Any suggestions for which tubes to get for my Deluxe, and where to buy them?
Should I also get a few pre-amp tube spares (12AX7s)?
Should I also get a few pre-amp tube spares (12AX7s)?
That's it in a nutshell. NOS power valves are too rare and too expensive to play with regularly IMO. Nice to have a set to use in the studio, but with only a couple of year's life from a set, it's not practical for the gigging guitarist to feed their amp thousands in NOS valves every year or two (going rate on a single NOS RCA black plate is about $180 ATM - heaven help you if you need a matched quad). The new stock valves are not bad these days and getting better all the time.ShreddySmurf wrote: Is there value in going NOS for power amp tubes? I believe that for pre-amp tubes it makes sense since they last a lot longer?
Great, thanks. ?Alan Ratcliffe wrote:That's it in a nutshell. NOS power valves are too rare and too expensive to play with regularly IMO. Nice to have a set to use in the studio, but with only a couple of year's life from a set, it's not practical for the gigging guitarist to feed their amp thousands in NOS valves every year or two (going rate on a single NOS RCA black plate is about $180 ATM - heaven help you if you need a matched quad). The new stock valves are not bad these days and getting better all the time.ShreddySmurf wrote: Is there value in going NOS for power amp tubes? I believe that for pre-amp tubes it makes sense since they last a lot longer?
A bit off topic , but its funny that they used to make tubes so well and then when ss came , so few producers still went on producing them and the quality dipped leaving us 40 years later and were still not quite where we were. Yeah, some of the expensive new stock tubes are excellent , but the ones that are readily available are still not quite the quality of the old stock onesAlan Ratcliffe wrote:That's it in a nutshell. NOS power valves are too rare and too expensive to play with regularly IMO. Nice to have a set to use in the studio, but with only a couple of year's life from a set, it's not practical for the gigging guitarist to feed their amp thousands in NOS valves every year or two (going rate on a single NOS RCA black plate is about $180 ATM - heaven help you if you need a matched quad). The new stock valves are not bad these days and getting better all the time.ShreddySmurf wrote: Is there value in going NOS for power amp tubes? I believe that for pre-amp tubes it makes sense since they last a lot longer?
Thanks very much for this.makepeace wrote: The 12DW7 is a hybrid dual triode, it is essentially half 12AX7 - half 12AU7 (the 12AX7's lower gain cousin). It depends on your configuration, but essentially you'll be lowering the gain of one of your preamp stages (which Deluxe do you have? do you know the year, model etc?).
Its quite a commonly done thing to swap lower/higher gain tubes in preamp slots, esp with the 12AU through AX7 family, but unless you know enough about the subject, its better to listen to what those who do have to say. Its normally fine, but you do get pre tubes that have different pinouts and this could cause problems if you aren't circumspect.
You will have a slightly decreased output with the 12DW7, and the tonal palette will most likely be somewhat changed. Its all up to your ears to decide which is best for you. You'd might even like to try the 12AY7. This tube has gain in between that of the 12AU7 and 12AX7 and is the staple 5E3 V1. I wouldn't suggest going for a 12AU7 though, people don't seem to like them in amps of this topology.
Good luck and have fun.
And, as I understand it, with the Hot Rod Deluxe amp having a plate voltage of 430 volts, the GC varients are fine because they're rated at 500 volts on the plates, whereas the original 6L6 is rated at 360 volts. Which in my tiny "electrical mind" means my amp will burn them to a crisp?Alan Ratcliffe wrote: The GC varient is mostly what the modern 6L6s are all designed around and is basically the latest design. The first 6L6s were rated at 19W, but became more and more efficient, reaching 30W with the GC. KT66s are another popular version, rated at 25W but more rugged than the GC.
The "W" in the suffix of any valve just means it was designed as a more mechanically rugged valve for military applications.
Yup. Many of the modern 6L6s are variants on the GC when you look at the specs. Case in point - Electro-Harmonix 6L6 EH is a minor variation on the Sovtek WXT+ which is another version of a GC.ShreddySmurf wrote: And, as I understand it, with the Hot Rod Deluxe amp having a plate voltage of 430 volts, the GC varients are fine because they're rated at 500 volts on the plates, whereas the original 6L6 is rated at 360 volts. Which in my tiny "electrical mind" means my amp will burn them to a crisp?
Ha! I learned something new today... ?Facts you should know before purchasing:
25 Watt tubes such as 6L6, 6L6GB, and 5881 are rated for plate voltage up to 400 volts.
30 Watt tubes such as 6L6GC, 6L6WXT+, and 6L6WGC are rated for plate voltage up to 500 volts.
The KT66 tube type is a 25 Watt tube rated for plate voltage up to 500 volts.