A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps [Paperback]

Gerald Weber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

If you have questions about guitar amplifiers-how to fix them, how to restore them, or how to hot-rod them-this book has the answer. This book is written for the guitarist or collector who desires a common sense approach to understanding the essence of vintage tube amps and vintage tube tone. Not written for engineers, it does not contain engineering formulas, polar mathematic equations, or abbreviations that are assumed you should know. Gerald Weber, a regular columnist for Vintage Guitar magazine, shares the knowledge he has accumulated over the years of repairing and building his line of Kendrick amps.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Kendrick Books; 2nd edition (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964106000
• ISBN-13: 978-0964106000
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Basically, good information. Some misinformation though., April 23, 1998

By 

Darwin Kornowske - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps (Paperback)

Gerald Weber has build guitar amps for years, the Kendrick Amps. These are copies of the original Fender tweeds. He's also built a few amps of his own. However, he's really no expert on the real issues as they relate to tube amps, even though he has a lot of good information.

Here are some examples of the misinformation I found in the book:

He states, in the first chapter, that the reason tubes amps sound so good, in the early days, is the fact that they used diode tubes in the early supplies. When current was drawn across the tube, it developed a voltage drop which causes the output tube voltage to sag, thereby causing a mid-rangey distortion type.

While the action (dropped voltage across the output tubes) is true, the explanation behind it, is not.

The real issue, here, is the fact that the power supplies, back then, were not stiff supplies. They didn't have enough capacitance in the output filters to compensate for loading issues (i.e. instantaneous current draw). The newer supplies are much "stiffer" and they regulate better. A solid-state supply could be made to match the older vacuum tube supplies.

There are other obvious electronic explanations, in the book, that do not follow real physics and/or electronics models. What he is saying about the final result in the amplifiers sound quality and operational charactaristics is correct, however, the explanation of how it really works is not correct.

If you're into vintage amps, modifications, or just building one from the schematics Gerald has done an awesome job compiling information. He's got great, readable schematics, layout diagrams, etc. in the book. It's a bit biased toward Fender, however.

He also has some great historical information, as it relates to the Fender amps, as well.

Overall, I think the book is good. It's just hard to read because of the indescrepancies in the electronics section.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the money, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps (Paperback)

Weber does a good job of covering the basics of tube amp design, with a clear bias towards Fender amps. You can learn a lot about these amps, and feel (relatively) comfortable servicing or modifying your amp. It is comprehensive enough to use as the guide in building your own amp from the information and schematics provided.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 2 dimensional, May 24, 2002

By 

J. P. Keillor "[e-mail]" (River Falls, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps (Paperback)

Good collection of schematics. The few "hip" amps Weber touches on in detail are all Fenders, leaving out dozens of holy classics. With an almost total lack of subjective analysis, the book ends up as a big Kendrick Amp advertisement (his company)
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