changing out a valve

[KennysFord]

Hey all.
My amp has a valve pre and i'm toying with the idea of chainging it for a new one.The amp's working fine so it's just in the cause of....experimentation.From the manual its a 12ax7 but i've no idea what make.Are there ones to avoid,ones soooooo lurvly that all others fade by comparison and is it a major job to do.
thanks in advance.

[YouMa]

Sovtek are good valves if you put your valves serial number in ebay it should bring up loads.

[KennysFord]

Thankyou kind sir.......and that's a nice tash you're sporting in your avatar.

[YouMa]

Enchante

[Noisyjon]

Have a look at [url="http://www.watfordvalves.com"]Watford Valves[/url] website and give 'em a bell.
Highly recommended.

Cheers,
Jon

[Noisyjon]

P.S. just had a ganders myself and they're having a 12ax7 sale!!
Get in there.

Edited November 25, 2008 by jonthebass

[Machines]

I swapped out a Groove Tubes valve put in my amp by it's previous owner for a standard Sovtek 12AX7 and preferred it...

It's fun and cheap to experiment so go for it .

[KennysFord]

Thanks all,
It's not quite so daunting a prospect now.
Cheers for the heads up jonthebass.I spoke with Derek at watford valves and he recommends the
Harma ec883 str cryo for bass.
Now then,where's that phillips scredriver,lump hammer and hacksaw.

[Protium]

I stuck a NOS Mullard in mine.

[YouMa]

I built a signal warmer pedal with an original 1950s phillips hiwatt valve it sounds like the nuts.

Edited November 25, 2008 by YouMa

[Noisyjon]

[quote name='kennyrodg' post='336474' date='Nov 25 2008, 05:36 PM']...Now then,where's that phillips scredriver,lump hammer and hacksaw. [/quote]

Ah, a man after my own heart!
Happy tinkering and glad Watford Valves came up trumps.

[~tl]

I've heard good things about the JJ ECC83s, but have never heard them in action. Of course, if you can find a British made Mullard then I would jump on it... but they're getting pretty rare and expensive these days. The Harma valves look interesting. I might give then a shot next time I re-valve...

[KennysFord]

[quote name='YouMa' post='336483' date='Nov 25 2008, 05:43 PM']I built a signal warmer pedal with an original 1950s phillips hiwatt valve it sounds like the nuts.[/quote]

now then,
will my tools suffice or not ??
I'd be very interested to here more about it.

[KennysFord]

Just a quick update,
This is totally wierd but very typical.
At our last jam my sound started to distort a wee bit,so,then my bro' tried his amp thru my cabs and it sounded fine.I brought the amp home and tried it thru a pair of Ashdowns from my now dear departed mini rig and the same distortion was there.My Harma valve showed up today from Watford valves so i fitted it and hey presto,no more distortion.
Talk about tempting fate.....Bah !!!