Understanding circuitry/Schematics (Help!)

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xXDaveyJonesXx

xXDaveyJonesXx

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Looking to get on the right path to start understanding the basics of circuitry/electronics. I'm told that a good place to start is with a highly regarded book called "The Art of Electronics". Did a quick search to see if I could buy a PDF version online. I haven't seen a copy for under $100 (don't wanna just rip it off either). For those of you who are familiar with the material, is it worth the buy?


Ultimately, I want to be able to look at a schematic such as this and honestly think to myself..




413375_476823952342989_831115555_o.jpg




"Okay, that makes sense!"

And eventually get to the point where I can not only understand why a specific circuit puts off the vibe that it does, but to confidently modify it if I please. I know there's a good deal of you out there who do this on a daily basis- Probably even out of boredom sometimes! If it's not something you wish to share, I suppose I understand. But those of you who'd be willing to throw out a few pointers, It'd be very much appreciated. Looking forward to learning a thing or two in this thread.

Thanks!
 
What is your knowledge of electricity? Some electronics books have a basic electricity section. I don't have the Art of Electronics, so I can't say whether it does or not. Knowing the fundamentals of electricity is essential to understanding electronic circuits.

Once you get a bit comfortable in in those areas, you can move to Guitar Amplifier Handbook, by Dave Hunter. This is a very base level tube amp book and a good place to start. From there a wealth of information is available in books and online....more than you can consume.

This is not a short, easy journey. Even for folks with some basic electricity and electronics training, understanding how a tube amp (or any amp) takes your signal, amplifies it, shapes it tone, and sends it to the speakers is significant task. The schematic you have listed is a fairly simple amplifier, yet beautifully complex. There is a whole lot happening to make that simple design function.
 
There's lots of info to be had on the web. Get a simple kit of some sort like a Tweed design, so you can build an amp. You'll have a quicker understanding of things when you're translating real components to a board from diagrams and schematics. But first, learn how to not electrocute yourself with guitar amps as they run volts in excess of 400.

Schematic Heaven is a great schematic resource to compare different designs. You'll soon find that amps are all similar to an extent. http://www.webphix.com/schematic%20heav ... _HTML.html
 
Rogue":1ysz33sv said:
What is your knowledge of electricity?
Click to expand...


We touched on basic circuitry in college. Thought it was really interesting and even kinda fun once I felt I got the hang of it. I was Introduced to the series/parallel concepts Then about as soon as it started to click, we moved on.

Rogue":1ysz33sv said:
..The schematic you have listed is a fairly simple amplifier, yet beautifully complex. There is a whole lot happening to make that simple design function.
Click to expand...

Then I'd love to see a VH-4 and a Meathead :shocked:


midnightlaundry":1ysz33sv said:
There's lots of info to be had on the web. Get a simple kit of some sort like a Tweed design, so you can build an amp. You'll have a quicker understanding of things when you're translating real components to a board from diagrams and schematics. But first, learn how to not electrocute yourself with guitar amps as they run volts in excess of 400.

Schematic Heaven is a great schematic resource to compare different designs. You'll soon find that amps are all similar to an extent. http://www.webphix.com/schematic%20heav ... _HTML.html
Click to expand...

Been looking into kits from Mojo and what not. Already feel like a kid in a candy shop browsing through their sites. And the thing that amazed me the most was how incredibly cheap most the supplies are. I mean, a few cents here, a few cents there. The most expensive parts are the output transformers and they're only a couple hundred bucks at worst. So I suppose it's probably safe to assume the majority of the cost is driven by labor..? But I'm always told that I'd be surprised to know how little profit is involved in most cases, even when they're slingn' amps like hot cakes. So strange.

Oh, and thank you for the site. That will come in handy soon!

Feels like a good start, fellas. Thanks
 
Kevin Oconner the ultimate tone volume one.

Mark Abrahamian recomonnded it to me years ago.
 
xXDaveyJonesXx":1xlxnyf7 said:
Rogue":1xlxnyf7 said:
What is your knowledge of electricity?
Click to expand...

We touched on basic circuitry in college. Thought it was really interesting and even kinda fun once I felt I got the hang of it. I was Introduced to the series/parallel concepts Then about as soon as it started to click, we moved on.
Click to expand...
It would be worthwhile to revisit it. It's one thing to memorize components and values and another to understand what is really going on in there. The latter being significantly more time consuming, of course.
 
jerrydyer":1yufkxbi said:
Kevin Oconner the ultimate tone volume one.

Mark Abrahamian recomonnded it to me years ago.
Click to expand...

Appreciated in a big way, Jerry.

I've actually just set up a MetroAmp account and look forward to searching out his teachings there, if they're still around.
 
Here's a couple' more sites that helped me a lot. I bought the 2 Wizard books. They are technical, but they break things down from a tube amp designers perspective. They inspired me to build a Trainwreck with a Star Grounding system that's different from the original. Other than preamp hiss, the amp is hum free.

The Tone Lizard site is a great source of info and amp history as well as being very entertaining.

http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

http://www.tone-lizard.com/index.html



Here's my Wreck.

IMG_1181.jpg
 
Wow.. It's so incredibly clean.

50 Watt?

It's beautiful. Great work
 
xXDaveyJonesXx":3qmob1cf said:
Wow.. It's so incredibly clean.

50 Watt?

It's beautiful. Great work
Click to expand...


Thanks. I'm no designer. Trainwrecks are all Ken Fischer's designs. They have an incredible reputation as being some of the greatest amp designs ever. The problem is that Ken passed on before his time. So finding an original Trainwreck for sale will cost you in the $40,000 range, so I thought I would learn to build my own. It's a ton of work building amps, as it takes a lot of time to fabricate things together and make things look neat.

The Amp Garage is the source for everything Trainwreck and Dumble. Join the forum, and all the files and pics will then become available to you. http://ampgarage.com/forum/

Here's some more pics of mine.

https://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh26 ... r/EXPRESS/
 
midnightlaundry":1i127moo said:
Here's a couple' more sites that helped me a lot. I bought the 2 Wizard books.
Click to expand...
I will be ordering both those books. I've spent a lot time on their website and run out of bandwidth sometimes. lol

I think they'll be a worth while investment.

Nice build, btw.
 
If tube amps are interesting to you, then you'll want to have

Designing Valve Preamps for Guitar and Bass
Merlin Blencowe
ISBN 978-0-9561545-0-7

It gets into the why. For example why do almost all amps have:
1m ohm resistor to ground on the input
68K series input resistor
Plate resistor is either 220K or 100K
Grid bypassing
Long tail-pairs versus Cathodyne
DC coupled pair (V2 in the OPs Marshall Schematic example)
 
Holy crap, Sled. Thanks.

That sounds/looks more than handy.
 
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