want to retube my amp, please give help

[xerxes]

ok, basically i want to get new tubes for my peavey classic 30. right now it has Three 12AX7 preamp tubes and Four EL 84 power amp tubes.

the sound i would like would be a nice classic rock distortion sound that also has nice headroom and can also play the blues really well. the classic rock distortion and blues sound are imperitive though.

i also have another question, what do preamp and power amp tubes do? what i mean is, does one control the clean channel and one control the gain channel? thanks

thanks for all the help

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

Preamp tubes are for your gain shaping and tone controls. The power tubes take that and amplify your sound and push the speakers. The first Preamp tubes is the only one that works on the clean.

I would go to www.eurotubes.com. There is a phone number, call it and talk power tubes with Bob, he will help. I would not mention preamp tubes since JJ's are warmer and have less edge than Electro-harmonix. If you want smooth get preamp tubes from him. If not get the preamp tubes at www.tubestore.com

Hope this helps.

[jmv]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

I got some Electro Harmonics 12AX7's for my amp recently... i really like em for blues/old rock, they've got a bit of a more pronounced midrange than the groovetubes 12AX7WA's i had in there before. The Sovtek 12AX7LPS's are also supposed to be very good, very similar to the EH ones i have, but a bit darker and fuller, or so i hear.

If you want to go NOS, (new old stock, old tubes that haven't been used), i'd check out www.kcanostubes.com, you can email or call mike about what he would suggest, he's really prompt and helpful, i just delt with him today. NOS tubes are supposed to be 'where the tone is at', but they're pretty pricey, as well.

[Xeromus]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

I'd like some pointers too. I've never done it before, and this idea of having to bias the amp with tube changes scares me, give me some insight into if and why this is necessary.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

For that amp, I'd go with Tesla JJ across the board. The best price for them and fastest shipping is revolutionguitar.com The owner, Todd, is a friend of mine.
Mention gearjoneser, and he'll hook you up. He's a small businessman who works his butt off for a low profit margin, so I feel compelled to recommend him. He's all over Ebay, in the amp section, so he has a long list of satisfied customers, including about
15 forumites.

[BluesNRock87]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

i also wanna retube,

the crate vintage club has 4 12ax7 and 4 EL84
its a 10-6 yr old amp (not really sure) with original speaker and tubes......they sound good, but clean headroom = 4.....

i wanna get new speakers and tubes, the speaker is no problem, but the tubes scare me.....supposedly this amp is self biasing (there are no knobs or switches or nothing...) but still ,any tips or advice or how to on changing tubes?

also what tubes, classic rock/blues sound

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

If it is self biasing just pull the old ones out and put the new ones in. Just get matched power tubes. I think JJ's are great power tubes many on here agree. Once again preamp tubes is a debate. JJ's are warmer and a little darker, Eh are rawer and more mid bite. I think sovtecs are grainy. But it depends on what you like and what sounds good in your amp. You can also mix them. I use EH in V1 and V2 and JJ's in 3 (4).

[Xeromus]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

I've got a Crate VFX5112

50 watter, 2 EL34, 4 12ax7 I believe. Don't let the name fool you, this baby rips. A friend of mine owns a Marshall DSL 50 and he LOVES my amp. Maybe even a little more than his.....

ANYWAY, I don't know if this has a self bias or what not. There isn't a bias adjustment anywhere on the chassis, if there is one, it would have to be inside the housing for the pcb.

[jmv]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

Well, xeromus, i'm not sure about your particular amp, whether it does have a a fixed adjustable bias with an adjustment pot (as opposed to a fixed non adjustable bias, where you have to use different resistor values to try and get the bias in the right range...), but if it uses either of those, you'll want to take it to a qualified amp tech if you don't know what you're doing and don't have anyone to help you out... cuz charges can stay built up in amps for DAYS, and those charges are often lethal. No joke... you gotta be careful.

Now, biasing is not nessesary for preamp tubes. For those, you just remove the metal cover (if they have one), pull the old tube out, then grab the new tube, and just make sure that the 9 pins are lining up correctly, and slide it in.

If you know for sure that you have a self-biasing amp (if you're not positive, i'd reccomend you talk to the manufacturer), then its basically the same procedure for the power tubes, although you want to make sure from the person you're buying from that the tubes are matched.

Its nessesary to bias the powertubes for the best sound, and also, if you don't, you can eat through the new tubes in an hour or so, and you've wasted a bunch of money, or you might have a thin anemic sound, and possibly damage your amp. So biasing is important. Again, if you don't know what you're doing, i'd take it to an amp tech.

My reccomendations on pre- tubes still stand... i think the EH 12AX7's are super for blues/rock. But i've never tried the JJ's that other people are reccomending.

[Wattage]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

i also wanna retube,

the crate vintage club has 4 12ax7 and 4 EL84
its a 10-6 yr old amp (not really sure) with original speaker and tubes......they sound good, but clean headroom = 4.....

i wanna get new speakers and tubes, the speaker is no problem, but the tubes scare me.....supposedly this amp is self biasing (there are no knobs or switches or nothing...) but still ,any tips or advice or how to on changing tubes?

also what tubes, classic rock/blues sound

Talk to Jeffrec he has pretty much nailed the tube setup for this one. I wouldn't go to crazy on the speakers, the stock ones are pretty good and well matched to the amp. I would get your tubes squared away first and then if you really need to tweak it I'd look into the speakers.

[BluesNRock87]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

is jeffrec a board member? he has the my amp? thanks for the advice y'all and keep it coming

[JumpMarine]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

For that amp, I'd go with Tesla JJ across the board. The best price for them and fastest shipping is revolutionguitar.com The owner, Todd, is a friend of mine.
Mention gearjoneser, and he'll hook you up. He's a small businessman who works his butt off for a low profit margin, so I feel compelled to recommend him. He's all over Ebay, in the amp section, so he has a long list of satisfied customers, including about
15 forumites.

I'm one of the forumites that GJ turned on to Revolution Guitar, and I just have to say that Todd gave a good deal and he has a very good selection of tubes.

[xerxes]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

hmm, sounds cool gearjoners.....

how do they sound? if i talk to him, can he nail the tone of the genre's i mentioned?

[midnite_man]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

I've used JJ's in both my tube amps, and am very happy with the results. I also like the ability to play the blues and hear those warmer tones, but still being able to produce great classic rock sound. JJ tubes do that very well, IMO. Bob Pletka at Eurotubes doesn't make selling tubes his living, but he knows tubes. Talk to him....if what you describe to him, in terms of what you want to hear from your amp with a new set of tubes, isn't something he feels you can get out of JJ's, he'll tell you. He won't sell you something you can't use. He doesn't just sell JJ's, although they are what he deals the most. If you do end up buying from Bob, he'll give you any technical support that he can including bias concerns, and will make sure you get a matched set of whichever tubes you buy from him.
Don't be too leary about swapping the tubes out yourself, it's not too big of a deal. Just don't mishandle tubes to avoid damage or possible injury. There's only one way a tube can be installed into it's corresponding socket, so make sure the pins are lined up correctly before inserting.
Give Bob a call or email him. He's a great guy!
Here's a pic of Bob with my Fender DRRI after retubing it (he normally wears leather gloves when he dons the goggles, but didn't have 'em on hand when this pic was snapped....lol):



Good Luck!

[xerxes]

Re: want to retube my amp, please give help

so i can just call him up and talk? if so, thats really really awsome!