Building a 1920s Tube Amplifier (And Tubes!)
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- ENABLE AD BLOCKER Construction of a 1920s style tube amplifier using homemade vacuum tube triodes. Filament consumption is 8 volts at 1.75 amps, B+ is 230 volts at 6 mA. Inspired by glasslingers 1920's Horn Speaker Amplifier. • 1920's HORN SPEAKER AM...
00:00 Teaser/Overview
00:44 Tube Construction
36:48 Amp Construction
54:46 Amp Demonstration - Наука та технологія
This is fantastic!!! I've been in electronics for 60 years and have never seen someone attempt to build vacuum tubes. The skill set you have to do this is amazing. Thank you for sharing. I really loved watching your work come to life.
Thank you!
I agree. Granted while I'm a former truck driver that studies a bit of computer electronics and other stuff on the side, imo if the world is doomed, there will be a group of people who can help get civilization back on it's feet, especially with creature comforts, and this guy will be one of those people who'll help save the world imo. :)
There are plenty of technical glass workers demonstrating their trade around here, but not many of them would be able to do so on a desert island. Some wonderful ingenuity here. It's hard to criticize technique when the result clearly works.
60years in the field..bless you..that is amazing ..may be you're in80s ..
This is great work making early style valves. Claude Paillard has probably the ultimate in relaxing videos for techies on UA-cam, showing him making a triode to Teddy Wilson background music ua-cam.com/video/EzyXMEpq4qw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=FilmesJP
My grandfather owned a radio repair store during WW2. I remember him telling me a story of him having to build his own tubes during the war as they were rationed and only allowed 1 replacement tube a month.
None of the other repair stores were able to fix as many radios as he was cause he was making his own.
As a kid growing up I always thought his workshop would of looked like Einstein's laboratory. Thanks for making this video showing how you did this. It brings back a lot of old memories!
God bless you 😂😂❤❤
einstein never had a "lab"? he was a mathematician? theory and complex equations noone can comprehend rather than practical hands on skills?
other than the brief foray into attempting to make a fridge (unsuccessfully).
@@paradiselost9946 I was 5 years old dude! Chill
@@jeffallen3382 you aint five now! so find a better comparison!
lol.
just saying... einstein never had a lab... not as the typical "mad scientist" movie set we think of, anyway.
and im sorta jealous of your gramps shop ;)
@@paradiselost9946wow dude. Way to invalidate this dudes memory. Twice.
Holy Valhalla. In my 70 years in electronics I have seen the possible and impossible, but never contemplated how to create ( not build ) a vacuum tube. You are not a technician, you are a wizard. You are a top creator. My respects, chapeau. Greets from Venezuela.
If you search more on youtube, there are people making their own transistors and integrated circuits
Awesome I must look those videos up too. 😊🇮🇪👍
@@zaxmaxlax👍🇮🇪🙏
Сделать в домашних условиях электронные лампы и собрать на них рабочую схему усилителя это просто отпад башки! Респект мастеру!
Possibly the most fascinating video I've watched on YT for a long time. Never have I ever heard of someone DIYing their own tubes, let alone building an amplifier with them. Hats off, truly.
If you can make your own tubes you automatically know how to make your own radio. But it’s funny, your feed must be mucked up by yt because the last three videos I saw had a top comment starting with “this is the most fascinating video… yt..etc”
@@thetruthexperiment
¿ ... ! ... ?
Never, in my wildest imagination, did I ever dream I could see someone build a vacuum tube from scratch in front of my eyes! Not exactly a 6L6, but amazing for a homemade tube! Extremely well done!
Three 12AX7's, 1 12AT7 and 2 EL84's in mine. 0.5, 1, 7 OR 15 WATTS (SWITCHABLE)
He deserves Master degree for that as a project for the university...
@@MUN.A1988 Master degree? I hope not 😂
@Jeff Desert Mountains yes, absolutely.
@@Qwerty8 a lot more involved than most masters 'theses'
The UA-cam algorithm has been suggesting this video to me for 2 or 3 days now. I thought it would be boring, but eventually I relented and watched it. Boy, was I wrong. This has to be one of the best YT videos I have ever seen. For someone to create vacuum tubes (we call them valves here in the UK) from scratch is mind blowing. You have incredible talent, and I enjoyed watching your amplifier unfold.
I'm still smiling - what a great video. My first 'Hi-Fi' was a valve amp and a STEREO turntable.
Кустарное производство электронной лампы - это фантастика! Уважение автору!
I’m an EE, and this was really cool. Takes a lot of skill to do what you did by hand.
Thanks! I graduated just last year.
@@jdflyback congrats! It’s not easy.
Did you use to work in a tube factory?
@@jdflyback I still have a couple years left 😁 where did you buy the metals from?
@@jakep8484 The tungsten wire is from prommark on ebay:
www(dot)ebay(dot)com/str/prommark?_trksid=p2334524.m570.l113337
The nickel sheet is from china:
www(dot)ebay(dot)com/itm/183921244401?hash=item2ad28f78f1:g:gJUAAOSwqztZYMln&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAABAHLHnXs4E2dcjAgtBaJnDztnYoR46dQo8fDZIn79sY98QBBtPXODXfOZVxE7jLZyMan0vQh0xAe52SiGKJahUJiXrd3WoIUwvQYq%2FcE6%2Bh89EnXtPllu5H8EQqjAQtrZOd4FPMsTjY%2FJalu%2BE80azygDh%2FVmMvW0KazobjQhh5uoGlpI4n93WZ9Fui%2FGGCTYEtUA2iau5CYDfD%2FxN%2BJxMMO%2BR%2FFpA6%2FbDlCynKYO8XeXF31zixvSPxXhmVBsdqSTjN84IC6CDuCoeff1SDPs%2B4DVF4CNZwJjgkIk6HCnRrj0xPpWRM0056Bw4%2FYDjTRbbZvYJ9GytiCcLGFjeQ76dto%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMnrn8xIRh
The steel wire is from china:
www(dot)ebay(dot)com/itm/403445194950?var=673450978944&hash=item5def3520c6:g:xFEAAOSw-jJh9NX4&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA0DPaw09tnX%2FFd9b1pPP%2BEAliIshegmV2z9qYz2l6wa%2BckiA6yR%2F0q1rSsrWMp2Ao8dlG%2BcCsTaSuoPu%2BfyqM0gZAMRq0b%2FZsNfwjBcn7OowNeRbQjM2esBx84KhCGMllC9kjTHC%2F%2BqKiFTYmWHK8jI3Z5Lrcc5m%2BSgtrtL3p6mR0MoiZLZ3vHO6QY08Qa2IXFShsTK6vZcnB6qleSo7qKEjnnBI09kDwLHwls0FZiuCzgGi%2BCXmDWtbF2w0AYKa%2FrTxlx32fDd2DqW6tmhGk5vE%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR87kksWEYQ
Surface mount homemade 1920s style tubes. Nice.
I was a tech at Fender, worked on thousands of tube amps, read the RCA Receiving Tube Manual for fun...this is a whole new dimension of fun! Bravo and thank you. I nominate you for King of Engineers
Lee de Forest himself would be proud.
So glad you included the getter.
Getter was a great touch.
This is inspirational. Not only did you make working vacuum tubes and an amplifier from scratch, but it looks like it was done 99% with reclaimed parts and tools you made yourself.
including spot welder indeed!
Incredible
Ein wunderbares Radio. Entwicklung und Herstellung in Deutschland, Germany.
Max Grundig war ein genialer Techniker in Sachen Radio!!!
Leider war ich 1978 noch zu jung, um mir nur ansatzweise dieses Radio leisten zu können.
Das Datenblatt habe ich damals aber bekommen♥️♥️
if i could only upvote this video three times... one for genius, two for explanations, and three for frugality
How exciting.....65 years ago I made a valve in a lab at tech school...it failed...but it set me on a career that enabled a reasonable life. I just love the fact that these wonderful people take the time and patience to show this on the "Tube". Makes me feel like going out into the workshop and making one !!!!.. Also just seeing contributers mentioning numbers like 6L6 tells me that ther is still life out there..I doubt if today the generation would understand the talk of oldies having built amplifiers with numbers like EF86..ECC83, and a pair of EL84's in push pull (mullard 5-10)
or even EF50 from the war years driving 807's........Sorry for the ramble but its so nice to read all the comments...BIG thanks for the video and the thought of sharing. I'm going to show this to the gran kids and see if there is a spark ☺
Hey George, just wanted to chime in to let you know that although it's not the biggest subsection of the youth, we work with tons of kids who love tube amps and all the great music that was made with them. The good thing about this internet era is for those who want to find out about music from years past, it's all documented! Here's an example of some of our local lads who choose to keep everything vintage. ua-cam.com/video/krWtFe6nDcw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=JohnnyRuiz%26theEscapers-Topic
@@asteroidmrecords Thanks for your reply.....Great work I simply loe to see kids with an iterest in things outside of the peice of glass...Great work I wish I was with you
I recognised all those vacuum tube numbers, having used them in audio and TV experiments! Then there was the 6AC7, a high gm tube from radar front ends, with lower noise than most input tubes. Ah the nostalgia, lol.
@@sonicspring6448 Yes..I remember the 6AC7 and Matt Mathewes from Wigan in Lancashire UK explained the low noise was acheived by reducing the distace between the screen grid and the signal grid, also he said and I quote "Get the screen grid resistor right on the edge of the base pin, don't give it the chance to pick up noise !!!!".. All happy memories
@@georgestyer2153 What an interesting take on it. What I recall is that the grid was very close to the cathode and had a fine pitch with tight tolerances. The high gm translated into a low equivalent noise resistance, but that's a model rather than an explanation. Matt Mathewes must have learnt that from experience. Nice to meet someone else who remembers this stuff and actually played with it!
Ты действительно крутой мастер. Триод с нуля в примитивных условиях это безумно интересно, ты приоткрыл занавес истории как создавались вакуумные электронные приборы видными деятелями науки.
You are correct ... this totally is a piece of art... home made tubes... amazing!!!
Thomas Edison would have hired him in a New York Minute.
I don't recall ever seeing somebody with the both the fundamental electronic skills AND sophisticated glass crafting skills! Absolutely awesome!!!
there's another channel on UA-cam where you can witness it. I think they're called glassslinger. They restore old radios and build tubes as well at times
@@DazzwiddI must check them out 👍🇮🇪🙏
What the hell is this madness? This could be the best video I've ever seen in electronics till now.. The tubes, the tools the atmosphere and the final result. Amazing!
Home made tubes! I'm blown away.
Nice, that's what i call homebrew!
Thank you!
Оказывается шуруповёрт это станок для стекла!!!! Турбо Горелка может сделать чудеса со стеклом в руках мастера и без помощи кислорода, которого всегда не хватает и не так доступен и дорог в получении. Интересно ознакомится со всем инструментом необходимым для данной восхитительной работы. Поразил примененный геттер. Благодарю за информацию. Много для себя открыл нового.
I was totally enthralled to see you building the vaccuum tubes and really admired your skills and craftwork. You satisfied one of my greatest curiosities to comprehend how this was done 100 years ago and mostly considered a lost art. Also, your patience to do this in front of a camera will be highly appreciated by many for years to come!! Congratulations on your achievement!
I'm an old-time valve (sorry, 'toob') man and much of my early training was on valves. I'm not sure if this was a dumb project or if you're really brave, but I strongly suspect the latter, braver than I. Full marks for effort and I can honestly say that I've never seen anyone actually making a valve from scratch. Good for you! Keep it up and greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa.
There's someone else on UA-cam that's using old purpose-built equipment to do the same. Prettier results than this, but this could be reproduced in a moderately equiped home garage.
As Jared has already stated, here you go - ua-cam.com/video/EzyXMEpq4qw/v-deo.html
Try to search the channel Glasslinger. They are making different types of valves and toobs lol.
Terrific work; I spent quite a few years in electronic servicing but never knew that a vacuum tube or valve could be constructed manually. From Houston TX.
Этот человек очень хороший мастер, сделать вакуумный триод в таких условиях это круто, мало кто может повторить его достижения.
Jestem pod wrażeniem,bo nigdy nie widziałem aby ktoś samodzielnie robił lampy.Wspaniała praca.Widać pasję i serce włożone w ten projekt.Brawo....
When I was in the 10th grade, I talked my Dad into letting me take electronics, at a technical high school, night school, twice a week, for 3 hours per class-time. There wasn't but 5 of us in the class and the Dean cancelled the class. He gave us the option of getting our tuition back or choosing another class. I took Machine Shop, my first love. Sadly, I didn't take electronics again. I don't understand how stuff like that works. I know how to build test equipment to test things and how to break down a schematic into a wiring harness from/to/info stats sheet/book, to rewire locomotives, but the electronics part escapes me!
How you know how to work GLASS, and fabricate a workable amplifier on a piece of wood with home made tubes is genius! Amazing! I watched you do it, and STILL don't know how it works! I know and understand what each item is, but don't understand how they work TOGETHER !!! I've wrestled with that all my life, because that Dean canceled my young dreams! I'll be 70 in less than a month! THANK YOU !!!
i mean, mate, you have the whole internet at your disposal, learn what your dean made it impossible to.
You are such a do-it-yourselfer! I noticed the home made spot welder and induction heater too. I am a retired engineer from the GE vacuum tube plant in Owensboro KY. GE purchased the original Ken-Rad plant just before WWII and was a major manufacturer of vacuum tubes in the 50s and 60s, with 6,000 employees. Ken-Rad was an acronym for Kentucky Radio which was founded in the 20s. Thank you for sharing your video!
Nice to know you！I worked in GE C-ARM ENG，for 20years。now，vacuum tube technology are used to make x-ray tube。but in west country，vacuum workers are retiring，no young man study vacuum，since 2018，both the tube quality whitch from US and Germany became worse and worse
@@xuemingzeng2094That's unfortunate. The computer age has meant a lot of the old know how around electronics is being lost. People forget they used to have to make these things in a workshop, not solid state components fabricated in a Taiwanese clean room by robots. I wanted to study EE but could afford to transfer to uni and study full time (not enough time to work full time and commit to a rigorous study, I'm not clever enough for that), got into ham and amateur electronic instead. It's an inspiring craft, like Merlin's workshop.
Did not know that you can build tubes at home! AWESOME
As a kid in 60s the tube radio was warm in the winter and had an old electronics smell. The glow was very cool.
O! New glasslinger!
ron from texas got successor
Усилитель судного дня! Потрясающе.
What blows me away is it seems almost all your instruments are ALSO home-made, which is just... astounding. I could maybe pull this off with professional equipment, but I don't know how you do it with your own tools. I'd spend half the time trying to figure out if I was doing something wrong or if my own equipment was malfunctioning.
I do exactly that! Induction heaters and vacuum pumps have given me the most trouble. I went through a dozen different mosfets before I found one that would work reliably. Same for the tank capacitors. For a while I had to replace the tank capacitors every two weeks before I found the correct type. I also have to deal with vacuum leaks and pumps leaking oil everywhere. Never a dull moment!
@@jdflyback What part of the world are you located in? I'd love to buy one of your tubes to try playing around with :)
From Chile South America , 50 years ago I remember my grand father asked me to repair his radio , when I was beginning in the electronics but only I had to replace a rectifier tube. Thank you to show us how to do a tube. I am 66 year old , and I am impressed by your work !
I assisted my father back in the '70s in radio and TV repairs. I had always been interested in how the tubes were built, now I know. Thanks so much this is a great video!
Thank you!
That is an incredible process. I enjoyed the video very much!
As someone that has built regenerative radios using old 1920's directly heated triodes, I dream of one day being able to make the triodes myself like you did. Awesome work!
300B's? 2A3's? 45's? I often wondered why we can not heat these with Li ion batteries, even run the HT rail on a lithium battery pack
You can, get the tools together and practice. You might end up making pentodes even 😅
If I had told myself such things could be done by one person in their shop, I'd have called myself a fool. Thanks for proving me wrong. Great work.
Thank you!
Such an informative project about old tech thanks for that and looking for more videos like this
Great video. The tubes are so bright as well!
I'm an electronics tech, did my time with valves and now knocking on retirement. I've watched Glasslinger doing vacuum tube magic, but he has gear that I don't. Found this video somehow, and an AC compressor for the suck, and a map? gas torch I have. Another project for the retirement list 🙂. Cathode resistors will help with the sound quality, but an amazing watch with your creation. An hour of enjoyment just blew past.
P.S, I'll shout you a hot glue gun if that would help
Cheers
Pete'
New Zealand
Thank you! Life is too short to wait for the glue gun to warm up!
Pete, if you can get hold of some Mercury, for good vacuum you can make a Sprengel Pump. It uses falling drops of Mercury (I wonder if Gallium would work?) to trap air in a very narrow funnel & remove it. Slow, but apparently high vacuum is possible.
Cody's Lab channel has constructed one. Just when you get around to it finally & the AC suck doesn't cut it lol
Wow! Astounding! ... My first thought : "This guy can make a killing making new "vintage" electronics for Hollywood, Steampunk fans, and anyone who appreciates an older look and sound." Well done!
Thank you! I would like to try to do that someday.
practically such skill is mandatory for survival, given a certain form of "reset" that sure will come, because some people are really full with a pandemonium of madness to make it happen.
I was glued to this one - fascinating. And I loved the way that virtually all your tools and jigs are home-built.
Genuinely taken back by this. Great build.🎉
An excellent job using very basic equipment. I thought only Glasslinger made tubes by hand.
I think we will need people like you after the apocalypse to make things from scratch 🙂 quite amazing...
I love it. Handcrafted amplified you have made. Great.
This is really beautiful workmanship. It’s wonderful to see technical projects done with aesthetic taste
Wow! I think, it sounds very not bad for full homemade triode tube amplifier, and with more high quality output transformers it can be better a lot. Also, your wiring looks so cool!
Thank you!
Yea the wiring is beautiful!
Totes.
Even before trying better Traffo'$ I'd try an efficient spker. That's made for Tranny amps. I was shocked to find Fostex making really high efficiency drivers for peanuts that sound KILLER good with Triodes.
Super epic build
Did I intend on watching this entire video when I clicked it? no. Did I watch this tire video anyway? Yes. Is it now 3:30am? yes... Did I subscribe? Well, Duh, Of course I did. This video was amazing, and the content withen is honestly very interesting to me. and somehow you managed to catch my attention for the whole video, which is kinda hard to do sometimes.
Absolutely Unique! Wow - really enjoyed your process of building the tubes - inspiring - thank you
My father built a radio with homemade tubes using old light bulbs. That was before WW2. Thank you for showing how it's done.
Absolutely love this. Well done. Particularly enjoyed your glasswork.
This is an amazing lost art! Was not expecting tube making in the process, this is next level stuff!
Amazing amount of work. Well done.
Captivating build. I am blown away by your ability to make those tubes.
That is some mighty fine work. You have shown more detail in making a vacuum tube from scratch than any other video I have seen to date. I used to collect 1920's radios and that amp would be a great piece to have and use in any collection.🙂
Noticing your progress and ever increasing technical skills, well done youngster!
Awesome to _hear_ your work, working!
Glass blowing is an art all by itself, what a fine job!
Wow! This is stunning! Thanks so much for taking the time to make this video. I didn't realise it was even possible to make tubes!
Absolutely phenomenal work. Thank you for sharing your skills
Very Impressive, especially the two tubes. Welldone
This was a fascinating video, in particular, the vacuum tube design. Kudos to your skills. And I always thought the tubes came out of a box!
This is really a wonderful piece of kit. Very well done and thank you very much for sharing!
This was really cool to watch. I‘d love have something like this as a guitar amp!
Just brilliant understanding of electronic. Just incredible job.
Fabulous! Had to watch it twice and will likely come back in the future for thirds.
That’s quite impressive, I’ve never seen anyone making their own vacuum tubes.
Very impressive! Congratulations on a successful project!
Masterful execution - Bravo!
The youtube DIY community does more for science and education then the public education system ever could. Thank you!
You for sure got that right!
This is incredible! The level of your DIY ingenuity is extraordinary! I love all your home made tools and devices. So cool.
The tube build by hand is just a whole new level of amazing! Nail boards and scrap components took me back to childhood cobbling things together in old cigar boxes.
I remember that. If something broke and couldn't be repaired, you took it apart and cleaned it up to re-use to fix something else, or construct something totally different. In today's world, its ALL solid state and throw-away! I CAN'T work on solid state. I was raised by Parents and Grand-Parent's, who had made it thru the second world war! You didn't throw ANYTHING away! The generation, now, throws EVERYTHING away! I pick up beautiful antiques off the side of the road and just a little TLC and they're just fine! Their stupidity, my gain!.
Wow, that is true homebrew! Good work.
One of the coolest things I've ever seen. Amazing!
Nice work! I enjoyed every minute of your video, especially the tube construction.
Love your improvised tool set (specially the induction heater in the knife box). Just shows how important is the skill to use any tool properly really.
Wonderful video!! This was very in depth and entertaining all the way around. Thank you!
Thats bloody amazing, imma stay tuned. Thanks for this.
This is next level. It's one thing to get old stock, but to make your own tubes from scratch is awesome.
That was amazing. Your skillset should be applauded. Great job
elegant and simple construction
This is awesome! Congratulations for yout wonderful work and talent!
It’s interesting to contrast your workbench with those of today’s young “makers” that 3D print a lot of their DIY stuff and even use CNC tools in some cases. It’s a fun project and thanks for sharing it.
Heck i bet he would certainly print a valve if he could
@@fss1704 It should be possible, the resin printers can do ceramics and enven some conductive material i think, but wouldn't look as cool as with glass. The wirings would be probably better done by hand, and would still need a vacumm pump or some inert gas so the fillament doesnt ignite.
@@Gabriel-pd8sv ... inert gas is used in incandescent light bulbs, not in VACUUM TUBES. The purpose of vacuum is to let electrons move freely, not only to prevent metals from burning.
@@eriton6806 well, maybe someone wants a colored vacuum-ish tube :p
Aw, that is so cool! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with the world. This was super inspiring, even though i'll probably never get around to building one myself.
Wow! That was so fun to watch! Even if it wasn’t Hi-Fi, so worth seeing the process of building then tubes and finding solutions to achieve the amplification.
This is the most wonderful project that I have ever seen !
I'm blown away by the making of the tubes themselves. I had no idea you could just do that by hand!
Wow that was freaking amazing to see! Watching you go from loose wires and glass pipes to pulling music out of the air was like witnessing actual sorcery. Awesome build!
Wow, super impressive! Thank you for this insight!
This is astounding. What a skillset.
I am completely astounded! Ive been trying to learn more about tube amps and would love to build one from pretty much scratch like you have. I wish i could plug my guitar into it and see how it sounds!
This is by far the most fascinating video I've seen on tubes. Thank you for taking the time.
Thank you!
Amazing work! I'm addicted to this channel! Very well done!
wow, so many fond memories brought to life! Thank you for keeping these trades alive! i have never seen anybody do anything like it! please keep on!
super cool project , amazing execution and mad respect for all the homemade stuff you use to make ...well... homemade stuff . proper mad scientist stuff.
gained a subscriber instantly
This is like one of those imposssibly difficult projects you’d see in a 1950’s Popular Mechanics magazine
Very impressive build. Your ingenuity is commendable.
How amazing to see skills like this. Just fascinating. Thank you
That's an impressive skill set right there! The point to point construction reminds me of the crystal sets we used to make when we were young. Actually feeding a crystal set's output into an amplifier sounded surprising real good, almost as good as FM.