Replacing 6L6 Tubes. Advice Sought

Chuck Backus · May 7th, 2006, 05:07 PM

I'm planing to replace the two 6L6 GC tubes in my 50 watt, mid 80s, Peavey Classic VT amp. At least one of the tubes appears to be original with the amp.

Any suggestions for an online tutorial, or useful web site, that can educate me on vacuum tubes? I don't like making purchases when I'm ignorant of my options.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

jkats · May 7th, 2006, 05:20 PM

The best site for tube amp information generally is the Weber VST Speakers bulletin board. The Amp Central Station board on TDPRI.com also is good. For new 6L6 tubes, I have had very good luck with SED "Winged C" 6L6 tubes (formerly known as "Svetlana", but Electro Harmonix bought the name, so now the originals are known as SED or "Winged C" for the logo on the tube). Many folks like the JJ 6L6. Some prefer New Old Stock ("NOS") US -made tubes, but these have become quite expensive, and probably are best for refurbishing those vintage amps. Good luck -- let us know what you wind up buying and how it works out!

Stratopastor · May 10th, 2006, 06:01 PM

This reply might be a little late but I just purchased some new tubes from "Eurotubes" I had heard great things about them & thought I'd give em a shot. WOW My old 1x12 Carvin XT112 sounds great. Way better than before. They had a quick delivery and excellent prices. Check out the website ! (eurotubes.com)
Your Amp will sound better

Strat-Talk · May 10th, 2006, 06:11 PM

When you replace power tubes you should have your amp rebiased too. Unless you have some method of testing both the old and new tubes and they are virtually similar in their power ratings.

Rebiasing is easy to do at home, but is scary for many. Also, it does require some electronic equipment. I use a BiasKing meter system to bias my amps.

Also, you want matched tubes. Tubes have a power rating that's generally not labeled anywhere. The number is dertemined by testing. Some companies will write the power rating on the box. Since your amp takes two tubes its always best to have two that are very similar in power rating.

I prefer NOS tubes. Look for Jan Philips or such. They are "new old stock" but they were manufactured for the military and stored so they are usually cheaper than old GE or RCA NOS tubes. The "Jan" stands for "Joint Army Navy".

Stratopastor · May 10th, 2006, 06:20 PM

Strat-Talk is definately correct. I did'nt want to try to Re-Bias my Amp myself so I had someone do it for me. When I purchased my tubes instead of buying 1 set I bought 4 matched tubes so I would not have to re-bias it for a longer period of time. NOS tubes are the best way to go. But my budget did not allow.
Maybe next time.

Chuck Backus · May 10th, 2006, 09:51 PM

Thanks for the input & ideas.

I live in a fairly isolated area (nearest guitar store is nearly 3 hours one-way) so it makes sense to start learning some basic "do-it-yourself" processes like rebiasing my amp. ...and I'll be careful

Thanks again for the advice.

PraiseCaster · May 11th, 2006, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck Backus

...and I'll be careful

Think safety first, and make sure you know, or someone that really knows how to, explains or shows you how to drain the stored charge out of your amps capacitors, BEFORE you work on it. If you dont, good chance you'll get a heck of a charge out of it!

Oh and Stratopastor, Welcome!

5965 · May 11th, 2006, 05:22 PM

Try this. The amp links are in the upper lefthand corner.

http://www.geofex.com/

Chuck Backus · May 12th, 2006, 08:47 AM

PraiseCaster brings up a good point. (Nice to see you here PraiseCaster)

Tube amplifiers pack a powerful punch. They can store lethal voltage for an extended period of time even if they're unplugged. I'll make sure that I've got an experienced tech on hand and a solid understanding of what I'm doing before I go poking around in the guts of my tube amp.

It's likely that everyone involved in this conversation already knows this stuff. I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence by posting the obvious.

Thanks for the great link 5965!

macwhisper · October 16th, 2008, 03:00 PM

I have owned an 82 Peavey 50W VT Classic since it was new. This amp does not have a bias pot and doesn't need to be rebiased. Believe it or not I am still playing on the original Sylvania 6L6's and they are still sounding great. If I were re-tubing I would talk to the tube supplier to try to get the closest match to the original Sylvanias.

EGrier65 · October 17th, 2008, 10:01 AM

I also have a Peavey VT Classic. I bought it from my brother for $20.00. Pretty good sounding amp. I need to take it to a technician and have it gone over. I seem to have a problem with one of my speakers not working right. Does anyone have a good source of inexpensive replacement speakers for this amp? Thanks

macwhisper · December 29th, 2008, 03:43 AM

I just picked up a set of Eminence "Texas Heat" speakers and put them in my VT Classic. About $60.00 each. What a major improvement. Actually I've tried several different power tubes in the amp and it didn't seem to make all that much difference. The new speakers were a huge improvement.