Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Ok, so I got my Peavy Ultra in yesterday and it sound's freaking amazing! Just the clean channel made it worth it. Anyway, I took the back panel off and i noticed that two of the smaller tubes weren't glowing nearly as bright as the rest. I'm thinking I should retube, because If I don't then other parts of the amp could wear out, but it already sounds great to me. I don't want to shell out 88.00 if i don't have to. Any suggestions?

Hunter you probably should get an extra set of tubes and a fuse and keep it with you, but dont assume a tube is bad cause it isnt as bright as the next one. SOme techs or amp services have a machine you can plug the tube in apply some power and it will tell you if its good or not.

When I buy a new amp with tubes I ussually retube it just to be sure, but if it sounds the same keep originals as spares. Ive played tubes for so long now that I have an assortment of tubes in a case in case I need one.

I have an amp I bought in 1976 and Ive only retubed it once in that amount of time. It really all depends on how often you play and at what level.

Learn to use the volume control on your guitar. I typically set up a good distorted vintage sound and roll the volume off on the guitar to get my clean sound.

Good Luck and have fun.

Check around. You're close to Houston, I'm sure there's an amp shop there that will have a tube tester. Usually the best place to find out who does good work is local musicians, if they've had amps worked on they know who is honest and reliable. Testing tubes is not rocket science, so it shouldn't be expensive, a lot of repair shops might test them free.

All tubes are not created equal, some glow more than others for reasons known only to their own little metal minds. Sometimes it means one tube is running different voltage than another, sometimes it means a tube is weak, sometimes it means nothing at all.