Question about tubes for my Laney AOR...

[yvesa]

I have a Laney AOR 50 Pro Tube Lead (the only date I can see reads 1986) and am going to replace the Preamp tubes (all I have money for currently, after buying gear).
The tubes have never been changed since I owned the amp, I have had it for appx 15 years.

The current tubes are:
Power:
2x Marshall EL 34M

Preamp:
2x Fender 12AX7A
2x Westinghouse 12AX7A

My question is; should I buy Groove Tubes (I heard they are very popular and good) or are there other alternatives that are just has good? Should I only get "12AX7" tubes or are there other tubes that can work?

I know nothing about tubes. I just recently got back into music (5 year leave) and I always used a pedal for distortion (it worked for the music I was making at the time) and now I am (finaly) discovering the tube distortion.
I am currently reading up on it at http://www.amptone.com.

I have seen a few messages of people having this amp so if you have tips for me please let me know.

Any help appreciated!

ps: Will this improve the sound a lot?

 

[gbdweller]

Pre amp tubes have the potential to last a very long time if they are not being abused. They will usually exhibit symptoms of one kind or another, such as squealing, crackling, popping etc. if they are failing. Power tubes have a much shorter life span and will inevitably fail at the worst possible time such as the second song of a long night. Your amp will exhibit such things as loss of power and tone or blown fuses.

Another problem with a 20 year old amp is the potential failure of the filter caps. Unlike tubes, which wear with use, filter caps wear with time because they dry out and short circuit. If you can, save your money, and take the amp to a decent repair guy. A quick inspection could identify any unseen problems and keep you from wasting money on tubes for an amp that may have other issues.

To answer your question about tubes...Welcome to the wonderful world of searching for that perfect tone! Do as much research as possible, listen to amps with particular brand tubes in them if you can, and be prepared to try a bunch of tubes over the life of your amp. I have a 5150 that I have tried many brands of tubes in. So far, I liked my Groove Tube set the best. They did not last as long as the Mesa tubes I once used but oh well. I am about to retube again and think I will be going with a set of JJ tubes www.eurotubes.com. Check out www.dougstubes.com as well. BTW, 12AX7, 12AX7A, 12AX7C, ECC83, and 7025 are all interchangeable.

 

[Farview]

I go to eurotubes too. I also have Laneys from that era, the tubes are solid and inexpensive.

 

[yvesa]

gbdweller: Thanks for the info. Great help

Farview: You wouldn't have any recording of just guitar using the Laney would you? I'd love to hear what a Laney sounds like besides mine.
I mostly use a Boss SD-1 with my head these days though.
btw, What tubes did you get from eurotubes?

When I turn off my amp I hear sounds like "pins hitting glass" lightly from the tubes. I don't know if this is normal.

 

[mx_mx]

gbdweller: Thanks for the info. Great help

Farview: You wouldn't have any recording of just guitar using the Laney would you? I'd love to hear what a Laney sounds like besides mine.

Here's a plug for Gorty...he uses a laney, AOR too if I'm not mistaken...
www.soundclick.com/gorty

 

[Gorty]

gbdweller: Thanks for the info. Great help

When I turn off my amp I hear sounds like "pins hitting glass" lightly from the tubes. I don't know if this is normal.

That is the tube glass cooling down...perfectly normal!

 

[Gorty]

Here's a plug for Gorty...he uses a laney, AOR too if I'm not mistaken...
www.soundclick.com/gorty

Thanx minxy for the plug........however not all tunes on my site are recorded using the Laney!.........But yes I do use the AOR 100watt Series.

 

[yvesa]

Originally Posted by Gorty
That is the tube glass cooling down...perfectly normal!

lol, thanks, I feel like a newb

Originally Posted by mx_mx
Here's a plug for Gorty...he uses a laney, AOR too if I'm not mistaken...
www.soundclick.com/gorty

Very cool, thanks!

Originally Posted by Gorty
...however not all tunes on my site are recorded using the Laney!.........But yes I do use the AOR 100watt Series.

Mind letting me know which ones were?

I can't seem to get any 'smooth' distortion out of the head. All I get is a harsh distorted tone. Anyone want to share amp settings with me?

 

[killmachine]

yeah you need to replace power tubes first, most last at the very most specially with the 100 watt amps about 8 -9 months tops. If they are not glowing a very light hazy blue they are not working, and yes it is possible to run on just one or two main power tubes.

I've switched brands at least 2 dozen times over the years. Sometimes repeating sometimes not.

Keep in mind tubes are only made in China, Russia, and Slovakia or AKA Czhech Republic. So for example most "Mesa boogie tubes" are merely a different set of the same Sovtek tubes, the same goes for Fender, Marshall, and Groove Tubes. Different Tubes, stamped with a different name, made to slightly differnt specs but all manufactured ulitimatly by the same factory and company.

My favorites: Groove Tubes with a medium hight hardness rating
Ruby Tubes
and most recently I've switched to JJ tubes, which have done wonders in my book.

Also double check an see if your amp is Class AB or Class B ( i believe ) that will make a difference on the last pre amp before your power as to what type you really need to buy. For example my amp is a Class AB type amp, so I had to purchase a balanced ECC 81 (12AX7) which is used to balance out the push/pull in the AB class type tube amp.


And check your amp for a Bias setting, you may be able to adjust the bias youself or you might have to take it to a tech to be set.

 

[Farview]

I use the eurotube EL34L's. They sound most like the GE's I used to run back in the day. The regular EL34's are a little squishy for my taste, great for soloing, but not good for fast, tight, palm muted rhythms.

 

[Farview]

yeah you need to replace power tubes first, most last at the very most specially with the 100 watt amps about 8 -9 months tops. If they are not glowing a very light hazy blue they are not working, and yes it is possible to run on just one or two main power tubes.

The blue haze thatchanges intensity when you play is a sign that the amp needs to be biased.

Different Tubes, stamped with a different name, made to slightly differnt specs but all manufactured ulitimatly by the same factory and company.

The tubes aren't made to different specs, they are just tested and rated. Mesa's don't have an adjustable bias, so they only sell tubes that test a certain way.

Also double check an see if your amp is Class AB or Class B ( i believe ) that will make a difference on the last pre amp before your power as to what type you really need to buy. For example my amp is a Class AB type amp, so I had to purchase a balanced ECC 81 (12AX7) which is used to balance out the push/pull in the AB class type tube amp.

The Laney's are class AB. An ECC 81 is a 12AT7, a 12AX7 is an ECC 83

 

[killmachine]

I stand corrected, and vaguley remeber posting during a midnight cig break.

 

[yvesa]

Thanks for the help, I just bought 4 new mesa tubes. It helped the sound some - not as much as I had thought though, something still isn't right. I need to look further for why it sound off.
Thanks again!

 

[Farview]

were they pre amp or power amp tubes? After that amount of time, they all need to be changed.

 

[yvesa]

were they pre amp or power amp tubes? After that amount of time, they all need to be changed.

4 pre amp tubes.
The 2 power amp tubes will have to wait a week or so. Will changing the power amp tubes also effect the tone drasticaly?

 

[killmachine]

consider the power tubes the bulk of your importance and tone, preamp are necassary but not the bread in the bread and butter equation.

put it this way, preamp can last literally several years before you really need to worry about them, power tubes the opposite

 

[yvesa]

Cool thanks for the info.

I just ordered two JJ E34L from eurotubes. I hope this will help.

 

[Farview]

If the power tubes are shot, the wonderful sound of your new preamp tubes is being funneled through your used up power tubes. You should hear a big difference when you change the power tubes.