Electric Guitar Amplifier Handbook by Jack Darr Q | Howano w. sams & co. inc.‘THIRD EDITION ‘SECOND PRINTING—1973 Copyright © 1965, 1964, and 1971 by Howard W; Sams & Co, Tne, Indianapolis Indiana 46268, Printed in the United Stats ot America All rights reserved, Reproduction ot use, without express pet Ison, of etrial or pictorial coment, ia any manner is Prohibited. No patent lity Is assumed with respect 10 the the of the information contined herein. Invernational Standasd Book Number: 0672-20848-2 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78157001Preface ‘The guitar is a universally popular musical instrument. The use of electronic amplification isn’t confined to guiters alone, but is used on many instruments in the band. Unamplified string instruments do not have a great deal of sound output, but with the super-powered amplifiers used today, one guitar can have a sound output ‘greater than a whole old-fashioned brass band. ‘These musical instrument amplifiers are used everywhere, in cities, towns, and Ihamlets. ‘The service and maintenance of these amplifies can provide & good part fof an electronics technician's business. These amplifiers contain many “special effects” circuits, such as reverberation, vibrato/tremolo, “fuzz,” percussion, and ‘others. However, the heart of every musical instrument amplifir is a plain old audio amplifier, which can be tested and repaired with standard electronic test ‘equipment already on hand in the average service shop. For the instrument owners who have 3 good grasp of the fundamentals of elec~ tronics, this book will provide the basic information you need to make repairs ‘properly and safely. Well give you tests to make servicing and troubleshooting ‘much easier, om both tube and transistor amplificrs of all sizes. You can check power output, distortion, and seasitvity, and keep the instrument in perfect working ‘order with x minimum of trouble. In the past, duc to the specialized nature of this feld, it has been hard to get (A) Complete current path (8) Convention drowing ig. 111 Splistond phove inverter.How Work Mar Amplifes While the conventional method of drawing the circuit (rth the power supply indicated but omited) is shown in Fig. (IIB. Since the sime signal current flows through the whole circuit, a signal voltage will be developed across. any resisior that this current flows through. The size or amplitude of this signal voltage depends on the size of the resistor. In the fplivdoad circuit the two resistors are exactly the same size, so equal but out-of-phase signal voltages result across them. Notice thatthe plate voltage on the fist Ial-eycle is going negative and the cathode vollage is going positive. ‘This is because the grid voltage is ‘going positive onthe same hal-eyele. Check any text- ‘book on vacuum-tube theory for a fuller explanation. ‘There are other phase-inverter circuits, but this is probably the most frequently used, because of is sim- Blicty and ase of design. In most applications this ‘ireuit will simply invert phases, but if 2 high-gain tube is ssed, a Title voltage gain can be developed — hich is always good. ‘TRANSISTOR DRIVERS AND PHASE INVERTERS Diver stages ia transistor amplifiers do the same ‘hing as in tube types. They must deliver enough sig- ral to deve the power output stage to ity full rated fourpu. The driver transistor must be capable of handling 2 line more power than the senalhsigal type of tramior. The driver transitor handles an average of 2 of 3 watts of actual power, and is rated at 5 wats. ‘The same besic circuits of tube-iypeampifirs are used, with transistors replacing tubes as the active devices. Fig. 1-13 shows. three typieal crews for Single-ended stage, Single-ended “Wamsistor stages are common in the smaller amplifies. ‘THE DIRECT-COUPLED CIRCUIT Directcoupled circuits have not been used with tubo amplifiers since the 1920s. However, you'll find quite @ few of these circuits used in the larger solid- State amples, and some in the smaller ones. The advantage of this type of connection is the reduction in the number of parts, since there are ao coupling devices such as transformers, capacitors, ete, needed Also, this circuit doet have a lightly greater fre- ‘quency response, expecially for low frequencies. Fre- quency range is determined by the high and low cutof! of the transistor itl, which is usually far above the range needed for music amplification. Tn the direct-coupled circuit the collector of the Arver transistor fs connected directly to the base of ie (A) Transformer coupled jae Pd {7 “BIA es (8) Capac conned he (C) Direc coupes a. 1-13 Couptag methods fr slgl-ended sot ‘the output transistor. The colletor current variations ‘of the driver become the base-curent variations of the feutput. Also, the collector curreat of the driver deter- mines the base bias of the output transisor; it flows from the collector through the base-emitter junction of the output transistor. Because of this interrelation, fay defects in the driver transistor can upeet or even ruin a perfectly good output tranistor. This ix one of the “mysterious” problems you'l find in some cases, 1 will be discussed at length in the section on serv- icing. ‘THE DARLINGTON PAIR TRANSISTORS The single bipolar transistor has certain disadvan- tages when compared 10 tubes. For ane thing, it has very low input impedance. This makes it slightly Ineficient when used as an input stage to a high-im- pedance pickup, such as that used with a guitar or microphone. Its voltage gain 8 also low. The lost of sain and the low impedance can be overcome bysing 4 “bootstrap circuit” and more transistors. How- ‘rer there f an easier way, and one that you will ind ‘wed in quite a fow of the later model amplies. ‘The common-collecor transistor amplifer circuit as very high input impedance, but not too much ‘in; the common-emitter circuit has good gain, but ‘iow impedance, If we connect these circuits in “eas. fade," asin Fig. 1-14, we cam use the best features of ‘oth. The common-collector stage now drives the anmon-emitter stage by direct coupling. The device Jas a very high input impedance, suitable for dircet ‘tanetion to 2 pickup or mike, and a very high gain ‘zaigerably more than the gain of either transistor ‘lone ‘The Darlington ampier, ako called a "Darlinglon ‘ai” Is built into-a single package, with only three ‘eral leads, as shown in Fig. 1-14. It looks exactly The a lain thee-lead transistor. However, if you re- ice one with a single transistor, youll Wonder why {he ampliicr has such low gain, and usually high dis- terdon! Unfortunately, these Darlingtons are drawn ‘on some schematics as a single transistor. Be sure to ‘eck the parts list Im all cass, this transistor will be ened a+ Darlington (sometimes they leave off the “paie"). So, watch out for this. If you find an amplifer with only «single transistor in the input inter there would normally be atleast two, look out ‘This i probably u Darlington. (Details on how to test ‘ie voit on 8 In cates of emergency, you can make up a Darting- ton pair from two equivalent silicon transistors. Most ol the Darlingtons found in use in amplifiers seem 10 be allcon types. Germaniums have ® Title bit too smoch leakage for use in this kind of application ‘When you take the old transistor off the PC board, youll Rave the standard three holes in the board for the emitter, base, and collector. By using two identical silicon transistors, you can connect the two collectors together (twist the leads) tnd put these into the original coléctor hole. The bse of the transistor O2 is twisted directly to the temiter of transistor QL. Thee is no circuit connection to this junction. The emitter of Q2 goes to the original emiter hole, and the base of OL to the original base hole Amplifying the Signo! In practically all capacity-coupled eireuits, this setup works very well without changes. Ifthe output of the Darlington is direcly connected to the base of the following transistor, cheek its bias to make sure that thi is the same as it was before (get this volage from the schematic.) If the base bis of the driven stage is t00 high, try using transistors with « lower beta to fabricate the Darlington pair. This wil usually correct the bias problems. Check the circuit with the scope for distortion ‘THE PREAMPLIFIER STAGES ‘The sigosl voltage requted at the input of the hase-invertet or driver sage determines the amount fof voltage gain needed in the preceding stages of the amplifer. If the type of phase-inverter stage having {gain of one, of unity, is wed, the peak-to-peak signal voltage will have 10 be roughly twice the bias voltage (of the output tubes to produce full outpot For example, if the pickup has an output of $0 iilivolis (50 mV or -080 volt), and if a signal volt Age of 50 volts pkopk is needed at the grids) of the ‘output stage, total voltage amplification of 1000 times is necessary” This sounds pretty high, but it is rot; many amplifiers have voltage gains up to a mil- Tion! Te works very simply: if a stage has a gain of 10 and is followed by another just hike it, the total is the ‘prodct of the individual gains, or 100, from these {two stages alone. Adding another stage with a gl ‘of 10 will give 1000 (10 % 100), and there you are Modern tubes and transisiors are capable of many times this amount of gain. There are other troubles, Ihowever, when the gain is high. "The main consideration in designing high-gain volt- ge-ampliior sages is not gain as much as nose. All high-gain stages have a tendency to make noises in- temally-random noise from current flow in resis= tors, shoteffect noise in tubes, and x0 on. This isthe limiting factor in getting a lot of gain out of a single stage. The answer ts to use more than one sage to get the amplification needed. By doing this, each stage ‘can work at its maximum noise-free amplification level "Another troublesome thing is distortion. Every one ‘of these stages must be designed for absolutely linear ‘operation. Tie means that the signal in the output must be exactly the same shape as the signal in the fnpot. I the stage changes the waveform in any way as the signal passes through, a very poor sound qual> ity results due to distortion. This i the second major consideration. ‘There are several ways of avoiding distortion. As mater of fac, you do aot have to worry about it ”How Guitar Amplifiers Work 8 far as the original design is concerned. This work Ihas all been done for you by the engineer who duit the amplifier. In all but the very cheapest amplifiers, tortion and noise will be at a very low level when the instruments sre new. What you have to do is put them back ia the same condition! Although you don't have to design amplifiers, you do have to know how land why the cicuits work so you can tell when they ‘are working correctly. “Many of the better amplifiers use built-in correction circuits to hold the distortion down to a very low level. These are usually inverse-feedback circuits. Tn ‘them a part of the output of the amplifier is fed back into an earlier stage in such a way that it cancels out ome of the distortion. While this does reduce the overall gain of an ample, it also improves the tone ality $0 much that the small loss of gain does ot tnatter, The foss can be corrected by using ancther woitage-ampliier stage if necessary. Feedback voltage must get back into the aml inthe right phase so i will be degenerative—tending to stop oscillation, IC the phase i wrong, it will be repenerative—tending to cause otcilation. When o21- tain components are replaced, there is 0 possibility of ‘wrong connections. If an output teanstormer is ce- placed, for example, the ampliier ean oscillate if the hase of the feedback is reversed. Other causes of bsellation will be taken vp later in the section on servicing Distortion is not always easy to detect and cure. ‘The ear alone is seldom accurste exough to plapoint the actual eause of type. It is necessary in bad cases 10 wse an oscilloscope and very accurately shaped test signals to find snd 6x this kind of trouble. ‘THE “BOOTSTRAP” CIRCUIT Previously we mentioned “bootstrapping” a transis. tor to get higher input impedance. Fig. 1-13 shows how this i dove, Note the high value of the emitter 1 resistor, 2¢ compared 10 the low values used in other ‘common-emitter circuits. ‘This high resistance holds the transistor current down to 2 very low value, ‘round 300 microamperes. There is 90 emitter bypass to ground, so practically all of the base signal appears across the 4700-chm resistor. From here, itis coupled by the 50-uF eapacitr to the botiom end of the base resistor. ” a hee 198 aaaenging ome oat nef ten « ue to this coupling, the base resistor “sees” the same signal voltage at top and botiom ends. So, this resistor looks like an open circuit to the input signal! ‘This i a vocy high impedance. The absence of an emitter bypass aso makes the impedance higher. Ia ‘other words, we have a very high degenerative feed- ‘back in such stage. "This reduces the gain of the stage, but allows high- Impedance devices like microphones and pickups to develop a high signal cross the high-impedance in- pot. Degeneration also helps to climinate distortion ‘due to mismatching. We can always get back any gain ost in, such stages by adding another amplifier stage following the Bootetrapped input—a Darlington ampl- fier for example. 1's important to remember this, for you could be misled into thinking Ie was defective, duc to its low iin; check the schematic to see i iti bootstrapped. Tso, low gal is allrightChapter 2 Special Signal Circuits ‘The base funtion of the guitar ampliier is 29 im seem the sound of the instrument so K can be heard tier many different coecltions fram small practice recut to large concert balls, Yet electronics offers many posibatie, for adding varity o> the basic ‘iar sound. The location of the pckup indluenees the signal; come guitare wie at many a three in difer» ‘st postions for various effects. Tons coated cireuits in Oe ampliier self can mate the sound beiliant o¢ teelow. Other special circuits echo (reverberation) tnd tremelo-—ean be added by separate units or can te uit into the amplifier. ‘THE PICKUPS—TYPES. AND CONSTRUCTION At the input of the ampliicr is the pickup sett te sevice ‘What converte the motion ‘of the guia stings into electsical signals. The fist type uscd wi { eanlact microphone constrocied m shown in Fig. 2A. The correct techaicl term for any of these ings would be "electromechanieal transducer,” ut they are called pickups foc convenience, The contaet mike i just a microphooe element of say Kind—erysial, dynamic, ec. Instead of baving ‘daphragin ke the voice-opersied types, it has a ‘coupling of some kind, so it can pick up-caly the vi- ‘heaton of the surface with which it iia concact (cheoretically!). Actually, due to the high gain that ‘required, this kind of mike picks up many sounds ‘ery well—talking close by, the rubbing of elothing ‘the guitar, any jar that i given the instrument, aed 0 on, Now the contact ike has been replaced aimost ily by the magestic pickup, Thi responds only 10.4 motion ofthe metal strings through the magnetic ff the pickup colt and hae aa microphone effects ‘that produce undesirable sounds. Fig. 2-2 shows how this works, Only one coil is shot, although thee is sermaly one for each sing, ‘hey all work in the same way. All strings are made of metal; siagle states ace wed for the higher pesh, tnd wrapped strings forthe bast. The pickup consists ner tt ine ‘Pi 21 Tptet canton? mleraptons ‘This ectrical signal will bea duplicate of the ‘physical mation of the string. The physical motion, of ‘course, is the pitch of the ring or the musical note ‘hat it makes when plucked. The electrical signal is ‘he tame frequency at the msical note, and all that ‘fe neceuaary is 10 amply as much af is desirable. ‘The original magnetic pickups were sutachments designed for mounting on the original acoustic guitars those with 90 electron: amplification. Fig, 2-3 ‘shows a typical mounting far ane of these. A singe, Tong. fat collins a metal shickling case was used, anda clamp was provided 10 hold it tighly in place under the strings. Some models had volume conteais in the same assembly. In specially built electric guitars the pickup cols, volume and tone controls, eley are intalleé in cutouts in the body of the instrument where they ae covered with chromed metal plates or plastic covers. There are other controls and special effects used on the custom models, which are. discussed late "All ofthe pickups ute the sime atc elrcult shown fn Fig. 2-4, If individual coils are used foreach string, they are connected in series or parallel; the whole pickup unit i connected across a volume control of from 0.5 10 1.0 megohm or more. The simple high- cut tone control shown may be mourted on the gut itsell A shielded coaxial cable is always wed to con- rect the pickup to the ampli; this eliminates hum, electra noise, te, from the signal, If the intercom necting cable is fairly long, say more than about 10 HH = to 15 fet, a low-eapacity cable should be used. Very frmal enbie has a high shunt capacity and will cut down on the transmission of high frequencies, Most Standard microphone cable is (arly low capacity, and ‘up to 50 feet can be used without trouble, ‘Standard phone plugs and jacks are the 1ype of con rectors most commonly used. The coanestions on ‘these must be Kept clean and tight to get rid of any ‘oise and hum. Full details on how to handle these plugs snd make repairs to the mike cables will be fiven in the section on servicing. TONE CONTROLS ‘All except the very smallest amplifiers have some tort of tone-control circuit. These do wot change the fundamental tone of the insrument—that it the pitch fr frequency of the stricg. However, they the chiracterisies ofthe amplifier by increasing or d 12, Acol utr i peep:Special Signal Circuits (A) Sinate Fig. 24 Peta clr ‘easing the amplification of high or low notes, de- Pending on the contol setting ‘The simplest tone control is what is know as a high-cut ype, as weed in Fig. 2-4, Basically, it looks lke Fig. 2-5.'A capacitor has one valuable character Ste: it shows a much lower impedance to high-tre- (quency signals than to low frequencies, IC it i placed cross a signal circuit at any point in the voltage am pller, the high-trequency response wil be cut. The Capacitor will short out the highs by giving them a low-impedance path to ground. This is called 2 high cat circuit, Because it culs down on the high fre quencies und gives the amplifer a Jower tone. This Iype of tone control does not increase the bass tones; it sewply takes out some of the highs and makes the ‘bass sound bigger by comparison. Tn order to vary the amount of high cut, « varlable resistor is added in series with the capacitor (Fig. 255). The size of the resistor and the capacitor will determine how much of the highs are taken out or Jett in. Ifthe control is set o its lowest resistance posi- Fig. 25, High-eetYou-contre reat tioa, all of the capacitance is across the circuit the lowest tones will be prominent. If the ristor is set to the mati@um resistance position, in effect the capacitor is taken out of the circuit, and the high tones are present, because the path to ground is now a high resistanoe. After the tone control, the signal goes on to the next stage of the ampli FEEDBACK TONE CONTROLS In the more expensive instruments, a diferent type ff tooe control is used, involving what is called nega tive feedback. This ether boosts or euts the bass and aHow Guitor Amplifiers Werk tueble frequencies. Since it is a_ pretty complicated iret, the details of is design will not be discused. However, it ean be found ia any good electronics tex took under bass boost and treble boost tone-control revit, 'A feedback tone control ean increase the amount cof base frequencies in 8 tone (bass boost) or cut them; the same thing can be done with the treble fe- ‘quences. Neither of thee actions wil affect the other. ‘The simple high-cut tone contol, of course, affect all frequencies somewhat, The bass of operation is te se of selective feeback—a. network of resistors and capacitors that feeds back a part of the outpat signal into the input. By changing the amount, and in sorse casts the phase, the input signal can eitber be but tp oF lowered at sclected frequencies. laverse feed bck always lowers the gain of an amplier but im proves ite fidelity. Ma large amount of bass te: quencies are fed back, for example, the gain of the Smplifer for bass notes 18 reduced. By cutting down fn the amount of signal fed back, the pain. fs re- tured to normal (bass boost). By changing the fre- fqueney of the feedback eicuits through the ase of Ailerent resistor and capacitor valuss, the samme action fan be obtained for ueble tones. ‘TREMOLO ‘Tone controls have no effect on the action of the amplifer; they simply change its frequency response for volume a litle. The special eflccts result in a whole fnew character to the sounds. There are three of these {in common use: tremolo (a variation in_ volume level), vibrato (a variation in frequency or pitch), and echo of reverberation. “Tremolo is basically pretty simple. If the bias of an amplifer sage i raised or lowered, the volume changes, Almost any subaudible frequency can be ‘sed to ve a pleasing “vibration” effect to the musi= cal tone’ This causes the two effects 10 be confused; unless you have a very Keen eat for musial notes, you ave none ‘ant —— ap can easily get tremolo and vibrato mixed up since they do ound a totale ‘A tremolo eflect can be created by varying the bias voltage on aay amplifer stage at any desied fre- ‘quency, The typical iret will use frequencies from '50 of 60 Hz, The average amplifier te of about 10 to 15 Mz Fig. 2-6 shows how this cicuit works. Typical waveforms are Ineluced. Note that there ate to controls shown, In ‘most amplifiers these are. marked STRENGTH and SPEED, meaning amplitude and frequency. The heart of the Wemolo circuit is 2 very tow fre- quency oscillator, the output of which can be varied fn frequency (by the SPEED coats) to give the rate of tremolo’ wanted. ‘The STRENGTH (amplitude) control vaties the voltage of the output. At is low end there wil be a barely perceptible quaver in the note; at the ather extreme, the tremeto will consist of varia tions from fairly high t0 fairly low volume. "The output of the low-frequency oscillator might be called a slowly varying. de voltage for simplicity “This is fed, through Wolating resistors, into the bottom fof the grid cirouit of the desired” amplifier stage ‘There i allecs the grid-bias volage by adding and subtracting to the bus already present in nocmal Operation. AS & consequence, it changes the volume ft the output of the stage. The tremolo effect, once ‘ded to the signal, goes on through all of the fllow- fing amplier stages. ‘Examine an actual tromolo circuit used in a typical commercial amplier (Fig. 2-7). The 6SQ7 tube is « pPhaseahift ovellater; notice the network of capacitor: find resistor: connected between the plate and the {gid of the tubo, This takes the signal from the plate, elas it im phase asi passes through, and feods it to the gid in just the right phase to cause oscillation, ‘The frequency of osclation in these circuits depends con the values of the resistors and capacitors; it can be controlled by varying either one of them. ‘Since variable capacitors are big, a variable resistor is wsed—in this ease the S00K control shown con Hig 24. Troma raatig. 27. Phases ected 0 the tremolo on-off switch, The output of this cuit will be very low frequency oscillation The bias variation is applied to the S879 preampl- fer stage. When the wo cathodes are coupled t0- ther, the bias voltages on both stages vary simul ‘aneously. This changes the gain and consequently the amplitude of the output of the preamp tube. Any fnsrumeat connected to the input of the $879 preamp ‘ube wil have a. tremolo in its output that can De varied by the setting of the tremolo controls There ate two controls: Frequency, the variable r= sive in the oscillator circuit itself, and amplitude, the ‘arable resistor in the BY supply clrewt to the osll= Inte plate. You will find these called STRENGTH (amplitude) and SPEED (frequency) in most am- pliers for simplicity. In one make they are labelled DEPTH (amplitude) and RATE (frequency). No rtter what names are used, they do the same thing ‘The amplitude conteot works by increasing or r= ducing the plate voltage of the oscillator. This does tot have much effect on the frequency of a phase- shit oscillator, whichis prety stable, but it will affect the amplitude’ or strength of the oscillations. A high amplitude oscillation will cause a greater change in lator tram cleat Specie! Signal Circuits the cathode voltage and thus will give a much more noticeable tremolo in the preamp output. This is why ‘You will Sind several different versions of the ampli tude control, but the effect is always the same. For instance, the amplifier shown in Fig. 2-8 is a high= powered unit with tro 66s In the output, and feeds the wemolo bias directly to the output tubes. Here a GAUG tubs is used a8 the tremolo oscillate (a phase- shift type), and the voltage variations are coupled nto the grid return of the 6L6s through a O.1-pF soupling capacitor from the GAU6 plate and the ftrengdh control. In this ease the strength control is 1 divider across the tremolo oscillator output ‘The tremolo circuit in Fig. 2-9 is somewhat more involved than the previous ones. The phase-shift cucllator is Hike all the others although the actual controls are in a remote control assembly. However, the tremolo signal is applied tothe amplifier in a very diflrent manner. From the oscillator the tremolo sig- ral goes to an inverter that puts out two tremolo sig fals--one at the plate and one at the cathode, each 180° out of phase with the other. The signal from the ‘guitar is also split (by V4A) into two signals of op- posite phase—ooe chiefly high frequencics and the ‘ther low frequencies. ‘The corresponding. tremolo signal is added to each guitar signal (in VSA and VSB), and then the outputs are combined. The pur- ‘owe of all this circuitry is to eliminate any sound of the tremolo from the amplifier output when the ampli- fier & on but the guitar is not being played. This is accomplished by using the two out-of-phase tremolo Signals; when they are combined without 2 guitar signal, they cancel out Th the other circuits the tremolo voltage varies the bias; in Fig. 2-10 the ac signal from the sremolo is fed through a compasativly large capacitor to the screen ‘tid of a peatode amplifier tube. The previous circuitshave Seem directly coupled—all resisort. This oot is ‘coupled through 1 capacitor, The scion seaman the fame. ‘There hk coum ‘onal scree eid voltage applied o this tube, Look at the aire of the 9 dropping resinoe (6.4 megoims). As a the tube has a scceen-pid voltage of about 20 fam ac voltage varying about 10 wots peak to ik thovugh the tg eapacitor, the screen-pric ‘actualy changing from 20 to 30 and back i Let re 10 oka. The actual vokiage on the scfeen at any {pee inant wil Be the sum of the residual de vole Se through the B+ supply erisoe pis the instant freous. valve o€ the tremelo woltage coupled through nia “=Sppcege ae af i i ij i a: if ratgte eta Fl re 5. [A trae wibby is very dificult to ge, electronically, i would "involves very complicated ‘rout wing ihestshifting Whe woud be very hurd #0 le Mow mansfocturey Bit 3 ceha- action 08 the tailpiece of the guitar, te 1 chord, then moves a long handle buck changes the tension on all sings iernatcly raising and lowering the Fig. 2-13 shown to wteate was, ‘nliplece only and the other com: ‘djslable bridge ‘enh the talpiece til fz UpRREE i [: v : i. 2-18 Matheson fete ite NOTE: You will fod the two terms—tremolo sand vibrato ane interchangeably. even i seme of the catalogs. By a strict musical definition, they re sot anceeanpeable, If the circuit rasies the vellame of the tone, wil Be a tremalo oo ‘mutter what it on the coatrel knob. If the pitch of Oa te varie, than Hi # eBoets, Prony, both effects soand exwcty alike to the umaiaed ruseal eae, it probably deesa’t make oe of illereace whic term is wed ECHO Of REVERDERATION ens oF reverberation be a very popular aMlect of late It fs med in many popvlar recordings. masial strangoment, undp om AR toh eect i obtained by taking off» port of the signal, delaying i alight, and then aging 4 19 he original signal. The opal ee soon, um! « fraction of « sccuad Lnter there anache. This it dove by changing pace in Ome sigeals hose mease 4 time seltionship between any te sinlar ckctrical sigeals; it generally wed sith reference to ac sygnaix only. If one signal stats out unl is allowed fraction of & second tater Dy aD- ther signal jose ite st, the second signal i lapping te phase with relerence to the Bit ngmol. TB of ase, ithe same effect you get if you ye imo a canyon First you hear your wen voice come back froma a nearby sll, and thee, a wes bit later, it comes. ‘fern + moqe tare li 1 is the same thing: echoes. 1 the echoes are a0 close lopetbtr (hit the Hatenér ‘cant separate ther, fhe sound is called reverberation “The nly ference terweeR echoes and reverbers toa Is the length of time or amouat of delay Berwees the gna To get an ccho sffect electronically. only 4 part Aaperoxioately RAID) of the signal & taken off The ‘original goes en theoagh he amplifier; the part tna Se ukew off goer liroogh 4 speci! cireut whichHow Gultar Amplifers Work ‘cates it to lose time—it is delayed, The amount of delay is regulated by controls ia the echo circuitry; fiso the amplitude of the strength of the delayed sig- hal can be varied. When the original and the dolayed Signals are combined in a second stage, thece is an ‘echo effect; the original signal is heard, and, » small fraction of a second later, the delayed or echo signal Is heard. Fig, 2-14 shows a block diagram. Po. Fig 2:14 Using signal delay te produce echoes, Most clrcnite use a mechanical delay line far ecto cireuits. This looks ike pair of old-lushivned spiral sereco-dour springs in a litle bus. Actually, chey are very enefully “etigned speingy Taving very previve travel times, gs will be soon. A speaker fs mounted on ‘one end of the fo springs. This iv wot a te speaker, It @ speaker-motor that converts the electrical signal into mechnical vibrations, just as a speaker does, This pute the sound signal onto the ends of the Iw springs. Lb travels the length of the to springs in very slightly different times dve to the way tbe springs are wound, A typical time used by une miajor ranufactures is 29 milliseconds for one spring aad 37 milliseconds for the other (1 aniliecond equals 001 second). The delay effect is accomplished in the Springs themvelvss. At the receiving end of the springs, there is a small microphone of its equivalent Te changes the mechanical vibrations that bave trae led down the springs back into electrical vibrations 6 ‘wbich become the phase-shified (delayed) signal that fs combined with the undelayed, or original, signal. The reverb circuit used in a commercial guiter amplier is shown ia Fig. 2-15. The signal comes in tt the preamp grid; it is amplifed, and fed to the “everb-in” amplifier tube, From the plate circuit of the resistor network shown above the reverd unit. The signal that follows this poth is the uodelayed signal. ‘The other path is trough the reverberation unit. ‘This consists of a speaker or reproducer, the delay springs and the pickup unit. The signal is delayed as it passes through the springs, but it goes through the fatemate path at normal speed. There are two signals coming from the same source—one is normal and the other lage bebind by 29 or 56 milliseconds. They are combined in the plate cicuit of the reverb output wnplifer tube and sent along to the next amplifier sage. “The reverd control detcemines the proportion of delayed signal weed. You can vse just a litle or a lot, ‘depending on how deep you want the reverb effect “This, in effect, is a revert volume control ‘Transistor Units Fig, 2-16 shows a reverberation unit with transit- (ors, This nit ie designed a8 an attachment isiead ff & part of the original amplifies. The basic action, ff course, is the same, The signal comes in at the ‘outper of the amplifier. This & fed to the base of the second transistor, and coupled to « thied transistor which urives the reverb springs. The pickup at the Culput ead of the springs foods its sigmal to the hase fof the output transistor (X common enter circuit), ‘hich in tven feeds the output jack ‘The veverd control ts « 10,000-ohm variable resistor scrote the pickup. A foot switch can be used to cut the revert effect a cr out as desired. It does this by ‘pounding the junction of (0 .005-aE capacitors in Fig. 218, Reverberation cir!ip 216 Transaor reverberate at, series in the output circuit, eliminating the reverb MULTIPLE INPUT CONNECTIONS. One femure found in all but the smallest guitar ampliers «multiple input conncetions, These are Provided vo that several instruments ean he connected tothe tame umpliier at the same tine. If two guitars (@ lead and» rhythm), 2 bass and a violin are in together, for example, the whole band ean amplife, € ampliers lave microphone inputs us have slightly igher gain than the intrs- to compensate forthe low output of and to pive ample volume for Yoel Hit in problem, of course, is not gaia, but of various inputs. All of these must be con- ‘at the volume of one instrument can be 1 solo passage, for example, while the below him. One volume contro! must not of the rest. Instead of connecting them all i necessary to isolate them by msane of stages. Correctly built, these give some gain ze i INI ‘H Fig 217 shows a diagram of the most common smite ciruit, with four instrument inputs and ike fapot. Esch one hat its own volume control, « master volume control to adjust the goin of all Inputs at the same time is used later io the anplifier circuit Here (Fig. 2-17) the output of each instrument {es (0 the grid (inpot) of « triode tube. For econ ‘omy, one ofthe popular twin-tiodes (I2AX7, 12AT7, Special Sign Cleeutts tc.) Is uted. All of the grids are separate, but aotice ‘hat all of the patos are ted together. ‘They are con: ected in parallel, but with isolating resistors (R R3_R6.R7, and R9) in series with euch plate circa” These will not affect the xia, but they will help to keep one circuit from interfering with another. You ‘may find isolating series resistors used in the ged cir- nis, t00- Individual volume controls are ased, ordinarily ia the input of each stage, although they will work the same In the plate cizcuils. ‘The microphone input uses u peatode tube instead ‘of the tiode for higher gain. Because of the increwsed tztin, noite becomes a problem again. So, the tbe ‘ype shown (5879) 18 a nonmicrophonic pentode ¢s- pecially designed for use in such a stage ae this. The ‘output goes to the same common tine; all of the sg als are mined here and are fed through coupling Capacitor CI into the next stage of the ampli. ‘Twin-triodes are shown in. Fig. 2-17. You will probably find triple trodes (Compactrons) a some amphiers ‘TRANSISTORIZED MULTIPLE-CHANNEL INPUTS ‘You wil nd similar mixer cicuite wed in transis- ‘or amplifiers. In the circuit of Fig. 2-17 by replacing the tubes with transistors we have a transistor four ‘egurded tube in the mixer with the greatest of ease. The out- puts will be combined just as before. You may find an extra amplifier stage between the input and theising circuit, bot hasically the circuit will be jut the same INTEGRATED.CIRCUTT MIXERS, Atthouh. to the best of my knowicdi, 20 inie rated. crests are being used for mixers in commer: ial guitar amplifiers a this book is being writen, fave no doubt that they will show sp inthe very near fom Fig. 2-1HA.chows a typical circuit wing ‘Motorola HEP-S81 “input Gate” IC. This isa somal round Spin TC, not moch Digger thus «TOSS cased fcamisior, These ICs may be found soldered per~ ‘mapently (8c) to the cect. or made to plug im for quick replacement “Tals unit fs one of the slnplest of the integrated cirvits “it contsine any ve transis and seven resistors, The fateeal iecury is showa in Fig, 2-188 ‘The mit i mor dicot Ro test, Pie, be se that the ‘normal input veltage present ow pin §, then eheck cach expat with the scope, feeding « tet signal in (Gch of the Four Sapte M there fs no. ootpyt signal tnd all of the external ciecitry is alright, that is, 90 Shovted er apen coupling expaciors ct, them the IC fs probably bad. Try a new one. THE INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT AMPLIFIER Cerisin ICs cam be used as preamplifiers, alka Fg. 2-19 shows one of these. with the citi, vad the fetermel connections of the IC. Mere again, the same ” a 212 Tyna cet re (A) Wed a dnp ae Y | e ig 208 stare HEP-RE pat gee,twst athods cam be used. First make sore that the WC has the ceerect voliage supply, and then check the ‘caput for fignsl level, In this one, you should Bd a oodsined voltage gain. The actual gain depends cn the eieul, sine of load resistor used, el, (A) Cindi highepin ompir. 1 the amall ansplifer szetion of this Bout, youl find aspers whict wre “all 1G" The whole” wpe fer eter, inchudiog the ouput atage, ie Bull in in fpuprtec-croust package At thit time, these are ladle to about $ wats ras maior pores, but you may Rod therm loter ue with previer power caput SPECIAL EFFECTS UNITS There are several "apecial-effects” wits which are sed with electronic umpliiers to give the "new vmund.” You may find these in scparais cases, plas ‘2.04 bull Into the cireait of seme of Che move ela ‘ate amplifiers. Separate or brain, they al work the same, and ean be checked the same, Most of theae are faiety simple, aod she standard tests can tbe used to toaltesboat ther, ‘The Fare Box ‘The simplest of the speciatetioct write it called a ‘tue DOR", “serumbler” and soon. It dows just what ‘te came impticr, Fig. 2-20 shows the schematic of ‘ypieal uni. ‘The signa trom the guitar is fed through the laput jack 1 4 stagdand two-stage transtor am lies. Note the reversc-paraiicied diodss DI aad D2 hunted across the output of the second stage. When the tignal reaches » certain fevel, hese odes. wall 20 into conduction. This wll chip the peaks from the sig- fal waveforms; one clips the postive peaks, the other slips the meqative peaks. Pig; 2-21 shows the input ‘gmat ond the Output signal afer clipping. 1 no signal wid go through the tery vollage fics; if this s up to normal, then check ‘he input ted curput jacks, wiring. switch, ee, to rake sure that the “signal-path” is wot opei agp sera meebo Fig 113 topst nd sotpat gene of “then” lave all in good shape, one of she tramsistogs may be fund. Cheching these caf be done with the same tests tind equipment used for ary other ampli, for that fn it eva two-stage transistor ample, ‘The Electrons Benger "Another interesting spécia-efleets device ‘x nctually in electronic dram" in faci. i éalled the “elecx ionic Bongos.” Fig 2-22 shows the schematic in- iim of thi unit. Ekeconically, if tainly simple. ‘There arc 186 pulke generators controlled by rounded conductor. You may have ooticed that the output voltage seems to be higher than the input: 135 volts on the simple half-wave rectifier with 117-volt line input This variation is die to the method of measurement used for the ac voltages, Sce Fig. 3-2. De voltage is straight, but when measuring ac voltages, one nor- mally reads the rms value. In the operation of rectifier circuits, the fier capacitors are actually charged up to the peak value of the voltage. This is 1.414 times the rms voltage. The load on the B% will pull this down slightly, but the output will still be higher than the numerical value (rms) of the input. This ix nove imal, and it is just a trick of measurement and definitions Fig. 2-2, Mesvaring alternating veHeges, DRY RECTIFIERS. In many sets today you will fied a silicon or a selenivm rectifier instead of a vacuum tube. These £0- called dry rectifiers (semiconductor diodes) do not re- quire any filament voltage, thus saving that much power ‘Also, their life is much longer than the vacuum-tube fectifirs that are prone 10 sudken failure if there és a short in the amplifier itself, Fig. 3-3 shows a typical power-supply circuit using a dry rectifier. Note that the de output is higher than for the compurable tube -ircuit singe this rectifier is more efficient “The schematic symbol used ie the same for both the ‘older selenium sectiers und the new silicon type. The triangle is the plate or anode of the rectifer, and the crossbar is the cathode. In this circuit the triangle (anode) is always connected to the sours of ac valt- sage, and the Br comes from the crossbar (cathode) Tanner ine ig. 3. Dry rectifier pewer supply Fig. 34 shows the two rectifiers: the selenium types hhave the large cooling fins, while the silicon are much smaller and more compact. Silicon rectifiers are avail- able in many different sizes and shapes other than the cone shown. Voltage drop across the silicon types is ‘much smaller than cven the seleniums, and the former hhave replaced the latter in modern designs. Incidea- tally, you can use either one interchangeably, provide ing the current rating of the replacement rectifier is equal to of higher than that of the bad one you are replacing. ‘The PIV (peuk inverse voltage) or breakdown rat- ing of the rectifier must be at least 20% greater than the applied voltage. For safety, the current rating ‘must be at least 25% higher than the peak current to be drawn by the amplifier. The safety factor can be greater than this; these are minimum figures, Resti- fiers with a good safety factor will last much Longer in service. Note the litte resistor shown in the schematics, be- tween the rectifiers and the ac line, This is small, usually $ to 1S ohms and is used to hold down the first ineush of current; therefore it is called a surge resistor, Since the dry rectifiers do not have to warm lp, they conduct full current as soon as the set is it 4A) Selene (BY Sco, Fla, 1-4, Selesiom ond lil eeetiters, > aHow Guitar Amplifiers Work tumed on. To keep this full current from damaging something, a small limiting resistor is instuded in the sircuit, VOLTAGE DOUBLERS With semiconductor rectifiers it is possible to build 18 type of circuit that will give: more than double the ‘amount of the standard line voltage. One of the draw= backs of ac/de or line-reetifier circuits has been the low B+ voltage availabte—asually about 135 volts de, With a circuit like that shown in Fig. 3-5, the B+ oui- Fat can be double the line voltage, ‘The half-wave doubler power supply works as fol- lows: Capacitor Ci is apparently connected directly to the ac line, despite all you have been told about electrolytics not working on ac, Actually, because of the circuits following it, the capacitor is not on the ac line. On the first halfacycle of the supply voltage, cur rent flows through shunt rectifier X', because its plate (anode) is positive (Fig. 3-5A); this charges CI to approximately the peak lint voltage minus the drop across the rectifier, On the next half-cycle (Fig, 3-SB) the polarity is reversed, and series retiier X2 carries the current. The line voltage is now in series with the charge on capacitor C1, so capacitor C2 charges to approximately the sum of these voltages. Allowing for losses in the circuit and the slight discharging of the ‘capacitors, the output is about 265 volts de. Eifece ‘ively, the line voltage has been doubled and rectified at the same time. The two electrolytic capacitors are the key to this oubling action; His their charging and discharging that make the circuit work, This holds true in all volt- age-doubling circuits, All parts must be in good shape, ‘of course, especially the rectifiers, but itis the charge/ discharge cycle of these big capacitors that docs the trick. C1 will be about 150 to 200 uF at 200 working ‘wll, and C2 will be from 120 to 150 jE and must Ihave at least 4 300 working-vol rating Incidentally, this is the circuit that stopped the ac/dc designation, slthough many dichard service technicians stil call them that, The a¢ line is rectified ml ed Nene Current curing second half yee Maltwave veltage-doabler eirenit. re for B+, and the mabe filaments are in series, but this is mot an ac/dc circuit at all; it wan't work on de. You ‘must have alternating current to make the voltage doubler function. If this half-wave doubler were con- ected to the wrong polarity of de voltage, com: Ponents could be damaged. The correct namie for this Cireeit, and all others Like it, ix transformers, TRANSFORMER POWER SUPPLIES ‘The power-supply circuit used in most guitar ampli- fiers is the full-wave rectifier with power trans(ormer. Fig. 3-6 shows a typical circuit. It works like thi ‘The linc voltage is stepped up in the high-voltage secondary winding to any desired value. In the aver- age medium-power amplificr this is about 350 volts ac, 40 the ovipat is about 200 volts ds after taking off the filter and rectifier-tube voltage drops, The other tube filaments are all connected in parallel and sup- plied from a filament winding ax shown. ‘The rectifier tube is a fullewave type. Both halves of the ac wave are rectified as Gist one plate and then the other goes positive. This produces a small 120-Hz ripple in the rectifier output ia addition to the dc volt age. This ripple is just a litle bit easier to filter out ‘than the 60-Ht2 ripple that resutts in half-wave recti- Fig. 4. Transformer pemar sappy with SEEN fiewore cecter,fiers, so you will find much smaller filter capacitors in this ‘cieuit compared to the transformertess types. Futess will rua about 69 to 80 AF instead of 125 to 180 of even 200 AF in the brute-force fitters needed for the others ‘The center-tap of the high-voltage winding is re~ twmed to the chassis, and this ix used as B=. Filter chotes are generally used in place of resistors for beter efficiency, and the de output ix usually very smooth. Normal ripple at the filer output is less than 20 wolts pk-pk, which can be considered as almost pore de. This type of power supply has several advantages Foc one, the power transformer provides complete iso- Jaion from the ac line, so there is no shock hazard, For another, the desired B+ voltage ean be easily ob- tained by skmply choosing a transformer with the desired step-up voltage rato, Tobe filaments are con nected in parallel, If one burns out, it is easy to find since all the others remain lit. In serie circuits, if one Dpuras out, it opens the circuit and they all go out {In some cirewits you may find dry rectifiers used in Place of the vacuum tube. These will sorsetines be in a bridge arrangement as shown in Fig, 3-7. This sit- cait gives good rectification and simplifies the power transformer; no center tap is needed on the secondary. ‘The output is slightly higher than when s tube is ed. Tn the larger amplifiers you will find two rectifier tubes. This # done to share the load between them, to the tubes will lst longer. te the very high-powered amplifiers, two rectifier tubes will be used on the very ‘igh volige for the plates of the power output tubes (op t0 600 voits dc), and another will be used to supply the:B+ to all other stnges. Focmesly dry rectifiers were sometimes uses in series to get a higher voltage breakdown rating, This caused tone trouble, due to inequalities between the units Now, you can get silicon rectifiers rated at 600, 800, ted cven 1000 volts, $0 there is no need for the series eanection. These new units can be used to replace ‘ider ceries-stack rectifiers, with much reduced stances of failure. Silicon rectiers cam alto be used to replace rect fr twhes directly, 10 reduce the heat generated inside 7 1427 ae dry ryctbars conned a fallow are The Power Supply the amplifier case. Simply coanect silicon rectifiers, with ample safety ratings, directly crom the tube socket. For a full-wave rectifier tube, such as the SUS, and others, two rectifiers are needed. Tie the cathodes to the original filament (or cathode, if the tube had 4 separate cathode), and tit ane anods to each of the original plate pins, Whea making 1» conversion tke this, you may have to add a small series surge resistor. Your de voltage output will be quite a bit greater. ‘This it dut to the lower voltage drop across the sil- ‘con rectifier, as compared to that across the tube. Al- ‘way check the de voltage to make sure that it does not exceed the original voltage; filter capacitors and other parts may be overloaded and break down, SPECIAL BIAS SUPPLY A fixed-bias voltage is used far the power output stage in some of the larger amplifiers (Fig. 3-8). Fol- low the control fd clreuits of the output tubes. They do not retuen to ground, as in the smaller units, but 40 through 1500-ohma swamper resistors (to damp out fany tendency © ultrasonic oscillation) and 200,000- ‘ohm grid resistors to a special negative voltage sup- ‘ply. This is provided by a S0-volt tap on the high ‘voltage secondary of the power transformer (TL). ‘The ac is rectified by diode D1 and filtered by the S600-ohm series resistor, the 100-aP electrolytic €2- pacitor, and the 56,000-ohm loading resistor actos the output of the bias rectifier. Notice that the output voltage of this circuit is negative: it comes from the triangle side of the dey reetifie instead of from the bar side as in the normal B+ cireuits. Bias voltage varies with the type of tubes used and their bias re- quirements; it is usually around —50 wots in most of the high power amplifier circuits. This fixed bias is necessary to get 5881s and similar power tubes up to ‘heir rated output. TRANSISTOR-AMPLIFIER POWER SUPPLIES The power supplies used on transistor amplifiers will be exactly like the ones already shown. The same kind of transformer, rectifier, and filer circuits will bbe wed. The only difference will be in the de voltages and currents, Voltages will be much lower, ranging from about 15-20 volts up to perhaps 75-80 volts or more. Currents will be much higher, of course, to get the needed wattage (volinge times current) “The only new circuit youl! find will be in the tran- stor amplifiers ucing 2 dual-polarity de supply for ‘the output pair. Fig. 3-9 shows how this is done. The center-tap on the powerstransformer secondary is grounded. A full-wave bridge rectifier is used, withHow Guitar Amplifiers Work the negative voltage output taken from the minus (—) terminal, and the positive voltage from the phis (+) terminal) Duplicate flr civewits are used, with the polarity of the fiker capacitors reversed. ‘The curreol ating of the transformer secondary winding and the rectifiers must be at least 2596 greuter than the maximum current to be drawn at full output Voltage rating of the fier capacitors should be 25% higher than the maximum voliage; here, 30-volt co- pacitors should be used as a minimum. Filter capock tors will be much larger, often up to 1000 of even 2000 #F, and in some cose, titer eapacitors up t0 14000 pF have been used, Transistor circuits mast have pure de. od ig. 3-9, Duakpolority power sappiy. SAFETY PRECAUTIONS—SHOCK HAZARDS ‘There is one thing which must be checked very carefully, whenever any ac-powered guitar amplifies is serviced. This is the isolation of the ac power line from the amplifier chassis. The “line-connected” power supplies, like those shown ia Figs. 3-1, 3-3 und 3-5, may have one side of the ac line connected to the 6 Fig. 8 Negative gridsbier vottoge sappy. amplifier chassis, This 1s not © standard circuit, nor is it approved hy the Underwriter’s Laboratories, who fet the standards for shock-snfety in electrical equip- meal, However, by accident or desiga, it may be found 4m some of the cheaper models, so be on the lookout for it. ‘The reason for the danger is simple. One side of ‘every me power line is grounded: the other side i al- ‘ways “hot,” with respect to day grounded abject. In ‘act, you can light uny incandescent lamp, by connest- ‘ing one wire to the hot side of the ac linc, anid the ther fo a water pipe or other grounded object. In all musical insicument amplifiers, the scopllfiar chassis is “commen” which i connected to the shiclds of the cables, as swell as the metal comtrolplates on the suilar itself, to avoid hum pickup, So, if the amplifier huss is connected 1 the Hot side of the ac line, the “grounded object” may be the musician himself, if he happens to be standing on bare exrth, a cement floor, co touching water pipes or other grounds In this cave, » dangerous, even fatal current can flow through his body. There hus been one known instance of a musician being killed by a shorted amplifcr, and unles we're very careful, theré, could be more? So, all ac-powered amplifiers shotld be checked carefully for deliberate or accidental shorts from th ac line to the ehassis. Line-sonnected type amplifiers should never be sed out-of-doors, or 00 a bbare earth or cement oor, of near Wakerpipes, cte: However, these amplifiers are in the very low-pow cred class, and are not acrmally used for concert or dance work: they are used mostly By students and for indoor practicing. On woaden floors or insulated sur faces, they are safe, ‘The larger amplifiers are powered by power trans- formers, ax in Fig. 3-6, Note that the primary of thesformer is completely isolated from the secondary the chassis of the amplifier, $0, this type is com- pletely sate, as long as there are no accidencal short- sircuits from the ac line to chassis, Checking for Safety There is a good quick-check for this. Whenever amplificr has been serviced, and is working normal connect a 1500-ohm, 10-wait resistor between the amplificr chassis and a ground. Connect an ac volt- meter across this resistor, a5 shown in Fig. 3-10. Now, plug the amplifier in and turn it on. There should be Practically no woltage reading on the meter. If you read more than 2-3 volts ac an the meter, look out. If there is mo voltage indicated, pull the amplitier ac line plog. reverse it, and plug it in again. If you get no. ac voltage reading with the amplifier plugged in either way, the amplificr is safe to use. If you read even 10 volts sc with the plug in either position, there is too much leakage; reading the full line voltage indicates 4 dead short between ac line and amplifier chassis, And this is & potential killer! In some amplifies, a “line-reversing™ switch is used to minimize hum (Fig. 3-11). This switching arrange- ent has the same effect as reversing the ac plug in the socket. In other circuits, you may find a large: re= slator, 2.2 megohens or so, bypassed with a small ca- pacitor of about .05 mF connected from one side of is... cheting at paced ampltr fr 6 ‘the ac line to the chassis. This, too is for hum-reduc- tion; the reversing setitch is flipped 0 that this side of the ac line is grounded. Now the amplifier chassis iB connected to the ground side of the line, and is safe, IM the amplifier has been plugged in at the time a nearby power line was hit by lightning, the “lime by- pass” capacitor may break down and short. Normally, this capacitor is shunted by the high resistance and ‘only a very small current can flow. With a dead short in the capacitor, & dangerous poteatial can exist be- tween the amplifier chassis and a grouad. The quick- check will eatch this hazardous condition, An ohm- meter test of the capacitor will cantiom it, If this capacitor is replaced, be sure that the replacement has a rating of at least 1000 volts. This will make it harder to blow if the amplifier is hit again. Te very rare cases, a power transformer primary can ‘short Enternally to the core, This has the same effect as a shorted line bypass capacitor. This kind of short ‘can have no effect at all on the operation of the power transformer, except for the shock hazard. This, too, ‘will show up 8 the quick-check test. You'll generally read about half of the full line voltage with the plug ‘one wuy, and the rest with the plug reversed, For ex- ample, 40 volts one way and 70 volts the other; they ‘will add up to the full 110-volt line voltage, Power transformers with this kind of defect MUST be replaced, invest ee, SESE 211, Unecreveraig ratch ond ype cepesiter ne “reel weed redeee bea SUMMARY ‘There you have a complet: rundown on all of the circuits used in guitar amplifiers. If you know how each one Works and what it is supposed to do, then it will be a lot casicr to find and fix any trouble thai shows wp, In the next chapter professional. methods ‘of locating and curing trouble will be explained ‘Diagnosis is half the battle. Anybody can fix an amplifier, it takes only the replacement of a leaky ‘capacitor or a burned resistor and two solder joints. ‘The trouble comes in finding the correct part to re= place. This separates the men from the boys, electron- ically speakingSECTION IT Service Procedures and TechniquesChapter + The Amplifier Signal Circuits ‘The fist thing to do in servicing an electzic guitar anplificr isto look i over canefly. Find out what i doing. abd, jast as impaciant, Bnd out wh itis it: As in all electronics work, the diagnosin is the Ire part. First, look for what is working: dhs wil {Be you an idea as to whet isnot ‘Troubles in amplifiers will full imto three classes; it wil be dead, weak, ow soon funay. This. let cha. coves hum, oscillation, motorboatiog. ond similar things, in other wor, she venphtier is making the cies sell whee it stowld mat, The fst thing to eo ide i Jo which class Uhis Lrouble (alls. Make the uses possible test: turn the instrament on and listen wit ‘A normal reaction ins functioning smgliher is w ‘hgbt cushing sound im the speakers called “blow” (a yo wore Mowing very soltly into a microphone) Sane slight hum is also normal, especially ifthe éepel wanéctions are open and the volume controle are famed up. AM! tues Should show a lite Hight in the top, but hone of them howd get re he Sh any fing herween the elements. If you see the later, tum off the amplifier immediately; these in aur! someabeie in the power supply. Also, if you beac a load hm, smell smoke, or see smoke coming (roe under the chassis, turn it off. Take the easiest problem fint—the completely dead amplifier. Nothing happems when you tur it om. This ‘cans that some part hax complesely broken down, and itis easy to find. Simply check out oll circuits in the amplifier, Deginning with the power supply, It oma ake laeg to find a Bad! cormponent with the Proper tests, These tests re hited in later porngraps First, look at the slatstical order of failures in this hind of electronic eqeipment. The author's experience in ctual repsir operations indicates certain troubles ‘are more likely than others. The expericaced techni= sian checks them an the order of frequency of occur= rente, and he finds the troable faster, Likelihood of failures come in this order: 1 Tubes 2. Power supply 3, Componenls—resisiors, ctpacitors, and controls 4 Cables—plugs and wiring between the guitar ‘ca the amplifier 5. Transfurmers—oulpot traesformers. speakers and povwee transformers ‘Reaneanber this list, und use it; He will make the re- Dale job a loc taster. It you Bead a completely dead amplifier, the frst thing to look for is a bad tube. The secom) most Wikely source of failure is something in the B= power supply, and so on in che onder given, In checking elecine guitars, break the complete system duven inte three parts—the ampli ise (in- cluding the speakers), the coonecting cables, and the itr (including the pickup and controls oa it), Hexe is how whack it out. First, pull aut all cables to the fovtromenis and mikes. Turn the amplifier on, sad Tite for aay sigcs of trouble, See il you sam bear the ‘normal blow or hum chat means it ix alive, If you do not, ebeck at any one of the inputs. Turn its volume control all the way up, and touch the hot terminal of the jack, I che amplifer is workiog, you ought to bear 23 wery loud. buzz of hork noise in the speaker. There fare two easy ways fo make this test: One, plug is one of the cables, atid toch the tip of the phone plugs this is bays connected to the hot téninal on jock. Two, reake up a special test plug with the ‘wire brought out to where you can touch it with = EeSerview Press fingertip. Try this on an amplifier you tnow ts work ing. and you wil recognize the sound the next time ‘yo hear i. 1 you hear a load beex, chances are the smpliier is ll ight, 30 go to the connecting cables. Plug thea into the amplifier one t & time, and tech the center ‘conductor of each cable. Again, the loud burr says this section is functioning. Before going on, however, flex each of the cables near oth connectors wile ‘ouching the center conductor. Any static or break in the buzzing sound indicates there is a problem in the ssonnestor. Look vee ach one carefully for poeely soldered connections, broken wites, and strands of ‘wire shorting across thé éonnastor. The séetion on servicing Nas procedures for repairing shielded cables ‘When the conaecting cables have been eliminated is the sovest of trouble, only the pickup remains ‘Aboat all that can be dove here & 10 substitute 2 pew ‘unit If it is deliiiely established that the pickup is (mt fayt, gome effort cam be made to rupair Ht, and ‘hece are sugeetions io the section on servicing a 10 Thaw to proceed. Since these usuully are sealed vats, it bs probably quickest to replace the pickup if re placements are steadily avallable TF you don't ear & bow! buzs when yost touch & ot ‘input terminal. the amplifier is dead. Check to be ware ‘that all volume. controls are turned om in the chan you are testing. (In all servicing. you mast watch out lor the obvions; itis emy tn overlook. For instance, ‘you are not careful, you may tahe the amplifier out ‘of the cue Woking for a dead stage, and then ind out had’ been trned off ‘do mov turn the ampliher on with the speaker open. ‘These will stand a short across the outpel, but operat a ing the amplifer with the output open may blow the ‘output trassisior(s) ‘The output-trenstormerios types are exactly the op: posite. They can withstand an open circuit in the out ul, but a short acrast the speaker terminale will blow oth oulpot transistors in a fraction of a second. When you hook up extension cables to the speakers ‘oF 10 a dummy load resistor. be very sure that there CHECKOUT PROCEDURES ‘Here is a step-by-step method of esting that wil show you where the trouble is in the least porrible ‘you expect to find. For exemple, if thect is about 250 t0 300 volt of B+, sptaker and output twhos—and work your way back toward the input Why? Because chix is the fastest matier whut you find in the carly stages of the anaplific, you can't fell the bavic trouble is xed inpot, the ampliier will be working.Fast, Sequence of tron emgliters, ‘Signal Teasing As you go toward the input, you will eur louder ted louder pops. This toe of the oldest methods of toublnsocting Raown—i was worked out Dork the eaiy days of radio where they called it the cinewit tabaace tv. 11 is ill just a god as HE was hen, fds works every time, As you go along, watch for fie stage where there ia no pop. That is where dhe table Fig 4-1 shows a partial schematic of a typical sapldicr. The idea le to chock the sigaal path by Tacring for pope as the voltages are being checked ‘This path starts at the input and goes all the way ‘eruph in 2 plain series cet. Each the the signal pamet through an amiplifler stage, it ete toler {ore arplibation). Anything that bres ihe chai ‘if sop the signa right there, You can see he test fethod! Start athe cutput and work back towwed ‘be input, ‘The mumbers in Fig. 4-1 show the corvect sequence, For this st It is asuimed Oat the power supply ha been checked and the sight Ba voluge found at the Bher output (X). If the ouput of the power supply is correct, the power supply itelf must Seal righ, and the oubie’ art be somewhere ia ove of the amplier exci. (AS an cxampk, look at a typical case of trouble. Suppose you get good! loud pope all Use way up to and ‘cing test point No. 6. At point No. 7 you get ® pretty weak pop, and hardly any at all on No.8 (thi ‘etl grid). This means that the trouble fe some ‘where in the preamp rage, and everthing from there ss normal. The fiat step is replacing the tubes is done simply because it is emest nad the pecblem: fuk hea bad tube. Hf this docen't hei leave the few tube 4 at least all the trouble is ound. ‘Next, mesure the de vollags around the tube fine and screen. store that the plo voltage te early all right, but there i no screen grid woltage at AIL This means Oat there ks ene ef two troubles—ae ‘open screca-grt deopping resistor, or a shorted seen Trypass capacitor. Either one wil give the same symp tom. Now you wart t0 eliminate. (AM of this work is 4 trig proces of elicination—jest keep testing unit you find the bad part, once the defective stage ha been indated.) Firs. mencure the supply voltage at point X (the ‘supply cod ef the resistor) to be sare that i i there ‘When you Sook at the schematic, wowkt seem that the eastiett checks of the power supply output would sso check oxt tha poiar, Remember, however, there sare ies comecting the vatiows common potas in the chasis, eo these wires have to be eliminated 3s posible peiot of failure, at hast indicccly. Assuming the proper voltage i present at X. the Fault must be in the screen grid dropping resistor or the seen by- pass capacitor Tor the set off, and take a resistance measurement with an ohmmeter from the screened ‘ube pun to ground. If the capacitor is shorted, there ‘wlll be 4 7270 reading here—a dead shor. It the capacitor is good, you will get a reading of the 1e- stance of the sereen dropping resistor plus the rex lance t ground through the power supply. A normal reading here is something like one to two mezohms. In this hind of circuit the screen dropping resistor is ‘wrually 420,000 otis to 1.2 megobmes. This resistor could be opce, 50 you take your next measurement diretly across ‘the resistor elf: the eeding should be the vitod valve. All resbors are olor coved to ell what size they are supposed to be ‘The obmmetcr reading aust agree within 10% of this. IE this cesstor reads completely opes, theie i the cublet Replace it with another of the same size and ‘watiage, and tara the set on. The screen grid voltage reading will be normal. The input will pow pop as oud 6 if showid, snd the iaput jack will give = very low! buzz er honk when touched wih a fngertip—if the resistor was the only source of trouble,Service Procedures ond Teenalg) DETERMINING VOLTAGES WITHOUT SERVICE DATA In the previous section, you made « voliage waalysis of the amplifer using ‘information gained from the schematic diagram ol the amplifier. However, al times schematics are Died. te find Now see whi can be done if you mut test an amplifier circuit without this information. Fortanalely, most af the sraplilers are conventional and since they use the samc basic city cuit, you can wie a model amplifier for compan It has been done for many years. Servicing ie easier i you have the service data. af course, but yoo can ‘ll testa amplifier and find the trostie if you kno ‘what exch stage Ie wupposed to do and how i dacs ‘That it the reason fot 90 mush detail m the frst sac tion. How can thit information be used ia hocking ‘an unknown amplifier? Fig. ©2 thows the schematic of commercial om. plier. This one lan’ actually unknown, But wl ‘Serve og an example. What should the noc voltages bbe? Hcidentullye there is avery valuable feilire la your favor when checking wollages a0 vacucmntube ‘mapliiece—tolecance, A tobe volinge can Me isle & TRS 2 certain rangs, aed sill be all right. For example, & tbe plate voltage rated at 160 volts cxn measure from $0 10 110 volts and still operate without afl tag the perfomance of that stage. This ttm 105% toler ance; many voltages have 20% or even slightly more. Tee only voltage that i really erical is the grid bias “Whew you start on the unknown amplifier, the Bs hing, as always, the supply voltage. Check the B+ woliage, at the filer ingot (point 1 a8 the schematic) How much should it be? A very accurate ide 6h 6 srrived a By messing the ac voltage on the plate: Of the reciter, amd converting, Wich a normal laid it cam be assuaved that the cectifed voltage will be 10% t0 20% above the rma voltage oe the ples bn this cum yor will od about 320 volt mt on the plat, 2 fan added 1056 wil give about 380 vals at the rectiber cathode for a guess in the clreutt mown, 1 10,000-m resistor (R2) fa med as a Sher shokcy giving a faitly lage wotage rop. The cireuit indicates tha the platen of the ot Dut tubes are connected dirscly to the retifitr ostpat {ler impet) thvoogh the primiy winding of the out pot tandormer, their plate currents wil got foe Through the filter resistor. This coenaction provides Fig, Schama Gltene Medel 4-4Tobie 4-1. The Amplifier Signe! Cirewits Estimated Versus Actual Voltages ‘in more hum, However. this hum is cancelled out in Whal should the voltage be at the fli output (print 2)7 The gerece current for twa 6's & being devon through this esictor and also the plate curren at tee fs two tubes. I2AXT twin.rioden. Frm. the tbe manual, sereen current 6 about 4.0 mA for the pair of 6V6s, and. 1.0. mA each should be a fair fwenge tale for the fist four ‘wiodes Tha pies shout B mA. current, which, by Ohm's law, is ae 80 yt erp acre 10,000 ohne or 770 volts at pine 2 Whea you examine the B+ cheats farther, you will fn another 10,000-obe flier reste (RI). This oat taries only the piste cures of the preamplier taser (previously esis al 4 mA far the four), the drop acrons it is 40 volts. This givcx an oath sited 240 vols af point 3. Plate currals i vulluge ampiger xagot average from shout OS mA t0 15 ‘aA. The 150u-obm cathode resistor connected to tube ‘V2 makes the nopntine blag highér thea on VI, aad rafues the tube current. Ifthe plate current in V2 Is assumed to be 0.8 mA and 1.2 mA B asumed for Vi, the drop ser08s Toad sesitors R3 and R+ will Be Fig 4 BS cecal oF he bens emptor, EAE 0 volts, and cross RS and RS it will be 120 vel Since the etimate for point 3 came out 240 wots, the Plate vollage on V2 wil be 160 vols, and oe VI it Wil be'120 volts, Thus, approtinate readings for all point in the Bt eircait have been obtained ‘When. cslimates ane compared with the mantic vorer't published data (Table €-1), ey turn out 10 be seasoaably clene—withia 10%, in ct. Things will aot always work cut this well, bot you see that ita po ‘ble to estinate all waluer zing ome educated (peecuet and tube handbook, How do you know the size of the plaie load re isiors? They are color-coded so you can Ul at 3 lance. Sum find the plane connections of each socket tnd look at the colar coving on the resist coanéted thet. Aay eestronky banBook Si 1 yoo what the celine mean. You can alko get am tes of what tbe ormal plate voltage should be torn the typical oper stag cobditiogs table piven for each tube 3m the tube manval. Fig. 4-3 shows the complete B+ supply circuit tor typical ampliier stages, beginning at the fint place vebere de voltage appean—the sectiRer eather ‘rer impr, Tearm chee ical; st applies to all arypic fiers. If it i bigger amplifier, thew sill be moc: seualer oes will hove bs. Tt iy albrays the same basic Grew. You can lif i out of the smplier, mentally. tnd follow it through to see if theres any tebe in the plate votages. ail og Qi ia aeLOCALITING THE TROUBLE Performance tests provide an easy way to find out jst where toudie HK. In otber words, sce just how mach of the whole amplier ix working. and then son- ceniraie om checking the part that it. It w gay 10 do. Tuen the amplifier on, and make voltage and pop teste through the citcait, beginning at the output. The first ime you go through a stage and it doesn't pop, there iti. Take a typical rouble and. see how to plo Mt down. For instance, gssume the ootput stage and the B+ sup- ply im Fig 42 are allright, bot esther the amplifier oes not work, oF i hus a very bad tone. On pop tests you find thal the plats of the upper driver tube EV2A) has 4 pretty SeHk pow and e grid of the ‘arse tbe har hardly any at al Obviously, something 4 wrong. but wht” ‘Check the plate voltage: instend of the nostaal 170 vols or 50, there m abvat $0 volts. This pinpoints the Wwouhie 20 Toeimy, womewnere we the Gkwet ange, The fico thing 40 shock i the tube, 50 veplace it—skmply beesute tit the easiest hing 10 do, aad experience has shown that tubes cause a lot of roubles. How cee, the reste are the same, sn the Lube aust have been all righ To poo, loch ut the BA supply cirewit im Hig 4-2. Note that the plate voltage of ths tobe is fed thragh 4 100,000 pte loud vesszor (RS). Ture the amplifice off, ond measare the rristamce of thi res (oc. If it hes opened up or insrensédl fa Yalus, thE sywoptons would fe exactly whut have been de sented. However, it checks right on the nose at 100. 000vedims wo go am to coats other pombe The supply voliags at the botiom or in’ eff the tesistor is ull righl, Becaine it wacosunes the same as he screngrid) volte on the power-output tubes checked earlier Summarizing the situation, the Sood resistor is all (igh, the tube i allright, Dut stl there is not tHE pte voltage ‘The only condition that ean cause these symptor too mach plate current being drawa through the load resistor. since it ill wlwy causé 10 large a voltage drop. The pla voltage is dropping erent the resistor instead of aeress the tube. A. tude draws too much plate curren when the gid it is wrong. so measure the witage on the enntiel grid. It caught ts be cero; there is mo Bias voltage Sed a the fd from any extemal source, amd the .0-tiegoha sd resistor goes disely to ground. To measure grid vollages you must use a highs ‘impedance meter—a_vivm ot highresisance vom, since this Hike all grid citcuits, is a very high rsp ance. A low-resisanse meter ill cause the voltage present to be incorrect, since the meter ite acts at a sont ‘Assure that there is about 5 volts. positive on the srkl. This is definitely wrong, No grid in this (ype of sampler ever reads postive H€# is in good shape. i Will be either aero oF sighly negative. A Svolt pose tive bias on a grid will cause the tube to draw a eer heavy plate current: thus, the plile voltage il drop very badly Because of the eteess drop across de Pte load resistor. ‘Where could this voluge come from? Caly a one mcgohmn tensor and a conpling capacilor ate <3¢-| rected to this pid. The resistor gos straight 12 ‘round, 10 this i not a very Fly source of wag Ihwever, the coupling eapactor is connected to th ple of the preceding tube, and this tube bas about: 120-vkts postive omits plat. This is a hey suspect all cases a capacitor must be a completely oper iit to de. The capseitor 4 ated to transfer the 2 Signal voltages from the plate (output) of ome sings we the wl Gimpua) oh the one Tahowings owas Me feays block any de from getting through (Althout the correct name for these is coupling capacitors, you will God them called blocking ‘capoctions im ste cases) rom tne aymplon thi! hve been assumed, hooks a if the eapacitor must be leuking de onto te suid. To make sure, disconnect the gen) end of the ca prcitos ned hack the de volts probe fw vive to ti en cfd, Now turn the amplifier at W the capacitor Yeaking yall ned poutve voltage en tke open et ‘Thi should be eco, of coun, sinoe 2 good expacior 2 completely open cirewit for’ de A. normal capacie with good insulation will give just a very sight Rit of Uke weter meee 28 at charges up. ‘Thee this seat ing wil slowly leak off through the input ruxitance of the meter. if you have any residual seading. aay wolge aboming at all fir the Bist charge Bas leaked off, the capacitor is bad and must be raced, ‘hig 4-4 shows ow thi text ke made, With te ccapwcsior hooked to the grid resistor as ia. the original clecatt (Fig. 42), you wall probly read $ t0 6 vol dz. Wilh the eapecitor disconnected, you may res high as 38 to 40 wits pouiive de omit i hea. “The veput resistance of the vtven (Li mepubms aver sae) in much higher then the E-megobm grid respi TY you wie a stv For Mis tet, set iL ou AP de vos ale. IF you use = wort, ket iow a wollage scale tht will carry the maximam volnge to be read. In thi case it ik the 120 volts oa the preceding whe plat Yor can't How up a vtvm with a voltage overload hut you ean damage a vom, 10 be careful. After te fest charging kick, set the meter to 9 lower volte scale. For the fin test use the Lowest scale availblefe one vol positive through « euupling capaczoe team Ki must be replaced You canaot make a leakage vest with 1 common demote, The actual leakage throwgh these capeci- ten very small If you could mesure i, the re- fisoce wosld po up to slmost 100 megobms (ar ere the capacity of 8 service obmmetet), bat the ‘ogector wil sil leak enough to cause 0 lo of Co Me The vollgs testis sore and fas, 90 wie i (Capacitor leakage is a very common trouble; that \uvhy yon an exammpse. 1 wll caine loan of ‘une, 2 very bod dhtortion, and cven damaged ‘abe ifthe Teakage is bd enough Il of these prob- Ines revit fron the change in he. grk-bine Sole ‘he amplifier tober are driven foto @ very woolen pat of their oyerating rungs, and the Tove sofors feryacverely an a remo. Bn fact, after a Bede practice 40 wil almoet beable to dewity the problem by to the ample Taking coupling. capaclears Fe ie tone a characteratic muled sort of sound at uy to pee How ciumioe the process that you went through sd the wicthods you uid bo find the trosble. Cam Yow sce the ondcatp stepx in the example font pvca? The moplifer wa eaumined one sisge al a Time, wot age that war not Going i fom wat lnened Ye foppe! right there, fond that trouble, amd ned i before going amy farther. ‘You wad 5 procewe of elimicattan to tnd the d- fee component. tn clecunks work these ace ale tos renal things thal con cause any given trouble, Dad you novice that things ‘were climaed one et 23 Se, sot the fuss itera was reached? First the tus (i the eaueet), them the plate supply wetage, ext the pte Iond recstor, aod ally the real villain, the Jrky coupling copecitor were checker! ut Thete ae aly 8 certsin number of parts in any eiteuit that cam faa any given trocble. Paticolly eliminate them ope 1 Grae, wad veatuly you wl Bind the right one. Pia $A Taslteg a enapiteg pst fr laabege: lider Signal Clreults ‘You may find it the fist time; oa the other hand, you may have #9 go all the way, a8 you dil in the «xam- ple. Jus keep ap wat you find ic. Later in thit book there are more laborate tate using complicated equipment, However, you will find that in this, as in all other clectronics work, the majority of the troubles can be located and fixed with only very simple test equipment plus 4 good bit of plain ald common sen. ‘This is bocause a very large percentage of troubles. are Simple ones—a dead tube, a burned resistor, 2 leaky capacitor, and ao on. Fvem the more comphcated tuouhles will buve very sinple causes. ‘Always remember the process of elimination, and use i. if you know how each circuit works, you ca gsickly find the one that 8 got working, and start, (rom there. There wre some otber ests tater ia this hook chat will help in the more uifficull cases, TRANSISTORS VERSUS TUBES Omty about 5 years ago the transistor was being hailed loudly os the answer to all the problems in ‘eectronicn. Necdleas to ay, Unie prediction hasn't come ‘tue. Trumistors have advancages, but they'rc not the answer to all of our preblems, ‘The lrumaisior is a useful device and is ideally ‘suited for sertain applications They do work, but ‘there ame, ar ural, ceruin difficulties. These have Jed quite fear of the exajor ampliicr manufscrurers w0 sgn back to tube-type amplifiers, especially inthe ‘very high puscer ends of their lines. You'll ue severul Anon the main diicuies wat the frequescy of cunstrephic flues or “avalanches.” (One trassisor lows, and Ws follawed in sbowt $0 miliseconds above five other) Trnnsicors wi ery high ‘tings were cficull to obtain, without the Ed Sucking or pavateling, atwaye one of the worst jobs in engincering. Finally, produxtion transistors hx 4 secy wide "parametarspresd™ eabes, om the ais l fected. These will undoubtedly show up in amplifiers ‘vey shortly.) ‘The whe parameter epread makes prochely ratched pals Mar to fad, amd expensive, Connery 0 some dean tranitiors arent cheap, especially In ‘ie high-power types. A. very igh: power" trameator can cest up to Oro or three tines as much an a ‘estan fobs ith npprosimately the mame power ring. "Tie “tomartal tazniator” Is amother” fallacy. AL fini, we were told seriously that the transistor would“lust forever” im actual sevice. Tt has wo ‘filament to create Beal, no cathode to become exhausied, it Was tly sealed against enviconmental contamination, 60 on, $0, Mt could be soldered Into the circuit a> permanent part. That sisiement aust be amended te Bt the truth a Ite today. Tramuistors do not “get weak” and lose amplitica- sion, as tubes do, But, they can develop quite a few other defects tat cause a hss of gain, such os. leak fg, ete, So, they must be tested jast Hke any other part. In fact, from my caperinwnts and experience in (Slual ben-servicing of guitar amplifiers. the fist think + look. fr, now, is a bad tramsisior—cxaetly the same technique We used in the secvising of wwe are liters efore we go any further, let nt say this: the mode ern, well-buil, correctly sevigned transistor amplificr ‘2 very good pice of equipment. Hf the transistors ‘operate within their safety factors, rum coal, and the unit & property serviced, a tramchtor amplifier will five just ay good seevice as any other. IC you wader= Sland the operation of wranstiors, you'll have 10 «cal problems in servicing transistorized amplifiers, and keeping them up to pat. Teilentaly, there bas been a great den! of material published ow tramistors, Much of this, quite frankly, fe wsctes to the service technician, You do no need to know all about how a eransitor is Baill. All you hhrve to kaw és how it works! It isthe fametdon wf the device, and not is detailed stractare, Gat matters. So, Hf you know how 2 tramistor upliier singe works, and what de voltages to expect oo any element, and ‘hat sort of thing, you wil De able to service this type ‘of equipment jast as quickly and easly as you do Ube amplifiers ‘One of the ‘bigger Iiadaches in finding suitable replacement transistors, In too many sais, $6 GAROE set esact duplisates, of the game type number, wth~ fut foo much delay, Mowever, the replacement transis- tor manufocturers—Matorsla, RCA, Sylvania, ete.—0 have general replacement cypes which will’ work in practically sit cvewits There is a method off 26esting replacement tansistors—weTl tke this up te detail im just a Bithe while. Used properly, this will you choose a suitable replacement for any Kind of seansis- toe. This has Neen wef! by saveral years of actual ‘experience ie commercial aenpliier servicing. ‘THE NUMBERS GAME Unlike tubes, the numbers ou op original equip: ment transistor ere often entirely meaningiea, Every amplier you open up for service will probably bave iflereot transistor pumbers, Thik i almost universally true In import amplifiers, und often im US. bait units, A few of the better companies owe siandard- aambered replacement types, but Iam afruid that ‘you'll lad k great mary with what are called “in- rouse numbers” ‘ia other woods, the manufacturer buys a batch of transistors tr meet hie specifications. Then, be assign: bic awa type numbers io these, meaningless 10 anyon! but his own stock cleres. ‘AL regulat (and quite frequent) intervals, the re: ‘Placement tamsistor manufacturers publish listings of all the transistor numbers they can find In quite a tow ‘cases, youll even be able co find listing of the muan- ber on the ociginal par, and a recommended subst ute These late are long—ene manufaccarer lis something ever 38,000 different types of taasision! However, something like 35 to 40 replacement tras: sistor fypes can be ted to replace any of these. The replacements will work. In practically all

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