Two-channel 6L6 amp with a triode for each jack and tremolo, 1959

Pedal and tube amp circuits, solved part by part the way SPICE (the circuit simulator engineers use) does it, while you listen and watch. Turn the knobs, change any part, or tap a wire to put a probe on it.

How to use the bench

Every part is simulated. Nothing you hear is a recording.

  1. 1Pick a circuit

    Choose one from the menu, or type a name, maker or year in Find a circuit. The buttons under the menu switch between versions.

  2. 2Set the knobs and the input

    Turn the circuit’s knobs on the front panel. In the Input box, choose Guitar or Signal generator, and the note or chord.

  3. 3Press Play

    Press Play through the circuit to hear a picked note or chord. Play the string is the guitar by itself.

  4. 4Tap a part

    Tap any part on the schematic to change its value, or swap the transistor, tube or diode. The red numbers are DC voltages, and they update as you go.

  5. 5Tap a wire

    Tap a wire to put the probe there. The Probe graph and the spectrum show the signal there.

  6. 6Try a change

    Press Try it on a card under Try this to hear one change, before and after. Modify this circuit, below the schematic, adds or removes parts.

Good to know

Modeled after the Guild Masteramp.

Each jack has its own 12AX7 half, the two halves of a channel meeting through 2.7 kΩ. Both Volumes feed one Bass and Treble network, then a long-tail pair and two cathode-biased 6L6s whose grids the tremolo swings.

Input

Add

Peak voltage from the pickup for each note. Strum hard and a single coil puts out a few hundred millivolts. When you play a chord, its strings share this level.

How it’s played
Tap a part to change its value, or a wire to probe it. To add or take out parts, open Modify this circuit, below. Red numbers are DC voltages to ground, not warnings. Scroll or drag sideways to see the whole circuit.
Modify this circuit Add parts, take them out, or put one in series with another, then hear what it does. Tap to open.

Pick what to do, then tap the schematic. Your changes show in purple. Any change can go on a switch beside the knobs, from the menu in its row under Your changes.

Add a part

Tap where each leg goes. Tap both ends of a part to put the new one across that part.

Change a part

With Remove a part on, tap any part of the pedal or amp to take it out, and tap it again to put it back. Tapping a purple part you added deletes it.

Turn on Add in series with a leg and tap a part. In that part’s box, below the schematic, pick which leg to lift and what goes in the gap, such as a resistor between a cap and ground or a stopper in front of a grid.

Change a wire

With Cut into a wire on, tap any wire. Pick a part from the menu and it goes in the gap, wired in. Volume pot puts a pot there with the input on one end, the output on the wiper and the other end to ground.

With Run a wire on, tap a leg, then where the wire goes. Drag any piece of a wire you ran, or of an added part’s lead, to square it up or move it.

Keep and share

Your changes stay in this browser, on this device, for your next visit. Nothing is sent to us. Anyone using this browser can see them. They’re lost if you clear your browsing data or use a private window, so save a file to keep a copy. A shared link carries the circuit after the #, a part browsers never send to a server.

Test tone for the graphs
The graphs use a steady tone. Play sounds a plucked string that dies away.

Input

pickup, unloadedat the pedal input

Output

at the amp input

Probe

Spectrum

Frequency response

What the curves mean

The ink curve is the response to a very quiet signal, from the generator to the probe. The blue curve is measured with pink noise at the level you set, like an audio analyzer. When stages clip, the blue curve pulls away from the ink one and the gray coherence line (right-hand scale) drops below 1. Then no single curve tells the whole story. Both use the signal generator, whichever Input tab is picked.

Output

Bias

every voltage and current at rest

What to listen for. Each jack goes to its own triode. The two halves of a channel share a cathode resistor and their plates meet through 2.7 kΩ each, so a guitar in one jack sees the other half as part of its plate load. Both Volumes’ wipers tie together straight into the tone network. Bass: 150 kΩ into a 1 MΩ pot with a cap from each end to its wiper. Treble: 500 pF from the Volumes into a second pot whose wiper drives the inverter. The tremolo’s oscillator drives a cathode follower, and through the Intensity pot it swings the 6L6s’ grids. The tube models are typical of the types, not measured.

Download.

Parts and what they do

Stock values. Tap a part on the schematic to change it.

1M, 1 MΩ
Grid resistor for V1a, across jack 1.
1M, 1 MΩ
Grid resistor for V1b, across jack 2.
V1a, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
Half of a 12AX7, its grid straight on jack 1. Each jack of the Normal channel has its own triode.
V1b, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
The other half, its grid on jack 2. The two halves share a cathode resistor, and their plates meet through 2.7 kΩ each.
1500, 1.5 kΩ
Cathode resistor shared by both halves.
25µ, 25 µF electrolytic
Bypass for the shared cathode, full gain down to a few hertz.
240k, 240 kΩ
Plate resistor for V1a, from node D (+105 V at the plate on the drawing).
240k, 240 kΩ
Plate resistor for V1b. The drawing has .01 µF here where the other channel has 240 kΩ. The plate needs a DC path, so 240 kΩ is assumed.
2.7k, 2.7 kΩ
From V1a’s plate to the channel’s output. With the 2.7 kΩ from the other plate, the two triodes’ outputs mix here.
2.7k, 2.7 kΩ
From V1b’s plate to the channel’s output.
.02µ, 20 nF
Coupling cap to the Normal Volume.
Vol N 1M, 1 MΩ pot, audio taper
The Normal channel’s Volume, 1 MΩ audio, as marked. Its wiper goes straight to the tone network, where both Volumes meet.
1M, 1 MΩ
Grid resistor for V2a, across jack 3.
1M, 1 MΩ
Grid resistor for V2b, across jack 4.
V2a, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
Half of a 12AX7, its grid straight on jack 3. Each jack of the Bright channel has its own triode.
V2b, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
The other half, its grid on jack 4. The two halves share a cathode resistor, and their plates meet through 2.7 kΩ each.
1500, 1.5 kΩ
Cathode resistor shared by both halves.
25µ, 25 µF electrolytic
Bypass for the shared cathode, full gain down to a few hertz.
240k, 240 kΩ
Plate resistor for V2a, from node D (+125 V at the plate on the drawing).
240k, 240 kΩ
Plate resistor for V2b.
2.7k, 2.7 kΩ
From V2a’s plate to the channel’s output. With the 2.7 kΩ from the other plate, the two triodes’ outputs mix here.
2.7k, 2.7 kΩ
From V2b’s plate to the channel’s output.
.02µ, 20 nF
Coupling cap to the Bright Volume.
Vol B 1M, 1 MΩ pot, audio taper
The Bright channel’s Volume, 1 MΩ audio, as marked. Its wiper goes straight to the tone network, where both Volumes meet.
150k, 150 kΩ
From the Volumes’ wipers into the Bass pot.
Bass 1M, 1 MΩ pot, audio taper
Bass, 1 MΩ. A cap from each end to the wiper: .0004 µF on the 150 kΩ end, .004 µF on the end with 25 kΩ to ground. Turned up, the wiper moves toward the 150 kΩ end and the lows come through the pot itself. Turned down, it moves toward the 25 kΩ and only the small cap carries the signal, so the lows drop. Taper and direction aren’t marked, so audio and more bass clockwise are assumed.
.0004µ, 400 pF
From the Bass pot’s input end to its wiper. It carries the treble past the pot.
.004µ, 4 nF
From the Bass pot’s other end to its wiper.
25k, 25 kΩ
From the Bass pot’s far end to ground, the bottom of the divider.
68k, 68 kΩ
From the Bass wiper to the Treble wiper, the inverter’s input. It’s the Treble network’s source and the inverter grid’s DC path.
500p, 500 pF
From the Volumes’ wipers to the Treble pot. It feeds the treble around the Bass network.
Treble 1M, 1 MΩ pot, audio taper
Treble, 1 MΩ, from the 500 pF to the .004 µF to ground. Its wiper is the inverter’s input. Turned up, the wiper moves toward the 500 pF and more treble gets in. Taper and direction aren’t marked, so audio and brighter clockwise are assumed.
.004µ, 4 nF
From the Treble pot’s far end to ground.
V4a, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
Half of a 12AX7, the tremolo’s oscillator.
150k, 150 kΩ
Plate resistor for the oscillator, from node C.
1200, 1.2 kΩ
Cathode resistor for the oscillator.
25µ, 25 µF electrolytic
Bypass for the oscillator’s cathode. At a few hertz it adds some of the phase shift round the loop.
.05µ, 50 nF
First cap of the oscillator’s ladder.
Rate 1M, 1 MΩ pot, audio taper
Rate, 1 MΩ from the ladder to ground, with 82 kΩ from its wiper to ground. Turned up, the 82 kΩ takes over and the oscillator runs faster. Taper and direction aren’t marked, so audio and faster clockwise are assumed.
82k, 82 kΩ
From the Rate pot’s wiper to ground. It sets the top speed.
.01µ, 10 nF
Second ladder cap.
1M, 1 MΩ
Not on the drawing, typical: the drawing shows nothing from the middle of the two .01 µF to ground, and without a resistor there the oscillator can’t run. 1 MΩ is assumed.
.01µ, 10 nF
Third ladder cap, into the grid.
820k, 820 kΩ
Grid resistor for the oscillator.
.01µ, 10 nF
From the oscillator’s plate to ground. It rounds the plate’s swing.
V4b, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
The other half of V4, a cathode follower with its grid straight on the oscillator’s plate. It copies the plate’s swing to the Intensity pot without loading the oscillator.
470k, 470 kΩ
The follower’s cathode resistor.
100k, 100 kΩ
From the follower’s cathode toward the Intensity pot.
.1µ, 100 nF
Blocks the follower’s DC, so only the LFO reaches the Intensity pot.
Intensity 500k, 500 kΩ pot, audio taper
Tremolo Intensity, 500 kΩ to ground. Its wiper is where the two 6L6s’ 150 kΩ grid resistors meet, so it sets how much LFO swings both grids. Taper and direction aren’t marked, so audio and deeper clockwise are assumed.
.01µ, 10 nF
Coupling cap into the phase inverter. With the grid resistor it sets how low the inverter goes, around 11 Hz.
V3a, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
12AX7, the driven half of the long-tail pair phase inverter. Its plate swings opposite the input and drives tube A.
V3b, 12AX7 / ECC83 / 7025
The other half of the inverter. Its grid sits at the feedback point for signal, so it’s driven through the shared cathodes, and its plate swings with the input. It drives tube B.
1.5M, 1.5 MΩ
Grid resistor for the driven half, returned to the bias point above the tail, not to ground.
1.5M, 1.5 MΩ
Grid resistor for the other half.
2.2k, 2.2 kΩ
Bias resistor for both halves. The cathodes sit this far above the grids’ return, a volt or so.
68k, 68 kΩ
The tail resistor, to ground. It’s large, so the pair shares a nearly fixed current. When one half conducts more, the other conducts less, which splits the phase.
.01µ, 10 nF
Ties the second grid to ground for signal, so that half is driven only through the shared cathodes. There’s no feedback loop in this style.
150k, 150 kΩ
Plate resistor for the driven half. It’s smaller than the other so the two outputs come out about even.
150k, 150 kΩ
Plate resistor for the other half.
.02µ, 20 nF
Coupling cap to tube A’s grid.
.02µ, 20 nF
Coupling cap to tube B’s grid.
3.9k, 3.9 kΩ
Grid stopper for tube A. It keeps the tube from oscillating and softens grid current.
3.9k, 3.9 kΩ
Grid stopper for tube B.
V5, 6L6GC
6L6GC, tube A of the push-pull pair, its cathode on the shared cathode resistor, so it biases itself.
V6, 6L6GC
6L6GC, tube B of the pair.
150k, 150 kΩ
Grid leak for tube A, returned with tube B’s to the tremolo’s Depth pot, so the oscillator swings both grids together. The bias comes from the cathode resistor. Driven into grid current, the coupling cap charges through it and the bias goes colder for a moment. That’s blocking distortion.
150k, 150 kΩ
Grid leak for tube B.
210, 210 Ω
The shared cathode resistor. Every output tube’s current runs through it and lifts the cathodes above the grids, and that’s the bias. Driven hard, the pair draws more current on average, so the cathodes climb and the tubes run colder, which softens the clipping.
100µ, 100 µF electrolytic
Bypass cap across the cathode resistor, so the cathodes hold still at the signal’s frequencies. It charges and discharges slowly as the average current changes on a hard note.
10k, 10 kΩ
Dropping resistor from B+ to the screens. It’s large, so the screens sit about 30 V below the plates and drop further when they draw more current on a hard note.
20µ, 20 µF electrolytic
Filter cap on the screen supply.
10k, 10 kΩ
Dropping resistor from the screen supply node to the node for the inverter and the tremolo, as on the Guild Masteramp drawing. The current drawn past it drops the voltage, so each stage down the chain runs lower than the one before, and a hard note that pulls B+ down pulls these down too.
20µ, 20 µF electrolytic
Filter cap at the node for the inverter and the tremolo. With the dropping resistor it filters the supply and keeps the stages on this node from coupling to each other through it.
10k, 10 kΩ
Dropping resistor from the node for the inverter and the tremolo to the node for the preamp, as on the Guild Masteramp drawing. The current drawn past it drops the voltage, so each stage down the chain runs lower than the one before, and a hard note that pulls B+ down pulls these down too. The preamp runs off this node instead of its own HT supply.
OT, 4.2 kΩ to 8 Ω, 30 H primary, 10 mH leakage
The output transformer, 4.2 kΩ plate to plate into 8 Ω, center tap on B+. Tap any piece of it to change its figures. The core saturates as the flux nears its knee. Every figure is typical of the part, not measured.
PT, 312 V ac, 60 Hz
One half of the power transformer’s high-voltage winding, 312 V ac from the grounded center tap, as a sine source at the mains frequency. The value is typical of the part, not measured.
PT, 312 V ac, 60 Hz
The other half of the winding, from the grounded center tap. It runs opposite the first half, so the rectifier charges the reservoir on every half cycle.
PT R, 50 Ω
Resistance of one half of the winding, plus the primary’s share. With the rectifier’s own drop it sets how far B+ sags on a hard note. Typical of the part, not measured.
PT R, 50 Ω
Resistance of the other half. Typical of the part, not measured.
V7, GZ34
One plate of the GZ34 rectifier. It conducts near the peak of its half of the winding, and its own drop rises with the current, which adds to the sag.
V7, GZ34
The rectifier’s other plate, on the other half cycle.
40µ, 40 µF electrolytic
The reservoir cap. It feeds the output transformer’s center tap. It charges in short pulses at each peak of the mains and drains between them, so B+ carries ripple, and on a hard note it sags.
Coil R, 8.69 Ω
Voice coil resistance, the floor of the speaker’s impedance. The shape of a 1x12 open-back cab with an alnico 12 in, measured (a 93 Ω peak near 74 Hz on 8 Ω), scaled to the 8 Ω tap. One real cab, not every speaker. The Speaker menu by the play buttons is separate. It plays the note through a speaker and cab impulse response, with either load.
Coil L, 256 µH
Voice coil inductance. It makes the impedance rise through the treble. With no feedback, the voltage at the speaker rises and falls with its impedance.
Loss L, 464 µH
With Loss R across it, the treble rises and then levels off, like the losses in a real coil.
Loss R, 14.3 Ω
Limits what Loss L adds to the treble rise.
Loss L2, 2.13 mH
A second step in the treble rise, with Loss R2 across it: a real voice coil’s losses keep climbing from a few hundred hertz.
Loss R2, 2.19 Ω
Limits what Loss L2 adds.
Tank R, 83.7 Ω
Height of the bass resonance, about 92 Ω in all at its peak. With no feedback, the voltage at the speaker rises and falls with its impedance.
Tank L, 21.1 mH
With Tank C, sets the resonance: 74 Hz.
Tank C, 220 µF
With Tank L, sets the resonance. With Tank R, it sets how narrow the peak is.

About this version

As drawn
The 12AX7 model is fitted to its data sheet (Brimar). Values from A.D. Forbes’s drawing.

Sources

  • A.D. Forbes, redrawn schematic, 1997

How this tool works. Every part is an equation, and the whole circuit is solved several times per audio sample: 192,000 samples a second while you drag a knob, 384,000 once you let go. Transistors use Ebers-Moll with gain, leakage, Early effect, base resistance, junction capacitance and temperature. Their charge storage is set at the bias point, close for small signals and rough while they switch hard. Tubes use Koren’s equations fitted to each datasheet, plus grid current. Diodes are exponential junctions with series resistance. Presets are typical of each type, not measured parts. Caps are ideal, and the battery or HT is a voltage behind a resistance.

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