Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

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Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by tubeswell »

http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/Book3.html

His books go like hot cakes. Get one while you still can.
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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by Cdog »

The guru!

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by Lostininverness »

He does have a good rep! I'm having trouble finding the time to work through his first pre-amp book - it is really well written though!!

Shame his power stage book isn't available.

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by tubeswell »

Yep I hear ya. Methinks if we all buy his current book, he will have the funds to get on with completing the power amp book.
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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by Lostininverness »

Didn't he pull it because he was unhappy with errors or something in it? Looking at the latest, I think it would be juuuuust a little over my head!!

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by tubeswell »

The errors were mainly things like the odd minor typo. Once you get past them, the book is still very handy.
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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by Lostininverness »

So do you rate it better than other examples around?

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by tubeswell »

Yep. Even the 1st edition pre-amp book is excellent and contains things that he took out of the 2nd edition. The Power Supplies book explains stuff like electromotive force and induction, transformer and choke theory, different types of rectifiers, voltage doublers/triplers/quadruplers etc, power supply filtering, DC heater chains, variable voltage supplies, voltage regulation, etc. All the books so far have a bit of theory, but its explained in a way that makes it intuitive for peeps who don't have formal tech training. They're easier to understand than the Radiotron Designers Handbook series, but way superior to stuff like Morgan Jones' books, which hop all over the place and are quite glib.
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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by StrummersOfThunder »

Very cool. Used his grounding schemes before .

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by druz15 »

ooh looks good, wonder if it'd touch on mic preamps, been thinking about building one or two tube mic pres for recording, plenty of schematics around, but hard to know what's good and what's not
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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by sizzlingbadger »

I've got the preamp and power supply book both are good, the power supply book was pulled by Merlin due to some mistakes. He has a great way of explaining stuff.
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by Lostininverness »

've got no real background with this stuff, but he does explain it so that I can get the concepts, if not all the details... Wonder if I can search out a copy of the power supply one. I do have a couple of copies of the radiottron series, and yes, they definitely are written for guys working with the "technology"!

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by tubeswell »

The HiFi book arrived in the mail today - cheap postage rate took a month to get here. (so if you are a cheapskate like me, you know what to expect)

If you don't have these books, you're just another nobody LoL.
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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by sizzlingbadger »

I think the 1st edition pre-amp book can be "found" on t'internet. I think my hardback version is 1sy edition as it doesn't 2nd edition on it anywhere and it was printed in 2009.

I have the Kevin O/Conner book Ultimate Tone and also the Pre-amp and Power-amp books by Richard Kuehnel.
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...

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Re: Merlin Blencowe/Valve Wizard new tube amp book

Post by Lostininverness »

sizzlingbadger wrote:I think the 1st edition pre-amp book can be "found" on t'internet. I think my hardback version is 1sy edition as it doesn't 2nd edition on it anywhere and it was printed in 2009.

I have the Kevin O/Conner book Ultimate Tone and also the Pre-amp and Power-amp books by Richard Kuehnel.
are the Kevin O'Conner books any good for those of us with limited understanding??? Recommendations appreciated.

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