New Rebel 30 tubes

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jrubakon

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What's happening everybody? I'm new to this forum and tube amps so here goes my newbie question. I recently bought a Rebel 30 and noticed a hissing sound coming from one of the tubes. I called Egnater and they said that I had one of the earlier releases that had problematic tubes. Well, in rapid fashion, they sent me a new set of el84's and 6v6's. The original set was JJ tubes. The new set are Ruby's. Do I have to bias these tubes or, are they plug and play? Please excuse my ignorance. I really love this amp and can't wait to hear it without the hiss. Oh and by the way, the guys at Egnater are real down to earth and friendly. It's nice to see that for a change!
 
Pre-amp tubes don't have to be biased. As a general rule you should ALWAYS bias power tubes, as there can be variation even if it is the same tube. Better safe than sorry!

:rock: :thumbsup: :D
 
Yea, go ahead and re-bias. You will not regret doing that and you will know that all is good and harmonious in the floating electron realm.
 
Thanks for the replies! I was wondering if anybody could give me the low down on biasing the Rebel 30? Is it something I should have done for me or can I do it myself?
 
All you need is a meter that measures down to millivolts. Remove the upper rear panel to expose the test points and pots. The center test point TP1 is common. Measure across TP1 &TP2 for the EL84 pair. Adjust the left-hand pot to 40mv. Measure across TP1 &TP3 for the 6V6 pair. Adjust the right-hand pot to 40mv.

EgnaterRebel30012.jpg


EgnaterRebel30002.jpg
 
Can anyone give run down on what the function of each of the 12AX7 tubes are doing? I am assuming the one between the two power tubes is the phase inverter. There are 4 more shown in teh picture above labeled V1, V2, V3 & V4. What's what??
 
Any updates? How did the tube change out sound? Any difference?

I just ordered a full set of new tubes from Dougstubes on Monday! They're mainly for back up (I got the same JJ power tubes), but Doug recommended a Tungsol in V1 and Pentas in the rest, so that's what I got! I guess I'll find out soon enough, but I was just curious to see what the dealio was.

That said, I still love my R30!!! :D :rock:
 
Thanks for everybody's help. I swapped out my tubes to the Ruby's and rebiased it as it was set a little cold. I was nervous about the re-biasing but it was a breeze! The amp sounds so much better all around. It no longer makes the annoying hissing sound. I just did this alst night so I need a little more time to get a full assesment of the tones. I will post back soon with a more in depth report!
 
Bumping again on the preamp tubes. Any body have an answer as to which 12AX7 does what function? I love this amp. Just drove up to GC in Austin yesterday and picked up a head. Back up amp is my intention but if I can get the distortion channel dialed in a little more I will be using it onstage for a while just for grins. The clean tones were just unbeleivable. I want to see the look on peoples face when I turn on this little tiny bad boy a create a ruckus!

Edit: Just got an e-mail from John.
V1 input tube shared between CH1 & CH2.
V2 second tube in CH2
V3 second tube in CH1
V4 Effects Loop send and return
 
3 Mile Stone":2qitaj7b said:
The clean tones were just unbeleivable.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more! I :inlove: the gain channel, but I honestly play on the clean channel just as much if not more!!!

This amp is everything I'd been looking for in the past 3 years.

Congrats on the new head! :rock:
 
What up guys? I'm another "tube noob" and a proud new Rebel 30 head owner (with a Tourmaster 2x12 cab). Definitely a sweet amp. Anyway, like I said, this is my first tube amp so I know pretty much nothing. On my head I'm noticing quite a volume drop-off between the EL84 side and the 6V6's. Is this an indication that the 6V6's aren't biased hot enough? The EL84's sound great and so do the 6V6's but they're just not as loud at the same volume setting and I've never noticed this on other Egnaters that I've played on. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance
 
jdsjw13":2vih4rn4 said:
What up guys? I'm another "tube noob" and a proud new Rebel 30 head owner (with a Tourmaster 2x12 cab). Definitely a sweet amp. Anyway, like I said, this is my first tube amp so I know pretty much nothing. On my head I'm noticing quite a volume drop-off between the EL84 side and the 6V6's. Is this an indication that the 6V6's aren't biased hot enough? The EL84's sound great and so do the 6V6's but they're just not as loud at the same volume setting and I've never noticed this on other Egnaters that I've played on. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance
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Definitely give Egnater a call. They are very helpful and have great customer service. 1-323-277-4119.

That said, I do NOT have that experience with my R30 combo. My volume stays consistent, just the tone changes. Maybe bad 6V6(s)???
:confused:
 
On my Rebel 30 I notice a slight but not major drop off in volume also. It is definitly louder on the el84 side. :confused:
 
I'd go in and check the bias first. It could do that if it were a little off. No real differences in mine. I re-biased it after sticking in some JJ 6V6. One side was hotter than the other.
 
I don't think this is actually a problem. On the Renegade I noticed it was loudest at 12 o'clock- I think because all 4 tubes are operating. When you shift to one side or the other I think you go down to some mix of 2 or 3 tubes, hence the volume is less.

Having said that, there is never any harm in re-biasing. It's a good idea to do it every now and again.

:rock:
 
Very true Len. I think what he is saying is the full on EL84 side is quieter than the full on 6V6 side. Which is also normal but it should not be very drastic at all.
 
I think the 6V6's have more output anyway. Again, I am not sure there is anything wrong here, but he might as well re-bias anyway.

:confused: :rock:
 
Yep, agreed. Mine was a little off. I put in the JJ 6V6 and then turned it on. I liked the way the Ruby EL84 sounded and I didn't have any options laying around so I left them. When I turned it and checked teh bias the EL84 side was a little hot, somewhere around 50, then I adjusted the new set of 6V6. All good.
 
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