Changing tubes thread # 547

Dear Guys,

please give me a chance and try to understand
my frustration about these tube threads.

If I want the sound of a Marshall I will buy one.
Same with other companies like Fender, Mesa,
Hiwatt, Vox and all I don´t mention.

You will get more change of tone with an other
guitar or speaker cabinet. The playing style and
tone coming from Your hands is more important
than a tube change from EL34 to 6L6,

Tube changes can cause trouble to an
amp if it is not done with skillness. 30% of new
tubes are working not perfect or have shorts
after a few hours. I spend a lot time to select
tubes for a certain stage in the circuit. We do
a burn in and big effort on the test management
to get a minimum of tube issues on the amps.

I´m not the only manufacture who´s thinking
about a hard bias and sell stock tubes for
replacement. It´s not because of making money,
it´s to avoid a lot of tube issues.

Please replace tubes only if it´s really necessary.

Thank You

haha i agree

i agree2

i agree3

i agree4

new product from Diezel to come in 2012:
a brewtal (100Hz boost function incl.) bastard of the THD Univalve - for those who love to swap them tubes until the doc cometh

oh Papa Bear, don't give up on us yet.


i've had damn good luck tubes, and got a veritable cornicopia of them in my Herbert.


being able to run deferent tubes and the external bias was a big selling point for me on the Herbert.


i'd blaim most issues on bad tube vendors, and user error.

No concerns but sometimes I have one
of these days ...... You know

i think Papa needs a hug!

hard bias is fine with me.

I am NOT in favor for a hard bias on future products. The fact that you can bias up a 6L6 to a 6550, was part of the draw to the Herbert for me.

But.... I can't blame Peter for getting tired of some of the guys that just can't seem to settle on a tube type and brand.

I agree 100% with Peter.

People now agree..but wait a week for the #548 tube thread....

RJF":3b90q6u8 said:

I can't blame Peter for getting tired of some of the guys that just can't seem to settle on a tube type and brand.

Click to expand...

I don't think Peter's issue is with people being indecisive, rather it's that when people have tube failures ALL THE TIME and then post a "what's wrong with my Diezel" thread about it, it makes Diezel's reliability look a bit sketchy.

I'll admit, I first stumbled upon Rig-Talk a few years back when I was searching for more info on Diezels and when I checked out the forum and saw how many of these threads there were, I became a bit hesitant to purchase one. Well obviously now that I've done my homework I realize that Peter builds solid amplifiers and having played a VH4 I know that I WILL own one someday.

Just sayin, I can see where he is coming from and I honestly don't think the hard bias thing is a bad idea.

i agree but not the hard bias

i also tend to agree with peter, but i can also see where people are coming from.

i mean you read and hear about people changing tubes in their amps all the time....most of the time its something you saw in an interview with your favorite guitarist who says "oh yeah..i run KT88's in my Marshall cause i hate the sound of EL34's" or whatever. So you think oh wow....EL34's must sound crap! I love "that persons" tone so i better try some KT88's etc.

i think the problem is that people forget to trust their ears! (i am guilty of this too!)
we get so caught up in the what we see, read or hear about online and we forget to just stop and listen to our own amps and figure out, do we like how they sound? is this the sound we are going for?

and as Peter said...you would get a bigger change in "tone" by swapping speakers, pickups, guitars etc. than you will from power amp tubes!

with all that being said though, it can be hard for someone who is new to tubes amps, or Diezel amps. when they see things that seem to contradict each other. With some people saying 6550's are the best tubes for a Diezel, then others saying EL34's are the way to go. On top of that with Peter himself shipping the amps with different tubes (EL34's, 6550's etc but we know Peter has changed from tube to tube to find the most reliable tubes he can for US! ) it can be hard to know "which one is right for me?!"

hmmm....its a tough one. i def dont think a fixed bias is a good idea. but i do feel sorry for peter having to field SO many questions and read all this stuff about different tubes all the time! imagine a ferrari car forum where people talked about how using a different exhaust muffler makes their ferrari sound better to their ears. if the ferrari designers read that they would be thinking "WHY!? We made it perfect! Its beautiful as it is! Dont mess with it!" .... its no different in this case.

Thank you for having the patience of a saint Peter! You are awesome!

i agree people screw with tubes too much,but if i couldnt put 6l6s in my herbert i couldnt use it

I come over and install the EL34´s by myself

Peter Diezel":3hyykl1z said:

I come over and install the EL34´s by myself

Click to expand...

Good, im bussy with a tube change, 1 el34 is blown. When can we make an appointment? Wow Diezel service is the best

Im El34 All the way

Offcourse there is a difference when changing to different tubes, but man, its not worth the hassle. And yes, speakers, pickups, guitars, strings etc. make a far more different tone change. But i have to say that the low end thump the 6550 gave, cant be achieved by the other factors

I have had 8 power tubes and 4 preamp tubes dying on me in the last 1,5 year. I hope that 2010 brings us reliable tubes.

Just as Peter send me the amp, sed el34 and tad preamp tubes, is the ultimate combo till now and i dont need to experiment more. My next experiment will be a NEW Diezel cab

Peter Great thread !! I hate changing tubes.

Will you come over if I remove my el34's?

nice to hear that...peter.

i never changed the stock tubes of any amp, if the amp sound ok, dont mess with it. i only replace the wrong ones....
you have the example of mesa...there is no way that a normal guitarrist can replace the 6l6 of a triple for a sixtet of kt88...they have a switch to change 6l6 to el34, but always recomend mesa ones...and with the same colour( valor). i think that diezel must done this...and i just prefer el34, so....el34 hard bias. and buy original diezel tubes.....good solution. same for the pre tubes( diezel stock).

i think that 98% of the issues with the diezels are people messing around with valves. they dont have skills...and

turn the post....i was with hetfield playing the other day in rock in rio and talked about diezel stuff....he was very impressed about the herbies....but, metallica its like a goverment arm....if the vh4 works...nobody change it....


best.
antonio bernardini