Tube Talk

[Racerxrated]

Marshall style amps seem to really respond to Chinese 9th gen 12ax7b's in all positions, Amperex and RFT's as well(preamp). Power tubes (34s) RFT and Winged Cs are killer..even used winged c's can be worth the money. Another sleeper power tube is the Siemens EL34...really full and powerful.

 

[OUTLAW1969]

Ok... So what I get for early/normal/late break up is head room. My amp is 100w that I turn to half power and even then I don't think I've ever needed it anywhere near noon live. I play pretty high gain, mid-rangey 80's sounding stuff with my cleans only being used for my cover band when we play a few Bon Jovi/Def Leppard songs. Early/Normal/Late or does it matter?... Just so I know what to ask

It's been a while since I've known this little about my gear, thanks a lot again for the responses

Probably just an average rating, for your power tubes for the time being. A nice middle of the road rating is fine, until you learn exactly what you prefer. You really have to be pushing them to tell a huge difference, for the most part anyway.

You also need to decide how you are going to bias them (ie. Hot, Cold, or a middle of the road setting).

Research the plate voltage of your amp, and how it comes in to play when biasing your choice of power tubes (if you do it yourself).

Since you are always running your 100 watt amp at 1/2 power, then forget what I suggested about buying extra replacements. You will have built in spares.
Just find out if your amp is utilizing the inner pair or outer pair, for the 1/2 power function, and if you buy a matched quad, you will automatically have spare pair.

 

[OUTLAW1969]

Power tubes (34s) RFT and Winged Cs are killer..even used winged c's can be worth the money. Another sleeper power tube is the Siemens EL34...really full and powerful.

All three of those are my favorites, too.

I just was not going to complicate the conversation by mentioning Winged C's (because of the scarcity of good ones these days), or NOS tubes.

It seems like buying SED's is a HUGE gamble anymore, especially if you don't know how to properly test them upon receipt. The existing stock is either extremely picked over and thrown together with "it is close enough for push/pull" matching, or they are waaay too expensive from people that still have closely matched stock. But then again, you get what you pay for. I stocked up and finally have a bunch of good extras now, but had to return more than half of the ones that I initially received from different sources, after testing them on the Hickok.

And all of my Siemens and RFT power tubes have been purchased from overseas, which is not as big of a deal as it used to be. But the good ones are very pricey, too.

 

[ChadVanHalen]

Ok... So what I get for early/normal/late break up is head room. My amp is 100w that I turn to half power and even then I don't think I've ever needed it anywhere near noon live. I play pretty high gain, mid-rangey 80's sounding stuff with my cleans only being used for my cover band when we play a few Bon Jovi/Def Leppard songs. Early/Normal/Late or does it matter?... Just so I know what to ask

It's been a while since I've known this little about my gear, thanks a lot again for the responses

Probably just an average rating, for your power tubes for the time being. A nice middle of the road rating is fine, until you learn exactly what you prefer. You really have to be pushing them to tell a huge difference, for the most part anyway.

You also need to decide how you are going to bias them (ie. Hot, Cold, or a middle of the road setting).

Research the plate voltage of your amp, and how it comes in to play when biasing your choice of power tubes (if you do it yourself).

Since you are always running your 100 watt amp at 1/2 power, then forget what I suggested about buying extra replacements. You will have built in spares.
Just find out if your amp is utilizing the inner pair or outer pair, for the 1/2 power function, and if you buy a matched quad, you will automatically have spare pair.

It's the inner pair I know, but I didn't even think of it that way haha how convenient! Ok so normal break up and I'm definitely not going to learn to bias on something like a Quick Rod, maybe if I still had my Marshall AVT or whatever, but if I stick to the same brand and rating and all that I should only need to do it once... Wow you guys have been super helpful, I've always put off everything about tubes so it was great to finally clear the air on literally every question I had

One last thing, for an American based guy, what company do you recommend me order from and as for asking for a certain rating, do I ask for normal break up somewhere on the order and each time I do that I'll get similar enough tubes to not require a bias? Or would I buy a matched quad (2 inside and 2 extra on outside) and when both those go out I buy another matched quad and get it rebiased?

I've heard of Winged C's and the whole idea of NOS from the old companies and all that, but that's something for older, more tube experienced (and hopefully wealthier) me will get hooked on. For now I'm just getting a working man's game plan up and running

 

[OUTLAW1969]

One last thing, for an American based guy, what company do you recommend me order from and as for asking for a certain rating, do I ask for normal break up somewhere on the order and each time I do that I'll get similar enough tubes to not require a bias? Or would I buy a matched quad (2 inside and 2 extra on outside) and when both those go out I buy another matched quad and get it rebiased?

I recommend our very own board member Valve Queen (Laura). Once you tell her what you want, you will be in excellent hands. She is a fantastic guitarist, so if you know what you are after but unsure how to explain it, she will still know what you are talking about.
Excellent customer service, and extremely helpful.
http://www.valvequeen.com

Or, if you decide to contact EuroTubes (Bob) as mentioned by someone else earlier in this thread, he can also get you taken care of.

Whichever source that you choose to buy from, always make a note of what rating that you received, so you can re-order easily next time if you want the exact same thing.

As far as "set it and forget it" biasing, in theory you will be fine.......but there is the problem of drifting. So it is always good to check your bias periodically, to keep everything optimal.

 

[ChadVanHalen]

One last thing, for an American based guy, what company do you recommend me order from and as for asking for a certain rating, do I ask for normal break up somewhere on the order and each time I do that I'll get similar enough tubes to not require a bias? Or would I buy a matched quad (2 inside and 2 extra on outside) and when both those go out I buy another matched quad and get it rebiased?

I recommend our very own board member Valve Queen (Laura). Once you tell her what you want, you will be in excellent hands. She is a fantastic guitarist, so if you know what you are after but unsure how to explain it, she will still know what you are talking about.
Excellent customer service, and extremely helpful.
http://www.valvequeen.com

Or, if you decide to contact EuroTubes (Bob) as mentioned by someone else earlier in this thread, he can also get you taken care of.

Whichever source that you choose to buy from, always make a note of what rating that you received, so you can re-order easily next time if you want the exact same thing.

As far as "set it and forget it" biasing, in theory you will be fine.......but there is the problem of drifting. So it is always good to check your bias periodically, to keep everything optimal.

I heard Chappers or some YouTube dude mention Valve Queen, I'll have to check her out. Thanks again Outlaw and MesaBoogie, finally wrapped my head around this crazy stuff!

 

[Deleted member 21113]

Glad to help Chad, sharing useful knowledge of this type is always appreciated, doing research and asking questions, I also bought a tube amp book years ago by Aspen Pittman, helped me out to troubleshoot tubes, good luck!

There is another forum like this one I'm a member of, dedicated to amps I use, super super helpful, LOVE IT!