Understanding and building tube amps tab electronics jerry whitaker on. Download the blackvibe pdf here and the diylc file here. Note the use of quiet metal film resistors except the v3 2. The only handson approach to building valve and tube amps classic and modernwith a minimum of theory. A tube amplifier has an inherent peaktopeak asymmetry, which can be lessened or increased by varying the slope of the loadline. Keywords audio, low frequency, thd, noise, vacuum tube.
Incorporate the tube sound into your home audio system. It is intended as a companion to design and construction of guitar and bass speaker systems. There was a gap between buying the parts and actually making the amplifier. There are more kits to assemble and we want you to enjoy building and playing them all. For plan pack, schematic, layout, chassis diagrams visit original circuit all tube amp build. This article is also available in pdf format basic tube power supplies pdf 1. It does not go into the understanding or design of vacuum tube amplifiers. I built this amplifier back in my younger days, back in the early 1970s. Ever wanted to build a highly dangerous, inefficient, yet awesomely retro piece of electronics.
This is how fender does a modern hand wired ab763 amp. Learn about pulserated tubes, and what the difference is from standard tubes. Building an amplifier is an important step in the experimental part of the project. If you actually intend to create, modify, restore or repair tube audio equipment, i would highly recommend purchasing building valve amplifiers, even if you are seasoned by many years of practical experience. Four amplifiers for different purposes was designed and measured. A low cost 600 watt ultralinear amplifier iw5edi simone. Electronic amplification entered the scene in the 1930s when. A check of my logbook shows that my first contact using the amplifier was with gene k5nyt in tulsa on 3905 khz on march 31, 1973. Besides these three parts, the old rig contributed many highquality components to the new project. Diy audio books and manuals speakers, vacuum tubes.
Feb 15, 2018 a brief discussion of the whys and whatfors of how i build amplifiers. Building a kit is also a great way to boost your understanding of electronic theory and tube amplification. The layout and the building blocks a push pull valve amplifier almost invariably follows one of the two schemes shown in block diagrams below. If youve been itching to try your hand at building such a thing, this looks like it could be a good place to start. I built a simple tube amp last year called the firefly. Building valve amplifiers tube electronics for you and me. Building valve amplifiers is a unique handson guide for anyone working with tube audio equipment as an electronics experimenter, audiophile or audio. Your choices will surely be somewhat different but i hope this helps, in particular, the new builders. Do not attempt to do anything to your amp while it is plugged in other than take voltage readings as necessary. Ive taken the original scans of the plans and turned them into an archived pdf with enlarged photos from the article. For additional information, or to ask a question about vacuum tube rectifiers, see the vacuum tube rectifiers thread on the forum. Diy audio books and manuals speakers, vacuum tubes, electronics. This site supports the tab guide to vacuum tube audio in a number of ways, including the following. These included brass panel bushings, shaft couplings, one e.
The only handson approach to building valve and tube ampsclassic and. In preamp stages, the plate resistor determines the loadline slope. A brief discussion of the whys and whatfors of how i build amplifiers. Class d audio amplifier design, trend in class d amplifiers, traditional linear amplifier, basic pwm operation, analogy to buck dcdc converter, power dissipation in gate driver, gate driver for class d applications, mosfet. Vacuum tubes are old electronic components that act like transistors, controlling a lot of current. How to build a tube amplifier rob robinettes car and tube.
In fact, i did all this research to design a special series of new toroidal output transformers, the socalled specialist. Free amplifier circuits books download ebooks online. Jan 17, 2017 so heres a basic overview of how amps work and what you can do to start tweaking your own. If youre interested in understanding, designing, or building greatsounding amplifiers and speaker systems, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers and design and construction of guitar and bass speaker systems contain the information you need. Please use extreme caution and common sense when building this kit. Amplifiers are among major special audio components. Aug 26, 2018 building valve amplifiers, second edition pdf, by morgan jones, isbn. Guitars, like most instruments, were once strictly acoustic, but like many string instruments, the quest for amplification began long before electric amps. Please be aware that most of these vacuum tube projects use potentially lethal voltages that can kill you so do not attempt them if you are not familiar with high voltage safety. Valve amplifiers this page intentionally left blank valve amplifiers third edition morgan jonesamsterdam boston h. Jones has a companion book called building valve amplifiers which covers all of the physical design considerations that go into building a good tube amp, including component layout, enclosure designconstruction, and performance testing and troubleshooting.
Doityourself diy vacuum tube valve amplifier and tube preamplifier projects. The circuit my junk box yielded a power transformer with outputs around 600 v centertapped winding at 50 ma, 6. The 1950s fender 5f6a bassman is the grandfather to the worlds high gain amplifiers. However, there are problems with nutube 6p1 which makes it useless in audio systems with high fidelity. Building valve amplifiers isbn 9780750656955 pdf epub. How to make a 1 kw hf linear amplifier weighting only 8 kg in this semiconductor era everything is lightweight and small. A push pull valve amplifier almost invariably follows one of the two schemes shown. In this article we cover how to lay out and build the chassis for a vacuum tube guitar amplifier. The cost of a tube amplifier mostly consists of the cost of an output transformer and tubes that is usually a factor limiting the sound quality. The drive circuitry of the control grids is not shown i assume perfect. Learn about rf chokes as they relate to power tubetype amplifiers and plate chokes.
Building a brand new valve amplifier using the rh84 design and. Tube amplifiers contain high voltage that can cause injury and even death. How to build the dx811a allband linear amplifier cq. And i hope that youll feel more comfortable with the topic the next time you decide to build or rebuild an amplifier. It is a highly detailed book on the actual design and construction of tube amplifiers the book covers planning, metalworking, wiring and testing. Vacuum tube amplifier building thoughts and practices. Some of this material is general and applies as much to hifi circuits as to guitar amps, but some of it is very. A low cost 600 watt ultralinear amplifier for 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10m this compact little amplifier is the brainchild of pat murdoch, zl1axb, in auckland, new zealand. Pdf the purpose of this project was to build a high fidelity tube amplifier from a kit, and machine a beautiful enclosure to house the electronics find, read. Generally we think of amplifiers as audio amplifiers in the radios, cd players and stereos we use around the home. Being shocked with high voltage is very painful and we do not want anyone finding out the hard way. How to layout and build a guitar amplifier chassis. A number of recent visitors have registered surprise that we do not have any music playing in our workshop. Most of the boutique amps being made today are cloned vintage fender and marshall amps or at least heavily influenced by their circuits.
Elements affecting this sound include the cleverly designed tone stacks, the. This week, ive discovered another treasure from the eisenhower eraa one tube amplifier that uses a 117l7m7gt tube. Its a very simple amp compared to the vibroverb above. Building a brand new valve amplifier using the rh84 design and offtheshelf components. Well, a 1 kw output hf linear amplifier made with the solid state must indeed have heath sinks, switching power supply and various protection circuitry, which push the weight to about 25 kg icom icpw1. Ive always wanted to build my own amplifier, and now, finally, i made one. Please also see the mcgrawhill web site for more information on this title. Incorporate the tube sound into your home audio system learn how to work with vacuum tubes and construct highquality audio amplifiers on your workbench with help from this handson. Pdf construction and enhancement of stereo vacuum tube. I imported the images for the transformers and valve bases from pdf data. Fundamentals of amplification this chapter deals with the design and analysis of the basic triode gain stage, which is the main building block of a valve preamp. If you are down with bode plots and circuit diagrams, though, it could serve as a nice introduction to building a class ab amplifier circuit.
Build a classa amplifier audio feb, 1977 by nelson pass in spite of their high cost and low efficiency, class a power amplifiers have recently been receiving more attention from audiophiles who demand uncompromising accuracy. The practical guide to building, modifying, faultfinding and repairing vacuum tube amplifiers a handson approach to tube electronics classic and modern with a minimum of theory design, faultfinding, and testing are each illustrated by stepbystep examples written by the author of the audiophile cult classic, valve amplifiers. Comprehensive transmitting tube data 1988 handbook base diagrams and data. It gives advice on how to plan layout, hints on metal working and wiring. Tube amplifiers contain potentially lethal voltages. Learn about rf chokes as they relate to power tube type amplifiers and plate chokes. The answer is that building a handwired tube amp is within the reach of most players. Tube amplifiers are the most commonly used amplifiers for professionals and sound experts. In most respects it is a typical grounded grid linear amplifier, with the exception of. They require a small lowvoltage supply of their own. However, if we intend to design and build valve amplifiers, then carefully. Design, construction, faultfinding, and testing are all illustrated by stepbystep examples, enabling readers to clearly understand the content and succeed in their own projects.
Its thepreamplifier circuit that differs amongst them. A bibliography of must have tube electronics books. Building the ampamplifier introduction for about 80 years it has been possible to amplify voltage differences and to increase the associated power, first with vacuum tubes using electrons from a hot filament. When building this kit, we want your experiences to be both enjoyable and safe. About 10 watts, 2x 12ax7 preamp tubes, 1 el84 output tube. The vacuum tube guitar amplifier still sets the performance standard for the desirable sound of this music production instrument. There are also many books on the subject of tube amp circuit theory, design and building that you can read to help make your first build of boutique quality. Well the intent of this article is to lay out a logical plan of action for those courageous individuals who are contemplating building their own tube amplifier, but just cant seem to figure out where to start.
Figure 1 shows several pushpull tube amplifiers only the power tubes and the output transformers primary winding. We maintain an extensive list of amplfiers and their required components browse to your amp manufacturer below and select your amplifier to see a listing of the components which you can replace in your amp we will show you all of the components which. Build it yourself a 50 watt high quality audio amplifier. One of the more difficult aspects of building tube amp guitars is figuring out all the different types of capacitors used in them. Some nice details about tube based voltage regulator circuits, and sections on electronic computing circuits, relaxation oscillators and sweep circuits you wont find in the other texts. Building eight amps fortunately, it is very simple to build these amplifier circuits when good tube circuits and good output transformers are available. The cost of a tube amplifier mostly consists of the cost of. How guitar amps work and what you can do to start tweaking. Gio writes in to tell us about his latest vacuum tube based audio amplifier design, the 5751 srpp el84 6bq5 pushpull tube amp. Bill beech, nj7p has a tube database on his web site. Given the cost of handwired or pointtopoint tube amplifiers, you might wonder if building one is realistic. For more info on actually building an amp see how to build a tube amp. The slides are pretty heavy on engineering design terms, but give a good feel for what it takes to construct and tune an audio amplifier using vacuum tube technology.
Covers tube theory, tuned and untuned amplifiers, oscillators, and power supplies. Following is a list of must have books for the serious tube amplifier designer. With a few essential tools and proper procedures, youll find that building a vacuum tube guitar. I recommend and for complete or partial tube amp kits. This information is intended for experienced technicians and is presented asis and with no guarantees. Modern vfd vacuum tube demonstrated itself as a tube which can provide tube sound with low supply voltages. Most tube amplifiers have the same phase inverter and output stage circuit. If you are tight on cash consider building the chassis only and playing through an extension cab if you dont have an extension cab consider borrowing one. Both the price and quality of these amplifiers result from the operation of their output stages in. Nov 19, 2014 for plan pack, schematic, layout, chassis diagrams visit original circuit all tube amp build. By matt erickson kk5dr i have read in many articles, the lamentation over the lack of new hams that are building their own gear, and older hams who dont. Learn how to work with vacuum tubes and construct highquality audio amplifiers on your workbench with help from this handson, doityourself resource. I shall not give you a step by step building manual, only some guidelines.
Ian white, gm3sek, sells kits for tube control and protection. The only handson approach to building valve and tube ampsclassic and modernwith a minimum of theory. Building valve amplifiers morgan jones isbn 9780750656955 as the title suggests, this book is about building valve amplifiers. We do have a small radio, but it seldom gets turned on. Audio transformer design for tube amplifier with improved quality and reduced cost project team. Design and building hf amplifiers, power tubes, homebrew.
This illustrative build guide has been written to aid anyone in building diyaudio s diyab. Do not attempt to perform work on an amplifier unless qualified to do so and experienced in high voltage safety procedures. That said, the advice online can be somewhat difficult to make sense of, given the breath of options, and differing levels of experience among diy. Some of them are long out of print, and can only be obtained from used book sellers, although they are occasionally seen for sale on the internet. With tube amps, even when the ac power is not applied there is still danger. Learn about the dangers of tetrode tubes in a swamped input hf amplifier. Building valve amplifiers is a unique handson guide for anyone working with tube audio equipmentas an electronics hobbyist, audiophile or audio engineer. T he following are just a few very simple modifications that may open up your little fender and fendertype amplifier. While this article is intended primarily for the homebrew builder, it will also be useful background for the kit builder. Build your own clone champlifier kit instructions warning high voltage. Building valve amplifiers, second edition pdf amplifier, valve. The anodes are connected to the primary winding, the cathodes to ground circuits 1, 2, and 3, and the middle of the primary to the highvoltage supply. Sep 01, 2009 written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, design and construction of tube guitar amplifiers provides a complete yet easytounderstand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps.