New Download! Cap codes revealed!

Okay, here's another builder's quick reference for your shop, this time all about capacitor codes. I think that whomever invented capacitors used an Enigma machine to label them.

Screwing up the value of a cap can wreck a tonestack or completely alter the sound of your interstage signal. I can never remember how to go from pF to nF to uF to wtfF without looking, so here's a cheat sheet to help us keep it straight if you're the same way. Enjoy!

Speaking of downloads

In my post yesterday, I linked to a ton o' vintage electronic texts. But if you're only going to download one reference manual for tubes, you need to get the mother lode—the Radiotron Designer's Handbook, Vol. 4. This is the book for anyone serious about learning tube technology.

Be forewarned: at north of 1,400 pages, it's frickin' huge. Don't even bother trying to print the whole thing unless you have a ream of paper handy. Still, worth every second of download time.

For an math-challenged person like me, the chapter on mathematics was worth the whole download.

Incredible digital library of out-of-print tech books

I grokked this amazing site chock full of out-of-print tube tech books over at 18watt.com this weekend (good find, Bentaro!).

I downloaded about 100 million hours' worth of reading material in my quest to understand what the hell the Miller effect has to do with anything. This morning on the Metro I was in full Millertime mode.

Downloadable tube pinout guide

I don't know about you, but I'm constantly having to look up the pinouts of tubes during my builds. Even when wiring common tubes that I have memorized by now, such as the 12ax7, I invariably have one last look at the data sheet just to make sure before the power up. After all, nobody likes 300 volts on their grids.

But here's the problem: In the middle of a build cycle, my shop tends to get a little messy, so data sheets get buried, laptops are upstairs...you know the drill. So I decided to make up a printable, standard-letter sized sheet with all the pinouts for the most-used tubes in amp building. Now I can just tack one sheet to my shop wall for those last-minute sanity checks.

Feel free to click here to download the tube printout guide for use in your shop. You'll need Adobe Reader to open and print it, but I think almost everyone has that these days. I hope it makes your builds go a little bit faster and easier.