Understanding Electronics & Tube Amps?
Scott C. Johnson
example, the purpose of each component and the importance of its value. I
read the tube amp faq and got a copy of The Tube Amp Book. I like the
book but I'm not at a level where it can be very useful to me. I also
have the RCA Receiving Tube Manual. That gives me a better understanding
of tubes themselves, but not how the additional components are related.
Can someone suggest a book on basic electronic circuits to get me
started. I'm sure there is something useful at the university bookstore,
but which one. I hope this post is clear enough to those of you who know
their way around this stuff to be of some help to me. Thanks. --> Scott
--
Scott C. Johnson
Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison
joh...@ahabs.wisc.edu
Jerry Loyd
>From: joh...@ahabs.wisc.edu (Scott C. Johnson)
>Subject: Understanding Electronics & Tube Amps?
>Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 10:07:07 -0600
Scott:
When I was taking Electronics in college, nobody could understand the text we
were supposed to use. It was some crazy thing, focused on semiconductor
physics. A few of us started using a book by "Malveno" and it was like
cheating. The book explained everything so clearly. After we got to
understanding things a bit better, we began to wonder if the Professor really
knew what he was talking about
I don't remember anything else about the book, but I'm certain the author was
Malveno. However, even 20 years ago, the universities had dropped all mention
of tubes out of engineering curriculum. You might have a tough time finding
anything on them beyond what you have.
I will also tell you.... After reading all the questions and comments about
the care and feeding of a tube amplifier, I don't think I want one. I won't
argue that they may sound better - but it just doesn't seem to be worth the
trouble.
Jerry
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| |___ _ _ _ _ _ _ | | ___ _ _ _| | Jerry Loyd
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\___\___|_| |_| \_, | |___\_ _/\_, |\_,_| Hewlett Packard Co. - BPR
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Robert Fries
You're probably referring to "Electronic Principles" by Albert Paul Malvino.
I agree, it's a very digestible electronics text, assuming you've
got some basics down - basically, DC and AC. We used it in tech
school, years ago... And I still refer to it from time to time.
Of course, it doesn't cover tubes, but a lot of the same stuff applies.
Robert
Michael J. Edelman
>I will also tell you.... After reading all the questions and comments about
>the care and feeding of a tube amplifier, I don't think I want one. I won't
>argue that they may sound better - but it just doesn't seem to be worth the
>trouble.
many uses. And they require less maintainance then a car!
--mike
Paolo Valladolid
How about all those jazz guitarists who use Polytone (solid state)
amps? I realize that most folks here who prefer tube amps mainly
like them for their ability to distort a signal in a manner pleasing
to the ears (usually in a rock setting) but solid state amps can be
very useful for those guitarists (especially jazz players) who want
to be able to play loudly enough to solo over a big band yet retain
the pure, undistorted tone of their hollowbody guitars..
Paolo Valladolid
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Steve Cowell
Get yourself a mid-sixties copy of the Radio Amateur Handbook, published
by the ARRL. Granddad bought me one in '68 (i was much too young to
understand it then)... it's what I learned from. Take a schematic and
go through with it until you figure out what each part does... the
phase inverter is the weirdest part. The book may be at the library,
or bought at a hamfest (sometimes good for NOS tubes, too).
--
Steve......scowell@aoc.nrao.edu..............KI5YG, too................
Jon
see if you can find the book by Jack Darr. I think it called something
like "Electric Guitar Amplifier Handbook." Its a great book. Its fairly
easy to read, and goes through the different parts of amplifiers, how and
why they work. ie. pre-amp, power amp, tremelo, reverb ect... The book
seems to be written for repairmen in the 60's to help them learn to fix
amps. Theres a little bit on solid state stuff, but mostly tubes. I
pretty sure its out of print now, but check your library. I got mine at a
university library book sale.
--
Jon Halverson
jhal...@plains.nodak.edu
Junior (i think), EE at NDSU
Dr.Distortion
: Can someone suggest a book on basic electronic circuits to get me
: started. I'm sure there is something useful at the university bookstore,
: but which one. I hope this post is clear enough to those of you who know
: their way around this stuff to be of some help to me. Thanks. --> Scott
Scott: The Groove Tubes book is worth having for the schematics, but
otherwise it's misleading bullshit. Gerald Weber's book is better, but
still displays some bias (pun intentional) and in some cases makes
some pretty incredible statements. Therefore, here are three good books
that are still in print and should be easy to find:
US Navy BASIC ELECTRONICS manual, published by TAB books (not to be
confused with the Navy BASIC ELECTRICITY manual, also from the same
publisher).
BASIC ELECTRONICS COURSE, by Norman Crowhurst, also from TAB Books.
THE ART OF ELECTRONICS, by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill. Published
by Cambridge University Press.
The first two books are pretty cheap and have good coverage of tubes;
the second is big and costly--I paid 50 bucks for my copy--but is
an excellent all-around electronics reference. It doesn't go into
tubes, though.
--Dr.Distortion
Tim Victor
I'll second what I've seen in the other replies you've gotten. You could
also try a public or university library that's been open for at least 20
years. I've seen some great old electronics books on the shelves there,
beginners stuff as well as textbooks.
Also, make a point of checking the used bookstores fairly often. When the
60-some-year-old engineers pass on, that's usually where their reference
books end up. The old stuff is a lot better than anything you'll find new --
it was written when everything still used tubes! -- and it's cheaper too.
I just found a wonderful textbook, a little dense but packed with tube
circuit info, (F. E. Terman, _Electronics and Radio Engineering, 4th Ed._,
1955, McGraw-Hill), 1078 hardbound pages for $8.
Pittman's book is a fine resource and so is Gerald Weber's, but neither
one really tries to explain how it all works. The schematics are great for
illustrating how the various circuits are alike and how they're different.
The text is likely to leave you with more questions than answers, but you
gotta start by asking questions.
Tim Victor
ti...@well.sf.ca.us
745ba...@wmich.edu
> Also, make a point of checking the used bookstores fairly often. When the
> 60-some-year-old engineers pass on, that's usually where their reference
> books end up. The old stuff is a lot better than anything you'll find new --
> it was written when everything still used tubes! -- and it's cheaper too.
> I just found a wonderful textbook, a little dense but packed with tube
> circuit info, (F. E. Terman, _Electronics and Radio Engineering, 4th Ed._,
> 1955, McGraw-Hill), 1078 hardbound pages for $8.
A great book to get is the Audio Cyclopedia. It's pretty rare, but
worth the search. Some bookstores do book searches for a small fee. Over
1000 pages of schematics, diagrams, and pictures. Deals with speakers,
acoustics, electronics, and tubes - tubes -tubes. The neat thing about
the book is the learning format... questions! Like a heading would be
'What's a Class A amplifier'... then several paragraphs would explain
exactly what a class amplifier is in easy to understand terms.
Kevin Ballast
745ba...@wmich.edu
x90ba...@wmich.edu
Jerry Loyd
>From: ti...@well.sf.ca.us (Tim Victor)
>Subject: Re: Understanding Electronics & Tube Amps?
>Date: 3 Dec 1994 06:35:00 GMT
>Also, make a point of checking the used bookstores fairly often. When the
>60-some-year-old engineers pass on, that's usually where their reference
>books end up. The old stuff is a lot better than anything you'll find new --
>it was written when everything still used tubes! -- and it's cheaper too.
>I just found a wonderful textbook, a little dense but packed with tube
>circuit info, (F. E. Terman, _Electronics and Radio Engineering, 4th Ed._,
>1955, McGraw-Hill), 1078 hardbound pages for $8.
Frank Terman is the Stanford professor who so greatly inspired Hewlett and
Packard, and probably most of the rest of Silicon Valley. That book may be a
real collectors item - maybe even worth more than a vintage amp.