I emailed them about it and am waiting to hear their response...
Power tubes?? Who, What, When Where how??
- Thread starter Jae
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I emailed them about it and am waiting to hear their response...
Alright gurus, check out this bias tester. Would it have the screen current problem?
Tube Amplifiers and building supplies for the do it yourself type. We specialize in vintage circuits.
Tube Amplifiers and building supplies for the do it yourself type. We specialize in vintage circuits.
The Tube Store is taking care of the bad tube. They have this system they call perfect pair numbers which each tube comes with a number on it. I emailed it to them and they already are sending a replacement. Just got the tracking number.
Pretty dang cool! CS is consistently great there.
Pretty dang cool! CS is consistently great there.
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Yes I know. They couldn't meet my expectations on a tube return, so they sent a pretty female rep to my house and she licked my tube and wouldn't you know it, she blew it and that had to be replaced as well.
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Tell me about it. I swelled from a miniature 5 Pin all the way to a KT100! I was one big tube...dude.
racko7566
New Member
Hey Solar, I haven't had any probs yet with my 6ca7eh's. But i have been hearing some wierd noises that I think is a pre ready to go. But I have noticed that when checking bias, that the one side goes up and down a bit while the other side stays the same. Up and down from around 86.6 to 87.9 and back. should I be worried?
I wouldn't worry about that. That's not that much if that is all the farther its drifting. Mine drifted like from 40ish to 60ish if I remember Jon right. It was a big number diff. Just check them a little more often to see. I'm getting a replacement so I'm going to keep the 6CA7's in and continue demoing.
Remember I have all kinds of power tubes to go to if these turn out to be unreliable. I want to watch them carefully though cause I don't want them taking out shit if I can help it.
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Yeah, now that your DSL is in the $$$ range. You don't need it sucking a tube.
Marty, I got that Saratov in the mail today. That is one bad-ass tube! I played with the Amperex in the Blackheart head for awhile and then put the Russian tube in. With all the settings the same, it was like hitting the amp with a 10db clean boost. To get the same jangly Vox sound I had with the Amperex, I had to back the volume off a couple of notches. Both tubes are very musical and do that compressed melt-your-face EL84 tone well when cranked, but the Russian tube seems to retain a little more clarity and note separation. It's going to stay in the Blackheart and I moved the Amperex over to the Valve Jr.
I dig that tube as well but I'm tell'n ya the RFT is even better IMA. I do like that Russian tube though. It killed the Sovtec the NT came with and the JJ's. It was a big difference in clean tones and overdrive. The RFT walks away in the early break up to overdrive department.
I was bidding on an RFT but it got away from me. That's one good thing about these low-watt Class A amps - it doesn't cost a fortune in tubes to try different ones. That batch of Realistic/Matsushita 12AX7s that I sent you one of, I had one that was noisy as hell in the Marshall, but it sounds great in the little amps. I'm running all Amperex in the Valve Jr. now. That's something I couldn't do in the Marshall! An rx3 EL84 and one of Marty's Eico Amperex ECC83s for a preamp tube. It sounds like a Fender Champ on steroids.
core
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So I learned a few things today. Draining caps is not all that hard and after reading "Complete Guide to Guitar and Amp Maintenance" the blue glow my 6L6GC's are giving off in the 6100 means that they are going bad. What I suspected all along. My tech said they were fine and they do play ok but according to the book it's just a matter of time. I thought it looks kinda cool and wondered why my other amps didn't glow blue. Seems it means it's leaking gas. So I think I'll try out either those TAD 6l6's or the Winged C tubes.
Did some cleaning on the EL34 900 and it's REAL clean, I mean it was well taken care of even though the original owner said he gigged with it a lot since new in 92. I found out the power tubes are Sovtek so I'm sure it could do better. I put the RCA 7025 in V1 the Tele in V2 and the Raytheon in V3 and it seems pretty good but I'm wondering about which power tubes might work best. Mullard reissues, Winged C, Tesla? Still sifting through info but I may end up settling on Winged C.
After looking around some I ran across some RFT el34's that look pretty nice and the Tungsol's had a great review. What do you guys think of those?
Did some cleaning on the EL34 900 and it's REAL clean, I mean it was well taken care of even though the original owner said he gigged with it a lot since new in 92. I found out the power tubes are Sovtek so I'm sure it could do better. I put the RCA 7025 in V1 the Tele in V2 and the Raytheon in V3 and it seems pretty good but I'm wondering about which power tubes might work best. Mullard reissues, Winged C, Tesla? Still sifting through info but I may end up settling on Winged C.
After looking around some I ran across some RFT el34's that look pretty nice and the Tungsol's had a great review. What do you guys think of those?
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
I find it hard to believe that four 6L6's would all have a gas issue. The odds of that happening are high. Some brands put off a glow. I could see where one tube became gassy, but not all four. I'd check into that closer before trashing your tubes.
Just for fun, try your Telefunken in V1 and the 7025 in V2. You might like the tone you get with that combination.
The TAD 6L6's are supposed to be pretty nice. There are several guys who really talk them up.
Just for fun, try your Telefunken in V1 and the 7025 in V2. You might like the tone you get with that combination.
The TAD 6L6's are supposed to be pretty nice. There are several guys who really talk them up.
core
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Hey Marty, that would make sense so I had another look and upon further inspection the two outside tubes have the blue glow pretty prominent and it looks as if it's creeping up the inside of the glass around the middle. One of the two inside tubes has no blue tint at all and appears normal and the other has just the slightest blue tint in one spot. It's barely visible. There is a constant intermittent crackle followed by slight static noise.
You won't go wrong with those RFT EL34s in your 900. I bought a pair from Marty back last fall for my DSL50 and they sound really good. They are well balanced with punchy lows and mids and smooth highs. The =C='s and GTEL34Ms are decent tubes but if you can afford the RFTs go with them.
Here's a web page for the brave. The page is in Japanese but the captions under the photos are in English. It has a ton of info about Japanese EL34s.
Audio EU Pentode
Here's the Babelfish translated page.
"About EL34/6CA7 there is no famous sphere even at today, probably will be. Loyal Isamu Morikawa MJ magazine July of 82 has explained the model of EL34 with the edition, but, here arranging the sphere which I procure accidentally, you will explain the model whose Matsushita make is a little detailed."
Audio EU Pentode
Here's the Babelfish translated page.
"About EL34/6CA7 there is no famous sphere even at today, probably will be. Loyal Isamu Morikawa MJ magazine July of 82 has explained the model of EL34 with the edition, but, here arranging the sphere which I procure accidentally, you will explain the model whose Matsushita make is a little detailed."
lord_guitarula
New Member
Hey, I've got a quick question .. I was thinking about using my 6100 with a rack poweramp. The thing is, i wouldn't connect any speakers to the 6100 since I don't need the power section of it.
Now I know that you're not supposed to run a tube power amp without a load connected. So what if I pulled all the power tubes out, would that help? If yes, do I need to rebias the amp when I do put them back in?
Now I know that you're not supposed to run a tube power amp without a load connected. So what if I pulled all the power tubes out, would that help? If yes, do I need to rebias the amp when I do put them back in?
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Pulling the power tubes will do the trick. You won't have to connect a load, as no signal will reach the output tranny.
If you marked the order of the power tubes, when you put them back the tamp should still be in bias for those exact tubes in the exact order.
If you marked the order of the power tubes, when you put them back the tamp should still be in bias for those exact tubes in the exact order.
MartyStrat54
Well-Known Member
Okay, what are these tubes? Are they old NOS or a recent set? I've seen some older tubes with a soft vacuum glow like hell because of gas in the tube. The getter is what keeps the gas in check, but if there is a lot of gas it will wear the getter out and the gas will cause noises to come from the tube. I have an amp with NOS 8417's and they have a wild blue orange glow to them, but that's the way they are made.
If the tubes are old, then I would recommend that they be replaced. Since I can't actually look at them operating, I just have to assume that a couple are bad and the other two are getting ready to go. I still would like to know what brand they are.
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