That's why we see multiple tubes. Each 12AX7 has two gain stages, and (if I remember right) each one can put out about 100 times the voltage it takes in. Once you amplify it through several stages, it's just about ready to go to the power stage. Typically, this is the point where the signal gets shaped by your tone controls.
The power stage is a bit more difficult, and the way it works depends on whether it's class A or class AB. You'll see a phase inverter in class AB power amps, and I don't remember the intricacies of class A. Clearly, this is a vast oversimplification, but it might give you the basic idea.
When you see more tubes, you may be looking at more gain stages, a tube-buffered reverb, an effects loop, or something else. Also, as you push one of the tubes to distortion, you typically pass this distortion on to further tubes of the same type, and that's what people call cascading gain stages.
Of course, there's more to it than that, especially regarding gain and frequency response, but most tube amps do this same basic signal processing.
I'll take a shot at explaining in VERY basic English what's going on.
Your guitar puts in a signal, let's say a sine wave. Even for one note, there's more going in than this, but it's good enough for the explanation. That sine wave has a very small amplitude, and a very small amount of energy. The whole point of the amplifier is to add a whole lot of energy to the amplitude of the signal while keeping it the same shape (until you start talking about distortion).
The tubes are amplification devices. They take an input signal and amplify it, but each stage has a limit to how much it can amplify. That's why we see multiple tubes. Each 12AX7 has two gain stages, and (if I remember right) each one can put out about 100 times the voltage it takes in. Once you amplify it through several stages, it's just about ready to go to the power stage. Typically, this is the point where the signal gets shaped by your tone controls.
The power stage is a bit more difficult, and the way it works depends on whether it's class A or class AB. You'll see a phase inverter in class AB power amps, and I don't remember the intricacies of class A. Clearly, this is a vast oversimplification, but it might give you the basic idea.
When you see more tubes, you may be looking at more gain stages, a tube-buffered reverb, an effects loop, or something else. Also, as you push one of the tubes to distortion, you typically pass this distortion on to further tubes of the same type, and that's what people call cascading gain stages.
Of course, there's more to it than that, especially regarding gain and frequency response, but most tube amps do this same basic signal processing.
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
Go to this page here and download the AX84 P1 Theory Document, as well as the matching Rev. 10 schematic. It's a great "Tube Amps 101".
Go to this page here and download the AX84 P1 Theory Document, as well as the matching Rev. 10 schematic. It's a great "Tube Amps 101".
ImmortalSix
John Mayer's Mankini
Re: School me on how a tube amp works
It's a series of tubes.
It's a series of tubes.
