The Guitar Amp Handbook: Understanding Tube Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds

A great intro to what makes amps work.

"The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and..." -- Nigel Tufnel, 'Spinal Tap' By definition, a handbook is a type of reference work, or other collection of instructions, that is intended to provide a ready reference. By that definition, The Guitar Amp Handbook is the ultimate handbook for guitar amps. Once you own it, you will reference it ongoing for a lifetime. Comprehensive, smart and guaranteed to answer any question on the subject, this book is poised to be the authority in guitar amplification reference books. Author Dave Hunter leaves virtually no stone unturned. Guitar players, amateur or professional, will benefit by a deeper understanding of what makes tube amps tick. If you want to delve deep into the engineering aspect of amplifiers - even making your own - this is the book. The section of interviews entitled "Meet the Makers" is solid gold with insights and perspectives on history, theories and anecdotes, and addresses the right questions. Early on, Author Dave Hunter proposes a practical, simple test for your next visit to the local guitar shop: Plug and play the most expensive guitar into the cheapest amp, and then reverse the process by plugging the cheapest guitar into the most expensive amp. The result? The amp is the secret to your success. He also goes on to point out the idiosyncratic nature of the amp/guitar combo and the effect each will have on altering your playing and performance. The sonic epiphanies with astound you. A note on book design and layout: As a book publisher and author myself, I think Backbeat books produced a durable and beautiful illustrated and designed book for the money (includes black & white, color and diagrammed illustrations). There are no editing mistakes, which can frustrate the reader (I have found them even with major publishing houses). "The amp world is your oyster..." as Dave Hunter points out in the book. To further that idiom, I would say your pearl is also your perception in the amp world... and this book is loaded with pearls of wisdom.

Very informative, if you are into guitars, this helps your understanding

Very well written book on tube amps, their history, operation and theory. Got the book from the local library and liked it so much, I ordered it from Amazon. Realized this is gonna take some concentration to grasp what the author is teaching. Not a hard or ultra complex read, it is just such good info on the subject, I really want to take my time with it. I live vintage guitars, amplifiers and gear - this book is perfect for that.

Even though I've owned amps, pedals, and understand basic gain structure for many years, I find I am reading and re-reading this book. This book does an excellent job in explaining at a high level different amp design philosophies and backing it up with an overview of landmark amps. The interviews in the "Meet the Makers" section alone are worth the price. This book is excellent as a supplemental users manual to your tube amp. The author is very clear that it is not meant to set you on the road to becoming an amp tech so discharging caps or even setting bias (which nowadays can be done with the right tools and careful research) is outside the scope. Reviewing it as anything other than what the author intended it for, for which it is superb, is not be correct. There are several improvements that I wish were in the book however, one being a more detailed table of contents especially in the section on the individual amps. Having to flip through a hundred pages just to find the Dr. Z is a little annoying. Also better annotation of the schematics (e.g. the description of the "long tail pair") for those without an engineering background would also be useful. Neither are showstoppers.

Fun book to read and I learned a ton. End of the book has his plan and instructions to build a Victoria Two Stroke. The layout diagram has errors. One for example, is the 25uF/50v capacitor. floating between the two dotted lines, on the circuit board, north of the 12AX7 tube. It's not in the circuit. DO NOT follow these directions. I learned this the hard way.

Lots of pictures and descriptions. A little short on information but overall a good book if you are learning about guitar amps. There is a section where he breaks down famous amps with text and pictures, and another with interviews with great amp makers. Both are worth the price of admission.

Fantastic book ever guitar player should have one

Book goes through all components in the signal path plus support circuits for B+ and filaments. Not overly technical so some of the selection of what portion of the operating envelope is missing. If you are an electric guitar player, (I’m not), this would give you vocabulary to describe the sound you want. Good read!

Very interesting and detailed

Das Buch bietet eine Art Röhrenverstärker-Rundumschlag: Behandelt werden elektrotechnische Grundlagen, Einblicke in Schaltpläne klassischer Amps, Tipps und Tricks zur Wartung und Instandhaltung, Interviews mit Amp-Gurus sowie eine Bauanleitung eines simplen DIY-Propjekts. Zu den Vorzügen des Buches gehört, dass der Autor auch den Elektro-/Röhrentechnik-Laien an die Hand nimmt und bis in die Erläuterung von Einzelbauteile (Kondensatoren, Lautsprecher) nicht abhängt. Der Schreibstil ist nie langweilig. Irritierend sind dennoch einige Punkte: Durch den Anspruch, auch den technisch wenig versierten Leser nicht abzuhängen, vertröstet das Buch geradezu standardmäßig zum Beginn eines Kapitels, dass man im Folgenden nicht allzu sehr auf Details eingehen könne. Dazu kommt, dass stellenweise arg redundant formuliert wird. Ein wenig eigenwillig ist auch, dass der Autor verspricht, (Werbe-)Mythen aufzuklären, dann aber doch den Eindruck vermittelt, Point-to-point-Wiring, Alnico-Lautsprechermagnete, NOS-Röhren, Single-channel Low-watter, generell das "Gute Alte" seien das Nonplusultra. Okay, dass in einem Buch über Röhrenverstärker wohl kaum Werbung für digitale Emulationen und Modeling gemacht wird, überrascht nicht. Aber ein wenig mehr der Blick nach Vorne oder zumindest die aktuelle Realität der meisten Gitarristen (die dann wohl doch eher einen PCB-Blues Jr. spielen werden) wäre doch schön gewesen. Alles in allem mit lesenswert. Würde ich es verlieren, würde ich es mir allerdings auch nicht noch einmal kaufen.

Not read it all yet but it looks very inciteful and is easy to read with plenty of useful information

This book is a must have for seasoned amp lovers and newcomers in the field. In a nutshell, this book... - Will save you tons of time and money in your trial and error wanderings. - Will make you appreciate your amp's imperfections, because without them your tone wouldn't be special. - Will make you free, because Dave's experience and humility are truly freeing.