need new tubes, looking for advice/opinions

[barkley]

Well, its happened. Turned on my deville212 for first time in a week or two and within 1 minute the 6L6GC power tubes were a-smokin' and lit up like the eyes of a firey demon. Im not very happy- the amp is only 6 months old! Took it back to the shop to see what they could do for me. Not much apparently. They are having a look at it and will tell me if its just the tubes that have blown or if its something else inside the amp that has caused the problem in which case its still covered by warranty .The tube warranty ran out 3 months ago so either way I will need to buy new tubes.

My question is: what are some new tubes I should consider? Im thinking i may as well try some thing different to the stock groovetubes seeing as I need to replace them anyway. Are the electro harmonix ones any good?

Hoping to hear from anyone with direct experience.
Thanks!

[Mandoman]

Originally Posted by barkley

Well, its happened. Turned on my deville212 for first time in a week or two and within 1 minute the 6L6GC power tubes were a-smokin' and lit up like the eyes of a firey demon. Im not very happy- the amp is only 6 months old! Took it back to the shop to see what they could do for me. Not much apparently. They are having a look at it and will tell me if its just the tubes that have blown or if its something else inside the amp that has caused the problem in which case its still covered by warranty .The tube warranty ran out 3 months ago so either way I will need to buy new tubes.

My question is: what are some new tubes I should consider? Im thinking i may as well try some thing different to the stock groovetubes seeing as I need to replace them anyway. Are the electro harmonix ones any good?

Hoping to hear from anyone with direct experience.
Thanks!

Sounds like you need some Mullard Blackburns

[Singin' Dave]

Svetlana Winged "C" are reportedly some of the best new production 6L6GC's, but wait to see that your tech tells you as your originals should not have popped after 6 months. No use putting a new set in if something is wrong elsewhere.

[marshman]

It shouldn't be too difficult to find a good set of replacement tubes for that amp, there are plenty of new production 6L6GCs out there for reasonable money. Wing C (aka =C=) are indeed reported to be very good, though I've never tried any. I have had no trouble with JJs, either. A lot of the New Sensor TungSol reissues seem to be getting good reviews, but I've not tried any of those, either.

There are still plenty of good American made tubes floating around that will work in that amp, but the deals are tough to find. The 6L6GC benchmark are the RCA Blackplates, but they're getting silly expensive, but there are other options out there if you look.

Obviosly, you'll need to be sure that it's not something else wrong with the amp before you slot in new tubes.

[markw51]

I've found Russian tubes to be of good quality and they are not expensive.

[FenderGuy53]

Unless you are of the "boutique" persuasion, then a full complement of JJ's will do you (and the DeVille) quite nicely.

[Beachbum]

Check out the Groove Tube GE 6L6's. According to GT they purchased the old time machinery that the venerable GE tubes were originally produced on along with a stock of original materials as well. They are supposedly as close as you can get to the old GE's without buying NOS.

They sure kicked my amp into gear.

[T Prior]

6 MONTHS !!!

Good grief... If tubes fried in 6 months I would have a bigger concern rather than which type of tube should I use.

[barkley]

Thanks for the replys guys

Originally Posted by T Prior

6 MONTHS !!!

Good grief... If tubes fried in 6 months I would have a bigger concern rather than which type of tube should I use.

Really? Why do you say this? I mean, what do you think my concern should be? If you mean I should find out what blew the tubes , Ive already taken the amp in to be checked out... now youve got me all freaked out!

How often do tubes blow? Say if I play the amp hard for about 3 to 4 hours a week. A year ? I dont know how much this amp was used in the shop, maybe it was cranked up to 12 without being warmed up heaps, I just dont know.

I thought tubes were like strings- need to be changed regularly (ok, not as regularly as strings) and if you leave it too long they break!

[JKjr]

I have one of the first 2x12 DeVilles and it still has the original power tubes in it, still going strong. I hear that the new tung-sol 5881's are a good match for a DeVille if you desire earlier breakup tho...

[backline]

If your tubes were smoking, and lit up like the eyes of a Demon, you may have some problems. Did you blow a fuse.? If so, does the fuse still blow with the Power Tubes removed.? It might be "just" the tubes, but you may have lost a screen resistor, or have problems with your rectifier.
Anyway..... you need to check your fuse(s).
Good Luck

[barkley]

I didnt physically take out the fuse to check, but seeing as the amp still turns on I would say it has not blown. This is an interesting point though. I blew a fuse shortly after buying the amp, and when I took it back the guys at the shop replaced the stock 1.5v fuse with a 2.0v fuse, saying it should solve the problem. Now I'm wondering if the new fuse SHOULD have blown but being larger, didnt, and caused problems further down, resulting in blown tubes... Is that possible?
What does checking the fuse tell us about the problem(Im all ears!)?
I guess that the shop would need to replace or fix it in that case as it was all their idea?

[pchilson]

So what is the "shop" you took it to? Are they qualified amp techs or just guys who can change fuses?

My DRRI had a broken solder joint in the bias circuit after about 7 months or so and started redplating one of the 6V6s. Didn't "blow" the tube but I took it in to an authorized repair shop ie..certified amp tech and they fixed it up under warranty. No charge.
Did you buy new from this place? What is the warranty on the Fender amps in Australia?
5 years here but you need the original receipt to obtain warranty work.

Good luck and let us know what comes of it.

[ThermionicScott]

Interesting... the schematic calls for a 1.6A fast-blow fuse. I don't know much about your tech, but I'm generally able to get away with a smaller-than-stock fuse in my amps. I'm suspicious of using a larger fuse to "fix" amp problems. At least he didn't use a piece of tinfoil!

- Scott

[freshchops]

I have an older Deville 410 and one of the stock, Groove Tubes 6L6's was on the fritz. I replaced them with the best available at my closest local store at the time.... it was a matched pair of Mesa's GC (STR-440). I've been very pleased with them. They were a noticeable improvement over the stock groove tube. I'd replace them with the same set down the road.....

[barkley]

Originally Posted by pchilson

So what is the "shop" you took it to? Are they qualified amp techs or just guys who can change fuses?

My DRRI had a broken solder joint in the bias circuit after about 7 months or so and started redplating one of the 6V6s. Didn't "blow" the tube but I took it in to an authorized repair shop ie..certified amp tech and they fixed it up under warranty. No charge.
Did you buy new from this place? What is the warranty on the Fender amps in Australia?
5 years here but you need the original receipt to obtain warranty work.

Good luck and let us know what comes of it.

The shop is an authourized fender dealer/repairer, and it is the place I bought the amp from. The warranty here only lasts 1 year but Im within that period. They said that if it is an internal problem (like a loose solder joint) it will be fixed under warranty, but if it was just a bad tube Id need to pay for the tube (which I will be reluctantly fine with) AND for the biasing after installation, which I am not ok with. To me, this should also be covered by the warranty seeing as I didnt take it apart or mess with the biasing or anything.
what a headache!

[barkley]

Ive been thinking. With the limited info I have posted here, what would be some things to tell the tech to check out? Bias circuit slder joints... what else do you think could be an area of concern?

All help is greatly appreciated!

[don jon]

Sounds like you already did the right thing by taking it to the authorized repair people. I too have a 1995 USA made Blonde Blues Deville 212. I have only had to change the pre-amp tubes in it, and I'm happy with the stock GT's in it. But if I had to retube it I would go with the Tung-Sol 5881's. I have used those in my old HR Devilles and my Victoria tweed Deluxe and had great results. I also use Tung-Sol 12AX7's in all of my amps and NOS 12AT7's and 12AY7's. And since you asked about the EH tubes, I can also say that they are great tubes IMO. I have EH EL-84's in my AC15 and 6V6 in my Vibro Champ XD. And I personally like them better than the JJ's I have tried in the same amps. I have never been a huge fan of JJ's. They always seem a little sterile and not as warm and musical to me. But many people like them, and they are probably the toughest tubes out there as they handle changes in voltage better than most tubes.

[backline]

Originally Posted by barkley

I didnt physically take out the fuse to check, but seeing as the amp still turns on I would say it has not blown. This is an interesting point though. I blew a fuse shortly after buying the amp, and when I took it back the guys at the shop replaced the stock 1.5v fuse with a 2.0v fuse, saying it should solve the problem. Now I'm wondering if the new fuse SHOULD have blown but being larger, didnt, and caused problems further down, resulting in blown tubes... Is that possible?
What does checking the fuse tell us about the problem(Im all ears!)?
I guess that the shop would need to replace or fix it in that case as it was all their idea?

You and I are in Two different countries, so I just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly...
1. You are writing 1.5V fuse and 2.0V fuse. Do you mean Amps.? The letter "V" usually represents the word volts, not amps.
2. I am not looking at a schematic for your amp, so I have to ask....What fuse is supposed to be in your amp.? If it requires a 1.5 Amp fuse and the tech installed a 2.0 Amp fuse, you have a problem. Actually, you have two problems....
3. With the proper fuse in the amp, does the fuse blow when the power tubes are removed.?

[barkley]

Originally Posted by backline

You and I are in Two different countries, so I just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly...
1. You are writing 1.5V fuse and 2.0V fuse. Do you mean Amps.? The letter "V" usually represents the word volts, not amps.
2. I am not looking at a schematic for your amp, so I have to ask....What fuse is supposed to be in your amp.? If it requires a 1.5 Amp fuse and the tech installed a 2.0 Amp fuse, you have a problem. Actually, you have two problems....
3. With the proper fuse in the amp, does the fuse blow when the power tubes are removed.?

1. Sorry, it probably is amps not volts. I dont have the amp here to check but you are most likely correct, 1.5amps, not 1.5 volts. I dont really know what Im talking about here...
2. It was 6 months ago so Im not certain of the fuse types but the tech definetly replaced the fuse with one with a higher rating. He didnt seem concerned at all when I asked if this was ok to do, just matter-of-factly told me it would be fine. I didnt question it till now. I think 1.5amps was the original which was replaced with 2amps
3. I have never taken the tubes out before so Im not sure. You mean turning it on with no power tubes in, right? Last time I blew the fuse (first day i had it) it was because I turned on the power and standby switches in the wrong order. Is this a normal way to blow the fuse?