Members tinfish Posted May 4, 2009 Members Share Posted May 4, 2009 Actually, it's the Preacher's (my old guitar player) MP-1--he asked me to throw up a thread for him--and he's pretty sure it's due for tubes. I mean, it's only 16 years old, and they've never been changed!!! (No it hasn't been used continuously all those years, but it has gotten plenty of use. And the bitch still sounds effin awesome!) So...couple of questions: He's pretty mechanically inclined, so he's sure about his ability to open up the unit, etc, but is there anything difficult about changing them to merit taking the unit to a tech? Also, since he's gonna be changing the tubes in his Mesa Boogie 50/50 at the same time, he's thinking about buying the tubes for the MP-1 from Mesa as well. But sonically, are there better choices, like for instance, Groove Tubes? Other brands? One more thing...since this unit is so old, what about the lithium battery? Owner's manual says expected life is 8-10 years, and should be replaced by qualified service tech. Again, is it really necessary to get a tech to do this? And if you did it yourself, how would you deal with not losing the info that's in RAM/ROM while you've got the battery removed? Would having a 2nd MP-1 be of any help? (He has a 2nd one he bought as a backup.) Thanks for any input or directing me to any other place (company/website) that may have the answers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BluesMan60 Posted May 4, 2009 Members Share Posted May 4, 2009 The most difficult part of changing tubes will likely be taking the unit apart to be able to access them. Besides that, it's just pull out the old ones (noting the orientation of the gap between pins 1 and 9 so it will be easier to insert the new tubes) and plug in the new tubes. Couldn't hurt to replace the battery while you're in there. As for better tubes, Groove Tubes makes virtually no tubes, they buy most of what they sell from the handful of tube manufacturers still in business, test them, and put their label on them. You'll pay a juicy premium for their "service". For economical new production (as opposed to NOS=New Old Stock....much higher quality US and Western Euro made tubes from decades ago) tubes the Tung Sol Reissue 12AX7s are a safe bet. Mike K KCA NOS Tubes www.kcanostubes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TornadoOfSouls Posted May 4, 2009 Members Share Posted May 4, 2009 Changing tubes in an MP1 is insanely easy. Preamp tubes don't need rebias, just pull it out and put the new one into the socket. The tubes hang on their side in the rear of the amp. Unscrew the top cover and you're in the money. Very easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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