[SonicBoom]

Ermghoti - thanks for steppin' up and offering to help the guy out. Very cool of you.

RandMan - Take Ermghoti up on his offer. Nothing helps like having an experienced set of eyes guiding you and getting a little encouragement along the way.

As for everyone being an electrical engineer, funny, I live in Silicon Valley and most of the engineers I've come across can't solder. They can design, but they barely know which end of the soldering iron is hot.

Lots of great amp techs and designers aren't EEs. You don't need to be. All you need is some interest and the desire to learn. Keep doing what you are doing - asking questions. Just stear clear of amp mods until you know a lot more. An unplugged amp can still kill you, if you don't know what you are doing.