Best resource for newb learning to build amps

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jchrisf

jchrisf

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I've been studying what I can find for a while now and am about ready to build my first amp. But I still have a lot of questions about the amp circuit. Is there a book, article, video, etc., that really puts it all together?
 
Merlin Blencowe has a set of books that are well written and can get you interested, however they are written with an audience that has basic understanding of circuits.

I suggest starting small with pedal kits first. Amps are a whole different animal. Not only do you have to have solid debugging skills to solve problems, they’re highly sensitive to RF and layout matters as much as design for stability. The higher the gain of the amp, the more challenging it becomes.

Start small and work your way up.

Before I worked on tube amps I designed pedals and circuit bent toys. I also only had a technician background initially. You gotta start somewhere.
 
Aynirar27 said:
I would browse the Trinity amps websites. They unfortunately do not have any kits available at the moment, but their support section has all the manuals, layouts and schematics available.
Very well put together information

An example
https://www.trinityamps.com/docs/18WattBuildersGuide.pdf
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Yeah, I emailed them last week because I wanted a hot rod plexi kit from them. They are having issues with the supply chain which they say is a real problem and mentioned this:

In the long term when supply chains get sorted out, we plan to return with a streamlined business model. At this point, we don’t have a finalized product plan, timeline or pricing but will do our research based on past sales and your request.
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Hopefully they will be selling kits again soon.
 
glpg80 said:
Merlin Blencowe has a set of books that are well written and can get you interested, however they are written with an audience that has basic understanding of circuits.

I suggest starting small with pedal kits first. Amps are a whole different animal. Not only do you have to have solid debugging skills to solve problems, they’re highly sensitive to RF and layout matters as much as design for stability. The higher the gain of the amp, the more challenging it becomes.

Start small and work your way up.

Before I worked on tube amps I designed pedals and circuit bent toys. I also only had a technician background initially. You gotta start somewhere.
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I tried to read through his first chapter and got a little lost. I probably need some more basic knowledge before I tackle his books. I took a semester of electronics in college and loved it but have forgotten a lot. I can still solder though.. and built a couple of pedals from BYOC this past year.
 
mcstinger said:
I can highly recommend Merlin Blencowe's books. I have 30 years of experience with amps, still learned a lot from him.
His website:
https://www.valvewizard.co.uk/
Nice reading is also this:
https://robrobinette.com/Amp_Stuff.htm
And miscellaneous forums of course
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I have read through Rob's Amp Stuff a couple of times in the past 2 years... he is basically where I got most of my limited knowledge... but he doesn't, IMO, explain the circuits fully so it leaves me a bit confused. I probably just need to read it a couple more times. Probably just need to read everything I can a few times. But it is Rob's site that makes me confident I can build a kit now even though I don't have it all down yet.

Rob mentioned this book on his reading list as a top seller on Amazon for newbs:
This book is aimed at the absolute beginner and is one of the most popular tube amp books on Amazon, Vacuum Tube Amplifier Basics by EJ Jurich. It's not specific to guitar tube amps but it's well written.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/150093886...9e55a3b237f33e1d7b41a&creativeASIN=1500938866Anybody recommend it? I am tired of buying books that aren't that great or over my head.
 
jchrisf said:
I tried to read through his first chapter and got a little lost. I probably need some more basic knowledge before I tackle his books. I took a semester of electronics in college and loved it but have forgotten a lot. I can still solder though.. and built a couple of pedals from BYOC this past year.
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I believe, you can simply read the book and skip anything, what you don't understand. There is lot of knowledge there, which should be understood by newbie easily. Generally, you don't need too much to know. Few formulas like Ohm's law and lowpass/hipass filter calculation. good starting point.

Then, I would start with some simple kit, where you can easily test swapping of components and listen to the sound changes caused.
 
jchrisf said:
Yeah, I emailed them last week because I wanted a hot rod plexi kit from them. They are having issues with the supply chain which they say is a real problem and mentioned this:


Hopefully they will be selling kits again soon.
Click to expand...
I hope so as well. I’ve built a few of their kits and they have always been so kind and helpful. Wonderful people.
 
I recommend grabbing a cheap amp like a jet city or an 18W kit from ceriatone first and use those as mod platforms.

Drill holes. Add features. Tweak. Build. You’ll learn a lot and not get stuck with as large of a financial investment but what you learn in tuning a preamp is still just as valid as the bigger iron more expensive stuff.

You also don’t want it bite off more than you can chew on your first go-around. The last thing you want is a big investment in a big amp and in return you get a circuit that doesn’t work and you get stuck or discouraged. The more complex the ideas and design, the better your troubleshooting skills need to be.

So in summary start small. I also recommend documenting your mods on schematic before you dive into an amp. One rule of thumb working on these is that the risk of shock is highest when you’re poking around with no real purpose while the amp is on. Design, validate, document, and then mod. I’ve got schematics for everything I’ve done and have had to share a few with others I trust to help rule out stability problems I was having before I found a bad relay in my amp. So get good at not only learning, but documenting.
 
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