don't address the overly-critical haters, your delivery is just fine. your points are also interesting for all of us who seek real Tone (from our gear) thanks brother !
Argh. I misdrew the Bass pot connections on the AB763. Meant to show it as a variable resistor but instead showed it as a divider. The pot lug numbers are also all backwards (I copied/pasted the pot from a Voxesque schematic I had drawn up and forgot that pot was reversed on that schematic). Was thinking too much about what to say… (And I didn’t make the point I meant to make about the Marshall changes well at all - I’ll have to do one on that tone stack later)
You may want to throw in some text "correcting" that issue. I am so grateful for your videos and explanations. Keep in mind that your knowledge is being absorbed and appreciated!!
I jumped down the Fender tone stack rabbit hole years ago. Complicated is an understatement in trying to verbalize what is happening in that circuit. I guess that is why I knew at an early age I wasn’t going to cut in academia..! An excellent video for techs and non-techs to get a general feel for what is happening in this circuit. Kudos.
I am going to make a recommendation that might make you a lot of money. Please consider making a TH-cam channel for children reading classic kids books and stories. You have that voice you can make me want an afternoon nap. Your voice is smooth as butter. I can hear you reading Charlie brown or Rudoff
Man, no blabber! That was crisp!! Many thanks for translating technical concepts and implementations (having done the hard-lifting and the maths) for interested musicians (whether bona fides, or wannabes). Great stuff.
Lyle, you did more in 22 minutes than I thought possible. Well done. For those viewers with a highly technical bent, there are various books that go into great detail about the calculations involved. “Designing Preamps for Guitar and Bass” by Merlin Bledsoe (aka The Valve Wizard) probably is the most accessible. The maddening thing is that everything is connected and a change here can have unexpected consequences there. “The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone…” and so on. In my experiments, I learned that you change ONE component at a time. Maybe 1 R/C filter and that’s it. Then test. Change 3 or 4 things at once and you’ll never be able to figure out what you’ve done. You might get lucky … Final thoughts: many of these circuit snippets come from RCA’s “Radiotron Designers Handbook” from the 1940s and 50s. Leo Fender was a brilliant industrial designer. He always focused on cost and availability when choosing component values, and as Lyle explained those amps were multi-purpose - not just guitar amps. There is nothing sacred about a 1k5/22uf cathode resistor/capacitor network. It works well and those values were both cheap and readily available to Fender. However, for guitar you can reduce the cap to 10uf with virtually no audible change (except maybe less woofiness from your speaker). 6.8uf is a sweet spot to my ears in a Blackface amp, but everything must be taken in context. And every player has a different ideal tone on their head.
An elegant Ah-Ha moment. This reminds me of about 40 years ago when I was a fresh student pilot. My instructor taught me all the technical stuff, but landing was a complex “hit and miss” affair. Then another pilot described one simple mental image to think about while landing, and from then on, landing was simple and fun. Nothing like an elegant perspective of the technology we love. Thanks
It’s amazing how many things like that there are in life. You can have it explained a dozen different ways and #13 is what finally clicks and makes it all makes sense.
Firstly, I'm a guitarist. Although I can do, and have done some of my own maintenance, I'm by no stretch of the imagination or even consider myself a tech. Your explanations in all your videos are why I'm here so much. To learn more about something as a player that I'm passionate about. My tools for the job. My gear. Plus I'm just an amp nut. I don't have to be a genius to realize you know your $h!t. You sir, are among the best if not the best.
Wow man that is musical speach translated to tech speach. Great job done! There are still things I don't get completely (why is the load with 100k bigger to the tube/valvel for example), but it give the exact details of a tone stack. Just can say thumbs up for this nice explanation! Following your channel a while now. The most important sentence of your for me was (up to now!) "The reviewers don't have the knowledge to technically review the quality of the product" (or some kind of this). Thata is soooo true man. They can only review the smallest parts and that may be tone. Tone is subjective, so they review something objective. Anybody going to a music store and buing an amp/guitar/... may have noticed, that reviews don't meet your need. Technical reviews like your meet anybodys need in 1. reliability, 2. repairability, 3. sustainability and so many more. I' so thankful to your tech reviews and am looking forward to any technical insides you give us (even though I know, that they don't get that much of attention)...
wow thanks lyle for your time and energy yes i did learn from this .i just really appreciate you for your willingness to share your knowledge .thank you sir
@Psionic Audio you have become a Phenomenon. I am a Guitarist & former FCC Amateur Radio operator and 1974 graduated HS Rehab electronics and Electronic and Digital Devices You are as good a Teacher as Mr. Green and Mr. Dill were in 1972-1974. Of course they are dead, perhaps their ghosts or spirits infused you with comic effect as my 1970's Instructors. Mr. Green looked like Dragnet TV guy, nick named 'The Green Machine" Mr. Dill was always Smiling and chubby. Arkansas stole them from Dallas Texas. (INDT-1063) Technical & Professional Division This course presents a comprehensive overview of the design and application of solid state devices and circuits. Topics include diodes, transistors, power components, operational amplifiers and oscillators. The fundamentals of digital logic are explored through number systems, codes, gates, Boolean logic, truth tables, encoders, decoders and converters. This class offers an overview of concepts and principles that are necessary for continued study in the field of automation.
Great explainations man! I've been studying on tube amp design for a few years now and you really opened my eyes to the basics of the 5F6a/Marshall tonestack. Thank you for putting this together!!!
Great explanation. Starting off simple and then building on the basic concept is so much more manageable. There's enough information here without getting into a lot of math. The KISS rule.
Lyle, I've noticed you wearing a Big Star t-shirt on occasion. I can't recall whether you ever said that you were a native of Memphis or not, but right next to the youtube recommendation for this video they were featuring Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it for any Big Star fan. And thanks for the tonestack info!
Thanks Jimmy. I was at the premiere of that movie sitting next to my friend Van Duren who was close friends with Chris Bell. It was very moving. You can find Van’s sunburst Tele and his Bassman/Vox cab rig in the videos here somewhere. And a red Strat with gold hardware.
@@PsionicAudio This is all very new to me. Just watched the documentary: powerful. What a legacy. Can only imagine what attending that premiere must have been like.
Thankyou, this helps us to understand why Fender amps from different decades sound different. My fave 70's "Twin Reverb" probably because I grew up listening to and using all those "Silver-face" designs so that when I hear that "Zingy ringing clarity I am drawn to it like a moth to the flame...then add the spring reverb and off we go. Thanks again.
Dude! Your level of knowledge is amazing! Your ability to understand what's REALLY going on in a circuit is (quite frankly) beyond my comprehension. I'm sure glad you do what you do at the level you do it at!
I love this, no need to apologize at the end. We gots our books, your gift of a lifetime of experience with instrument amp implementations is something that's not really available elsewhere on YT. BTW, I'm thankful pretty much every day for the existence and evolution of KiCad, and sorry to repeat myself, but I love this format. People are different, and your hands in an amp has its own value, but the information density of these schematic vids is really, really, really appreciated. Thank you.
Your explanation shows a deep level of care and knowledge that not a lot of people have for amp circuits, it’s really a pleasure learning more about the inner workings of the things we use every day as guitarists. I always look forward to these videos!
That was as good as you could hope to get in such a short window of time! The Duncan Tone Stack calculator is handy if anyone wants play around with different theoretical values. It helps to solidify the concepts. Tone stacks are the most complicated part of building and even reading schematics it takes some time and doing to START finding firm footing with them. Any tutorials on any topic you can do are appreciated,Lyle.
Amen on the Duncan TSC! There is so much interaction between the control settings (pots) in a typical Fender TNB tone stack, all you can do is calculate one set of settings at a time - and the calculations are *not* trivial. I built my first amp over 15 years ago and know I can’t just say “if I switch these 2 caps to x and y, the effect will be just what I want.” Plus the slope resistor affects everything else.
Great stuff, more of this when u can please. Much appreciated, your delivery and level of discussion suits the format of TH-cam well (fitting for length too) / from a player who builds + modify/design his own amps
This is great! On other tone stacks, or on some simple 1 pot tone control circuits, I am having trouble understanding RC network. If the output is on the wiper of the pot the RC appears to be a fixed RC to me. On pots where the cap is connected to the wiper of the pot, it seems like the pot acts like a varistor and the High Pass Filter is variable. Am i overthinking this? It would be great if you could do one of these on coupling cap circuits so we could figure out the optimum high pass value to keep a full sound but eliminate the nasty lows when overdriven. Thanks for all of the great TH-cams.
I always enjoy watching your videos, regardless that I might have knowledge on the topic or not. I don't quite think that your explanation can be all digested by everyone, you certainly need a basic knowledge of electronics (theoretical, not like knowing how to solder), and that's good, because it makes your content valuable, more valuable than most music related content on TH-cam.
Coming from someone who is just starting to learn about electronics and really the AB763is what I’m focusing on, I found your explanations helpful and easy to understand
I enjoyed this video and learned a lot. The level of detail was spot on. I could think about the amp controls without being inundated by minute details / complexities. 🙌
I think for the target watcher this is a fine way teach how thing work for them . The design of 6,12,24 db Bezel,Butterworth, or Linkwitz-Riley let alone the application of Chebyshev is far past what they need to know for their use. Bandwidth limiting of low frequency point can help keep sub harmonic noise from causing non musical problem same with RF . Great teaching video.
Thanks for the fairly clear breakdown. one Q: is not @2:15 the right-side circuit *inverted* rather than reversed? Reverse seems to imply the output becomes the input and vice-versa; changing the direction of signal flow. It makes me chuckle that fundamentally A "tone stack" is just another word for _chord._ Call me 'peeved' or pedantic, but it is pretty ridiculous that guitar players have a knob on the guitar that says "tone" (instead of 'LowPass Filter' or whatnot) - and like 'tremelo bar' it is a source of a broken terminology that goes on and on for decades. i.e. "tonality" in music is a matter of interval relationships, and has nothing to do with the timbral overtone structure in an AC audio signal. Plain old sIne waves are just as "tonal" as whatever fuzz or cascaded, overdiven signal one cares to compare it to.
Interesting way to show the layman how R-C networks build an audio circuit. A big improvement in understanding might result from adding a small & very simple response plot showing the relative result at each point as parts and controls are changed. Offered respectfully.
At the start of the video it would have been advantageous the consider the capacitor/resistor combination as a voltage divider. Capacitive reactance is inversely proportional to the applied frequency. At low frequencies the capacitive reactance is high, so as a voltage divider low frequencies can't get through. They are not diverted. At high frequencies the capacitive reactance is low, so as a voltage divider nearly all high frequencies get through. There's been a lot of talk about the mysterious -3db frequency. No mystery at all. It happens when the resistance of the resistor has the same value as the capacitive reactance.
Hi, In a high pass filter the capacitor will have more trouble passing the low frequencies, as it comes close to DC. So why are you suggesting that < 637 signal frequencies goes to ground. In my view that path is just a less likely path for signal > 637. Maybe I misread your first schema
I agree, I wish I had explained that differently. I was trying to get the larger point across and introduced an inaccuracy in the “how it happens”. I was trying to show the importance of the resistor to ground (typically) but didn’t want to get into the really technical stuff. It’s difficult to try to explain these things without going into tech speak. For example I mentioned an elevated cathodyne instead of ground then regretted it, as that would require more esoterica to explain.
I enjoy youre videos . ive been playing thru my matshalls starting in 74 i have a few but my 50 w 68smallbox plxi is my baby what happens if my tech removes the bright cap from my chan 1 vol pot what would i expect it to sound like i still dont get it if you have time thanks keep up the good work cheers!
Assuming you are going to continue this series and delve a little deeper, it would be helpful if at some point you cover the difference between using linear rersus logarithmic or audio taper pots in the tone stack, in terms of user-friendliness.
You’d want to go between 33K and 100K, so a 33K fixed resistor in series with a 100K pot wired as a variable resistor with another resistor in parallel across the pot to make it about 70K. There would be a little static on the pot. But not as much as without the paralleled resistor. Or you could use a switch if you just want this or that (or three options).
@@PsionicAudio Thank You again for the details - the options really become complicated fast ....I know Paul Rivera's design-builds in the Fender line began to create Marshall vs Black Panel vs Tweed variables in the Pro Tube series around the early 90's - some of the notch filters and Focus delivered an immediate satisfaction for the HB vs Single Coil sounds.
I have a 73ish Twin A738488 that i stripped down to a stand-alone preamp for "Jerry Garcia" sound. I've done a lot of weird stuff to it and it works almost all the time. I've replaced a bunch of caps over the years but i think its living on borrowed time. It seems to drop vol at unpredictable moments. Would you be interested in a job of putting together a kit for me to over haul this thing. I don't mind spending the time and money to rebuild it, I just don't have the expertise to get all the parts at a decent price. I'm only using three triode tubes with a deluxe transformer. It might also make a nice prototype that you might find some profit by replicating. Nobody is making a "real" rackmount "Jerry Garcia Twin clone" preamp. Gear is getting smaller and with radial caps and a deluxe transformer, it could fit in a variety of smaller premade cases. Im thinking about all on one eyelet board. I've listened to a lot of "sounds like Jerry" type preamps and none do what mine does. It sounds more like Jerry than th John Mayher's Dumble. I've had it 30 years and I'll have it forever. Helping to design and build these things for other dead heads would mean more to me than money and in todays "digitally modeled" world it would be an act of rebellion. Nobody knows component choice like you do. Thank you for your time-Joel
I have a Bridge Pickup that is overly bright/harsh, even though it is connected to a 250K Tone Pot with a 2 Meg Cap. Would it be better to combine a Resistor and Cap to tame the harsh high frequencies? Any suggestions for Resistor and Cap values? Enjoyed your video. Thanks
You need to tell us if you are using single coils or humbuckers. And it is the volume pot that sets the initial sound, the tone pot just acts as a treble bleed. When it is set to zero it is practically out of the circuit. And there is no such thing as a 2 Meg cap. A single coil PU normally uses 0.022 uF which is the same a 22 nF. It is used with a 250K pot.
@@qddk9545 Pickup is OBL Dual Rail single coil sized humbucker. Cap is actually two 0.1uf Caps in parallel. The Pot is 250K. I initially used a 500K pot, but it nearly made my ears bleed.
@@picksalot1 2 pcs. .1 uF in parallel gives you 200 nF, that is a lot. If that does not cut treble, you must have wired it wrong. No matter what PU you would use, that would have cut the treble to be not existing. Check out the wiring schematics at Seymour Duncan.
@@qddk9545 Yeah, it's a lot but along with the Resistor, it sounds good now, so I'm happy. Thanks Update: After using the Pot with the Resistor for over two weeks, I found that removing one of the 0.1uf Caps gave the Pot a more even and wider Taper, which I prefer.
How do you name the three 470K resistors in the analogy circuit? I understood "Mixed resistors". Is this right? Sorry, but English is not my native language. Thanks in advance!
So I couldn't follow any of that, just because I know nothing about circuits. You got any good pointers for an introduction to these topics that would be most applicable to guitar amps?
I'm not Lyle ... but from time to time he has recommended Merlin Blencowe's work and website (do websearch for his name plus "valvewizard"). Also (lacks the Lyle Badge of Approval, so far as I know), I've learned things from Rob Robinette's "How Tube Amplifiers Work". Also Uncle Doug's TH-cam channel. But, like you, I'd love to know if Lyle has other tips beyond the Valve Wizard.
P.s. I should have mentioned the Lantertronics channel - check his playlist on "Guitar Amplification & Effects". Aaron Lanterman (D.Sc.) is professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. That playlist starts with strings, then moves through pickups, triodes, amp circuits of various kinds, etc. Again, would be interested on Lyle's tech-take on that content.
@@erajad dude thanks so much! All of these look like great jumping off points for learning more. Lanterman's Guitar Amplification & Effects looks like a GOLDMINE of exactly what I'm looking for. It's over my head, but at least I can now work backwards and follow the chain of prerequisites! THANK YOU! A direct link to Lanterman's Georgia Tech Guitar Amp & Effects course, for anyone reading this: th-cam.com/play/PLOunECWxELQS7JV_KeeTJJpgGjOftoaAH.html
So from this explanation I can understand that the Normal channel of the DRRI gains more low frequency because of .047 capacitor after the second stage, rather then Vibrato channel with .022 cap. So probably I need to change this .022 cap on Vibrato channel.
Awww come on, Lyle, show the tapped 350K pot hi fi tone stacks Leo used. My blonde 1x15 6G9A Pro with a 6G15 reverb unit is a dripping wet and clean surf moo-sick machine. The old Hewlett Packard HP48 calculators can be programmed to do tone stacks, load lines, 3rd level determinants, derivatives, phase shift, etc, ad infinium, up to and beyond Fast Fouriers. There is some degradation of accuracy in detailed Fourier calculations but they also have a lot of the basic in an electrical equation library.
You might add the cathode BYPASS system in which the signal is transported to the 2nd stage, bypassing the first and the tone stack. Fender uses a 22uf cap which lets through all the bass, coupled with a 1.5k resistor. So your tone stack is only one part of the equation..
@Psionic Audio you have become a Phenomenon. I am a Guitarist & former FCC Amateur Radio operator and 1974 graduated HS Rehab electronics and Electronic and Digital Devices You are as good a Teacher as Mr. Green and Mr. Dill were in 1972-1974. Of course they are dead, perhaps their ghosts or spirits infused you with comic effect as my 1970's Instructors. Mr. Green looked like Dragnet TV guy, nick named 'The Green Machine" Mr. Dill was always Smiling and chubby. Arkansas stole them from Dallas Texas. (INDT-1063) Technical & Professional Division This course presents a comprehensive overview of the design and application of solid state devices and circuits. Topics include diodes, transistors, power components, operational amplifiers and oscillators. The fundamentals of digital logic are explored through number systems, codes, gates, Boolean logic, truth tables, encoders, decoders and converters. This class offers an overview of concepts and principles that are necessary for continued study in the field of automation.
don't address the overly-critical haters, your delivery is just fine. your points are also interesting for all of us who seek real Tone (from our gear) thanks brother !
This is brilliant. I love these ‘back to basics’ explanations.
I could listen to 22 hours of this stuff. Wonderful explination, I appreciate you and your knowledge
Argh. I misdrew the Bass pot connections on the AB763. Meant to show it as a variable resistor but instead showed it as a divider. The pot lug numbers are also all backwards (I copied/pasted the pot from a Voxesque schematic I had drawn up and forgot that pot was reversed on that schematic). Was thinking too much about what to say…
(And I didn’t make the point I meant to make about the Marshall changes well at all - I’ll have to do one on that tone stack later)
It was great!
You may want to throw in some text "correcting" that issue. I am so grateful for your videos and explanations. Keep in mind that your knowledge is being absorbed and appreciated!!
I jumped down the Fender tone stack rabbit hole years ago. Complicated is an understatement in trying to verbalize what is happening in that circuit. I guess that is why I knew at an early age I wasn’t going to cut in academia..! An excellent video for techs and non-techs to get a general feel for what is happening in this circuit. Kudos.
I am going to make a recommendation that might make you a lot of money. Please consider making a TH-cam channel for children reading classic kids books and stories. You have that voice you can make me want an afternoon nap. Your voice is smooth as butter. I can hear you reading Charlie brown or Rudoff
What I love about the thick books, is they're ideal for bashing myself over the head with when I get stuck on a concept.
Man, no blabber! That was crisp!! Many thanks for translating technical concepts and implementations (having done the hard-lifting and the maths) for interested musicians (whether bona fides, or wannabes). Great stuff.
Lyle, you did more in 22 minutes than I thought possible. Well done.
For those viewers with a highly technical bent, there are various books that go into great detail about the calculations involved. “Designing Preamps for Guitar and Bass” by Merlin Bledsoe (aka The Valve Wizard) probably is the most accessible. The maddening thing is that everything is connected and a change here can have unexpected consequences there. “The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone…” and so on.
In my experiments, I learned that you change ONE component at a time. Maybe 1 R/C filter and that’s it. Then test. Change 3 or 4 things at once and you’ll never be able to figure out what you’ve done. You might get lucky …
Final thoughts: many of these circuit snippets come from RCA’s “Radiotron Designers Handbook” from the 1940s and 50s. Leo Fender was a brilliant industrial designer. He always focused on cost and availability when choosing component values, and as Lyle explained those amps were multi-purpose - not just guitar amps. There is nothing sacred about a 1k5/22uf cathode resistor/capacitor network. It works well and those values were both cheap and readily available to Fender. However, for guitar you can reduce the cap to 10uf with virtually no audible change (except maybe less woofiness from your speaker). 6.8uf is a sweet spot to my ears in a Blackface amp, but everything must be taken in context. And every player has a different ideal tone on their head.
An elegant Ah-Ha moment. This reminds me of about 40 years ago when I was a fresh student pilot. My instructor taught me all the technical stuff, but landing was a complex “hit and miss” affair. Then another pilot described one simple mental image to think about while landing, and from then on, landing was simple and fun. Nothing like an elegant perspective of the technology we love.
Thanks
It’s amazing how many things like that there are in life. You can have it explained a dozen different ways and #13 is what finally clicks and makes it all makes sense.
Ok, now I'm intrigued, what was the mental image for landing?
@@michaelmandel6046 Just set up to fly 2 feet above the runway, cut the power, and try to keep it in the air until gravity lands the plane for you.
Firstly, I'm a guitarist. Although I can do, and have done some of my own maintenance, I'm by no stretch of the imagination or even consider myself a tech. Your explanations in all your videos are why I'm here so much. To learn more about something as a player that I'm passionate about. My tools for the job. My gear. Plus I'm just an amp nut. I don't have to be a genius to realize you know your $h!t. You sir, are among the best if not the best.
The math and the what about’s are fascinating.
I, for one, am totally here for it! Lol
Wow man that is musical speach translated to tech speach. Great job done! There are still things I don't get completely (why is the load with 100k bigger to the tube/valvel for example), but it give the exact details of a tone stack.
Just can say thumbs up for this nice explanation!
Following your channel a while now. The most important sentence of your for me was (up to now!) "The reviewers don't have the knowledge to technically review the quality of the product" (or some kind of this). Thata is soooo true man. They can only review the smallest parts and that may be tone. Tone is subjective, so they review something objective. Anybody going to a music store and buing an amp/guitar/... may have noticed, that reviews don't meet your need. Technical reviews like your meet anybodys need in 1. reliability, 2. repairability, 3. sustainability and so many more. I' so thankful to your tech reviews and am looking forward to any technical insides you give us (even though I know, that they don't get that much of attention)...
wow thanks lyle for your time and energy yes i did learn from this .i just really appreciate you for your willingness to share your knowledge .thank you sir
this, mr psi, is why i tune in- stuff like this--thank you
@Psionic Audio you have become a Phenomenon. I am a Guitarist & former FCC Amateur Radio operator and 1974 graduated HS Rehab electronics and Electronic and Digital Devices
You are as good a Teacher as Mr. Green and Mr. Dill were in 1972-1974. Of course they are dead, perhaps their ghosts or spirits infused you with comic effect as my 1970's Instructors. Mr. Green looked like Dragnet TV guy, nick named 'The Green Machine" Mr. Dill was always Smiling and chubby. Arkansas stole them from Dallas Texas.
(INDT-1063)
Technical & Professional Division
This course presents a comprehensive overview of the design and application of solid state devices and circuits. Topics include diodes, transistors, power components, operational amplifiers and oscillators. The fundamentals of digital logic are explored through number systems, codes, gates, Boolean logic, truth tables, encoders, decoders and converters. This class offers an overview of concepts and principles that are necessary for continued study in the field of automation.
You are the man for the fender content
Lyle......you, UD D-Lab Electronics are great at explaining things.....T U !
Couldn't hit the like button fast enough. This is perfect thanks!
It's perfect. The main things I need to know is what each part does. Thank you thank you!!
Great explainations man! I've been studying on tube amp design for a few years now and you really opened my eyes to the basics of the 5F6a/Marshall tonestack. Thank you for putting this together!!!
You did a great job summarizing these circuits. I'm a bit less lost now. Thanks
Great explanation. Starting off simple and then building on the basic concept is so much more manageable. There's enough information here without getting into a lot of math. The KISS rule.
Lyle, I've noticed you wearing a Big Star t-shirt on occasion. I can't recall whether you ever said that you were a native of Memphis or not, but right next to the youtube recommendation for this video they were featuring Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it for any Big Star fan. And thanks for the tonestack info!
Thanks Jimmy. I was at the premiere of that movie sitting next to my friend Van Duren who was close friends with Chris Bell. It was very moving. You can find Van’s sunburst Tele and his Bassman/Vox cab rig in the videos here somewhere. And a red Strat with gold hardware.
@@PsionicAudio Very cool, yeah I remember Van from the film. I'm sure I've seen them, I rarely miss a video.
@@PsionicAudio This is all very new to me. Just watched the documentary: powerful. What a legacy. Can only imagine what attending that premiere must have been like.
Thanks for that Lyle! 👍🏼😀
This has solved an issue I've been dealing with for while. Thank you for breaking it down in simple terms anyone can understand.
Probably the best video on the topic that I have seen...
even if i was uninterested which i am not, I could listen to your voice all day. very soothing to listen too while I am building my guitars.
I needed this in such a huge way and plan on watching about 50 more times. Thankyou for taking the time to do this man! Mucho appreciated
Thankyou, this helps us to understand why Fender amps from different decades sound different. My fave 70's "Twin Reverb" probably because I grew up listening to and using all those "Silver-face" designs so that when I hear that "Zingy ringing clarity I am drawn to it like a moth to the flame...then add the spring reverb and off we go. Thanks again.
Dude! Your level of knowledge is amazing! Your ability to understand what's REALLY going on in a circuit is (quite frankly) beyond my comprehension. I'm sure glad you do what you do at the level you do it at!
Great job explaining Lyle!
Personally appreciate this knowledge you're sharing 😃😎👍
Thanks for taking the time and effort .
😎👍❤🖖
I love this, no need to apologize at the end. We gots our books, your gift of a lifetime of experience with instrument amp implementations is something that's not really available elsewhere on YT.
BTW, I'm thankful pretty much every day for the existence and evolution of KiCad, and sorry to repeat myself, but I love this format. People are different, and your hands in an amp has its own value, but the information density of these schematic vids is really, really, really appreciated. Thank you.
Your explanation shows a deep level of care and knowledge that not a lot of people have for amp circuits, it’s really a pleasure learning more about the inner workings of the things we use every day as guitarists. I always look forward to these videos!
That was as good as you could hope to get in such a short window of time! The Duncan Tone Stack calculator is handy if anyone wants play around with different theoretical values. It helps to solidify the concepts. Tone stacks are the most complicated part of building and even reading schematics it takes some time and doing to START finding firm footing with them. Any tutorials on any topic you can do are appreciated,Lyle.
Amen on the Duncan TSC! There is so much interaction between the control settings (pots) in a typical Fender TNB tone stack, all you can do is calculate one set of settings at a time - and the calculations are *not* trivial. I built my first amp over 15 years ago and know I can’t just say “if I switch these 2 caps to x and y, the effect will be just what I want.” Plus the slope resistor affects everything else.
Great stuff, more of this when u can please. Much appreciated, your delivery and level of discussion suits the format of TH-cam well (fitting for length too) / from a player who builds + modify/design his own amps
Thanks for taking the time to do this! It's very helpful to see some of the technical details behind this stuff
This is great!
On other tone stacks, or on some simple 1 pot tone control circuits, I am having trouble understanding RC network.
If the output is on the wiper of the pot the RC appears to be a fixed RC to me. On pots where the cap is connected to the wiper of the pot, it seems like the pot acts like a varistor and the High Pass Filter is variable. Am i overthinking this?
It would be great if you could do one of these on coupling cap circuits so we could figure out the optimum high pass value to keep a full sound but eliminate the nasty lows when overdriven.
Thanks for all of the great TH-cams.
I always enjoy watching your videos, regardless that I might have knowledge on the topic or not. I don't quite think that your explanation can be all digested by everyone, you certainly need a basic knowledge of electronics (theoretical, not like knowing how to solder), and that's good, because it makes your content valuable, more valuable than most music related content on TH-cam.
Coming from someone who is just starting to learn about electronics and really the AB763is what I’m focusing on, I found your explanations helpful and easy to understand
Thanks for bothering to enlighten us. Direct and informative as usual.
Thank you for these simple explanations. I’m a simple guy that needs simple.
I enjoyed this video and learned a lot. The level of detail was spot on. I could think about the amp controls without being inundated by minute details / complexities. 🙌
Excellent video, made me search the Duncan tone stack calculator again, haven't used that in years!
Excellent video and really great explanations of the circuits. Thank you!!
Good vid! Good work! Great information at a quasi layperson level.
Super cool way to describe, have read many of the math filled books but this is much easier to understand!
Thank you very much, this was way easier to understand then manier courses I took on the matter of subject.
Thank you, that was pretty concise for blather! I do appreciate your videos!
I think for the target watcher this is a fine way teach how thing work for them . The design of 6,12,24 db Bezel,Butterworth, or Linkwitz-Riley let alone the application of Chebyshev is far past what they need to know for their use. Bandwidth limiting of low frequency point can help keep sub harmonic noise from causing non musical problem same with RF . Great teaching video.
These videos are awesome! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Thanks for the fairly clear breakdown.
one Q: is not @2:15 the right-side circuit *inverted* rather than reversed? Reverse seems to imply the output becomes the input and vice-versa; changing the direction of signal flow.
It makes me chuckle that fundamentally A "tone stack" is just another word for _chord._
Call me 'peeved' or pedantic, but it is pretty ridiculous that guitar players have a knob on the guitar that says "tone" (instead of 'LowPass Filter' or whatnot) - and like 'tremelo bar' it is a source of a broken terminology that goes on and on for decades.
i.e. "tonality" in music is a matter of interval relationships, and has nothing to do with the timbral overtone structure in an AC audio signal. Plain old sIne waves are just as "tonal" as whatever fuzz or cascaded, overdiven signal one cares to compare it to.
This was a really great explanation.
Great job! Thank you!
Great vid. What schematic tool are you using?
Interesting way to show the layman how R-C networks build an audio circuit. A big improvement in understanding might result from adding a small & very simple response plot showing the relative result at each point as parts and controls are changed. Offered respectfully.
I loved this,…. Thank you for these knowledge shared
excellent - thankyou for helping to demystify.
At the start of the video it would have been advantageous the consider the capacitor/resistor combination as a voltage divider.
Capacitive reactance is inversely proportional to the applied frequency.
At low frequencies the capacitive reactance is high, so as a voltage divider low frequencies can't get through. They are not diverted.
At high frequencies the capacitive reactance is low, so as a voltage divider nearly all high frequencies get through.
There's been a lot of talk about the mysterious -3db frequency. No mystery at all. It happens when the resistance of the resistor has the same value as the capacitive reactance.
Good info!
Thank you
Hi, In a high pass filter the capacitor will have more trouble passing the low frequencies, as it comes close to DC. So why are you suggesting that < 637 signal frequencies goes to ground. In my view that path is just a less likely path for signal > 637.
Maybe I misread your first schema
I agree, I wish I had explained that differently. I was trying to get the larger point across and introduced an inaccuracy in the “how it happens”. I was trying to show the importance of the resistor to ground (typically) but didn’t want to get into the really technical stuff. It’s difficult to try to explain these things without going into tech speak. For example I mentioned an elevated cathodyne instead of ground then regretted it, as that would require more esoterica to explain.
I enjoy youre videos . ive been playing thru my matshalls starting in 74 i have a few but my 50 w 68smallbox plxi is my baby what happens if my tech removes the bright cap from my chan 1 vol pot what would i expect it to sound like i still dont get it if you have time thanks keep up the good work cheers!
What program are you using for Pspice type or circuit simulation?????
Assuming you are going to continue this series and delve a little deeper, it would be helpful if at some point you cover the difference between using linear rersus logarithmic or audio taper pots in the tone stack, in terms of user-friendliness.
the Fender design for AB763 looks like it would scoop the mids in favor for the highs and lows at most pot settings.
LYLE - ..
What Size Pot / Circuit used as a Variable Slope Control would create a Marshall - Fender Tone sweep ?
You’d want to go between 33K and 100K, so a 33K fixed resistor in series with a 100K pot wired as a variable resistor with another resistor in parallel across the pot to make it about 70K.
There would be a little static on the pot. But not as much as without the paralleled resistor.
Or you could use a switch if you just want this or that (or three options).
@@PsionicAudio Thank You again for the details - the options really become complicated fast ....I know Paul Rivera's design-builds in the Fender line began to create Marshall vs Black Panel vs Tweed variables in the Pro Tube series around the early 90's - some of the notch filters and Focus delivered an immediate satisfaction for the HB vs Single Coil sounds.
I have a 73ish Twin A738488 that i stripped down to a stand-alone preamp for "Jerry Garcia" sound. I've done a lot of weird stuff to it and it works almost all the time. I've replaced a bunch of caps over the years but i think its living on borrowed time. It seems to drop vol at unpredictable moments. Would you be interested in a job of putting together a kit for me to over haul this thing. I don't mind spending the time and money to rebuild it, I just don't have the expertise to get all the parts at a decent price. I'm only using three triode tubes with a deluxe transformer. It might also make a nice prototype that you might find some profit by replicating. Nobody is making a "real" rackmount "Jerry Garcia Twin clone" preamp. Gear is getting smaller and with radial caps and a deluxe transformer, it could fit in a variety of smaller premade cases. Im thinking about all on one eyelet board. I've listened to a lot of "sounds like Jerry" type preamps and none do what mine does. It sounds more like Jerry than th John Mayher's Dumble. I've had it 30 years and I'll have it forever. Helping to design and build these things for other dead heads would mean more to me than money and in todays "digitally modeled" world it would be an act of rebellion. Nobody knows component choice like you do. Thank you for your time-Joel
I have a Bridge Pickup that is overly bright/harsh, even though it is connected to a 250K Tone Pot with a 2 Meg Cap. Would it be better to combine a Resistor and Cap to tame the harsh high frequencies? Any suggestions for Resistor and Cap values? Enjoyed your video. Thanks
You need to tell us if you are using single coils or humbuckers. And it is the volume pot that sets the initial sound, the tone pot just acts as a treble bleed. When it is set to zero
it is practically out of the circuit. And there is no such thing as a 2 Meg cap. A single coil PU normally uses 0.022 uF which is the same a 22 nF. It is used with a 250K pot.
@@qddk9545 Pickup is OBL Dual Rail single coil sized humbucker. Cap is actually two 0.1uf Caps in parallel. The Pot is 250K. I initially used a 500K pot, but it nearly made my ears bleed.
@@picksalot1 2 pcs. .1 uF in parallel gives you 200 nF, that is a lot. If that does not cut treble, you must have wired it wrong. No matter what PU you would use, that would have cut the treble to be not existing. Check out the wiring schematics at Seymour Duncan.
@@qddk9545 Yeah, it's a lot but along with the Resistor, it sounds good now, so I'm happy. Thanks
Update: After using the Pot with the Resistor for over two weeks, I found that removing one of the 0.1uf Caps gave the Pot a more even and wider Taper, which I prefer.
Nice video - thanks for this Lyle . Can I ask what software package you use to produce the schematics in this video? Thanks, G
Thanks. KiCAD.
@@PsionicAudio Thanks again Lyle 👍
What software are you using to draw the schematics?
KiCAD
I could count the number of guitarists on one hand that understood tone pots add nothing but decrease the opposite frequency .
Shouldn’t the cap be after the node on the first diagram? As shown both the output and the ground would get everything above 637 Hz.
It’s a standard RC high pass circuit. It would pass (allow) only frequencies above 637. There are many articles on basic filter’s on the internet.
How do you name the three 470K resistors in the analogy circuit? I understood "Mixed resistors". Is this right? Sorry, but English is not my native language. Thanks in advance!
Mix resistors.
www.valvewizard.co.uk/resistive.html
So I couldn't follow any of that, just because I know nothing about circuits. You got any good pointers for an introduction to these topics that would be most applicable to guitar amps?
I'm not Lyle ... but from time to time he has recommended Merlin Blencowe's work and website (do websearch for his name plus "valvewizard"). Also (lacks the Lyle Badge of Approval, so far as I know), I've learned things from Rob Robinette's "How Tube Amplifiers Work". Also Uncle Doug's TH-cam channel. But, like you, I'd love to know if Lyle has other tips beyond the Valve Wizard.
P.s. I should have mentioned the Lantertronics channel - check his playlist on "Guitar Amplification & Effects". Aaron Lanterman (D.Sc.) is professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. That playlist starts with strings, then moves through pickups, triodes, amp circuits of various kinds, etc. Again, would be interested on Lyle's tech-take on that content.
@@erajad dude thanks so much! All of these look like great jumping off points for learning more. Lanterman's Guitar Amplification & Effects looks like a GOLDMINE of exactly what I'm looking for. It's over my head, but at least I can now work backwards and follow the chain of prerequisites! THANK YOU!
A direct link to Lanterman's Georgia Tech Guitar Amp & Effects course, for anyone reading this:
th-cam.com/play/PLOunECWxELQS7JV_KeeTJJpgGjOftoaAH.html
00:25 ill keep it simple 1:15 cathodyne whosits 🤣
So from this explanation I can understand that the Normal channel of the DRRI gains more low frequency because of .047 capacitor after the second stage, rather then Vibrato channel with .022 cap. So probably I need to change this .022 cap on Vibrato channel.
No. Do the actual calculations.
You’re looking at the C but look at the R too.
Where does the fairy-dust capacitor go? 😆
Awww come on, Lyle, show the tapped 350K pot hi fi tone stacks Leo used. My blonde 1x15 6G9A Pro with a 6G15 reverb unit is a dripping wet and clean surf moo-sick machine. The old Hewlett Packard HP48 calculators can be programmed to do tone stacks, load lines, 3rd level determinants, derivatives, phase shift, etc, ad infinium, up to and beyond Fast Fouriers. There is some degradation of accuracy in detailed Fourier calculations but they also have a lot of the basic in an electrical equation library.
Does the email address on your website work? I’ve sent a couple. I’m sure you’re quite busy.
What, no shaky cam?
:) thanks for trying to educate us noobs
I didn't understand most of the last video... Lol. I just want amps to sound nice haha
Very informative, entirely new level of guitar porn I’ve gotten into
You might add the cathode BYPASS system in which the signal is transported to the 2nd stage, bypassing the first and the tone stack. Fender uses a 22uf cap which lets through all the bass, coupled with a 1.5k resistor.
So your tone stack is only one part of the equation..
That’s not what cathode bypass caps do.
@Psionic Audio you have become a Phenomenon. I am a Guitarist & former FCC Amateur Radio operator and 1974 graduated HS Rehab electronics and Electronic and Digital Devices
You are as good a Teacher as Mr. Green and Mr. Dill were in 1972-1974. Of course they are dead, perhaps their ghosts or spirits infused you with comic effect as my 1970's Instructors. Mr. Green looked like Dragnet TV guy, nick named 'The Green Machine" Mr. Dill was always Smiling and chubby. Arkansas stole them from Dallas Texas.
(INDT-1063)
Technical & Professional Division
This course presents a comprehensive overview of the design and application of solid state devices and circuits. Topics include diodes, transistors, power components, operational amplifiers and oscillators. The fundamentals of digital logic are explored through number systems, codes, gates, Boolean logic, truth tables, encoders, decoders and converters. This class offers an overview of concepts and principles that are necessary for continued study in the field of automation.
Thank you.