Monoprice 15 watt tube amp

Can you do a demo video possibly? Just to get an idea. Not many good clean demos of the reaper or the veteran. From what I've seen I'm leaning towards the veteran 30 but I'm not sold yet.

 

I just got mine today and have the same issue. No sound and the first pre-amp tube is white on the top and doesn't light up. I'm just returning it. I guess that shipping a tube amp via ups might not be the best idea.

 

If it makes you feel any better, many Blues JRs are DOA too, but it's normally just the way a tube is seated.

But you're saying you visually see a bad tube, and it's a pre-amp tube, correct?

 

FYI, Monoprice has a 20% off sale today only. that brings their amps down to $181 for the 15watt (free shipping) and $110 for the 5watt (paid shipping)

 

Yes, its the first pre-amp tube. I did some googling and it appears that its a leaky tube. It looks like the one on the left of this photo.

 

I guess that shipping a tube amp via ups might not be the best idea.
So shipping UPS causes that?

 

Well, either that or the trip in the container from China. It was upside down in the box so that might have had something to do with it. I'm going to try replacing the tube tonight when I get home to see if that's all it is. If so, I'm just going to keep it if I like it.

 

My JJ EL84s came in today and I've been playing with the 15 watt. It sounds fantastic!!! This might be my best musical purchase yet, and I've done a lot on impulse. Wow! I'll start rolling in some NOS tubes into the pre slots soon and see if it makes a difference, but even with the cheapo Chinese tubes in v1-3, this thing is a winner. My old Celestion G12L sounds sweet in there!!!

 

I ordered two of these to use in a stereo setup and they arrived today. I was worried when I saw the reports of others receiving amps that were DOA but I did a quick test and both of mine are working. Whew!

I've only played the amps individually so far but I'll try them out in stereo sometime this weekend.

 

Oh I'm jealous, that sounds like an awesome idea.

 

I've gone back and done some more tube rolling and speaker swapping on this amp.

Many seem to think the amp is a little on the dark side tone-wise. I agree. I had an old 1950s GE 5751 in V1. Those tend to be dark. It sounds pretty good, but I am going back to the JAN Philips 5751. I need the darker GE 5751 for V1 in a way-to-bright Epiphone Galaxie 25.

I experimented with JJEL84s, Ei EL84s and a pair of Reflektor 6P14P-EVs. Each was good in its own way. The JJs brought out a little more treble. The 6P14P-EVs had more punch. They tend to sound darker, but not so much so in this amp. The Ei pair probably offered the best overall tone. Tough choice. There's not a bad option.

I've got a G12M-25 Greenback in there. It sounds pretty good, but I also liked the tones I was getting with an Avatar SA-40 alnico. That speaker tends to be a little bright, and it sounded real good in the Monotone.

I'm having fun tweaking this amp. The experimenting is easy. The options have all been good.

 

Well I have done the first speaker swap sooner than expected. Went to the local shops today, one of which always has spare parts laying about, I was hoping for a speaker out of a blues junior or something but no go. Got talking with the owner and he pulled out a few old alnicos that were all 4 ohm (damn it) and a Marshall by celestion mg 12. I wasn't keen but he said the marshall/celestion worked well for his harmonicas and I should give it a shot. He let me take it home for the weekend to swap in and see what I thought. Well I did just that. Surprisingly not bad. Would work well for doing a lot of old Chicago blues on the cheap (think chess records). Very low fi without sounding like trash, if I had another of these amps I'd keep it like that but its too one trick pony for me. Alas back to searching.

 

Well swapping the new one in was easy taking it out not so much. Managed to destroy one of the 12ax7s [emoji24][emoji24][emoji24][emoji24]. Time to look at swapping tubes.

 

Luckily the same local shop decided to stay open late so I was able to take back the speaker and grab another 12ax7. It's tube doctor brand? Sounds fine if anything it seems to add a slight bit more grit but I haven't been able to open it up yet as the wife is home. For those with more knowledge can you tell me what the tube layout is in this amp? Like which does what. If you take off the back panel and look at it like this

1. el84
2.el84
3. 12ax7
4. 12ax7
5. 12ax7

I broke the third tube, so the local shop owner said to move 5 to 3 and put the new one in the 5th position. He said that should be the preamp gain tube I believe? Either way it's back up and running and I'm happy.

 

Final results:

Speaker: Avatar speakers SA40 alnico.
V1: JAN Philips 5751
V2 & V3: stock Shuguang 12AX7s.
Power tubes: Reflektor 6P14P-EVs.

Sounds great with this set up.

 

I believe you have #5 v1, #4 V2, and #3 V3. The 2 EL84s should be a matched pair so if you ever break one (like I did, DOH!), then you need to buy two, unless you can match them yourself. I'm playing around with a NOS 12at7 in V1 right now which has tamed it a bit. If my understanding is correct, and it may not be, tubes in V1 will have the most effect on tone.

 

Hi guys, I was looking up info on the reverb tank in this amp and stumbled upon this thread. Thanks for the info.

I really love this amp considering the price. I haven't done any mods or anything yet, but I may play around with it eventually.

Here are a couple videos I made with the amp. Maybe I'll make my next one with my tele. Thanks again for the info.

 

Not a fan of the eI tubes.

 

I should not have opened this thread....