If you are familiar with the construction of tube amps, please skip this page!

For those who are still there, a list of do's and don't 's:

Do make a metal chassis that is big and strong enough to last a century!

Do make a plan for the layout of all parts avoiding inputs and outputs to "see" each other!

Do take care take the cores of transformers and chokes are not in the same direction.

Do keep transformers away from inputs and input circuits.

Don't remove tubes from equipment that is in use.

Do make an earth bushbar, a thick copper wire following the circuit picking up all the earth bound leads and connect it to the chassis at the input.

Do consider that you encounter problems when connecting a headphone with a stereo headphone jack. Sometimes these problems are mere theoretical.

Do keep the leads in the grid circuit short.

Don't use resistors below 1 watt.

Do calculate the dissipation of each resistor in advance.

Don't use capacitors above their rated voltage.

Don't expect old capacitor to survive the voltage that is stamped on them.

Do expect the circuit to explode the first time you turn it on.

Do expect the negative feedback loop to be connected reversed the first time you turn your amp on causing severe oscillation due to positive feedback.

Do keep unshielded tubes / amps away from children.

Do save energy somewhere else in your life before you deserve a tube amp.

Do respect the energy that can be stored in electrolyte's.

Do discharge them with a resistor, not by short circuit.

Do keep an eye open for old equipment that is hardly used and has perfect parts e.g. silver plated tube sockets in old army transmitters, as good as new tubes in tape recorders on attics since tape recording soon became boring to most people.

Do use fuses, for powertransformers take slow blow fuses, do expect them to blow every now and then and be rather save then sorry.

Don't mix circuit plans, choose one and stick to that one, e.g. don't try fixed bias with a Williamson.

Do have fun, be patient, if tired from constructing all day, save testing to the next day after going over the construction once again.

Don't use multimeters with frequencies over 400 cycles or with strange wave forms.

Don't believe everything you read in the magazines on this subject.