Basic tube electronics & schematic reading class yesterday

[autoformer]

Well, those of you who didn't attend the Bottlehead class yesterday missed out big time!  Six of us made the trek to Bottlehead HQ on Bainbridge Island yesterday afternoon, ready to sit at the masters' feet for a few hours.

I've built around 5 or 6 tube amp kits, and they all work beautifully, but I've never really felt like I understood what the heck was going on.  My hope was always that I would learn through doing, and some of that has happened, but there's still so much more to know.  We beginners see schematics all over the place, but have only the dimmest idea of how to read them, never mind how to turn one into a viable wiring layout.

Doc and PB started the class by going over basic symbology, passive and active components.  We then talked about how tubes work and suddenly a lot of that wiring I'd been doing started to become clear.  Then after the break, we went step by step through a Quickie preamp, examining the physical circuit itself on a completed Quickie, and drawing the schematic on the board as we went.  It was enormously instructive.

Some of you were asking for this to be broadcast over Skype, but I'm not sure it would have been very effective.  Maybe some of the intro stuff, but once we got into closely examining the Quickie, it became clear that there is no substitute for actually being there as a part of the discussion in person.  We were gathered around the Quickie, peering at it closely, asking questions, etc.  Nothing beats real human interaction.  I know it's a stretch for those of you who don't live in the area, but hey guys, the Pacific Northwest is beautiful, and if we can convince Doc to do some weekend-long classes, it will be well worth your time no matter where you live in the country.  We had one guy yesterday who drove down from British Columbia!  I know that the Bottlehead gang have a lot of ideas for future classes, so we have a great learning opportunity here if we support their efforts.  To better cement the day's learning into my head, I asked PB to kit up a Quickie for me to take home.

Afterward, we settled in Doc's listening room upstairs with a growler of some great ale from the brewery next door for a sampling of some of the new Tape Project releases.  It was a lot of fun to talk hi fi with a bunch of like-minded audio boors, listen to some great music and make some new friends.  All in all, a wonderful afternoon and I'll definitely be there for the next one!  

[Doc B.]

Thanks for the kind words, Jim. I had a great time doing the class and I know PB did too. It was fun sharing the white board with him and I think he did great job of verbally dissecting the Quickie and translating it into a map. And the students were the nicest bunch of guys one could have wished to teach.

The result of this first class presentation at the "new" office (we've been there two years already, can't believe it!) is that we're hooked on this idea and will be sitting down next week to plan out a logical series of classes that cover both the virtual aspects like the schematic class and also the hands on part including proper construction techniques - my favorite topic to present. Hopefully we can get PJ to fit some time into his schedule to do a class or two on circuit design too.

And I agree that maybe some weekend long, or maybe even three day sessions could be a lot of fun. We have done those in that past and everyone had a great time.

[jeffj]

I agree,
Very informative class.  Just wet the whistle, left me wanting more information.
Guess i will just have to order a kit and apply the knowledge,

Thanks to the whole gang out there at Casa Bottlehead!

Look forward to the next one.

Jeff

[Paul Birkeland]

Man, what a fun class!  Many thanks to everybody who came, we'll be cooking up some followup classes shortly.

-PB

[bcombs]

I commented on the classes here [nofollow] but wanted to echo what autoformer said about the Skype/webinar format being out of the question.

Not only would the class never have a flow, but there's just no inexpensive and practical way to show the details in the hardware, especially "on the fly" for drilling down in response to inquiry/comment.

Don't beat up on Doc for his refusal to offer web-based classes (I support his decision, in case it wasn't clear).  Just get on a plane, train, or automobile and go to the shop.

-Brandon

p.s. As extra incentive, there's a nice little brewery and distillery next door.