Merlinb's book?

[jaysg]

Anybody buy this yet? People are always asking about where to start.

http://www.lulu.com/content/hardcover-b ... ss/6356769

If you don't recall, he's valvewizard.co.uk

[selloutrr]

i bought it friday but it hasn't arrived yet. it was posted on another thread a couple weeks back. from what i have overheard it's basically just compiled information all in one place, instead of a chapter here or there in 30 some books. after shipping it was $50. I'll let you know..

[Colossal]

I've got it and it's excellent. Very comprehensive and fairly straightforward. I think it is very technically accessible but may not for someone that hasn't done at least some time hanging out on the amp forums and knows his/her way around the innards of an amp, at least in concept. It assumes some basic level of understanding and provides a mathematical treatment for each stage in the amp being discussed. Just having the math and worked examples in one place that is logically laid out with a good explanation is worth the cost of the book. Martin Manning's .xls spreadsheet which models a gain stage (which is fantastic in its own right and came out before the book), takes these same concepts and does a lot of the math laid out in the book. I had planned to build such a spreadsheet myself but can't improve on Martin's work so it is an excellent complement to the book. So between Merlin's book and Martin's spreadsheet, you can apply the concepts directly should you want to go beyond just cloning a schematic and into working up an amp for yourself from the ground up.

The book does go into some detail about what each component does and its role in contributing to the overall tone of the amp while discussing pros and cons of altering a particular value up or down. It does not so much go into huge detail comparing one amp to another to another but does use real examples (such as the Bassman, Spifire, etc) to describe concepts and how they are used practically.

I think it was great purchase and a worthy addition to the library. I find myself constantly going back and revisiting particular sections for those light-bulb moments. Great reading for the afficionado!

[martin manning]

Thanks for the props, Colossal. Merlin helped me a bit with the spreadsheet calculations, and there were some suggestions from other AG members too.

I'm reading my way through the book now, and as a result I have at least one idea for an enhancement to the spreadsheet. The book is great, and a great value for the price.

MPM

[M Fowler]

I am deep into the book and still reading especially tone circuits and effect loops. Also the TUT book arrive Saturday.

Mark

[echuta13]

Merlins book is great! My other favorite is TuT3

[David Root]

I have Merlin's book and posted favorably on it in another thread. Reading more, I also found the feedback chapter very useful, especially the dominant pole analysis and mods to improve stability with feedback.

That is not as important with a typical guitar amp as with an audio circuit, but it allows management of high frequency parasitics which can scew up your tone.
Especially if your lead dress is less than stellar, which I seem to get myself into lately, modifying a six tube preamp previous design "on the run" at much higher power in a big chassis with long signal and PS leads.

[tubeswell]

My copy arrived yesterday. The first chapter is more or less the gain stage chapter he has on his website, with a few updates. There are many more chapters which seem (on a superficial skim) to be a very useful reference to most aspects of pre-amp design theory explained for those who have a bit of working knowledge about tube amps, although it doesn't cover reverb, vibrato or tremolo tube circuits for pre-amps.

[jelle]

I'm waiting for my copy and I'm looking forward to it.

[selloutrr]

i look forward to it's arrival!