Dave, my BE100 questions

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lessthan12

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hey Dave
So I swapped out my be100 today for a new one at guitar center. The one I bought from them last month(new) was having an issue with the clean channel. What was happening was you could hear the gain channel bleeding through under the clean. No big deal as I don't really use the clean and everything else was fine. I figured maybe it was dropped,left on etc from being on demo at gc. I just let them know and they ordered me a new one, They were very helpful.
Anyways, the old one had 5 pre tubes and the new one has 4. I think I read somewhere it has to do with the effects loop. What I'm curious about is the new one sounds a bit different. It doesn't sound like it has as much gain. The old ones tubes were marked 43 on top of the tubes and the new one they're marked 53. I know they are all hardwired etc etc but is there a big difference from amp to amp? It seems like a pretty significant difference in tone.
 
just looked again, 3 power tubes have 53 written on top and 1 says 52. not sure if that makes a difference but it definitely has a lot less gain than the one brought back :confused:
 
Power tubes are not it. You might just have a weak preamp tube. They vary alot. Or get the other back and I can fix it for you.
 
RACKSYSTEMS":1fc03w2p said:
Power tubes are not it. You might just have a weak preamp tube. They vary alot. Or get the other back and I can fix it for you.
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Thanks for the advice Dave. Im going to keep the new one and I'll just try some new pre tubes. What do you recommend?
 
I noticed the middle pre isn't as bright as the others. Im not sure if it means anything but I took a picture. Should I start with this tube?
 
Most likley it's the tungsol's . Although a good one sounds good in production they have been very problematic and inconsistent. So the first tube pictured is the hbe and clean only the next is the BE. I'd start with the BE tube. I currently use Chinese in those spots like the rest. The problem is you might run into microphonics . Try ruby tested ones.
 
I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me on a sunday Dave. So,the first thing I just did is swap the 2 tungsols around to see if that weaker lit tube would do the same thing in the hbe tube spot. It did, but the BE sound returned,it sounded like the one I returned. The hbe still doesn't sound quite right so I guess it is the tube. Im guessing the be feeds into the hbe(I know nothing about amp design etc) and thats why the be channel now sounds right with the stronger tube in it? On my way to the store to pick up a new tube. Can I use any 12ax7 or will certain ones void warranty etc?
 
Any will be fine but they all have different tones. Play around with it if you like.
 
Thanks Dave, I changed the tubes and it still didn't sound right,not bad at all but it had a different character than the first one. I went back to the store and got the first one back. I know it wasn't a placebo effect because we a/b'd them and a few people came over and commented how they sounded different. Again, the second one still sounded great but the first one was the better one to me. We did notice the output transformer was bent over/leaning on the newer one,like it took a good fall. Not sure if that could have impacted it.
On a different note, there was a guy in there testing out the dirty shirley with the matching 112 cab using his custom shop strat and it sounded like heaven. At some point(probably next year) I plan on picking up another one of your amps. I really love what you're putting out.
 
Let me know if there is a problem with the clean on the first one.
 
Tubes can vary alot. Not much I can do about that. Most likely if you swapped the tubes from amp to amp the sound would go with it.
 
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