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

A must have

Item as described. Satisfactory/Adequate. Thank you.

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.

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.

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.

one of the few ewer books on tube amps.

Excellent book.

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

I've read both Vol One and Two, and being an electrical engineer and a post graduate IT engineer, these books are hard to review because they contain alot of really good information. Although they are marketed as maintenance and upgrade type books they run into masses of theory and especially in Vol 1 the maths describing the operational aspects of amp, tubes etc etc...so much so the general thread of the narrative gets a little more than lost on the maths. What Mr Popovitch doesnt know about tube amps and the associated maths theory and physics could be written on a very small postage stamp. This is then one of the major negatives about these volumes...Volume 1 is more than half filled with Maths and you could easily leave that book on the shelf if your just interested in low level maintenance and fixes for your amp/home hobby. If your a serious repair/ designer then by all means dig in. The other aspects of both these volumes is that the narrative gets lost among "Case Study" examples which dont always have a complete narrative of their own. Your often left with the distinct impression the text was cut and or you missed something which wasnt there...Each chapter attempts to deal with specific key areas and ends with examples or contains framed highlights, many of which are useful and highly relevant for all levels of study/ application, if you can forgive the erratic narrative structure and apparent " collected" together style then your ok, however Vol1 is a serious trek through Maths territory and you will need algebra and sin cos tan etc etc, along with a good knowlegde of the variations and adaptations of Ohms Law. Without these you will be reading alot of numbers and symbols and gaining nothing. The latter part of Vol one calms down and develops the focus into more practical approaches and this is worth reading at any level. There are some great insights and even comedy to be had....and this brings me to my final point....Spelling....whoever didnt proof read this book and basically typed it up without a basic spell check needs a kick in the rear. The publishers are either blind or careless...Career Professional Publishing from Aus....mmmm not really, these books have been thrown together by a student in printing terms and I get the distinct impression someone did a find and replace removing all the conjunctions and definite articles like The, a, an etc...some classic word replacement also litter the text....Mice Capacitor, Lover Voltage being two laughable ones...others are repeated sections, complete miss spelling and bad grammar. Although Mr Poppovitch is obviously an intelligent and genuine individual, he's let things slide on the English Grammar and Spelling front. He complains of people taking short cuts in amp building and making classic bad mistakes like wiring your heater circuits in loops...well I have to say you need to learn to Spell Check and perhaps pay for a higher word count if thats what the trick is when doing your own self publishing...remove all the The's comes out cheaper I presume. Anyway I paid my money and waded through it all ,enjoyed 75% and had to put up with the rest and attempted to work out what the sentence should have said etx. I recommend this book for the latter half if your practical , the the first half if your a maths wizard!