Quote from: Roly on July 11, 2014, 05:50:36 AM
The titles look good, but I hope you don't expect any of us to sit through 40 hours of theory to give you a review.

Other options include;
Search: United States Navy Electricity & Electronics Training Series - NEETS
and;
http://www.101science.com/basicelectronics.htm

Nah, dude. That would be ridiculous!!      Just wanted to see if you guys thought that the chapters looked like good material for a beginner to learn about circuits.

BTW, thank you for the NEETS info and link.

I'm still new to circuits, so I'm trying to educate myself by reading, but I found this circuit course on youtube. I like the guy's method of teaching and he has good examples. Tell me what you guys think:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM-mlLBFTjG3SDttCBXrabyhgLLo_RuwZ

I didn't see anything in the forum rules saying I can't post info from another forum, so here's a thread from the same guy (I assume from the name) as in the link to the video that I posted above:

http://www.marshallforum.com/marshall-amps/61260-new-marshall-5010-master-lead-combo-thinking-some-mods.html

Apparently, he had the same EXACT issues that I'm having. Maybe I should PM him to see if he made any mods that helped?

Quote from: J M Fahey on July 07, 2014, 08:53:54 AM
Sorry but in this particular case it´s a design problem, only solved by a reverse log pot.
Look at the schematic: on full gain, the feedback resistor to ground is only 100 ohms, but the gain pot is 10 k linear.
It means that on 10 you have max gain, and on 9 you have extra 1K in series, 10X the former value, 10X less gain or -20 dB
So going from 9 to 10 on the pot you vary gain by huge 20 dB .
Talk about nonlinear and hard to control gain !!!!
While a reverse log pot would get to 1K seres value on "5" , effectively spreading that 20dB range along 5 scale points ... very usable.

Forgive me, since I am still a complete noob at electronics and reading schematic diagrams, but I thought the gain pot was labelled "VR1" and the value of that pot reads "22k LIN". Am I reading this wrong? Sorry if I am. Would replacing that pot with a 22k LOG (not reverse LOG) be worth trying first? What makes a reverse LOG give the gain a better sweep from 1-10?

Quote from: J M Fahey on July 06, 2014, 12:41:10 AM
What fizz?
That´s plain old distortion, above a certain voume you have it, below that you don´t.
By the way that´s a killer SS amp, but you must get used to it.

Just one sample of a guy who already learnt to use it well:
http://youtu.be/4RoO_jQEflc

Ok, here´s another:
http://youtu.be/9kY3PNz4JA0

Couldn´t resist:
http://youtu.be/8ucBVsWYvmk

Those sound samples are how I want mine to sound  :dbtu: But mine definitely has a sort of crackly/fizzy sound along with the distortion. Are the diodes at D1 and D2 the source of the overdrive, or does it come from the opamps? Could either of those be the problem with the fizz?

BTW, I am still learning, so please forgive me for stupid questions and I thank all of you for your patience.

So I picked one of these up from a local music store after listening to some videos and trying it out in the store.
Here is a schematic for it:    http://www.drtube.com/schematics/marshall/5010.gif

There are two issues that I have with it. First, the preamp control doesn't gradually increase the overdrive. The overdrive suddenly "kicks in" at about 9-10 on the knob. I'd like the overdrive to have a more gradual increase instead of that jump at 9-10.

Second, the overdrive has a decent Marshall-like sound to it, but there is a fizziness that colors the sound over top of it. Also, when a chord is left to ring out until it fades, the fizz will suddenly drop off.

I plugged into both the high and low inputs, but STILL hear the fizz.

I have tried plugging into the headphone jack to eliminate the possibility of the speaker being the culprit and I STILL hear the fizz.

Finally, here's a sound sample of a guy who apparently had the same exact problem:       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1osT39OSjs

The amp seems to have really good potential, so any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Orson - thank you for the info. I looked at The Art of Electronics, but it still seems a bit over my head. I'm thinking more along the lines of Electronics for Dummies or the like. I just want to make sure I understand what each component is and does and why before I start any circuit building.

I was thinking of getting a good book on the basics then trying a simple LM386 amp like the ones on the ROG website. Then keep progressing from there. I had stumbled across the ROG website and was impressed with the sound samples, so I decided to "dig in" and try to learn this stuff. I have a friend who repairs and builds tube amps, so maybe he could help get me started as well -- although he's kind of a "tube snob."

Hey guys. I'm absolutely new here. I would like to get into building SS amps with an eventual goal to build a SS copy of the Marshall Plexi 1986 bass 50w head that Duane Allman used back in the day.

So my question to all of you is this: is it possible to get close to or in the ballpark of the sound of the original tube circuit? Whether it is possible or not, I still want to learn how to build a good sounding SS amp.

Since I am more of a visual learner, and since I need to start from the absolute beginning, what is the best way to get started? I've read some of the stuff in the Newcomer's Forum, but I still have questions about what each component is and does. Any help would be great. Thanks.