need some guidance about tube amplifiers

[tmatini]

Dear Sir

I am an electronic engineer and have few experiences about design simple amplifiers.

Now I am going to design and implement a high quality guitar tube amplifier for myself.but I don’t know anything about tubes.

I don’t know which diagrams it has. Preamp? power amp? I don’t want to copy an implemented amplifier.i should know what is been going on

i dont know how should i begin to study and how should i proceed

Pls help me if it is possible and give me a guidline

i hope to make this thread in right position.because the masters emphasis to make it correctly.

Sincerely

Matini

[Tom Bavis]

Start with aikenamps.com

Also look at ax84.com

[Johan Potgieter]

Tmatini,

If I read correctly and you are serious to study about tubes and not just into making one instrument, I would suggest starting with the RCA Tube Manual - an old publication stopped about 1970 but very informative and to-the-point (available on the internet).

Otherwise I understand that 'Valve (Tube?) Amplifiers' by Morgan-Jones is an excellent book. (I do not have one myself, having studied long ago enough to be taught tube technology at varsity, but the book comes highly recommended.)

[ethermion]

There are a ton of books online here:

http://www.pmillett.com/technical_books_online.htm

Start by browsing the Radiotron Designer's Handbook. It is a very thorough overview of tube circuits and components, if a bit dense. Lots of books there, so perhaps something else will ring your bell too.

Morgan Jones' books are an excellent recommendation. Modern, thorough and practical. Great stuff.

[Miles Prower]

Originally posted by tmatini
I am an electronic engineer and have few experiences about design simple amplifiers.

You already have a good basis to start. I myself began as a solid state designer, and knew virtually nothing about hollow state. Forch, the vast majority of SS know-how is directly transferable. The place to start is with the Radiotron Designer's Manual. That has ESSSSSSSSSS-loads of information concerning hollow state. Also, you might want to bookmark Steve Bench's Site (be sure to check out his technical report on loadlines) John Brosky's Site, Fred Nachbauer's Site and Tone Geeks (especially since you're interested in guitar amps) and finally, Frank's for VT spec sheets and plate characteristic charts, without which it's very difficult to design a VT circuit. Also, keep in mind that VTs are high voltage, low current (Hi-Z) devices as opposed to SS -- low voltage, high current (Lo-Z) so you'll have to pay more attention to circuit and internal capacitances. Oh, and there's no such thing as a "P-Channel" VT.

The biggest difference is that you can't design VT circuits by equation and calculator like you do with solid state. VT's are low gain devices and the characteristics of the active devices have much greater influence on circuit performance. Since the VT has components just hanging there in semi-free space, they all operate independently, and so loadlines are really your only design alternative.