Vacuum Tube Circuit Design: Guitar Amplifier Power Amps Paperback – January 22, 2008

Vacuum tubes have been around since the *first* world war, and for most applications they became obsolete by the mid 1960's, some fifty years ago now. However, to this day, deep into the 21st century, vacuum tube based amplifiers and electric guitars remain a match made in heaven - nothing else sounds quite as good with an electric guitar.So we electric guitarists have an odd situation. We're stuck with these ancient devices that still sound great, but the engineers who invented and built these things and developed the technology are all long gone. Nobody teaches tube theory in engineering college today, either. And guitarists regularly use tube amps in ways their original designers never anticipated, pushing them deep into screaming distortion - so whatever old theory existed is only marginally applicable to guitar amps as they are used today.All this means we have very little solid, accurate engineering knowledge about tube guitar amps available today. Instead we have a lot of myth and legend and misinformation, and a great deal of worshipping of ancient tube amp designs from half a century ago. We do have reproductions of ancient tube manuals, but those were written before electric guitars existed, and certainly before contemporary electric guitar playing techniques evolved, so they are of very limited use.Richard Kuehnel steps into this enormous gap and attempts to fill it with this book. The book is a treasure-trove of information, complete with plenty of mathematical equations, graphs, and electrical schematics. You need a fairly solid background in analogue electronics theory to really understand the book, so it's not really for the casual reader. But if you have the necessary technical background, there is pretty much nothing else like this out there today.Along with this book by Kuehnel, I recommend his book on tube guitar preamps, as well as another tube guitar preamp design book by Merlin Blencowe[...]. Blencowe's book is more accessible for the math-challenged, and I prefer his writing style. But there is some information in Kuehnel's books that is not contained in Blencowe's, and vice-versa. Go back and forth repeatedly between all three books, and you will find an enormous amount of information on a subject that is increasingly lost to history.In summary, if you have a good background in electronics and related mathematics, and you're interested in tube guitar amps, this book is pure gold. If that's not you, skip this one.-Gnobuddy

If you really want to understand guitar amplifier power amps, this is the book to get. I would also recommend Kuehnel's pre-amp book, and Bassman book. There is so much garbage information on the internet about guitar amp circuits, this is refreshingly correct. There are many great engineering books about tubes from the 40's-50's, but there are all about reducing distortion and increasing snr etc. This book reminds me of those classics, but it's filled with info relevant to guitar amp applications, which makes it the best available on the topic. It also reminds me of an engineering textbook, no differential equations or matrices, but it has some math and it's very objective and thorough, which I appreciate.I did recently pick up Merlin Blencowe's book on guitar preamps and I would say it's nearly equal to Kuehnel's book, if only slightly less mathematical. I look forward to getting his power amp book as well.

One of the better Tube Amp books out there. Has the right amount of theory and hints on how changing given operating parameter affects amp behavior. Power amps of guitar tube amplifiers have not been subject to detailed analysis and while they are tube power amps, the design perspective is rather different from what you would find in the numerous tube audio books from the fifties. Richard Kuehnel manages to capture and present difference in the right way. It is a technical book and not suited for beginner amp building aficionados, but very worthwhile addition for anyone dedicated to further developing knowledge on how it works, how design decisions affect sound and amps behavior.

My background is in the transistor world using BJTs, JFETs, and MOSFETs for low level and power amplification. I've used a few OP-AMPs for active tone controls as well. This book, along with his other tube pre-amp book "Guitar Amplifier Preamps", gave me all the information I needed to build both low level tube distortion pedals and tube based power amps. I believe a person without an electronics background could use these books to begin building a useful amp. However, you will not learn about the fundamentals of voltage, current or reactance and these books do assume you have that knowledge.

I've been searching for a book like this far too long. Too many popular references for guitar amps are written by/for advanced hobbyists, not necessarily by/for designers of electronics. The text is clear, accurate, and flows quite well.

My title pretty much describes the book. You won't learn how to build a guitar power amp, you will just get the knowledge of how they work. No power supplies, no recommendations for actually getting your hands dirty. In a nutshell this guy works/thinks by pen and paper, and not by ear.

Dry, theoretical, which is good in itself but hoping for conceptual examples/analogies to effectively convey the theory.

A Christmas gift for my son-in-law. He has several guitars and amps. Enjoys reading books on music. Also a great price!

Very thorough and detailed treatise on the power amp section, for readers that have a good understanding of the basics of valve guitar amps.

A very in depth book, very well written. A must for amp engineers and designers. Not really a beginners guide on amp design

A step by step journey thru the underlying electronic theory of the power amp section, complete with graphs and examples. Seems to be aimed at a target market of professional amp techs or electrical engineers. That being said, it's very well written, and may be accessible to a few non specialists as well. If you're designing a tube guitar amp, you'll probably want this book nearby.