Power tubes bringing me down

LOL RAY, I was thinking "Fixed" meant you fixed the issue causing bad tubes.
Also, upon reading the info at the link I posted I will post this from there.

From the Rig Talk Link:

After testing and labeling all my old tubes, probably around 70 total, I started testing my amps just to see where tube life was. I've bought several brand new amps in the last couple years. One of them came to me with a bad tube right from the start, but it was crackling so an easy find and fix. Fast forward to last month, and I've found 3 bad preamp tubes from my new amps, coming up as worn. These are brand new amps made in 2013, from different manufacturers. It made a big difference in the way the amps sound, as they were all in V1 or gain stages. These tubes were working though, and just sounding crappy/worn. Without a tester, or randomly rolling preamp tubes, I would just think that's how the amp was supposed to sound. I wasn't even going to bother testing my new amps, but I thought I heard a tiny crackle when I was turning one up the other day. I had recently become unsatisfied with how the amp was sounding, and thought I was just getting over the honeymoon.

Moral(s) of the story, the VT1000 is worth it's weight in gold if you go through a lot of tube amps. Super simple to use, and it's worth the piece of mind knowing your tubes are good when you push them. It's also really nice to know where the preamp tube triode gain levels are, as I've found certain preamp cocktails I seem to prefer based on those levels. For power tubes, you can see which sets are going to break up quicker than others, and also which will work together matched for biasing.

The other thing that stands out, is watch out for todays tubes. I have found 4 new preamp tubes from this year that test as worn, with very low gain ratings. Three were in brand new amps, and one was in a set I bought this year. I only found 2 that tested worn in the over 70 I tested of my old tubes. The tubes are all OEM except JJ, but the others are labeled as PM, ARS, and whatever Splawn uses. I 'm not blaming the amp makers, as they all stepped up and sent a new tube, but it's scary how bad the quality is for brand new tubes.
 
I cannot find anything that says a probe and multimeter can be used to test tubes. Can this be done? I imagine you need some curernt, no?
 
frankblade said:
I would have the amp checked had as many as 9 tube amps around here have played nuthin but till here recently.
Never had two bad JJ tubes in a row or together . I have 6 tube amps in here now I don't use hardly nothing but JJ and tungsol
I have never been able to justify the $ amount of Nos tubes.
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Frank, so far it was just 1 tube, 1 time. They were certainly glowing differently before the sound cut.
 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019PAVXPG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

71nlOkb8YoL._SX522_.jpg


I want one of these or a pair
 
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frankblade said:
When the last time you played a cranked plexi LOL nothing compares If so why so many stick to tubes in the studio.
Like they say if it bit ya it usualy gets ya like blowin hy dro or high do
don't always need be a marshal these get some sound too
66princeton blackface melts ss in its tracks
ucguNtp.jpg

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Sp8ctre said:
Play these through a PA or some high end studio monitors...these new modelers capture the actual amplifiers and cabs...

Pure Modeling here...


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What do you say we take this debate to Room 11. It is always a good one. I will start a thread.
 
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So i remember as a kid the local Safeway grociery store had a couple tube testers off to the side in the grociery store. i can remember my mom and me testing tubes my father had takin out of the TV or something to check.they looked like pin ball machine size
 
We used to have tube testers in some drug stores and general merch stores too when I was a kid.
That same merch store was where I used to shop for candy, record albums and 45's, matches to start fires with, Christmas presents and even Mexican jumping beans.

It was called McCrorys
 
same here Chilli.i bought my first Beatles 45 record in the local Sprouse Ritze drug store.i think thats how its spelled,long time ago.Course how many remember Kenny Rogers before he went country ??? Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.What condition my condition was in :)
 
@RVA
Bias probe sockets and a meter ain't going to do the job. You need a tube tester, or at least access to one. Fortunately, about 20 min away, there's a dedicated electonics part supplier store that has an old school tube tester. It's there to be used by anyone, and it's constantly maintained for reliability and accuracy. Maybe you can find a place like I just described near you.
 
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