A friend has an ACOM 1000 amplifier. It is used on the HF bands( short wave bands) . Â It uses one valve for the output and the valve is a Svetlana 4Cx800A. Â It produces 700-800 watts from a 30 watt input. Â The valve runs on 3000 volts. Â You can imagine if something goes wrong in the amp the bang would be BIG ! Â The designers built a whole load of monitoring circuitry around the valve […]
Here are a few things to watch out for when buying second hand valve amps. Valves are very old technology and so valve amps inherit the unreliability of old tech. Keep in mind the 6L6 output valve was launched on the market in 1937. Just think about driving a car today that was designed in 1937 and is unchanged today. Cars back then broke down all the time and dissolved in the rain. So don’t
While we do our day to day the day to day work, we find some interesting useful websites and some we just like.. I thought I would be brief and share some things them. They are in no particular order. Honeyboy amps make some really nice looking amps. They are based on the early Fender Tweed designs and are hand wired. Andy makes a lovely 5 watt amp and if you are a harp player
This post has nothing to do with valves or tubes but it is how to update your keyboard or midi player that currently has a floppy disk drive ( remember them ?). we have posted the because I am sure their are many folks out there that like to use Midi files  as a way of ” playing with a band” at home.  I try to play guitar and the Midi player keeps me motivated
Have you ever wondered why amplifier valves wear out or why they dont last as long as solid state stuff? Why do the big amp manufacturers give you three years warranty on the amp and 90 days on the guitar amp valves? Valves are very old technology. Â The popular 6L6 output valve came to market in 1937 and our little friend the 12AX7 ( ECC83) was first introduced by RCA way back in 1947. The
We have now upgraded all our JJ EL34 valve kits. Â Our kits now include the JJ EL34 II. The reason? The JJ standard EL34 does not sound nearly as good as the EL34 II . Â The standard EL34 is known for sounding “thin” whereas the EL34 II has much stronger low end and mids making for a much fatter solid tone. All the EL34 kits on the drop down menu when selecting ” Make” and