Links for amp builders

There are dozens of Web sites crammed with really useful amp-building information

Learning how to build amps in the pre-Internet age must have been really difficult! :) The reason I was able to start amp building is that there are now dozens (hundreds, even) of Web sites covering just about every aspect of valve amps. The following links are just a few of those that are worth checking out and bookmarking.

Amp-building forums:

AX84 A super-friendly forum that focuses on collaboration. There are several well-developed amp projects, and new ones are always under development.
18watt.com A forum covering the Dominator / Marshall 18W amp, with many variations and improvements. Only downside is that you need to register before you can view the forum.
JTM45 at Yahoo There's a lot of interest in building super-accurate clones of the venerable Marshall JTM45 amp, and this site is one of the best starting points.
Amp Garage This forum is mainly aimed at cloning two 'signature tone' amps: the Dumble OverDrive Special and the Trainwreck.
Music Electronics Forum This is a much more general forum for amp builders, with sections dedicated to cabinet-making, Tweed-style Fenders, etc.
Old Ampage discussions OK, strictly speaking, this is no longer a forum, because it was frozen a few years ago. However, the many pages of amp discussion are still very useful.

Safety advice:

Aiken's safety tips An essential site for your bookmarks, but make sure to read it first!
Drifter's safety advice This site is aimed at valve amp users looking into DIY.
Capacitor discharging This calculator looks like it's of purely academic interest, but it's perfect for learning about one of the most important safety aspects of your valve amps: how quickly the power supply capacitors discharge when you've switched the amp off.

Guitar amp electronics:

Jack Darr book A scan of an old book that describes how guitar amplifiers work. Covers transistor amp circuits as well as classic valve amps.
Geofex' tube amp FAQ This fantastic resource covers a LOT of questions that valve amp builders ask themselves.
Paul Ruby's amp building FAQ This resource is popular thanks to its 'first time power up', aimed at amp builders who have built an amp from scratch.
Tone Lizard A strange name for an off-the-wall look at many guitar amp circuits. Highly recommended for the author's debunking of the many myths and BS that pervade discussion about vintage tone and 'mojo'.

Digging deeper into electronics:

Valve Wizard A fantastic resource for finding out about how valve amplifiers are designed and the principles that make them work.
Valve theory explained If you want to find out what's going on inside valves and how they work in a circuit, here's the primer you need.
US Navy electronics course This NEETS resource is properly structured, but VERY deep. Skip to Module 6 if you want to get straight to the valve stuff.
From first principles Not the best designed or easiest-to-use resource, but perfect if you want to go really deep (even into atomic structure!)