Should I retube?

[kylendm]

Hey guys I got a 5150 and the guy told me that all the tubes were about 8 months old and the preamp tubes could be a little older since I am the third owner. Should I retube the thing? Right now it has a quad of EHX 6L6s in it and 5 JJ 12ax7s.

 

[Rampage]

Personally, I'd keep the tubes that are in there until one of them pukes. Preamp tubes can last a long time and depending on how often/loud the original owner played, the power tubes could have a lot of life left in them.

 

[herbertmark5]

hell yes, unless you absolutely love the way it sounds now. i put the mark 4 set in my 5150II and it roars

 

[Tawlks]

I'd personally say buy a set of power amp valves and see if there's a massive increase in your tone, listen honestly, and blindly if need be, that's if you've got money around... hey.. if you're gonna be owning this amp or another 6l6 based amp then you're gonna use the 6l6 set you buy so why not!

Then let that be the judge to if you need new ones, you'll be able to tell when they're dying, if you think they sound good, then just keep the other set as a spare. Old power valves sound weak, not as full and lack bass, or so I've heard.

Alot (almost all) of 5150 owners will tell you that EHx valves SUCK and you should get JJs, my amp's in the shop now for a cold solder joint repair (5150 II) and I'm having the JJs I have put in, now, after buying the amp used I bought an entire new set of pre and power valves, I bought EH because I got a good deal on them, and I replaced the JJs that were in, I never cared to A/B them though but I wish I did, there wasn't a considerable difference in tone so I'm putting the JJs back in and the EHx are my spare pare as the JJs have been used by the previous owner before me and therefor have been used more, and I trust HCAF/RT's opinion on what power valves sound best.

 

[Sixtonoize]

Unless the amp has been run wide-open for several hours every single day, there is plenty of life left in those tubes.
Power tubes can last for 2-3 years with moderate usage.

Unless the amp is noisy (you know...relative to other 5150s) or making strange sounds (like coffee percolating), I'd keep the tubes in it that you've got.

 

[Tawlks]

Unless the amp has been run wide-open for several hours every single day, there is plenty of life left in those tubes.
Power tubes can last for 2-3 years with moderate usage.

Unless the amp is noisy (you know...relative to other 5150s) or making strange sounds (like coffee percolating), I'd keep the tubes in it that you've got.

This but you should also consider the possibility that the seller is a dick, if he is then the tubes could be 2 years old and unmatched etc, you get the idea.

 

[Sixtonoize]

Also very true.

And as a bonus - it never hurts to have a half-used and working set of tubes around as a backup, just in case.

 

[Variable]

hell yes, unless you absolutely love the way it sounds now. i put the mark 4 set in my 5150II and it roars

You realize you can put that picture that you attach to every post in your signature, right?...

 

[Sixtonoize]

I think I'm gonna put that pic in MY sig.

I just don't think that people are getting to see enough of it.

 

[kylendm]

Thanks for the opinions. I wanna replace them because they sound kind of lifeless. I think it was stage worth too so there was a bit of use in them.

Also my amp keeps getting this pop sound whenever I change the channel. I used contact cleaner on all the pots and switches but still I got the same sound. People say that tubes can cause this but I'm honestly not sure. Personally I think it might be a relay going back but I don't know. I'll probably buy a set of matched JJ 6l6s and some nice 12ax7s. I was thinking about buying from eurotubes.com.

https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.ph ... gory_id=40

They high gain option but I'm not sure.

 

[Motorpud]

I think I'm gonna put that pic in MY sig.

I just don't think that people are getting to see enough of it.

I think the 75 times I've seen that douchey pic is about enough to last me forever

 

[Tawlks]

Thanks for the opinions. I wanna replace them because they sound kind of lifeless. I think it was stage worth too so there was a bit of use in them.

Also my amp keeps getting this pop sound whenever I change the channel. I used contact cleaner on all the pots and switches but still I got the same sound. People say that tubes can cause this but I'm honestly not sure. Personally I think it might be a relay going back but I don't know. I'll probably buy a set of matched JJ 6l6s and some nice 12ax7s. I was thinking about buying from eurotubes.com.

https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.ph ... gory_id=40

They high gain option but I'm not sure.

I wouldn't bother with the high gain option, I'd personally go for the low gain option as I run my gain at 5-5.5 and use my cleans alot. I've heard that the high gain ones are noisy even at lower gain settings, plus if logic applies then the low gain ones will have a better clean channel. Go for standard and then later on decide what you need more/less of. Can't go wrong with the standards.

I've also heard it's voodoo and snake oil. I'd go the standard route if I were you. Jerry P from FJA says that the 'balanced' tube is bullshit, which yeah.. I can beleive.

 

[Tawlks]

hell yes, unless you absolutely love the way it sounds now. i put the mark 4 set in my 5150II and it roars

You realize you can put that picture that you attach to every post in your signature, right?...

Hahaha.

 

[Ventura]

hell yes, unless you absolutely love the way it sounds now. i put the mark 4 set in my 5150II and it roars

You realize you can put that picture that you attach to every post in your signature, right?...

V.

 

[herbertmark5]

hell yes, unless you absolutely love the way it sounds now. i put the mark 4 set in my 5150II and it roars

You realize you can put that picture that you attach to every post in your signature, right?...

i do it for all the people like u

 

[~Abstract~]

hai guis!

 

[Sixtonoize]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[TeleBlaster]

FWIW my 5150 eats preamp tubes for breakfast.
It's been back to Peavey - according to them all is good.
Anyways, I put in two new 12AX7's quarterly, in V1 and V2 and push everything down the line.
If I fail to do this, I will invariably have a preamp tube failure at the worst possible moment.
I get 6 mos. from the power tubes.
Play and travel a lot.