Renegade Stock Tube Question

[tjnugent]

I am new to this forum and just bought a used Renegade 212 Combo. I don't think the tubes have been upgraded, so I am going to be doing that in the next month.

What is the stock brand of tubes from the factory? I am trying to get a feel for what is already in there, so I can pick my tubes from that reference.

I know that most manufactures use cheap Chinese tubes, but this is a more expensive amp than your run of the mill Fender or Vox. For all I know Egnater may be using decent tubes from the factory.

Can anyone tell me what brand the factory tubes come with this amp?

Thanks,

TJ

PS. This is a magnificent amp, and if those are cheap tubes in it, I can only imagine what the potential really is.

 

[shimmilou]

Hi tjnugent,

Any relation to Ted?

The tubes that come stock in most any amp vary from time to time, depending on the weather I guess. Actually, probably depending on the supplier and how consistent the tubes are. You might want to have a peak inside and check which brand that you have. I doubt if they are cheap tubes, and TAD, Mesa Boogie, GT, and others use Chinese tubes, some of which are very good. These days, it's either China or Russia for the most part for the majority of tubes.

 

[mixn4him]

Yeah my Tweaker and Tourmaster came with Chinese tubes in all the positions..Upgrades do make a difference..

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah my Tweaker and Tourmaster came with Chinese tubes in all the positions..Upgrades do make a difference..

certain ears like and get used to certain things

chinese 12ax7b silver dragons are phenomenal tubes for the money. basically the same unbranded Groove tube, about 20$ cheaper. pay for the label if you want though!

i would however, suggest playing your amp for a while and getting to know it, before messing around with tubes and going down that rabbit hole. unless you feel like you know what you want tonally, and how to achieve it with certain tubes for that amp.

 

[shimmilou]

Many places overprice their GTs. Make sure to get them from a place that doesn't overcharge, or at least call them on their "price matching". With a little shopping around, you can get GTs for not much more than run-of-the-mill tubes. GC is one such place that I routinely have to point out their price matching policy, usually knocking about $20 or more per pair off their price for GTs. Many places such as AES sell GTs for a reasonable price.

For example, JJ are some of the least expensive tubes around:
JJ 6L6 Matched Pair, $34.50
http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/T-6L6GC-JJ

GT 6L6 CHP Matched Pair, $42.00
http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/T-6L6-CHP-MP-GT

IMO, the black-Plate Chinese GTs sound much better than JJ, and the price is only $7.50 more for the GTs, and considering the GT testing and extra warranty time, it's well worth it. There are many flavors of GT, and you can usually find something to suit your needs.

To be more specific, GT doesn't just put a label on the tubes that they sell. The tubes are thoroughly tested, selecting the best, and only then are labeled GT. It's not simply a label that you are paying for.

BTW, your amp was made in China.

 

[Anonymous]

Many places overprice their GTs. Make sure to get them from a place that doesn't overcharge, or at least call them on their "price matching". With a little shopping around, you can get GTs for not much more than run-of-the-mill tubes. GC is one such place that I routinely have to point out their price matching policy, usually knocking about $20 or more per pair off their price for GTs. Many places such as AES sell GTs for a reasonable price.

For example, JJ are some of the least expensive tubes around:
JJ 6L6 Matched Pair, $34.50
http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/T-6L6GC-JJ

GT 6L6 CHP Matched Pair, $42.00
http://www.tubesandmore.com/products/T-6L6-CHP-MP-GT

IMO, the black-Plate Chinese GTs sound much better than JJ, and the price is only $7.50 more for the GTs, and considering the GT testing and extra warranty time, it's well worth it. There are many flavors of GT, and you can usually find something to suit your needs.

To be more specific, GT doesn't just put a label on the tubes that they sell. The tubes are thoroughly tested, selecting the best, and only then are labeled GT. It's not simply a label that you are paying for.

BTW, your amp was made in China.

true that! i bypass the testing scheme though, cause i have my own tester that i rely on if you get my drift.
so, i dont really rely on q/a someone else does....even though they probably do it better than I do....i just buy tubes, if they are crap, i return them, if not, i keep.

i like the ruby 6l6gmstr. you can get a matched quad from gutter center shipped to your door for like 50$.

i DO want a set of 6l6 winged C tubes just to check them out, but, in my travels, power tube tone tweaking just isn't high on the priority map. i'd much rather tinker with other stuff.

speaking of chinese, i STILL never figured out my tourmaster reverb tranny (the 2nd one) problem.
im in the middle of moving to a new house though, so it wont be happening til i get the shop set back up and ready to roll.

 

[shimmilou]

The Ruby are pretty good tubes, also Chinese, I like the GMSTR. Ruby is similar to GT, they don't make the tubes, but test and label them. I believe Ruby uses Shuguang made tubes exclusively.

Winged C are great (St Petersburg, Russia), and on another forum, a poster tested them against the new Svetlana (Saratov, Russia, Reflector factory) and reported that they are close to the Winged C in sound, but differ a little in response and construction. The Svetlanas have been available from GT.

I wondered about your reverb troubles and if you have made any progress. If I had one of those amps, I would take it apart and draw up a schematic so we could go through it and see if there are any other troubles besides the transformer. Considering the prolific number of Egnater transformer problems, it wouldn't surprise me if it was just another junk transformer. Plus, after my experience, you couldn't give me another one.

Have you emailed MM about the reverb tranny? They offer a pretty good deal if you are the first to send in your hosed tranny so that they can build them. I would go that route if it is an option.

 

[Anonymous]

that's a great idea. i WILL do that.

i emailed them about the output tranny, but they weren't interested.

shit, the reverb tranny from eggie cost 29+ like 15 to ship. i would pay 50$ for one that was guarunteed from MM, providing there's not another amp issue.

nate, from egnater said it HAS to be my amp...he's NEVER seen one go through 2 reverb trannies.

 

[shimmilou]

Yeah, the tech that fixed mine the first time said the same thing, "never happens twice". Yeah, right!