Bottlehead has a reputation for detailed, easy-to-follow manuals that help builders of all skill levels assemble their kits with ease. We consider these manuals part of our secret sauce so we don't make them available prior to purchase. However, we're keen to show folks considering buying their first Bottlehead kit what they can expect, so we've written this post to help.

So let's dig in. What's in a Bottlehead manual?

Circuit Theory & Schematics

Each Bottlehead manual comes with an explanation of the circuit and a corresponding schematic. These two artifacts give you a ton of detail about the kit you're about to assemble and serve as great reference materials when you're reviewing or troubleshooting your kit later on.

Do you feel like reading a circuit schematic is like reading a foreign language? A good place to start might be Forrest Mims III's Engineer's Mini-Notebook, or this video on YouTube.

A Full Bill of Materials

Our bills of material are part of our secret sauce so we won't post a full photo here, but we'll provide an example of what to expect. Each component that makes up your kit is listed with its value, quantity, and a little space to check off the part. This helps you ensure we sent you everything we said we would, allows you to organize prior to building, and identify parts that you may need to replace if something isn't working. The list will look like this:

(   ) 1 – wood base kit
(   ) 12 – 4-40 x 1/4" screws
(   ) 4 – 1N5340 Zener diodes
(   ) 3 – 1KΩ 1W carbon fim resistors (brown, black, red, gold)
(   ) 5 feet red insulated wire

Assembly Instructions

Bottlehead manuals provide assembly instructions for everything in your kit, including the wood base (if what you bought came with one). Each step of the process is written clearly and meticulously photographed. 

Set of pages from a manual with text and images on a white background

Testing & Troubleshooting

It is absolutely critical that builders confirm their kits pass the voltage and resistance checks in the manual before use. Every Bottlehead manual includes testing instructions so you can verify that your kit is operating as expected before using it. This includes safety tips and troubleshooting steps.

Technical manual or user guide with text and images on a white background

Wrapping Up

We think our manuals are some of the best in the business, which is why we safeguard these as much as we're able. Your manual is emailed to you as soon as your order is placed and can be downloaded twice. If you lose your manual, we'll provide you another copy at no charge if you have a receipt; we'll send the manuals for a small fee if you don't have a receipt.

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