Unleashing the Sonic Power: Exploring the Art of Valve Rolling for Guitar Amps Introduction: Valve guitar amplifiers have long captivated musicians with their distinctive warm tones, rich harmonics, and organic response. Central to their magic are the valves, also known as vacuum tubes, which play a crucial role in shaping the amp’s sound. If you’re an owner of a valve guitar amp, you may already be aware of the potential for tonal exploration through valve […]
Hey there! Thought I’d share some exciting updates to our valve testing capabilities and our cool new test gear we’ve got in-house! Our business has boomed since kicking off back in 2013, so we’ve decided it’s time to upgrade our valve testing equipment. Think of it as a turbo boost for our valve quality assurance here at VTGA!
A few weeks ago, I had a chat about the valve market with Cliff Brown of 633 Engineering. Some really cool amps from this leading UK bespoke amp manufacturer. 633’s amps are the culmination of Cliff’s rich experience, having designed mixing desks and valve amps for household-name manufacturers. We chatted about the valve market under the banner “The truth About Valves” and Cliff recorded the discussion. Lots of inside knowledge about valves (vacuum tubes for
Prices on everything seem to be going up. We are all suffering the effects of inflation. I thought I would make a comparison of trusted valve ( tube) suppliers here in the UK on one of the most common valves, the popular JJ ECC83S. I looked at prices on the morning of 17th September, 2023. I went through the exercise of buying one piece. In each case, I picked the cheapest option to get a
A Fender Blues Jr Mk III arrived in the workshop. It was dead. The amp was opened up. One EL84 output valve was completely destroyed. The other had most of the getter gone in the valve , suggesting long hours of use. The white material inside the valve indicated a slow gas leak that eventually killed the valve. The EL84 failure had blown one of the screen resistors on the main pcb and this resulted
Valve guitar amplifiers have long captivated musicians with their distinctive warm tones, rich harmonics, and organic response. Central to their magic are the valves, also known as vacuum tubes, which play a crucial role in shaping the amp’s sound. If you’re an owner of a valve guitar amp, you may already be aware of the potential for tonal exploration through valve rolling. In this article, we delve into the exciting world of valve rolling, uncovering
It has happened or will happen to you when you’re the proud owner of a valve guitar amp or Hi-Fi amp. It worked fine yesterday and today it has gone weird. The thing is blowing fuses, making weird noises, or dead as a doornail. We, of course, sell valves and related gear, but we don’t want you to buy valves you don’t need. When disaster strikes, there are things you can do to diagnose if
9 simple ways to diagnose faulty valves in an amp Read More »
New valve testers now installed. Click here and see how we are ensuring you get the best quality valves.
Genalex KT88, EH 6973 & Tung Sol 9591A in stock
We normally ship orders same day for orders received Monday -Friday before 1.45pm and before 10.30am on Saturday.