Tube Guitar Amplifiers Volume 1: How Tubes & Amps Work

I am not, nor have I ever been, in the business of repairing guitar amplifiers. At least not up to this time anyway. However, I have recently been asked to look at a Fender ‘Bandmaster’ amplifier by a friend of mine; a musician. My entry into electronics began in 1961 in the United States Air Force. One year of school each day, on a single subject… electronics. The year mentioned should quickly indicate to the reader what type of electronics was available to me, vacuum tubes and all that goes with them. Ouch! So I came to Amazon looking for a book or books that would lead me into this unique world, where musicians come to technicians in order to get their guitar amplifiers sounding properly. I’ve since found out that some musicians want their amplifiers to sound quite improperly as well! Somehow, I stumbled across three books by Igor S. Popovich that seemed to be in-depth and recent enough that no one had written feedback on them. So, after some looking about at other authors’ publications, I settled on both volumes of Mr. Popovich’s titled ‘Tube Guitar Amplifiers’. I also purchased another of his books titled ‘How to Use, Calibrate, Repair and Upgrade Vacuum Tube Testers’. I must admit that my love of all things Heathkit, and the fact that the cover of the third book had a picture of a Heathkit TT-1(A?) tube tester on it, might have swayed my choice here. However, I will read that book from cover to cover just like the other two books. I gave this book a five star rating for many reasons. The sheer amount of data presented is mind-boggling. The apparent knowledge and technical awareness of the author is evident on every page of this book, and that’s saying a lot. I just wanted an introduction type book, one that would lead me into the wonderful world of guitar amplifier operation and repair. I’m pretty sure I got that in this book, but also feel I’ve gotten a whole lot more. One important thing I learned from this volume one is: if you think you’re smart and know a lot about a subject, you do not. In fact, this book reinforced a concept I’ve come up with over the past few years. That concept is that the more I learn, the less I know. You may think that to be an odd statement, but wait until your into your seventies, and let me know if you don’t arrive at that same thought. Volume One is subtitled ‘How Tubes And Amps Work’. For those of you that have not been exposed to the optical maze of vacuum tube characteristic curves, be prepared. I got cross-eyed after the first few chapters. Hence the title of this my review of Mr. Popovich’s book, ‘Too Much Sugar For A Dime’. The little word ‘but…’ I added at the end is what I’m elaborating on here in this review. The following modifying paragraphs result in me giving a five star rating. Fifteen fairly full chapters cover the gamut from basic electronics circuit theory, to transistor and hybrid guitar amplifiers. The second chapter, audio amplifiers, describes amplifier properties, what determines the sound of an amplifier, and much more. Chapter five gets into triode tubes as voltage amplifiers. The author mentions that this chapter will equip the reader for more advanced topics that follow. Those advanced topics fill up the remainder of the book. They are many and varied. They are technical and could bring you to your knees whimpering for some blank paper to quietly stare at. It’s great stuff! The book is packed with actual photographs of amplifiers, inside and out. Circuit diagrams with simplified partial diagrams. Tube characteristic charts, and diagrams of tube pin-outs. Also, in addition to the explanations, the author adds his personal remarks that often are quite welcome and informative. More of that would have been nice. On the rear cover a title of ‘Who is this book for?’ heads a short list that I do not necessarily agree with. For instance, the first entry states: ‘Guitar players wanting to learn how tubes and tube amplifiers work.’ I will state that most or all of the musicians I know wouldn’t get ten pages into the book before they started getting cross-eyed. The one entry I do agree with states: ‘Electronic technicians and engineers familiar with solid state devices and amps, who want to expand their knowledge of tubes and their circuits.’ Even here I will state that the average technician wouldn’t plow through this book like I just did. They would start skimming it before too long. That’s OK. They can always use the book as a ‘go to’ reference book, and only pick out areas of interest or need. It would help, however, if they at least skimmed all the chapters to know how the subject material is laid out. I will ‘plow’ through volume two starting tomorrow. I’m hoping that material is more about amplifier repair and/or modification. Real world stuff? I intend to write a review on volume two as well. If potential readers wish, I could even dive into that book on a deeper level. Or not. I look forward to reading it. One final remark: The book is full of typographical errors. One of those errors had me laughing out loud. Check out the first paragraph on page 121. Now that I think about it, the author may have slipped that in on purpose! Or not. Paul Simone

First this is not a book for the casual guitarist unless you are a nerdy as I! This book is so comprehensive that as one who has read the Radiotron manual it can put it away. The technical expertise of the author is simply mind boggling. The only low point is most of the products covered in part one or two are esoteric to the author. However, they are being used as examples for circuit knowledge. Many of the examples can be used to transfer to more common amplifiers.

If I ever learn everything in this book I will be doing very well. I needed to brush up on some math skills so be prepared it's a ton of math but anyone interested in this should know that it takes a lot of math to diagnose problems in an amplifier. It is well written and has lots of examples just get ready to learn some math.

A must have

Item as described. Satisfactory/Adequate. Thank you.

Thank you Igor S. Popovich! This is an enjoyable book to read. It's not "text booky", but rather just speaks in plain language, uses examples and illustrations perfectly, and gets the point across with minimal jargon. The work put into the actual examples really shows that this is real world stuff not hypothetical stories. It's been very useful for my re-found hobby of guitar and hi-fi tube amp tinkering. Buy both volumes - you won't regret it.

The best I have found for those wanting to learn about tube guitar amps! From theory to design to implementation this and the second volume will remain on my work bench for years to come. Use it as a primer, use it as DIY project list, use it as a repair guide or use it as a design guide - it's all here. If you think your theory and practical knowledge are sufficient to skip volume 1 and buy volume 2 only, you'll miss out on some great DIY projects in V1.

Show a lot of examples of power supplies, pre amplifiers, output stages, etc showing how to improve

one of the few ewer books on tube amps.

Magnífico libro con un equilibro estupendo entre lo técnico y lo didáctico , no solo para ingenieros si no también para quienes no tienen conocimientos previos en electrónica. Me ha aportado conocimientos sobre el tema y he disfrutado leyéndolo. 100% recomendable.

Excellent book.

Written mainly for Australian readers. Has the most confusing explanation of decibels. .It does teach something about valve amps