amp continues to die!!!

[mooncobra]

so, my amp first died a few weeks ago and it was a pre amp tube. then around a week later another pre amp tube went out. tonight I am playing, and of course the amp just died. I am hoping that it is nothing worse than a pre amp tube. is it possible for an amp to keep killing pre amp tubes?

in my last post I spoke of the local thief at the electronic store selling 10 dollar tubes for 30 each. so, I refuse to deal with that asshole, so now I will have to wait til Monday. that sucks!!!

any of you guys heard of pre amp tubes repeatedly dying?

-I also just remembered the other night I switched guitars, I took the amp out of standby and there was nothing, no noise. so I check volumes, cords, etc. I turned the amp off, then turned it on two minutes later and it worked fine. I assumed I had the volume off on the guitar and I missed it. so, a few nights ago, it stopped producing sound, then it was turned off, then back on a couple minutes later. since then I have played around 15 hours probably and it worked and sounded perfect. then tonight I am playing and the sound just cuts off. no weird noises, drops in volume, just nothing.

 

[mooncobra]

the first two times it died it was the pre amp tube in the position for clean 2/recovery stage. it is a three channel amp with clean, crunch and lead. the amp takes 7 pre amp tubes for:
-crunch 1
-clean 1
-clean 2/recovery stage
-lead
-crunch 2
-crunch 3
-phase inverter?

what is the recovery stage, anyone know?

 

[thunda]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

 

[glip22]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

Definitely. CF puts much more stress on the 12ax7. Chinese for this slot. If you have Russian, especially Tung Sol that's your issue. I like the tone of Tung Sol but they dies fast. I think it has to do with their cathodes. Not sure. Replace the tubes and see if you can find out the layout Mike. Chinese as he just posted in CF spots. So yeah, that can be your issue. Maybe not the amp per say.

 

[mooncobra]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

sorry man, it is the masotti x100m, classic. most of the 12ax7's in the amp are tung sols. I used a ruby, then that died a week after I got it, then another ruby. I am assuming it is probably the same tube slot for the recovery stage. what is the recovery stage, what does it do?

 

[mooncobra]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

Definitely. CF puts much more stress on the 12ax7. Chinese for this slot. If you have Russian, especially Tung Sol that's your issue. I like the tone of Tung Sol but they dies fast. I think it has to do with their cathodes. Not sure. Replace the tubes and see if you can find out the layout Mike. Chinese as he just posted in CF spots. So yeah, that can be your issue. Maybe not the amp per say.

hey Gary! there is 5 tung sols, 1 sovtek, and one ruby. I have no idea what a cathode follower is or what it does. what does the recovery stage do?

 

[glip22]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

Definitely. CF puts much more stress on the 12ax7. Chinese for this slot. If you have Russian, especially Tung Sol that's your issue. I like the tone of Tung Sol but they dies fast. I think it has to do with their cathodes. Not sure. Replace the tubes and see if you can find out the layout Mike. Chinese as he just posted in CF spots. So yeah, that can be your issue. Maybe not the amp per say.

hey Gary! there is 5 tung sols, 1 sovtek, and one ruby. I have no idea what a cathode follower is or what it does. what does the recovery stage do?

Get the Tung Sols out. Go all Chinese if needed Mike. CF has to do with driving the tone stack. There are different methods to drive the stack. Just get the Tung Sols out. We think that is your issue. I had five of them die very quickly in the past and stopped using them. Some have better luck but they die fast in a CF slot.

 

[mooncobra]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

Definitely. CF puts much more stress on the 12ax7. Chinese for this slot. If you have Russian, especially Tung Sol that's your issue. I like the tone of Tung Sol but they dies fast. I think it has to do with their cathodes. Not sure. Replace the tubes and see if you can find out the layout Mike. Chinese as he just posted in CF spots. So yeah, that can be your issue. Maybe not the amp per say.

hey Gary! there is 5 tung sols, 1 sovtek, and one ruby. I have no idea what a cathode follower is or what it does. what does the recovery stage do?

Get the Tung Sols out. Go all Chinese if needed Mike. CF has to do with driving the tone stack. There are different methods to drive the stack. Just get the Tung Sols out. We think that is your issue. I had five of them die very quickly in the past and stopped using them. Some have better luck but they die fast in a CF slot.

thanks Gary! I edited the first post above. I forgot to mention this: a few nights ago I was playng and decided to switch guitars. I took the amp out of standby and got nothing. I checked the volumes, cords, etc. I then turned the amp off. I turned it back on a couple minutes later and it worked perfect. I assumed at the time that I must have not checked the volume on the guitar. Since then, it worked perfect for at least 15 more hours of playing time. Then last night while playing it just died. no sound. it did not experience slight drops in volume like the first time, no other odd noises, it just went dead silent. I thought I should mention this as I forgot to include this in the main post above. I thought it might change your diagnosis. the last time you guys were right, so I would assume you are again. I am going to pull the tubes and go test them again. could it be a fuse?

 

[mooncobra]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

Definitely. CF puts much more stress on the 12ax7. Chinese for this slot. If you have Russian, especially Tung Sol that's your issue. I like the tone of Tung Sol but they dies fast. I think it has to do with their cathodes. Not sure. Replace the tubes and see if you can find out the layout Mike. Chinese as he just posted in CF spots. So yeah, that can be your issue. Maybe not the amp per say.

hey Gary! there is 5 tung sols, 1 sovtek, and one ruby. I have no idea what a cathode follower is or what it does. what does the recovery stage do?

Get the Tung Sols out. Go all Chinese if needed Mike. CF has to do with driving the tone stack. There are different methods to drive the stack. Just get the Tung Sols out. We think that is your issue. I had five of them die very quickly in the past and stopped using them. Some have better luck but they die fast in a CF slot.

I found a local place that is open on weekends that might have some mesa 12ax7s. how are those? what are they? Russian? Chinese? anyone know?

 

[webrthomson]

See this for tubes that die quickly in a CF position:

http://mtsforum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19525

 

[jc986]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

Definitely. CF puts much more stress on the 12ax7. Chinese for this slot. If you have Russian, especially Tung Sol that's your issue. I like the tone of Tung Sol but they dies fast. I think it has to do with their cathodes. Not sure. Replace the tubes and see if you can find out the layout Mike. Chinese as he just posted in CF spots. So yeah, that can be your issue. Maybe not the amp per say.

hey Gary! there is 5 tung sols, 1 sovtek, and one ruby. I have no idea what a cathode follower is or what it does. what does the recovery stage do?

Get the Tung Sols out. Go all Chinese if needed Mike. CF has to do with driving the tone stack. There are different methods to drive the stack. Just get the Tung Sols out. We think that is your issue. I had five of them die very quickly in the past and stopped using them. Some have better luck but they die fast in a CF slot.

I found a local place that is open on weekends that might have some mesa 12ax7s. how are those? what are they? Russian? Chinese? anyone know?

Pretty sure Mesa is currently using JJ's for pre's.

 

[mooncobra]

See this for tubes that die quickly in a CF position:

http://mtsforum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19525

oh man, i have tung sold and the mallard reissues in the power tubes!! also, a sovtek!! i need to switch out all the pre amp tube!

 

[jc986]

Tung Sol's do well in V1 spots, and the Sovtek's are fine as well as long as they aren't in a cathode follower position. I'd email Masotti and determine which spots are cathode followers.

 

[mooncobra]

ok, so now i have 3 tung sols, 2 ruby hg's, one marked Chinese, and one with no markings at all??

in the manual the pre amp tubes are marked
-crunch 1
-clean 1
-clean 2/recovery stage
-lead
-crunch 2
-crunch 3
-phase

ok, so i switched the sovtek out for the new ruby hg, and the amp is now working, but the volume has dropped a little bit. when the amp died, the volume was kind of high, and when i turned the amp on now, the volume was pretty low and i have to turn the volume up higher on the amp. normally, if i turned the volume knob up this high, it would be very loud. its not though, but it is working.

in the phase slot what is an ideal tube? what would the ruby hg's be best for the lead and crunch? in the recovery stage slot or phase slot, if a tube is dying would the volume experience a little drop?

sorry for all the questions guys.

 

[mooncobra]

ok, figured out the volume drop, when I was putting the tubes back in, I accidentally hit the toggle switch for the fx loop. I turned it back on, and bingo, the volume returned to normal.

 

[glip22]

ok, figured out the volume drop, when I was putting the tubes back in, I accidentally hit the toggle switch for the fx loop. I turned it back on, and bingo, the volume returned to normal.

 

[fretout]

if the recovery stage is a cathode follower, you should not use Russian tubes in that position as they will die an early death. JJ, Chinese, or NOS USA tubes will work better. With no info regarding your amp (make, model, etc) this is all I have to offer.

Definitely. CF puts much more stress on the 12ax7. Chinese for this slot. If you have Russian, especially Tung Sol that's your issue. I like the tone of Tung Sol but they dies fast. I think it has to do with their cathodes. Not sure. Replace the tubes and see if you can find out the layout Mike. Chinese as he just posted in CF spots. So yeah, that can be your issue. Maybe not the amp per say.

hey Gary! there is 5 tung sols, 1 sovtek, and one ruby. I have no idea what a cathode follower is or what it does. what does the recovery stage do?

Get the Tung Sols out. Go all Chinese if needed Mike. CF has to do with driving the tone stack. There are different methods to drive the stack. Just get the Tung Sols out. We think that is your issue. I had five of them die very quickly in the past and stopped using them. Some have better luck but they die fast in a CF slot.

I found a local place that is open on weekends that might have some mesa 12ax7s. how are those? what are they? Russian? Chinese? anyone know?

Pretty sure Mesa is currently using JJ's for pre's.

See, and I was pretty sure Mesa was using JJs, and that was after they used Ruby, and after they used some Chinese 12ax7s...

Edit: as of about a year ago, Mesa was getting their 12ax7s from JJ...and this is confirmed by Mesa themselves.