Lets talk tubes

G

guitarnub

New member
I just bought an old 5150 combo, probably more than 3 yrs old, and everything's still stock. Its high time i change the tube, the stock ones doesnt sound that good anyway.

so im looking for five 12AX7 for the preamp and a couple of 6L6 power tubes.

i browsed thru this website http://www.thetubestore.com/ and found the reviews and all very helpful and informative. so i've kinda narrowed down my choices(but still open to other recommendations) to:

Sovtek LPS for the 5 preamp tubes
http://www.thetubestore.com/sovtek12ax7lps.html
&
Tung-Sol 5881 for the 2 power tubes
http://www.thetubestore.com/tungsol5881.html

the music that i play is mostly high gain metal stuff, lots of chugging and "screaming" leads :lol: . I dont really play clean stuff on the 5150 (cleans suck on 5150 anyway), i have another amp for that.

im kinda new to these tubes stuff, so you tube amp/tone gurus out there do tell me more about em, thanks :lol:
 
If you want cheap and good, EHX tubes are fairly decent.

I don't know about the authencity of this, but Watford Valves has regular reports of tubes here: http://www.watfordvalves.com/reports.asp

TGP should also have a thread on tubes and SD has one thread about 12ax7 tubes in the vault.

The really NOS tubes are fairly expensive (40-200? per tube), so you have to decide whether you want to splurge on them.

Also, you can PM Randolf the man and ask.
 
gsonique - thanks for the link - looks pretty interesting.

i'd be wanting to try out KT88s the next few years when I retube, but man, they're darn expensive.
 
Frankly ...i just go for what i can get cheap and fast (no china ones tho)
EH and JJ will be fine for pre ...but the power is tricky ...try a sovtek or EH will do...fine ! Please avoid NOS and all that mojo !!


The Groove tubes are nice :wink: so if its just two 6L6 ...why not 8)
 
I am in the process of retubing my rivera r30. I had it for about 2 years plus and it came with stock tubes. Sent the amp to randolf to retube/maintain the whole shebang. Now power is using 2 svetlanas el 34 and preamp tubes tentatively is using ehx 12ax7. Randolf kindly mixed and matched the tubes for me based on my requirements (including bringing my guitar and the rivera to his place and explaining to him the particular tone that i want)
I will be going to his place again, once i make time from work to hear the amp, and perhaps try other brand of preamp tubes, he has several others btw.
V nice fella, v knowledgable 2 thumbs up for Randolf.
U can go ask him, bring ur amp/guitar down and explain to him the tone in your head,.. he will do the best he can..
 
erm... i didnt really have a good experience with JJ ... i had a retube kit for 5150 ... and turns out one of the preamp tubes was screwed...

the sound... is pretty much the same... maybe the lead channel not as noisy and hissy as before... killer amp btw. And the cleans are pretty nice , just that there is little or no head room...


next time i think i'll buy standard tubes from burlington....
 
On the 5150 the bias is set very cold from the factory so you're pretty safe just popping in the tubes and playing it. You still run the chance of having a problem you're missing, but you should be safe as far as burning up the tubes from being biased too hot. :wink:

If your amp is fine ...just leave it !!

but why bias ?? >>> "Whenever you change power tubes you should have the bias checked and adjusted (if needed) regardless of the bias type or class of amp. Fixed bias doesn't mean they bias themselves. Fixed bias means it's a fixed value. Some amps with fixed bias have a pot to adjust the bias, some don't, it's still called fixed bias because the bias voltage remains a fixed value. Self bias or cathode bias is a self adjusting bias. These still need to be checked. Part of the reason you check your bias is to be sure everything inside the amp is working like it should. The other reason is to adjust the bias to the best possible tone from the tubes. Many times I'll install new tube and check the bias only to find the amp has another problem the owner never noticed."
 
For power the 'winged C' tends to work better for a Fender type tone in any amp, JJ's for a harder, Marshall like tone. The amp is a fairly hard sounding one, so if you want to smoothen the tone then I would suggest the 'winged C'.

For preamp tubes, EH are again a smoother type of sound; JJ's, Svetlana's and sovteks are harder.

cheers,

Mark.
 
this hasnt been mentioned, but the lifespan of preamp tubes is generally longer than that of power tubes, if you think the amp is starting to sound dull or if you start hearing strange pops then its probably a sign to change the power tubes.

With regular usage (i.e. a few hours a day) power tubes prob have to be changed once a year or more often; preamp tubes however have generally longer lifespans, and can be changed every 2 years or more.

Also, you probably only have to change the 1st and 2nd (v1 v2? your 5150 may be labelled differently) preamp tubes to hear a real difference on your amp's tone. So if you want to experiment with the preamp tubes, just replacing the 2 that affect your tone most is enough rather than replacing all your preamp tubes every time you change them out.

I use the sovtek 12ax7lps in my amp which is voiced like a hotrodded marshall with good results, its got a sweet high end that is smooth and not harsh. from what i know, the general consensus is that they are pretty good for high gain applications.
 
ShredCow said:
I'm going to get a 12AT7, more head room please.
Click to expand...

The 12AT7 is only effective in the preamp section which you can control by lowering the tube amp's gain knob and raising the master volume which is the power tube section. 12AT7s are especially used in classic era single volume knob where the player may want less preamp drive with the volume running full.
 
chimaera said:
I am in the process of retubing my rivera r30. I had it for about 2 years plus and it came with stock tubes. Sent the amp to randolf to retube/maintain the whole shebang. Now power is using 2 svetlanas el 34 and preamp tubes tentatively is using ehx 12ax7. Randolf kindly mixed and matched the tubes for me based on my requirements (including bringing my guitar and the rivera to his place and explaining to him the particular tone that i want)
I will be going to his place again, once i make time from work to hear the amp, and perhaps try other brand of preamp tubes, he has several others btw.
V nice fella, v knowledgable 2 thumbs up for Randolf.
U can go ask him, bring ur amp/guitar down and explain to him the tone in your head,.. he will do the best he can..
Click to expand...

Tanx for the plug mate. Ok updates on your Rivera. My findings were that your stock super clean Rivera stamped power tubes were microphonic which does happen over time if not immediately. The Sveltlanas were selected against Groove Tubes, Sovteks and EHX. The Svelts are currently called SED now that Americans have taken over ownership of the Russian factory.

The stock preamp tubes are China made which I believe are Shugang type based on the grid design. I had a set of Mesa preamp tubes and also noticed that they were similar to the Shugang type. These seem have more gain in a nicer tighter way even when compared to the EHX type. Currently your pres have been updated with the Shugang type with a JJAT7 for the V4 which handles the reverb mixer section. Where previously it was quite cold sounding, flabby yet and hard lows and dull top end without any sheen. The Rivera now overall after some tweaking and observation over the last coupla days is now more "ooomph" with sweetness in the top end. The Ninja channel is capable of super saturation yet still tight and the reverb knob is much quiter unless you run everything full tilt.

The common mistake is to bias too hot or too cold as the amps behave differently after half hour or so. Too hot or cold has different applications and consequences on the overall tone and lifespan of tubes as they are by nature of their construction unpredictable.

Tip; make friends with Hi Fi maniacs especially the hard core tube fanatics and over time you'll discover the crazy world of tubes in Hi Fi world is often really beyond logic. Now when we geetar players with our beloved regard for the glowing valves start getting into the picture, the Hi Fi geeks just bow their heads down and shake it side to side as we come across totally nonsensical to them Hah! that's the way it is la. The only common ground we all share in agrrement is that the real juice resides within the warm orange glowing POWER TUBES! :D
 
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