Tube options for classic 30

  • Thread starter Thread starter Thurgood
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Thurgood

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I own a peavey classic 30 which I enjoy, but it has to go for financial reasons. I intend to sell it as I also need to thin the stable. NOT SPAM. I believe that it would be just and fair to offer to the prospective buyer, a fresh set of tubes. (power El 84's). This amp vibrates the hell out the tubes, they become microphonic. I have tried a few types, Sovtek, EI, Tung Sol etc. The amp sounds good but is sensitive to touch. Low volume this is a prob, at stage level yu would not know the diff. ??? New tubes? new pre- tube. Hell I don't know. As a caveat, I own a few tube amps, including combos that do not display this trait. How can I remedy this to give the buyer a proper amp?
 
Man, Sovtek??

Are these amps any good at all? I've played with tons of Soviet equipment back in my school days, and I can't believe those Russian guys actually made something that's sold on the world market.
 
Wait a minute. Peavey classic 30. made in america. Hunting for proper tubes that are les prone to microphonics. Sorry for the lack of clarity of original post. El 84 champs out there help.!!!!
 
Thurgood,

My first amp was a Classic 20, and I still have it. I didn't retube it until recently, and I gather that the amp hadn't been retubed even before I got it. I'd say I put about ten years into those tubes, and the preamp tubes were going really microphonic (duh!). I'm no expert, but I think the real problems with microphonics are in the preamp tubes.

Anyway, I retubed it with basic, plain old Sovteks based on a recommendation from Elderly Instruments here in town that the Sovteks are very robust and their 12AX7s specifically are known for low microphonics. I did the whole amp for $35-$40. While I didn't notice a huge change in tone, I no longer experience the microphonics or any tube rattle. In terms of selling a decent amp to a buyer, I think that's the most they can ask for. If the buyer wants to mess with tubes for tone, let them - but in buying a new amp (most notably because I'd be laying my money down for it), I'd care mostly about microphonics and basic reliability before tone.

Looking at Elderly's website now, I see that a pair of Ruby JJ Teslas are even cheaper than the Sovteks they have in stock, but I remember that I only paid about $18 for the pair I bought. They work fine. Bottom line: Sovteks were recommended to me for low microphonics in the pre-amp tubes. I bought Sovtek power tubes, too, and they are all doing the job.
 
Thank you for your response. From my observtion the power tubes are at issue. I have reviewed past posts as to "tube Gurus" and will contact them should this effort not bere fruit. The amp runs fine but "grumbles" at idle and growls at the touch. Go figure. Any help is welcome. Thanks. W.
 
Fire up the amp without plugging your guitar in. Turn up the volume and the tone pots and let it warm up a few minutes. Then take the eraser end of a pencil and tap on the tubes. You will find which ones are microphonic. I'm not a big Sovtek fan from a sound standpoint. JJ EL84's are some of the best sounding out there IMO. BUT Sovtek's do have one thing going for them, they are very rugged and take a lot of abuse. That's one reason why Fender used them as their stock tube for a long time before switching over to Groove Tubes a year or two ago.
 
Thank you for your input. Upon a gentle tap to the power tubes I hear "bottle noise". I will replace the sons of a ****. Kinda funny thoug, that when I replaced them in the past I still ended up with the same prob. My guess, poor socket construction contributing to the vibration long associated with this type of amp. My Boogie, that has similar combo construction shows not the slightest prob. Well, look at the cost difference. Thanks to you all for your help. All in all this has been a good sounding amp. It is jsut easier to haul around than the other amps I own. Gettin old and heavy stuff is heavy stuff. :)
 
Dont kid yourself......

There are currently only 4 factories in the world making tubes.

2 in Russia....... 2 in China.....

After all the tubes I've been thru, I buy Russian.....

You want a mild surprise, go look up New Sensor Corp on wikipedia before you decide what tubes sound better than all the others.
 
Snd chsr you gor that on the money. I just want the amp to perform, at volume no problem. However at low volume I get "rumble". Giving a thought to driving to Peavey folks/techy for an overhaul. They are near to my location. I just want to sell the thing and give good value. Is that wrong. No. Not in my book. As I have stated before, the amp does its tricks well, but the growl pisses (sp) me off. Been playing gtr for years and it just annoys. I will give it a whirl this day. Grumble smulble. but the thing does rock. Cough Cough, move to Marshall, only one input away. Thanks folks.
 
I understand what you are saying, and I commend you for wanting to sell the amp in good working order. :cool:

Hard to say what's causing that problem. If the tubes are not microphonic, or if you replace the tubes and the problem remains, then it will not be easy to figure out what the problem is.

After changing tubes, I suppose I would suspect the speaker next. It's the easiest thing to inspect. Are any of the nuts/bolts loose? Does the problem go away if you play the amp thru an extension cab and temporarily disconnect the internal speaker? That would be an easy test to perform, although Peavey is not known for making their combo amps "extension cab friendly." Just doesn't seem right that the amp would vibrate that much. Is it possible the cab is loose on a corner? Or the bolts holding the amp chassis in the cab are loose? Maybe one of the tone controls is broken and stuck in the "10" position?

Hard to say, but I hope you can get it fixed up ok! Let us know what you find out.
 
Thanks Snd chsr. I have inspected the amp top to bottom. Spkr soundly affixed, pre tubes in good order. I dono. the things sounds fine and plays well. It just idles weird. Like I said earlier none of my other amps have the same characteristic. In the past I have observed the same problem and a change of tubes remedied the prob. Combos are subject to vibration and travel stress and will IMHO exibit the same prob. I do want to sell, but as a gtr player and lover of tube stuff in general, I am compelled to make this right. Hey, when I buy I want it right. Can I say right again. oops I just did. This amp is cool just one too many right (oops did it again) now. Thank you.
 
Filter Caps?

Sounds like a leaky filter capacitor. No guitar plugged in volume at least on 1 and your getting a weird scratching or static kinda sound that comes and goes?
thats the expensive problem

OR

loose or ready to die preamp tube - the cheap solution

Most likely not the power tubes if they aren't glowing slightly blue and then a lot blue when playing.

as for tube choice Ruby Tubes are usually matched well. all tubes come from russia or china Ruby at least tries to package well balanced and matched tube pairs. Groove Tubes seem to have too much gain.

always replace tubes in pairs and have the amp biased every tube change to match the plate voltage of the tubes to the voltage of the amp. Biasing the amp is like checking and adjusting the timing of an engine when you change the sparkplugs.

DONT try this yourself if you dont have knowledge or experience!!!!!! Plate voltage is between 500 and 700 VOLTS DC IT WILL KILL YOU!!!!!! Yes, with the amp plugged into the wall and turned on, there is at least 500 VOLTS DC at and inside the power tubes.
 
THank you. Have some exp with tube ampys, enohg to know not to fool with high voltage.
m curiousl about the poss of capacitor issues. Don.t know.
 
definately NOT filter caps... when they get old/dried it gives hum... until they totaly crap out and then you blow fuses...
 
I think its the carburetor

good piont demented,

Classic 30 is a newer amp and has plastic srink wrap caps and not the old wax dipped cardboard cylinders

thurgood, does the amp make the cracking static sound without you playing or turn the pots?

does it make the noise if you move the cab or tap on it?

or are you hearing a roaring type sound that starts low and gets louder and stops if you touch the amp?

does it make the noise with or without a guitar plugged in?

we can keep giving you ideas and asking these annoying guestions. i dont mind...but go to these pages for some troubleshooting tips:

http://acruhl.freeshell.org/mga/main/troubleshoot.html

http://www.geofex.com/ampdbug/ampdebug.htm
 
soundchaser59 said:
Dont kid yourself......

There are currently only 4 factories in the world making tubes.

2 in Russia....... 2 in China.....
Click to expand...

Did Groove Tubes shut down their U.S. 6L6 line? They were manufacturing them for a while, anyway.
 
ggunn said:
Did Groove Tubes shut down their U.S. 6L6 line? They were manufacturing them for a while, anyway.
Click to expand...

when did they do their own??? when i was doing repairs you could plainly see sovtek on them... same with fender...
 
dementedchord said:
when did they do their own??? when i was doing repairs you could plainly see sovtek on them... same with fender...
Click to expand...

I was set straight by someone in here, I believe, when I asserted that GT didn't make their own tubes. Whoever it was passed me a link to a page on the GT website that said that they had bought a tube factory in the US and had started making their own tubes.

From
http://www.groovetubes.com/history_w22.cfm:
"Groove Tubes bought it’s present building in August of 2000. The new GT home has close to 12,000 feet of office, lab, and manufacturing space and is located in the small town of San Fernando, California. The new building has allowed expansion into actual tube production, and Aspen was blessed to be able to acquire the entire production line from the old G.E. company upon it’s closing. This line will produce the original GE 6L6 and 6CA7 power tubes to the original specs and sound. Actually, at NAMM 2002 in Anaheim GT proudly introduced the first effort from this adventure, showing the new GT6L6-GE to rave reviews...it was generally confirmed this new GT tube is the exact equal of the famous 6L6. Jimi Hendrix recorded may of his hits with this tube in his Fender Twin Reverb."

However, large parts of their website don't appear to have been updated in 5 or 6 years, so the info may or may not be current and/or accurate.
 
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