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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Mar 15, 2019 11:00:48 GMT -7
Seems lately there have been a lot of posts about amps misbehaving, not sounding right, not sounding like someone else’s amp, etc., and it seems like the advice always starts with “get new tubes” and frequently (if not almost always) that’s the correct answer.
So it makes me wonder why all tube amp troubleshooting guides don’t have “try new tubes” as the second step (after tighten all connections). The likelihood of a tube going bad (particularly new production) seems much higher than a cap going south, a tranny dying, etc. And I think a lot of us tend to underestimate how long since our last tube change - I know I do. I think “I changed tubes last year,” but when I really look at it it’s been 3 years, and I’ve been using Brake Lites so the amp is running at 70+% all the time.
It seems that spending $1000 or more on an amp it would be wise to spend another $125 to have a complete spare tube set. And if you’re buying a used amp, just change the tubes (kind of like when buying a used motorcycle you just change all the fluids no matter what the prior owner says).
And now back to the Hallmark Lifetime movie, “My Parents Bribed My Way Into College”
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Mar 15, 2019 12:32:17 GMT -7
Exactly. Makes you wonder how many great amps are sold or traded off that just needed new tubes to knock your socks off (again).
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Post by pcns on Mar 15, 2019 13:07:28 GMT -7
Exactly. Makes you wonder how many great amps are sold or traded off that just needed new tubes to knock your socks off (again). I wonder this same thing myself. Also, I wonder how many amps are sold before the speakers are broken in
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2019 13:38:18 GMT -7
I keep some console tape on the back chassis of all my amps w the date of last power tube change.
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Post by headshrinker (Marc) on Mar 15, 2019 13:53:13 GMT -7
Exactly. Makes you wonder how many great amps are sold or traded off that just needed new tubes to knock your socks off (again). Over the years I've bought a bunch of bad sounding amps that only needed new tubes. At some point I learned what an amp with bad preamp and/or bad power tubes sounds like, and if it seemed to be the case, I bought. Got some great deals. Only got myself burned with a bigger problem a couple of times, so I came out way ahead. Amps with crackles and pops that only need some cleaning or tightening, the same way. Darn, you've let my secret out.
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Post by heynewguy (Ol’ Bill) on Mar 15, 2019 17:34:03 GMT -7
Us old guys would buy and sell used amps without touching a tube. You just plugged in and played. Never a worry. As always YMMV.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Mar 17, 2019 5:55:53 GMT -7
Us old guys would buy and sell used amps without touching a tube. You just plugged in and played. Never a worry. As always YMMV. +100, Bill...I remember my first good tube amp was a silverface Super Reverb, w/pull master volume. I thought that amp sounded great with my Les Paul Custom, and I had it for about 8 or 9 years...then I decided I wanted something new and sold it. If only I'd just put new tubes in it I probably would have that amp today.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Mar 17, 2019 7:31:57 GMT -7
Us old guys would buy and sell used amps without touching a tube. You just plugged in and played. Never a worry. As always YMMV. We never biased the amp either. Or wore bike helmets, or seatbelts. And we actually had to stand up and walk to the TV to change the channel - choosing among the THREE channels. Oh, the humanity.
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Post by trojanhov on Mar 17, 2019 8:48:12 GMT -7
Just went through this. With the z-28 I can’t just change the power tubes due to fixed bias. I found a great local amp tech that got me set up with nos tubes and took great care of my amp. The amp is now biased to the docs specs and it sounds the best I’ve heard in the past 7 years! Life changing. Fell in love with the amp all over again
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