www.valvewizard.co.uk

[Ears]

http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/ seems to have fallen victim to Lykos webhosting ceasing to offer internet services.
Here's hoping it turns up somewhere else.

[martin manning]

Try

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

MPM

[Andy Le Blanc]

good to see the link working. the site really was "there one day gone the next".
A marvel of the internet age.

[Ears]

Looks like Blencowe's book is near publication.
http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

[tubeswell]

Looks like Blencowe's book is near publication.
http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/

Yes I'm looking forward to it too

[Ears]

better a month late in notifying this than never

[img:400:563]http://www.freewebs.com/valvewizard/book.jpg[/img]

[David Root]

I just read the first chapter and ordered the book. Just about everything in the first chapter is already known territory to me but it's all very specific to MI amps and he connects it all together very well, so for me I don't have to go in one book for one thing and another for something else, it all seems to be there if I forget anything.

This is important when you get to be an old fart like me!

I read the contents list and it is pretty comprehensive I think.

The only minus is it will cost me almost as much to get the book shipped by USPS Priority International Mail from Doberman in SC as the price of the book (I recently moved from Tucson to BC, Canada).

I'll give a report after I've read it all.

[David Root]

Well I haven't quite read it all yet, but the first sentence in the Preface is "This is the book I wish I'd had when I began building amps." Amen to that!

I found this to be a great book, written of course in the same lucid common sense way as his web articles, but with much greater depth. Stand outs for me are the chapters on coupling. the cathode follower, and paralleling twin triodes. The book is also very good on interstage impedance design and phase inverters (he goes into both the long tailed pair and the cathodyne in great detail).

For example, I didn't know that one of the several reasons for the great tone of the 5F6A bassman circuit is that Fender used too small a cathode resistor in it for the 325V plate with a 12AX7, at least according to classical biasing practice at the time, and so the stage exhibits more soft compression than it might have, had the cathode resistor been "chosen properly" or if Fender had used a lower plate voltage.

It is not for the complete beginner but you don't need a BSEE either. Highly recommended.

[Ears]

I paid for a couple of copies weeks ago and I am still waiting for delivery, but that's price we have to pay for living in paradise .

[M Fowler]

I am deep into the book, but find that my old books pretty well have already covered this stuff, oh well I now own the book.

Decided I need to collect some of the TUT books, not all only the amp project books so I have one of those coming #3 I think and also want the book with the SVT info in it.

Mark

[jelle]

I really like the book. Compact and to the point. And good explanations of issues that are unclear to many, even to some big commercial ampdesigners/builders.

As for novelties....this technology is an old one. What do you expect?


I applaud merlinB for writing this and I truly hope he'll be writing a book on poweramps as well.

[Structo]

A couple months ago I received Gerald Weber's newest book, All About Vacuum Tube Guitar Amplifiers.

I was a bit disappointed as I had corresponded with him about this new book and I was told that it would contain a lot of new material.
I even prepaid for the book before it was printed.
It was supposed to be published around Christmas of last year but I didn't receive it until late Spring...

It's pretty much a re-hash of the other books and just about the second half of the book contains Q & A from his magazine articles.
That is what disappointed me, because I have two other books by Gerald they have that as well.

I would guess that he couldn't come up with enough fresh material to fill a book so they just copied and pasted the magazine articles.

[Cygnus X1]

Is Gerald still recycling some of the myths he put out in the "Hip Amps" book? Or has he stepped the rhetoric down a bit?

I have downloaded loads of reading material from the out of print tube books posted at the .edu sites. As well as Darr, and also have read the Groove Tube buyer's guide that Pittman keeps retreading.

I'm wondering about asking ever suffering sweet wife about getting one of the K. O'Conner books for a Christmas suggestion.
Looking for recommendations on a single one for an intermediate builder that has all of the popular books already.

Vol 3?

[John_P_WI]

"Looking for recommendations on a single one for an intermediate builder that has all of the popular books already."

I have all of them, started with TUT when it first came out. Distributed purchases over 10 + years....

Vol 3 and 5 are real goto books project oriented, good volumes to have.

4 and 6 are quite advanced into power scaling etc and advanced methods. (I like 6's high gain chapter)

1 and 2 are very good "general" books as well. I use them all depending on what mood I am at the time of a particular amp design.

I would say 1,2,3 are must haves to get into things, 4,5,6 are for more advanced builds.

I am an engineer by schooling, I like tech books...

John

[Markusv]

For example, I didn't know that one of the several reasons for the great tone of the 5F6A bassman circuit is that Fender used too small a cathode resistor in it for the 325V plate with a 12AX7, at least according to classical biasing practice at the time, and so the stage exhibits more soft compression than it might have, had the cathode resistor been "chosen properly" or if Fender had used a lower plate voltage.

It is not for the complete beginner but you don't need a BSEE either. Highly recommended.

David
Little confused about the quoted voltage.
Do you mean 235 V on the PI's 12ax7?
That means that the cathode resistor of 470 is smaller than standard for those years?

Welcome to Canada BTW
Myself, from Toronto

Markus V