Tube Amp Diagnostics & Repair and Tube Amp Building are combined in 8 evenings over 2 weeks. This is an exceptional opportunity to learn the principles and practices of tube amp diagnostics and repair and then hand build either a Tweed Style guitar tube amp or Hi-Fi Stereo tube amplifier.
Students will come away with both a tube amplifier of their own making and with a broad knowledge of tube amplifier design, construction, diagnostics and repair.
Schedule
Amp Diagnostics & Repair: Tuesday through Thursday, July 14-16, 7-9:30pm
Tube Amp Building: Monday – Friday July 20-24, 7pm – 9:30pm
Fee
Course fee: $1233 plus *kit choice. Tuition includes instruction, instructional guides, use of an individual workstation and all the necessary tools and shop supplies required to complete the project. Kit, tubes, and shipping are surcharged.
NOTE : Early registration discount ends May 2.
*Kit Options
Students may choose to construct either a Tweed Bassman, Deluxe or Champ or Hi-Fi Stereo Tube Amp.
Enrollment
Enrollment is limited to 8 students.
Registration
Enroll online on this page with credit card or paypal, or by phone: 773.489.4830, or with a check mailed to us or in person. You will receive a registration confirmation email once we receive payment.
Accommodations
Click Here for a list of nearby places to stay during seminars, along with transportation information.
Instructors
Kye Kennedy
Kye brings decades of experience as an amp and stage technician working for an impressive roster of clientele in Nashville, the mid-south and around the globe. He will reveal the closely guarded secrets and and a broader understanding of tube amp circuitry and troubleshooting. His extraordinary amp diagnostics curriculum is well thought out and lucid. This class represents more than the just the keys to a vocational opportunity – here’s a chance to learn from one of the best in the business. Kye Kennedy: Click here to learn more about Kye
Ian Schneller
Ian Schneller is Chief Instructor of Chicago School of Guitar Making and teaches Tube Amp Building, Guitar Design, Theory + Blueprint, Advanced Repairs and Set-up and Maintenance for Guitar, Bass & Strings courses at the school. Ian is a faculty member of the Sculpture Department at the School of the Art Institute, and the owner of SPECIMEN PRODUCTS. Ian has been designing and building his line of guitars and tube amplifiers for more than 25 years and has built more than 500 custom guitars, amplifiers and unique audio horn speakers speakers for customers worldwide. Ian Schneller’s unique tube amplifiers and audio horn speakers have shown at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
Course Descriptions
Tube Amp Diagnostics & Repair
Lecture/demonstrations are supplemented with hand-out materials. Options available for the scope of repairs are disclosed, and an emergency repair kit of tools is recommended. The options will range from immediate repairs to amp restoration to avoid further issues.
Topics include:
- Safety rules
- Preliminary Testing
- Digital voltmeter functions
- Circuits and the Scientific Method
- Block diagram
- Power supply function
- Signal flow
- Repair vs. restoration
- Emergency repair preparedness
Tweed Guitar Tube Amp Building
Students will observe the stages of the kit building process and then carry out the work on their own amps under the supervision of the instructor. Students will obtain a foundational understanding of the way a vintage tube instrument amplifier functions, stage by stage, and learn the craft of point-to-point wiring and how to modify a circuit to shape its tone by changing component values. By building an amplifier, students will begin to develop the diagnostic skills necessary to troubleshoot and repair other amplifiers. For this course we offer the Tweed Deluxe, Tweed Bassman or Tweed Champ Kits. These excellent kits come with special component upgrades.
Hi-Fi Stereo Tube Amplifier Building
The amp circuit used in this seminar is derived from the classic single-ended designs that began in the 1930s. The frame and panels were designed by Ian Schneller who builds his own line of hi fi tube amps. The circuits featured in our instrument tube amp building class are centered around the eyeleted motherboard, or turret board construction. This Stereo Hi-Fi circuit is also wired point-to-point but differs in that it uses individual turrets wherever necessary. The design is organic and elegant, but most of all timeless, bulletproof, and great sounding! The frame is made using Baltic-birch plywood and pre-constructed at Specimen. The top, front, and back panels are made of aluminum and have been laid out with all the perforations for this circuit. Students will learn to use chassis punches to open the hole diameters to accommodate the tube sockets and various other components. These simple methods enable any circuit designer to achieve great results without needing elaborate and expensive machinery. All students receive a full-color layout diagram and schematic of the circuit along with instructive literature and the benefit of a fully-wired reference model on hand for one-to-one comparison during the course. The instructor will guide the students through the construction/wiring process. This circuit features:
- 8 watts per channel
- 1 GZ34 rectifier tube
- 2 6SL7 preamp tubes
- 2 EL34 power tubes (in this circuit these tubes are interchangeable with KT88s, 6550s, KT66s, KT90s, EL37s, 350Bs and other octal based output tubes with no modifications)
You can plug just about anything into this amp’s input with good results. For listening to vinyl you will need a phono preamp of some sort. We have been using the inexpensive ($70) solid state Audio Technica AT-PEQ3 with very nice results. We are working on our own tube version of a preamp to squeeze every last bit of goodness out of the system (this pre-amp circuit may also be offered in seminar form in the future). This circuit also pairs very well with Specimen’s Little Horn Speakers hooked up to the output and an iPod plugged directly into the input; in fact it is quite amazing. We invite anyone interested to stop by the shop for an audition.
How to Register
You can register for any of our classes on-line, by phone, through the mail, or in person. We will send you a confirmation email of your registration once we receive payment.
Register Online
Make your selection of the type of kit in Available Dates column on the upper right of this page and click ENROLL NOW > Enter the required information and then proceed to pay by clicking the Paypal button where you can pay with either a Credit Card or with Paypal. NOTE: It is NOT necessary to have a Paypal account to use their service.
Registration by Phone: 773.489.4830
If you prefer registering by phone with your credit card: Please call us at 773.489.4830 and we will complete your registration over the phone. We will send you a confirmation via email, or by snail mail if you prefer.
Register by MAIL with a CHECK
You must first contact us to register to pay by check in the mail. Please call us at 773.489.4830 to reserve your space in the class. Please print out the registration form and mail it to: Specimen Products 1240 N. Homan Ave Chicago, IL 60651 We will email or snail mail your enrollment confirmation upon receipt of your mail-in registration form/payment.
Register in Person
You can come in to the shop during business hours and enroll using cash, your credit card, or a personal check. We’re open Monday through Friday 12 – 7 pm, Saturday 12-5 pm. Closed on Sundays. Map our location. Please call us at 773.489.4830 to let us know that you wish to register, so that we can save your space.