Opens in a new tab

AES E-Library

← Back to search

Conference Paper

Learn About Harmonics by Means of the Vacuum Tube Guitar Amplifier

Authors: Hamasaki, Toshihiko

AES Conference: 50th International Conference: Audio Education · Paper 4-2 · July 2013

Abstract

Traditional electric guitar system is a typical analog sound generator with harmonics, which is composed of pickups and a vacuum tube amplifier. The colorful spectrum is created by controlling various non-linearity originated from biasing of the circuit elements, especially the triode vacuum tube of the head amplifier. It is also said that the sound changes with the tube manufacturers even though the same tube model number. In this paper, Marshall JCM800 2203 model (recognized as the industry benchmark) is employed to present that the system is one of the best tools for learning about harmonics distortion sound associated with the generation mechanism by measurement and SPICE simulation (SPICE: Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis).

Details

Published in
AES Conference: 50th International Conference: Audio Education
Paper number
4-2
Publication date
July 6, 2013
Affiliation
Hiroshima Institute of Technology, Hiroshima, Japan (See document for exact affiliation information.)
Type
Conference Paper