where is the best place to get vacuum tubes? I am getting a Fender pro Junior from yahoo auctions and the guy said the amp is like 2 years old, just in case I wanted to change out the tubes, where is the best place for those kind of thing? I would need 2x 12ax7 and 2x EL84’s…
you might want to try any music store that sells fender amps for a start, although the price would likely be higher than an specialist electrical component place. Worth checking out the store first I reckon.
Music store only carries groove tubes which is basically an overpriced sovtek tubes… I decided to order because it’s actually cheaper that way and they match them for you too. I tried the electronic “market” (looks like a garbage dump to me) near the taipei station and one guy only have NOS tubes which is waay overpriced, and other offering tube amp kits that is overpriced too…
[quote=“Chaoi”]Try this website:
tnbstore.com.tw/[/quote]
Thanks for the link. It looks like the stuff is going to cost the same as having them shipped here from the US, but I wont have to wait as long and stuff… Do they match the tubes for you?
Also any idea where I can find some Celesteon speakers? Is there a similar store that also sells speaker (I reckon the shipping is going to be VERY high if shipped to Taiwan, not to mention possible tariff…)
You might find some of the locally made speaker use Celestion drivers. The shipping from the UK is likely to be extortionate, but I’m sure that big music shop in HK could help. Can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called. It’s the biggest one. Very cheap. Nearly bought a Mesa Boogie amp there in 1989 for 600 pounds less than in the UK. Is the shop called “Tom’s”?
Tony’s/ATB?
Back home we used to always find best value from the Eastern bloc tube manufacturers, that technology still being quite current there rather than a “niche”…
I was looking at that Pro Jr., I think it’s a good buy.
I’m still trying to figure out how to get a Blues Jr…
Just get a pro junior… then use the extra money to buy a reverb/distortion unit. I got it used for 8800 NT, is that a good deal?
The guy I got it from used it as studio monitor, if it’s good enough for that it means it must have a real good clean tone. Hell I couldn’t get any Hendrix sound off a SS amp and I can easily get that sound off this tube amp…
[quote=“rahimiiii”][quote=“Chaoi”]Try this website:
tnbstore.com.tw/[/quote]
Thanks for the link. It looks like the stuff is going to cost the same as having them shipped here from the US, but I wont have to wait as long and stuff… Do they match the tubes for you?
Also any idea where I can find some Celesteon speakers? Is there a similar store that also sells speaker (I reckon the shipping is going to be VERY high if shipped to Taiwan, not to mention possible tariff…)[/quote]
rahimiiii, have you seen Corbett from the Living Room’s blog? He made a tube amp from scratch and has also found some great deals on speakers in Taipei. Maybe you should try and get in touch. He uses Forumosa occasionally, but I’m not sure what his user name is. I guess if I told you, I would be outting him anyway.
PM me if you want the address of his blog.
[quote=“rahimiiii”]Just get a pro junior… then use the extra money to buy a reverb/distortion unit. I got it used for 8800 NT, is that a good deal?
The guy I got it from used it as studio monitor, if it’s good enough for that it means it must have a real good clean tone. Hell I couldn’t get any Hendrix sound off a SS amp and I can easily get that sound off this tube amp…[/quote]
I thought it was a good deal when I saw the posting, IF I can get a new B Jr. here AND I can get it for under NT20K, I’ll consider it a steal.
There are several B Jr.s in real good nick on eBay right now for 300-400 US, but since NOONE will ship them here, and even if they did, gawd knows what it would cost, it’s a whole different ball game.
I know I could do the Pro Jr. + external reverb thing, but I was kind of jonesing for that sweet onboard Fender reverb.
A while ago someone was offering a Blues Jr on yahoo auctions for 16,000 dollars. But I went for the Pro Jr because some guys said that Blues Jr has too much bells and whistle and if you’re doing effects they kinda get in the way… especially there are no effects loop in the Blues Jr or Pro Jr…
[quote=“Fender Amp Field Guide”]
Control Panel:
Chrome top facing w/ white screened labels, controls numbered 1-12
Conrol Layout:
Power Sw, Pilot Lamp, Tone, Vol, In
Weight:
20 lbs (9.1 Kg)
Speakers/Load:
1 x 10"/8 ohms
Speaker Model:
Eminence
Effects:
None
Output:
15 Watts
Preamp:
12AX7
Power:
2 x 6BQ5
Bias:
Fixed, nonadjustable
Rectifier:
Solid State
Phase Inverter:
12AX7 (long-tailed)[/quote]
She sure looks the business, but too bad about the solid state rectifier on the Pro Junior: It can take a lot of mojo out of a push-pull amp or more fairly, make it hard to tweak the sound if you want something other than stock. You also don’t get any rectifier sag, the voltage drop in the recto tube when you attack a note, if that’s what you’re after. The solid-state recto makes the amp sound very tight, modern, and solid state.
The Blues Jr is single-ended, so a solid state rectifier doesn’t make any difference to the sound. That said, a lot of the new Fender products still sound pretty good IMHO, and that’s what really matters.
By the way, you can find a lot of discussions about speaker selection, parts for sale, and general amp info on this site: ax84.com/
So anyways, is it possible to add an effects loop in any way to an amp that doesn’t have them? would it be just as simple as taking the pre amp section and have its output wired to a jack, and wire the power amp input section to a jack as well, and connect them with patch cable while in normal (no effects) operation?
also if I needed to do something with the amp what is the best way to insure there are no lethal voltages inside them? I heard they store some lethal voltages in them even if unplugged…
It depends on what type and amount of effects that you want to add. Personally I think it would be fruitless to try to install an internal effects loop to your amp for a number of reasons. First off, as an economy measure, the newer Fender amps use a printed circuit that makes connections by tiny copper traces on the back of each board, much the same as you would find in a pc. They are very delicate and very hard to work with or modify. Many professional amp repair places shun the newer amps for that reason, preferring to work on the older style point-to-point or turret-board layouts that the older amps used.
Secondly, you might not have room in your layout for the additional boards, tubes, and knobs and other innards that you might want to add. For example, a simple Fender-style tube reverb requires a lot of extra stuff: you’d need at least one pot, two tubes, a small output transformer and a spring tank, plus you might need to change the values of some componnets, or adjust voltages after the install to get the reverb to work properly.
A rack mount-type multiple effects unit would work just fine, would require no amp mods, and would include all sorts of delay, reverb, and phase effects. Of course, All these effects would be fully digital, and the reverb would not be as pleasing to some ears as a traditional reverb unit with a spring pan.
By the way:
As for messing about inside the amp itself, the danger lies in the filter capacitors. You also should have a healthy respect for any amp that is on the bench and plugged in. For example the voltages near the filter caps on my EL34-driven amp are over 320v! Check the schematic on the Field guide site to see how many you have in the Pro Junior, but inside the amp they will be on the power supply side and should look like little beer cans.
Some amps have a “bleed” resistor which drains the filter caps after the power is shut off, so this is not always an issue. I’ve put those in all my amps so far, and the voltage in the filter caps drains to zero in about 10 seconds. Better to be safe and consult with someone who knows how to read a schematic and who knows the procedures for draining them. Aiken amps has an amp safety guide which is worth reading before you go under the hood of a tube amp, as well as a lot of other useful info, some of which is quite technical.
aikenamps.com/
If you haven’t looked at AX84 already, there’s good stuff there too, and an amp forum. In fact, I would take your question and post it there to see what they say… there’s a lot of knowledgable folks there.
One more thing. Before replacing the tubes in your new amp, have somebody take them out and test them. Two year old amp? As long as the amp hasn’t been ridden hard and put away wet, they’re probably fine. If you do go out and buy new ones, spend some extra money on the phase inverter tube… that’s the one that links the two halves of the waveform from the power tubes and has the most effect on the sound.
I am ordering my tubes from eurotubes because they have tubes that has been matched and balanced for my particular amp. In fact you can tell them what sound you’re after and they will tweak it for you. Its probably cheaper than having them tested and doing all that other stuff…
I dont know if its better to purchase a multi fx unit like Digitech RP200 or getting seperate units, and a seperate reverb unit…
[quote=“rahimiiii”] Its probably cheaper than having them tested and doing all that other stuff…[/quote] Naw, getting them tested is cheap as chips! but you’re probably getting an upgrade from what the cost-cutters at the Fender plant put in, so good for you.
One problem with having multiple effects between the guitar and the input is that it presents a lot of opportunities for noise to get in. It’s probably better to go with one, if you can.
When I get back to civilization, I want to build one of these: It’s a Hoffman ReVibe, combination reverb and vibrato unit. All tube reverb and a bias-wiggler trem, like the kind that the Vibroverb uses. I like the sound of little single-ended amps like old Airlines, Silvertones, and the old tweed Champs, but would prefer a little reverb, real tube reverb.
theairtightgarage.com/produc … ucts_id=48
Oh and by the way will the government charge you a huge tax if you have tubes shipped here? I dont know if they are in the same legue as computer stuff… but I guess 5% of 1500NT isn’t going to be much…
If it’s this: web.customs.gov.tw/rate/rate/que … 900021.htm
Then there’s another 10% and C02 says : " Some of the commodities under this item subject to legal import inspection announced by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, ministry of economic affairs. "
so I guess vacuum tubes arent considered amplifier kits?