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Post by The Fifth Column on Dec 19, 2006 22:10:51 GMT -7
I've only owned one tube amp so far, a Peavey Valveking 100 watt head. it's actually the amp I'm looking to replace with a Maz Sr asap and so I've considered selling it but I came across some of the posts in this tube section and I figured I'd ask a quick question.
The Peavey had 3 12AX7 preamp tubes, 4 6L6Gc power amp tubes and is solid state rectified. Its also got a strange little knob called texture that they claim allows you to pan between Class A/B and Class A? I don't really know what that does but I normally keep it all the way to the "Class A" side as that seems to give me more power amp distortion. I also notice that like this it looks like its only use the first two tubes... but i could be wrong.
Anyways, my question is, what tubes can be safely swapped in for 6L6GCs for some new sounds without using something like THD yellowjackets (I don't think they'll fit in this head)? From reading a bit on Groove Tubes website it seems that KT66s and 5881s are in the same family so can these be safely swapped with a rebias? And what do the 5881s sound like? Do you need to rebias (I have no idea if this is a fixed bias amp or not)
I kinda think it could be fun to try a quartet of kt-66 tubes in this amp as I already think it sounds thin and if the Route 66 is any example maybe that will thicken it up. That might be enough to keep me from selling it.
Any advice or opinions on what I should do with this amp is appreciated.
Dave
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Post by The Fifth Column on Dec 19, 2006 22:14:25 GMT -7
Oh another quick question as well...
When can you use 6550s and Kt-88s for? Not really related to the question about I was just looking through the Groove Tubes website and I was curious.
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Post by The Fifth Column on Dec 20, 2006 12:22:17 GMT -7
Perhaps I'm thinking about this incorrectly, I'm not a tube expert at all.
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Post by myles on Dec 21, 2006 12:42:50 GMT -7
Oh another quick question as well... When can you use 6550s and Kt-88s for? Not really related to the question about I was just looking through the Groove Tubes website and I was curious. 6550s are not a favorite of mine. They stay clean to the end and then when they go into distortion it is very raspy. Folks that use 6550s tend to keep their amp clean and then use pedals for tone. The KT-88 on the other hand is a spectacular tube. It is stronger than the 6550 by about 8 watts in the S or SV version.... that is, a 50 watt tube rather than a 42 watter. It has a great distortion character when it is driven into distortion. That was the magic behind the 200 watt Marshall Majors that typically put out closer to 300 watts.
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Post by myles on Dec 21, 2006 12:44:35 GMT -7
I've only owned one tube amp so far, a Peavey Valveking 100 watt head. it's actually the amp I'm looking to replace with a Maz Sr asap and so I've considered selling it but I came across some of the posts in this tube section and I figured I'd ask a quick question. The Peavey had 3 12AX7 preamp tubes, 4 6L6Gc power amp tubes and is solid state rectified. Its also got a strange little knob called texture that they claim allows you to pan between Class A/B and Class A? I don't really know what that does but I normally keep it all the way to the "Class A" side as that seems to give me more power amp distortion. I also notice that like this it looks like its only use the first two tubes... but i could be wrong. Anyways, my question is, what tubes can be safely swapped in for 6L6GCs for some new sounds without using something like THD yellowjackets (I don't think they'll fit in this head)? From reading a bit on Groove Tubes website it seems that KT66s and 5881s are in the same family so can these be safely swapped with a rebias? And what do the 5881s sound like? Do you need to rebias (I have no idea if this is a fixed bias amp or not) I kinda think it could be fun to try a quartet of kt-66 tubes in this amp as I already think it sounds thin and if the Route 66 is any example maybe that will thicken it up. That might be enough to keep me from selling it. Any advice or opinions on what I should do with this amp is appreciated. Dave You can use any 6L6 or 5881 in this amp but bias it in class A/B at 30-32mA. KT66s will bias much differently so don't attempt a plug and play test without properly rebiasing.
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Post by The Fifth Column on Dec 21, 2006 23:03:48 GMT -7
Cool, thanks myles I figured from reading this forum that you would probably be the person to get back to me, being the "tube guy" and all.
I might consider trying the kt-66 as I probably should take this to a tech anyways for a tube change and bias (I've never biased an amp and I don't want to kill myself or anything).
How do the 5881s compare to the regular 6L6s?
Thanks for the help,
Dave
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Post by mudskipper on Dec 23, 2006 12:01:43 GMT -7
one thing you should do is to ping Peavey and find out if your bias is adjustable. as with many Peavey amps of the last few years, even with a bias adjustment present, the range of adjustment may not be all that much to cause catastrophic failures (ie: JSX amps). Triple XXX has a slider switch to flip between EL34 and 6L6 tubes. at any rate, these adjustments aren't anything like those on older Fender and Marshall amps. Peavey's customer support is very responsive and accommodating. you should hear back within a day via e-mail. as for 6L6s, i've liked those from EH and TAD (small bottle). the EH tubes have a little low mid hump that's rather pleasing. TAD sound more even from top to bottom. the current 5881s aren't really like the real ones (Tung-Sol), so i don't think you should be very concerned about what they are called. try as many 6L6 offerings from various companies and find the ones you like the best.
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Post by The Fifth Column on Dec 23, 2006 16:42:44 GMT -7
yeah, I was going to see if I could get a hold of someone at peavey to find out about biasing this amp.
I figured I would ask this more tube specific question first because before I bought this amp I had contacted peavey about using an attenuator with it and I got a response of "We do not recommend using any kind of attenuation device with our amplifiers...." which I didn't really understand or if the tech guy thought I was talking about something else or a specific make of attenuator. Being as defiant and after doing a lot more research I got it anyway and have been using the THD hotplate with it the whole time and nothing has catastrophically failed. I kinda thought I'd get a similar respond if I asked about tube replacements ("We do not recommend using anything other than the type of tube that came with it...."etc) so I thought I'd ask here first in case I was thinking about this incorrectly and my amp would explode or something. Anyways, I'll talk to them too as like you said mudskipper, they're pretty quick to respond and are usually pretty helpful.
Thanks for the advice everyone I appreciate it. For the time being I've got some ideas from everyone's responses on what to consider. When I have a little time I'll probably pick up a bunch of 6L6s and see how they differ, well when I have some cash and some time.
Dave
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Post by The Fifth Column on Dec 23, 2006 16:45:25 GMT -7
sorry for the typos its always dark when I'm writing these and turning on a light seems too easy. Plus my typing is not exactly 100 words per minute to begin with.
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