Nephew is a guitarist with a full ride at Tufts*, working toward a BSEE with a minor in something like “electronics and music.” Ah-HAH! A relative with whom I share an interest, sorta! He lives far away and in past years I haven’t known enough about him to shop confidently for a Christmas present, but that has changed. The kid needs to get his hands dirty and fingers burnt designing tube amps. But where to start? Do colleges even teach design using vacuum tubes anymore? Or do they start the kids where I started, with Faraday, because Experimental Researches in Electricity is still in print and is a fun read? Or should I get him Tube Guitar Amplifier Essentials, which may be too simple for a smartypants like him but looks like fun bathroom reading? Other ideas?
His dad wanted to use me as a guinea pig for his theories on getting me a full ride at Harvard. Guess I shoulda taken him up on it.
Forgot to mention: if he doesn’t have much hand’s on experience with electronics, it would be unwise to start out with tube amps. Because the power supplies are dangerous. Plate voltages are very often over 300 VDC. He needs to be very well versed in electrical safety before he messes around with these things.
Focal Press is my go-to resource for most texts for the classroom (I teach audio engineering & production at a media college)
Those texts cover most everything. The Small Signal Audio Design is my absolute favorite, and certainly covers triode and pentode design engineering in great depth as well.
My husband designs and sells finished tube amps and DIY kits for a living. He has been trying to get decent copies of books for his tube amp library… looking at the detritus of his Amazon history, the list above pretty much covers it.
