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[quote=skipclone 1]Greetings Myles This is my first question in ages-I have a VHT Valvulator, which is basically a line buffer-the manufacturer recommends a Sovtek 12AX7WB as the proper tube, but I just got my second replacement tube and, somewhere along the line-I don`t know if it`s my fault for grabbing the wrong tube off the shelf (previously) or the music store guy needs glasses (the new one), but they called and told me my 12AX7WA tube had arrived. I thought, uh oh. I looked on the receipt and sure enough, the guy wrote 12AX7WA. I saw a chart which shows about a 10% loss of gain with the WA and it is not the best choice for an amp-but is it a problem for the VHT? I have a recording session in two days so I`m not going to go back to the store at this point. There is no right or wrong, it is all personal preference. Both the WA and WB are cheap, low gain, but sturdy tubes. If it were my unit I'd go NOS and used a tube that meets spec rather than one that surely is not even close. Kool-so aside from manufacturer`s recommendation-and keeping in mind it`s not an amp-how would you determine the best choice? unfortunately the unit has been discontinued-I don`t know if there`s enough tech information available to brave the NOS waters. BTW thanks for the reply. All 12AX7s are interchangeable. If you need NOS assistance, a great guy is Mike at www.kcanostubes.com [/quote] Thanks very much for this Myles-I`m busy with audio and visual projects at the moment but I will contact Mike-hopefully I can get something going before jumping back into the studio in April.
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Myles, I'm considering buying A Hot Rod Deluxe and I live in China. I need a voltage transformer, the one I'm looking at is a 350 watt transformer, will that work for me.
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Myles, I'm considering buying A Hot Rod Deluxe and I live in China. I need a voltage transformer, the one I'm looking at is a 350 watt transformer, will that work for me. The power consumption of the Fender HRD is 180 watts. 350 watt capacity for a voltage conversion transformer would be quite sufficient. The details are in the HRD owners manual which you can read here: http://support.fender.com/manuals/guitar_amplifiers/Hot_Rod_Deluxe_manual.pdf
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Hi Myles, I have a Germino Masonette 25 (watt) amplifier. I want to use an attenuator and I'm currently looking at an older Weber MASS cone-less speaker attenuator (rated 25 watts) as opposed to a resistor based attenuator. Can you give me any advice regarding the wattage? Both the amp and attenuator are rated 25 watts. I do not plan on diming out the amp - just pushing it harder than I can without an attenuator. Any relevant information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Myles!!
SEHpicker
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The Weber unit will work fine.
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The Weber unit will work fine. There was some concern that a 25 watt amp needed a 50 watt+ attenuator. Apparently not the case. Thanks for your input Myles, much appreciated.
SEHpicker
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In the past, the first "100" watt Marshall plexis really put out close to 170 watts at times in some of the higher plate voltage amps. Their 4x12 at the time used 4 30 watt Celestion AlNiCo speakers. Yes, there were always cases of blown speakers but most players found the setup to work just fine and dandy.
Bottom line, the odds are in your favor. I see many more blown amps than the attenuators they are driving.
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I'd love to have you chime in on this: Leo Fender's Boat-thread
Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?
~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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These are lovely boats. The M40, 42, 43 and 45 were all great and are all still great.
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Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?
~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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These are lovely boats. The M40, 42, 43 and 45 were all great and are all still great. "This is a 1958 Matthews that was originally owned by Leo Fender of Fender guitars. In order to qualify to buy this boat you would likely need to commit to paying me to do the following work.
$30,000 for a top of the line paint and varnish job. $10,000 for bottom paint. $10,000 into properly engineer and upgrade engines. $10,000 into electronics.
If you can handle that you can Call Matt"
Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?
~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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Is there a way to choose a default font for one's own posts? I'd like it to be this one
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Is there a way to choose a default font for one's own posts? I'd like it to be this one Hey! That's the one I use for my e-mail, only I also set it to bold and italics. You might ask GPF Moderator Craig Brophy, aka A-String, about this...
Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?
~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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Is there a way to choose a default font for one's own posts? I'd like it to be this one If it's not in preferences it probably does not exist.
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Greetings, Myles, I'd appreciate some help choosing among three different tube amps, mostly in terms of reliability & repair issues, and of course, the cost of re-tubing. Among the offerings are a Laney VC30 212, this Fender Deluxe VM or this Marshall. The Laney is local, and the two Ebay listings are from a local shop, so I can test out any and all of these Amps, IRL. As all of them are used, I expect a re-tubing in the near future. Any info, opinion, suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, WP
"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King http://www.novparolo.com
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Greetings, Myles, I'd appreciate some help choosing among three different tube amps, mostly in terms of reliability & repair issues, and of course, the cost of re-tubing. Among the offerings are a Laney VC30 212, this Fender Deluxe VM or this Marshall. The Laney is local, and the two Ebay listings are from a local shop, so I can test out any and all of these Amps, IRL. As all of them are used, I expect a re-tubing in the near future. Any info, opinion, suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, WP There are many factors that are very important that are not listed above to consider. The Fender BF stuff is iconic in many ways, the HRD series not so much. That new Fender stuff like the link, is pointless to consider on many levels. Marshall JCM2000 DSL TSL are some of the most unreliable amps and not much fun to repair when needed, the combos even more troubleprone than the heads. In the end, it is really personal preference, but again, I know nothing about your rig, ability, touch, taste in music, style, etc. At this point the question is sort of like me asking you .... What do you think I should have for lunch  But ... steer clear (my opinion) of any DSL / TSL / JCM2000. Maybe try looking for used Rivera combos. Well built, reliable beyond belief, and have a wide tonal palette. They can also do great cleans and work great with pedals. If an amp can't get a great clean tone I won't even consider it as viable.
Last edited by myles_rose; 04/26/17 02:41 PM.
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Thanks for that info Myles! +1 on the amp must get a great clean tone or I'm not interested! 
Take care, Larryz
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[quote=Winston Psmith] There are many factors that are very important that are not listed above to consider. The Fender BF stuff is iconic in many ways, the HRD series not so much. That new Fender stuff like the link, is pointless to consider on many levels. Marshall JCM2000 DSL TSL are some of the most unreliable amps and not much fun to repair when needed, the combos even more troubleprone than the heads. In the end, it is really personal preference, but again, I know nothing about your rig, ability, touch, taste in music, style, etc. At this point the question is sort of like me asking you .... What do you think I should have for lunch  But ... steer clear (my opinion) of any DSL / TSL / JCM2000. Maybe try looking for used Rivera combos. Well built, reliable beyond belief, and have a wide tonal palette. They can also do great cleans and work great with pedals. If an amp can't get a great clean tone I won't even consider it as viable. Thank you; I realize the question is very generalized, as I'm still looking more within a price/power range. Your point on the Marshalls, and the recent Fenders is much appreciated, and well-taken. That answer alone will have saved me a lot of money, and possibly even more in aggravation, never mind the time it would take to audition a bunch of amps at my FLMS. Long-time player, Prog/Fusion influenced, playing SG's w/HB's, my main dirt pedal is a Quantum Drive. I fell in love with the sound of British tube amps long ago, but never invested in one, and never saw any point to those little "tube" amos with one 12AX7 in the Pre-Amp section. I'm looking for a thick, Clean sound, any dirt I can add with pedals. I'll keep an eye out for Riviera, in the meantime, what's your opinion, or experience regarding the Laney VC30 212's?
"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King http://www.novparolo.com
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There are many amps that fit in the price, power, point of the amps you mention. In the end it is personal taste and preference.
The Laney VC30 has it's roots in the Vox camp. The other two amps do not. The Laney is a cathode biased amp and the others are not. They will respond and act differently. A 30 watt cathode biased amp will be just as loud as the other amps as a side note.
The Laney is much more reliable than the Marshall. The Laney will be more responsive and touch sensitive than the Fender.
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The Laney is much more reliable than the Marshall. The Laney will be more responsive and touch sensitive than the Fender. Two points in its favor, already. Many thanks for the helpful response. FWIW, another Forum buddy suggested I look at something in the Vox camp. BTW, it might amuse you to know, I found myself in a Gear Forum full of Englishmen, who didn't think much of modern Marshalls. They feel that over here in the U.S., we're paying big dollars for the Marshall nameplate, but not getting much else for our money. Thanks again, and Happy Weekend!
"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King http://www.novparolo.com
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As far as Marshalls .... I love the JTM45, the plexi era or aluminium four input Marshalls such as the 50 and 100 watter. To me, and I am biased for sure, the JCM 800 was tolerable but a decline. Actually, when the four inputs went away and/or when a master volume came on the scene, things declined. The JCM 900 was even worse and it was downhill from there. Again, just my personal taste 
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Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?
~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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Not really tube amp realated but ....
The switching system I'm having done is taking all my buffer bypass pedals into true bypass mode. I run quite a bit of cable especially if I off-stage amps. I need to place a dedicated buffer into the front-end of my board. I was just going to place the $50 True Tone (Visual Sound) Pure Tone buffer on my board. My Tech is a boogie dealer and he likes the Mesa buffers. Mesa propaganda says they filter RF and such. I play Teles and P90s depending on the gig.
Anyone thoughts on simple dedicated buffers? I'm wondering if there is a real advantage with the Mesa RF filtering claims.
Any thought anyone has on dedicated buffers would be appreciated. My Tuner sits first in the chain but I like Peterson tuners and they are true bypass. Thanks!
"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne
"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt
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Not really tube amp realated but ....
The switching system I'm having done is taking all my buffer bypass pedals into true bypass mode. I run quite a bit of cable especially if I off-stage amps. I need to place a dedicated buffer into the front-end of my board. I was just going to place the $50 True Tone (Visual Sound) Pure Tone buffer on my board. My Tech is a boogie dealer and he likes the Mesa buffers. Mesa propaganda says they filter RF and such. I play Teles and P90s depending on the gig.
Anyone thoughts on simple dedicated buffers? I'm wondering if there is a real advantage with the Mesa RF filtering claims.
Any thought anyone has on dedicated buffers would be appreciated. My Tuner sits first in the chain but I like Peterson tuners and they are true bypass. Thanks! It's really a personal preference issue. Some folks love them and others could care less. Keep in mind that they are really pretty simple devices and the cost of components may be less than the box it comes in. You also want as little coloration in the circuit as possible ... simple is better ... less components in the signal chain. BUT .... RF in your effects chain is pretty much a buzzword claim as the devices (pedals) themselves make a lot of noise in many cases and are not shielded themselves. Anything that gets rid of other noise, such as P90 pickup noise, is nothing more than a filter and is taking away other things, not just the noise. Not a good thing. I'd recommend trying one if a friend has one and see if the difference is clarity, level setting, or if it just sounds different rather than better due to something more in the signal path.
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Thanks a lot Myles. Much appreciated Sir!
"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne
"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt
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Hi Myles, I just got a Line 6 Spider Valve 112 amp, and I'm told I should replace the tubes, which are apparently of a disreputable Chinese make. Got any suggestions for 12AX7s and 6L6s that would work better in that amp than some others?
Always remember that you�re unique. Just like everyone else.
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Hi Myles, I just got a Line 6 Spider Valve 112 amp, and I'm told I should replace the tubes, which are apparently of a disreputable Chinese make. Got any suggestions for 12AX7s and 6L6s that would work better in that amp than some others? Actually .... save your money and go out for a nice meal. The Chinese 12AX7s are some of the best on the market today (and have actually been for years. They are smooth and linear. They are also very reliable. As far as the output section .... those 6L6s ..... The Line 6 stuff develops it's tone from many aspects of the overall circuit design and one can actually use any reliable 6L6 in the amp. Unlike a simple, basic, traditional amp of the past, these amps have a much wider tonal palette and what is desired in tube characteristics is neutrality. I have many friends who are Mesa Boogie amp owners and users. When they see I used Sovtek 5881 WXTs (just a generic 6L6 that is stuck with a 5881 printing in it by Sovtek) in my own Mk. 1, they comment at times .... "with the great tubes you have available why do you use one of the most generic and cheapest tubes around"? Same reason as I gave you for the Spyder Valve. The Mesa gets it's tonal character from the front end, not from the output stage. It is a pretty basic amp, actually, much less complex than the Line 6 Spyder Valve. Then again, almost have a century and a lot of technology separates the two designs. So .... in the end .... keep your money and enjoy your amp. The tubes in the amp are about as good as it gets ... linear and reliable. Happy playing 
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I'm in the market for a new amp. I just heard an amp I really like the sound of.
The power tubes are two 6973s. Would this be a risky purchase. I've never had an amp with these tube. I wouldn't want to buy and amp and not be able to get replacement tubes in a few years.
"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne
"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!! So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt
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I have a silverface Fender Vibrolux Reverb I think its a 1973 anyway when I turn on the vibrato it makes a thub thub thub heartbeat noise but only if the intensity is 2 to 9 at 10 it works fine. Any idea about where to start. I know how to work on amps but not sure where the problem could be as my knowledge is limited as far as circuit design goes I think it is the AA964 layout but will have to pull the chassis to be sure. I had the amp rebuilt several years ago and I don't think it did that before. It is pretty annoying if I don't leave the intensity all the way up but other than that it seems to work great.
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