Tube amp tech???

[Weiht]

Anyone got a gd guitar tube amp tech to recommend? Good skill without being too EXPENSIVE???

Also any lobang to get JJ 6l6s locally?

 

[ChanMin]

JJ is from eurotubes.. i suggest you order from his site... very prompt delivery.

 

[Viruz]

Can try burlington square?Or purchase @ ebay...
Amp tech maybe u check with mikemann..

 

[mikemann]

Errr..... maybe you can define expensive.

For an average cost of $80 service charge, some will feel is very reasonable as market rates are usually $150 up.

But to others anything above $45 is considered expensive. It's very relative.

Do note that it's tube amp you require fixing. Breakdowns and maintainence should be part of your expectation in price for the tone.

Better to pay a little more to a known experienced tech than an unverified freelancer. It could mean the difference of some tens of dollars and futher hundreds in follow-on repairs. Not to mention headache/hassle of lugging your amp down often.

Remember, your time is your money. If you waste more time, you are inturn wasting even more money. Don't be 'penny wise pound foolish'.

Thus you can ask around for my reference as an amp tech. You can bring it in for me to vet the problem first.

 

[mikemann]

Oh yah, on 6L6 output tubes, The difference in tone IMO for different brands is not really noticable. These are workhorse range of output tubes.

More tone sensistive output tubes should be amps in class A, or smaller wattage kind. Eg. 6V6 or EL84.

To tweak tone, you should look more at preamp tubes. But different amps will have difference in effects. Some amps won't sound much different with different brands of tubes. While others will be noticable. Depend on circuit design.

So is very subjective. You must be satisfied with your amp in the first place. What you read on web on the amp about hypey storys of tubes enhancing tone, do not subscribe to them completely, or you WILL be sorely dissapointed.

 

[Viruz]

useful infos...if i want to convert 6L6 to EL34 and vice versa is it possible?

 

[mikemann]

6L6 & EL34 is possible, but must keep in mind the tolerance. You are risking burning the output transformer if things don't go well.

We always reccomend to stick to what is designed for. As for tone difference IMO is more physcological effect than the real deal.

So it's the same with anything. If you punk around with anything, the end result is almost always not desirable.

 

[Viruz]

Wat abt if i install a biased switch?

 

[mikemann]

So far, I have only seen this stock on a very limited model of amps, Like peavey 5150 or triple XXX (errr my memory not that good, so dunno if both have).

Most other don't have this option. This is because this switch is not foolproof. So some fool forgot to flick the switch and happily use another kind of tubes, then the consequence we don't want to know.

Moral of story: If a feature is not foolproof, likely you won't find it unless its a pro model used mainly by professionals only. Remember professionals will also play the fool occasionally(esp when in love), we just human.

2nd moral of story: Be content with what you already have, you will not attain happiness if you are not content in the first place. (meaning, work on your fingers not on the amp, the tone is mostly in your fingers, amp is just a mean of achieving tone not the mean)

 

[Weiht]

Yo mike...

I think my knobs are scratchy and the standby switch pops. I may need also a cap job done, as the amp is late 70s or early 80s bassman 135. Also rebiase the new tubes.

You think roughly how much? Will it cost alot for the cap job?

btw, i read abt mdding these bassman and things like hybrid the 6l6s n el34s. Any experiences on blackfaced mods? how wld mixing the 6l6s and el34s sound different?

Also any lobang for output transformers? I need a replacement for my Musicman rp amp.

A whole lot of qns i know... thanks

 

[mikemann]

Hi,

So far I have seen a couple of Bassman135, all of which is in pretty beatup condition. Fixing/overhaul these will be pretty costly. Because they are basically very worn out already.

Also the 135 model is not very in the good tone camp. You should consider that as well.

As the amp is about 30years old. Modding it is definately NOT reccomended. The old transformers may not take the stress.

Musicman amps are very early hybrid type amps. I fixed a couple too. If your OT is short, I'm afraid there is no direct replacement. We can try to match other OT to it like twin reverb kind, but the lastability is unknown. Again not cheap to fix too.

If you really decide you want to do something about them, just bring them to me to vet them out first.