famous beagle
Well-known member
Update
I just replaced the power tube with a NOS Tung-Sol, and the amp is considerably cleaner now. It's late, so I wasn't able to crank it and see how it reacted, but it's much cleaner at lower volumes.
It's interesting, though, because it seems as though it's actually a bit crunchier at very low volumes (though not as much as with the other tube) --- say from 2 to 3 (you can't really hear anything before 2 because the volume knob is also the switch). Then as you turn it up to around 4 or 5, it starts to clean up much more. This could be that there's more volume to hide some crunchiness that possibly still exists. In other words, maybe the ratio of proper amp tone to the possibly malfunction-driven crunchiness is higher.
I also can't tell if the amp is louder with the Tung-Sol yet, because I can't dime it yet. But my first impression seems to be that I have gained a bit of volume. We'll see tomorrow though.
I have a NOS RCA rectifier tube coming as well and will try replacing that next. If things still seem to be a little fishy, I'll move on to trying out another speaker and then on to the innards if necessary.
But, the tone has definitely improved by replacing the power tube, which gives me some hope.
I just replaced the power tube with a NOS Tung-Sol, and the amp is considerably cleaner now. It's late, so I wasn't able to crank it and see how it reacted, but it's much cleaner at lower volumes.
It's interesting, though, because it seems as though it's actually a bit crunchier at very low volumes (though not as much as with the other tube) --- say from 2 to 3 (you can't really hear anything before 2 because the volume knob is also the switch). Then as you turn it up to around 4 or 5, it starts to clean up much more. This could be that there's more volume to hide some crunchiness that possibly still exists. In other words, maybe the ratio of proper amp tone to the possibly malfunction-driven crunchiness is higher.
I also can't tell if the amp is louder with the Tung-Sol yet, because I can't dime it yet. But my first impression seems to be that I have gained a bit of volume. We'll see tomorrow though.
I have a NOS RCA rectifier tube coming as well and will try replacing that next. If things still seem to be a little fishy, I'll move on to trying out another speaker and then on to the innards if necessary.
But, the tone has definitely improved by replacing the power tube, which gives me some hope.