A Fender Hot Rod Deluxe arrived that was not well. These 40 watt amps sound pretty good when they are working. However, a number of faults appear as they age. The obvious fault was that the 6L6’s were worn out. They were dull and noisy. However I could only find this out when we got the amp to make some sound ! When the back was removed one of the output valves was not lighting […]
I was repairing a Bugera 333 amp which was really badly crackling. Taking the back off the amp revealed cooked EL34’s. This is a 120 watt combo amp. A gigging amp will be used at higher volume settings and so the output valves get worked hard. In a high power combo amp the valves are exposed to a lot of vibration from the cabinet. This is exactly what they dont like. This amp can use
Using Your Ears to Test Your Output Valves and Bugera 333 info Read More »
Do you often wonder what quality standards are applied when testing your valves? You want to make sure you buy the best quality and this article explains reliable Russian valves. Valves are old technology – the 6L6 dates back to 1937 ! The 300B back to the 1920’s ! The military still uses valves in many systems so it is critical that the valves are well tested to weed out the duds. Valves have a
We have been busy working on our website. Key updates are website response times and improved payment options in the UK, Europe and in Asia Pacific. We have improved our payments system to give you a lot more choice in ways to pay us. Our website will automatically present your payment options according to where you are located These new payment options are in addition to Paypal. In every country you can pay by Visa
Website Updated to make it faster and offer more ways to pay worldwide Read More »
I thought you might like to see how your valves are made in the EHX Valve Factory. This is a video of the Electro-Harmonix ( EHX) valve (tube) factory in Saratov in Russia. This factory originally made the valves for the Russian military. EHX claims this is the largest remaining tube factory in the world. I believe it to be one of the largest. When you watch this video, you will see there is a
EHX Valve Factory Video – see how your valves are made Read More »
It is important info for those of you who want to use NOS EL84’s ( 6BQ5) in modern amps and even not so moderns amps. There are several modern EL84 amplifiers which have wiring violations on pin 1 of one or more EL84 sockets. NOS EL84s have internal connections between pins 1 and 2 where modern EL84s do not. Sometimes designers of EL84 amps assume that pin one is a safe location for a “tie
Modern EL84 amps and NOS EL84s Avoid damaging your NOS EL84’s Read More »
Which Pre-amp Valves Sound best in my Amp? A question many folks ask. There are many different types of ECC83 / 12AX7 in the market. There are not only different manufacturers but also different variants such as the 5751, 12AY7. So you might be asking where how can I figure out what the differences are? I have written a couple of short articles on this subject already and these touched on this topic. This article