Unless you want to drop a grand, basically give up. I have already went far down that road. A Maxi or Hickock are what you are looking for, and they ain't cheap. All of the rest of the stuff is not reliable and I would not recommend it.n
???
I mean, if you are just wanting to know if a tube is good or bad, then yeah you could go with something cheaper. Popping in a bad preamp tube isn't going to hurt you though if that's all you're looking at and is an easy enough way to test it Lol. I would assume most people want to know more specifics for matching output tubes and stuff, which in that case, just knowing a general reading of a tube is only so useful.
True. But, another way to match tubes is this....test the tube first with a cheap tester. Then, put each and every tube you have (power tubes of course) into the same amp, see where they measure with a simple bias tool or similar. Write that number on the tube base. Do this to each tube...pretty soon you'll have your collection labelled with whatever ma/mv they test at, and now you can match them up...just find similar/close numbers and you're good.
I'm gonna pass on using my dual tube output section on my amp as a testbed for random tubes. Preamp, all day. If you have a single ended amp then that could work but there is more than just those simple measurements you are gathering from a good tester. If he wants a solid tube tester, I stand by my previous recommendations.
Well, again, I'm first testing all my tubes on my tester. 80 is minimum good, up to 120. That tester has been great. It might look like shit, but it works well. So there's no testing random tubes in my amps. Maybe you misunderstood. They first are tested on my tester, once they are tested as good, then I match them by seeing where they are ma/mv wise in my amp. Easy.
No, I understood you completely. You get a general rating from your old tester (which may or may not be properly calibrated), then you put the tube in your amp (which will show different ma/mv depending on your plate voltage) and test it that way. If you have a single ended amp and you only care about testing that one output tube type, then yep... You could do that and use your amp as the testbed. Like I said, I prefer not to use my amp as a test bed. Also, most tubes will float around a bit for their first hour or two of use. My time is valuable, the most valuable thing I have actually. If the difference is spending $500 more dollars to save hours of time and have a far more accurate and versatile setup, I'd still go that route.
I hear you. I guess if I'm a tube re seller I'd invest in a 1k plus tester. That makes sense. Regarding calibration, the funny thing is every time I test 'new' (or used new production) tubes (which isn't very often lol) they consistently test lower in strength than most if not all of my stash of ANOS vintage tubes. That tells me that my tester is working just fine. Lol
That is wild! Not the first time I've heard that from the tube guys I know about modern production and NOS tubes. I have some output tubes that are twice the normal rating. It's really wild how much better sounding the older stuff is too (in most cases). Really wild! I even play with the same tube types but different gain factors (like testing in the Orange tester) to achieve the desired results. I think my main amp is finally in that 'perfect' state as far as tubes. Outputs are JAN and NOS++ so hoping I won't have to change them....like..ever.
Yep, it's like playing with fire when it comes to new production tubes. What are the amp mfrs to do? They can't pay the huge prices for NOS tubes or we'd be seeing amps with stupid new prices. Case in point, I bought recently a new PRS MT 100...killer amp but one of the TAD red base 6l6 arced and took out a bias resistor in the amp. I know better, I should have taken those new tubes out right away and replaced with a quad from my stash but instead I didn't, now it needs a repair. Ugh.
That's nuts! I wouldn't expect them to stick with NOS or the prices would be absolutely horrible. Sorry to hear that man, that sucks big time.
The sad thing is, I know better. Ever since one of the new 5153s I got 10 yrs ago had a bad JJ out of the box.
All manufacturers have their share of bad tubes. I 'belive' it is just part of the nature of making them
Yep, there should be a better 'break in' or 'burn in' process for these tubes before they go to the amp companies. But, let's face it....we are the only consumer of tubes today...guitar players. To a much smaller degree you have the old school HiFi people too. But the demand is so small, there isn't much competition out there that would make the tubes better/more reliable. And, the fact that tube construction is more tightly governed than 50 years ago obviously hurts.All manufacturers have their share of bad tubes. I 'belive' it is just part of the nature of making them
But how that bad JJ made it to EVH manufacturing is bad.
How that amp tester then did not catch said bad tube is worse.
Then the reseller didn't catch it either, adding to the frustration. I get it.
I'm not talking about JAN type tubes either, but I'm sure there were some duds in those batches too.