primer on tubes

audiothings · 4th April 2007, 02:59 PM

I've been looking around for info on replacing tubes in an ART Pro Vla and find that my basic understanding of tubes and the nomenclature used in their description is very poor.

i'm looking for pointers (on the web)... a primer that would help me make sense of the jargon.

thanks,

**Blast9** · 4th April 2007, 03:23 PM

Have you checked out http://www.eurotubes.com/ ?

They have lots of info on there, as does www.watfordvalves.com

woomanmoomin · 4th April 2007, 03:31 PM

You can get a lot of your valve/tube questions answered here, if you have any particular questions yet.

jahtao · 4th April 2007, 04:29 PM

Good place for such questions, the lab

http://www.prodigy-pro.com/forum/

enjoy!
matt

woomanmoomin · 4th April 2007, 06:41 PM

But if it's just the one type of pre you're worried about, there's very little you need to know. What sort of a tube is the stock tube, a 12AX7 or something? There are a million nice ones out there just waiting for you to mess around with them, and changing tubes is very often a walk in the park, even though the very idea of it seems to strike the fear of God into a lot of people, even on Gearslutz!!

dkelley · 4th April 2007, 08:15 PM

BEFORE you take out the original tube, draw on paper how it's positioned, what it looks like in there. when you take it out, you may well find that the socket it plugs into has lots of holes and the tube can be plugged in many different ways. only one way (the original way) is correct, any other way could go boom.... and as you pull it out and see what the pin layout is and where the label is on the glass of the tube itself relative to the pin layout, draw that also, so your replacement tube (which prob looks surprisingly different but should have the same type of pin layout) will be put in the same way, not turned so it dies or goes boom.

Yes, I'm trying to scare you, and in that device the plate voltage is relatively low, but it's still vital to not breaking things, and when you get into bigger power amp tubes like in a guitar amp, you'll find that putting it in wrong can actually be very very serious....

other than that, look up somehwere about how ax, at, au etc relate in their output levels etc.

Cheers,
Don

woomanmoomin · 5th April 2007, 12:16 AM

This is good advice in general, but you shouldn't have too many options with anything like a 12AX7 unless the socket is designed in a pointlessly unhelpful way. There's a big gap between two of the pins and the socket design will show you where those two pins go. Problem solved. JUST GET THE RIGHT TYPE OF VALVE!!

4th April 2007, 02:59 PM	#1
audiothings Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 783	primer on tubes I've been looking around for info on replacing tubes in an ART Pro Vla and find that my basic understanding of tubes and the nomenclature used in their description is very poor. i'm looking for pointers (on the web)... a primer that would help me make sense of the jargon. thanks, __________________ "Don't be a snob about gear, just use the best you can get your hands on." - Tony Faulkner

4th April 2007, 03:23 PM	#2
Blast9 Moderator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: London Posts: 3,603	Have you checked out http://www.eurotubes.com/ ? They have lots of info on there, as does www.watfordvalves.com __________________ :: The Yardbirds http://www.theyardbirds.com :: myspace > http://www.myspace.com/andymitchellrock - I used Chameleon Labs 7602 and Mackie Satellite pres, PTLE, Shure beta 87A, Tech21 (Sansamp Bass Driver DI, TRi-AC) and Addictive Drums :: twitter > http://twitter.com/mitchellmusic - http://www.twitter.com/theyardbirds :: My guitars: Atkin OM (sitka spruce top walnut back: sweet mids):: Atkin Small Jumbo (cedar top, rosewood back: big bottom, sparkly top)

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4th April 2007, 03:31 PM	#3
woomanmoomin Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London, England Posts: 1,021	You can get a lot of your valve/tube questions answered here, if you have any particular questions yet.

4th April 2007, 04:29 PM	#4
jahtao Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 510	Good place for such questions, the lab http://www.prodigy-pro.com/forum/ enjoy! matt

4th April 2007, 06:41 PM	#5
woomanmoomin Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London, England Posts: 1,021	But if it's just the one type of pre you're worried about, there's very little you need to know. What sort of a tube is the stock tube, a 12AX7 or something? There are a million nice ones out there just waiting for you to mess around with them, and changing tubes is very often a walk in the park, even though the very idea of it seems to strike the fear of God into a lot of people, even on Gearslutz!!

4th April 2007, 08:15 PM	#6
dkelley Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Maple Ridge, BC, Canada (by Vancouver) Posts: 1,475	BEFORE you take out the original tube, draw on paper how it's positioned, what it looks like in there. when you take it out, you may well find that the socket it plugs into has lots of holes and the tube can be plugged in many different ways. only one way (the original way) is correct, any other way could go boom.... and as you pull it out and see what the pin layout is and where the label is on the glass of the tube itself relative to the pin layout, draw that also, so your replacement tube (which prob looks surprisingly different but should have the same type of pin layout) will be put in the same way, not turned so it dies or goes boom. Yes, I'm trying to scare you, and in that device the plate voltage is relatively low, but it's still vital to not breaking things, and when you get into bigger power amp tubes like in a guitar amp, you'll find that putting it in wrong can actually be very very serious.... other than that, look up somehwere about how ax, at, au etc relate in their output levels etc. Cheers, Don

5th April 2007, 12:16 AM	#7
woomanmoomin Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London, England Posts: 1,021	This is good advice in general, but you shouldn't have too many options with anything like a 12AX7 unless the socket is designed in a pointlessly unhelpful way. There's a big gap between two of the pins and the socket design will show you where those two pins go. Problem solved. JUST GET THE RIGHT TYPE OF VALVE!!