What tubes to use...

S

skweeks

New member
I have a Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series head and I want to get some parts that supposevely have a tendency to spontaneously combust (or at least stop working) right when needed, like tubes and fuses. Anyone know what kinds I would want?
 
Take a look in the amp and buy whatever is in there now (if you like the way it sounds now)

If not, there are many replacement tubes available - my personal choice would be to call Mesa Boogie in Petaluma, CA and order some of theirs, but Groove Tubes, Ruby's, Sovtek, and Fender are all makes that are easily available.

A 12ax7 is a pre-amp tube (which in my experience is much less likely to blow than a ...)
6L6 which is a power-amp tube.

I'm not sure if you have a rectifier tube in your Marshall - check the manual (or the Marshall Website), but I've never replaced a rectifier, so it's probably not high on the list of 'items I should have in case...'
 
HEY, your amp may be trying to tell you something. You souldn't be blowing fuse and tubes so frequently; even if you play with the volume set to "11". There may be a problem with the filter capacitors. These are inexpensive parts and having these checked out by you local tech can save you big bucks in the long run. When the filter caps go they can take power tubes, transformers and rectifiers with them. Also have your amp biased and always buy power tubes in matched sets. Have the repair shop test the speaker coil as well, to see if it has lost or gained impedence. If an amp loses it's signal "load", you could have problems with you power circuits.
 
that's not it at all.. i've had the amp for about a year and never had to replace anything... but i'm in a band now and i'll be starting playing out by the end of this month so emergency gear is on my mind...
 
> Mesa Boogie in Petaluma, CA and order some of theirs, but Groove Tubes, Ruby's, Sovtek, and Fender are all makes that are easily available.

Mesa Boogie, Groove Tubes, Ruby, and Fender do not manufacture tubes. They purchase tubes (mostly cheap Chinese crap) and relabel them, then mark up the price enormously.

If you want the best tubes you can get, at the best prices, from the most knowledgable tube guru out there, check out:

L.V. c/o
NBS Electronics
303-778-1156
detritus@ix.netcom.com

I don't work for him, nor am I affiliated with him. I just buy my tubes from the guy because they're the best you can get.

He can also tell you, based on your amp, what other parts are the most likely to blow or go bad and why. You owe it to yourself to call or email the guy and chat. His advice is always free, and he can really help you get the full potential out of your amp in terms of sound and durability.

CT
http://www.hotterthankarl.com/CharlesThomas
 
Hmmm ...

I'm sure you're right, Charles.

I guess that I got lucky, or that the cheap Chinese crap that Boogie uses is okay, since I am now on my third Boogie (since 1979), and including my 1966 Vibrolux Reverb and 1964 Pro Reverb I have only ever needed to replace one 6L6, and that includes the six-year period I was on the road, playing four/five/six sets a night. Of course, everything was in flight cases, maybe that makes a difference?

Skweek, buy one each of the pre-amp tubes and the power amp tubes that are in there now, put them somewhere where they're not going to be beat up and ... - you'll be fine.

BTW, Webster's Dictionary defines 'detritus' as:
"loose material that results directly from disintegration" or "a product of disintegration, destruction, or wearing away"

foo
 
Cheap Chineese Crap? Seeing how China and Russia are the two largest producers of vacuum tubes and both nations have been using vaccum technology 40 years after the rest of the world switched to solid state electronics maybe they now a little something about making tubes...............
 
I like Sovtek Tubes. Many Groove Tubes, and Fender Tunes, use sovtek and just stamp there names on them. Sovtek tubes have always been great and sounded good for me.
MIKE
 
nobody to my knowledge uses rectifier tubes anymore, they have all been replaced by diodes. Your filter caps are
in your power supply, if they are suspected you can bridge
another cap directly across the suspected one to see if that
clears up any troubles. Make sure to use the same rated cap
or better and be cognizant of the polarity since these are
electrolytic.
 
Groove Tubes have a great reputation in the guitar world and have specialized in tubes for a long time. I've always used them in my Fender amps with good results. The more money you spend on tubes you MIGHT be getting better ones, but who knows for sure. I like the Sovteks in my current favorite amp and when I need to replace them I will hunt down the exact same tube.
 
Fender tubes now are all Groove Tubes, they say so right on them. I personally like to find the old Fender tubes (which were Sovtek -Russia-) because they are really nasty in my Blues Deville and my Bassman. If you want a really thick sound use those Mesa tubes. They are rated for the dirtiness and I use then in my stack.
 
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