Is this a dumb idea?

[nate_dennis]

I've been considering going into electrical engineering and I daydream a lot . . . so I was thinking about a senior project and I wonder if this has been done, or if this is a stupid idea.

An amp that features a tube preamp and a solid state preamp along with the same options in the power section. The idea being that one could run four different configurations: Tube pre/tube power, tube pre/SS power, SS PRE/POWER, and SS Pre/Tube Power. What do you all think?

 

[WhiteStrat]

Don't know whether it's been done or not...and forgive me for thinking like a marketing dweeb instead of an engineering dweeb--but what's the business case? Who wants it? Who needs it?

Enquiring minds want to know.

 

[nate_dennis]

my thinking was mostly as a recording amp. A swiss army knife of amps. My mind went to two extremes like . . . . maybe a JC 120 all the way to any number of great tube amps. The idea that you could get some really nice tones from both circuits. I don't know. Maybe it's dumb, that's very possible.

 

[Milnoque]

It's not a dumb idea, but I bet it won't be the project you're dreaming of by the time you're a senior.

Engineering is a great career. The job market looks very good for electrical engineers. I encourage you to stop dreaming and go for it.

Good Luck

 

[Milnoque]

Be advised that if you ever build the your amp, getting it to work is only the beginning. Tweaking all four circuits so they best complement each other would be a hobby for a lifetime. This is not a bad thing.

 

[nate_dennis]

Engineering is a great career. The job market looks very good for electrical engineers. I encourage you to stop dreaming and go for it.

Good Luck

Yeah, it's decided. I'm going to do it. It's a daunting task going to school at the age of 25 and starting new, but it should be cool. Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'll keep this in mind till I'm able to work it.

 

[legionserial]

my thinking was mostly as a recording amp. A swiss army knife of amps. My mind went to two extremes like . . . . maybe a JC 120 all the way to any number of great tube amps. The idea that you could get some really nice tones from both circuits. I don't know. Maybe it's dumb, that's very possible.

Sounds like an interesting project. Who cares if it's a good idea, just do it. I'm sure you'll learn plenty on the way, regardless of the outcome.

The only thing I will say, is that when I hear the words 'swiss army knife' used in reference to musical instruments etc, another phrase springs to mind. That being 'jack of all trades, master of none'.

The other thing it might be worth taking in to account is the significant output volume difference between SS and tube at the same wattage. This may not be a factor, but it may be, depending on what you're shooting for.

Apart from that, again, just do it! I've embarked on a few crazy electrical and electronics projects, and they've all turned out to be silly ideas. Most of them worked, but never as intended. Regardless of all that, I had a blast and I learned a lot. When I was studying electronics, one of the things I remember being told about my projects was that "it doesn't matter if it works or if it's a good idea or not, you won't get marked down for that as long as you understand and can explain why."

I'm looking to head towards a career in electrical engineering myself, although I'm doing it a different way. I currently run finance for a team of electrical engineers doing tech on highways projects. I got myself moved to work with those guys specifically because of who they are. Have to start somewhere eh....and eventually there'll be an opportunity to get some reasonable qualifications funded by my employer.

Good luck with it all.

 

[ggunn]

Yeah, it's decided. I'm going to do it. It's a daunting task going to school at the age of 25 and starting new, but it should be cool. Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'll keep this in mind till I'm able to work it.

I went back to school for my BSEE at the age of 33. Being an older student has its disadvantages, but overall it's a positive thing. I was much more dedicated and focused than I was my first time in college, and when Spring Break came along and my classmates were down on South Padre Island getting drunk for a week, I was in the library getting a leg up on them.

You will, however, probably not find any vacuum tube courses available and you may have trouble getting a tube amp approved as a project for credit. My advice is to go after whatever will lead you to a job on the outside while you are in school and do the vacuum tube stuff on the side.

BTW and IMO, the future of the world depends on green energy and it's an expanding field even in today's economy. Consider Power EE and the smart grid as a career. Read "Perfect Power" by Robert Galvin. If I were a budding EE, that's where I'd go.

The key to success in engineering school is to hang on like grim death and never never never never give up. Sit front row center in every class and ask lots of questions. Visit every prof in their office hours. Do ALL the reading and homework religiously, and join study groups for every course. Hang out with people smarter than you. Give yourself one night a week to party (it was Fridays for me) and focus on your studies the rest of the time. Be prepared to spend 60-80 hours (and sometimes more) a week on school; engineering school is VERY competitive.

It's no picnic, but nothing worth a damn comes easy. Good luck to you!

EDIT: Check into Co-Op Engineering if your school has it. They will place you with an engineering firm on the outside where you will be exposed to real world work (and get paid for it) on alternative semesters with school semesters once you get to the Junior level. It will slow your graduation a bit, but I wouldn't want to be in a big hurry these days to hit the job market. You'll graduate with genuine experience along with your degree, and the company I co-op'ed with had a job waiting for me when I graduated.

 

[Zaphod B]

You can look to the Randall MTS series (as arcaxis said above) or the Egnater modular series for two versions of modular, midi-controllable preamp switching. (Bruce Egnater designed the Randall modular series.) Additionally, power amps such as the Randall RT2/50 can be run bridged in mono or switchable in stereo (with one of the sides running 6L6s and the other EL34s, for example), so that when you combine it with one of the above modular preamps, switching to a particular module can also select one side of the power amp. Doing the same thing with a combination of SS and tube circuitry sounds do-able to me.

Anyhow, good luck with whatever project you choose, and engineering is a great field.

Like ggunn, I returned to school to complete the last two years of a BSEET degree at the age of 33, and have had a decent career in aerospace for 23+ years since then. Ggunn is right about the paucity of vacuum tube design courses. You'll need to get a grounding in DC and AC circuit analysis and design, then use that knowledge to expand into tube circuitry. Good luck!