Recommend new tubes?... If necessary

[Slartibartfarst42]

Slarti, HotRox UK or Watford Valves are a good place to start. Both do revalve kits for HT60. I have used both with no problems.

Looking at the HotRox website now. The only kit they do close to my amp is for an HT Stage 60 and while I'd have thought the valves would be the same as in my Soloist 60, I'm confused as to why the kit comes with an ECC82 as well as 2 X ECC83 and 2 X EL34 when as far as I can tell, neither amp uses an ECC82 at all??

If I order the valves individually myself, this raises all sorts of other questions:

Do I need to replace all of the valves or just the power valves?

Does it matter what make they are? I recognise some of the brand names but I have no idea how they differ.

If I went with JJ valves (simply a name I recognise), do I need the E34L or the EL34?

What is the difference with a 'winged' valve?

[Telerocker]

I don't want to hijack the thread but I have a similar problem. I have a Blackstar HT60 Soloist and the valves have just given up completely. I noticed a week or so ago that it was starting to squeal a bit but now there's virtually nothing coming from it even when it's cranked. The thing is, I've never changed valves before so I have no idea what to buy or where to buy it. Could anyone help me out here please?

Probably one or more dying valves. Stockvalves are not always the best. If so, the amp needs to be retubed and biased by a tech. Also, check if the input is working 100 procent. Spend some money on good reliable tubes like JJ, TAD, Tungsol, Svetlana. By example, the JJ El34L is a good tube with a round tone. Personally I have good experience with Svetlana's too. They crunch very nice and provide, rich mids and reasonable good bottom end.

How long you have the amp? If short, the bias might have been on the hot side, which kills the tubes relatively fast. If set too cold your amp will sound lifeless. It's good to have the amp warmed up for at least 5 minutes on the standby. After playing, let the amp cool down 15 min before moving it. That all extends tubelife.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I've had the amp for a couple of years and it wasn't new when I bought it so I assume the valves are fairly old. I was looking at the JJ E34L, Tung-Sol EL34B and TAD EL34B STR but wasn't sure which would be best.

If it helps, I play in a Rock covers band so I cover everything from cleans to Metallica levels of distortion.

[Telerocker]

Slarti, HotRox UK or Watford Valves are a good place to start. Both do revalve kits for HT60. I have used both with no problems.

Looking at the HotRox website now. The only kit they do close to my amp is for an HT Stage 60 and while I'd have thought the valves would be the same as in my Soloist 60, I'm confused as to why the kit comes with an ECC82 as well as 2 X ECC83 and 2 X EL34 when as far as I can tell, neither amp uses an ECC82 at all??

If I order the valves individually myself, this raises all sorts of other questions:

Do I need to replace all of the valves or just the power valves?

Does it matter what make they are? I recognise some of the brand names but I have no idea how they differ.

If I went with JJ valves (simply a name I recognise), do I need the E34L or the EL34?

What is the difference with a 'winged' valve?

In your amp the ECC82 is used as a buffer for the powertubes. The SED Winged C is out of production, if I understand well. When you can find a matched set, you will pay quite some money for two tubes. The Svetlana EL34 is a fine tube with silky highs and rich mids. The JJ's are good too.

[Telerocker]

 All three tubes you mention are fine EL34's that strive to recapture the famous Mullard EL34-sound. Tungsols have a little more gainy character, with a hint of 6L6-tubes. The TAD's are very good too, articulate, with a little more brightness than JJ's, which are particularly good to darken brighter/spikey amps. If you're amp is quite dark, the TAD is a good choice.

[itamar101]

Ok so I ended up ordering 3 JJ 12AX7s, 1 Tungsol 12AX7 and 1 Tungsol 12AT7.
The shop then phoned me and told me that they didn't have any Tungsol 12ax7s in stock and theyd take a whiile to arrive so they offered me a Mesa or JJ 12AX7 instead.

I took the mesa because they were will to discount it for me and I felt like trying something other than the JJs. We'll see if I made a good choice but even if not it's not a big deal. They aren't that expensive.

Thanks for the help guys.