Members Chad Posted May 3, 2006 Members Share Posted May 3, 2006 I have a 2 input Allen Old Flame 2x10 combo that was built by David Allen in 2001. I'm looking to retube the amp and am looking for recommendations. If you're not familiar with this amp, it is similar to a blackface Fender Vibrolux Reverb and has the following tube layout: --(2) 6L6GC Power Tubes--5AR4 Rectifier Tube--12AX7 Phase Inverter Tube--12AX7 Reverb Recoverby Tube--12AX7 Reverb Driver Tube--12AX7 Preamp Tube Tonewise, I am looking for versatile "all around" tubes as I play a wide variety of styles of music....rock, blues, jazz, surf, etc. I use a lot of pedals with this amp and have even used it for playing metal. My budget is around $100, but I may go as high as $150. Doug, KCA, etc. your ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BluesMan60 Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 You'll get a faster reply if you email. Send me an email with your price target and tonal objectives and I can help you.kcanostubes@verizon.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loghead Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 KCA used to have some Mazdas 6V6s that work real well in the Old Flame. I don't know if he still has them. Do you run it with 6L6s or 6V6s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BluesMan60 Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 Originally posted by Chad I have a 2 input Allen Old Flame 2x10 combo that was built by David Allen in 2001. I'm looking to retube the amp and am looking for recommendations. If you're not familiar with this amp, it is similar to a blackface Fender Vibrolux Reverb and has the following tube layout:--(2) 6L6GC Power Tubes--5AR4 Rectifier Tube--12AX7 Phase Inverter Tube--12AX7 Reverb Recoverby Tube--12AX7 Reverb Driver Tube--12AX7 Preamp TubeTonewise, I am looking for versatile "all around" tubes as I play a wide variety of styles of music....rock, blues, jazz, surf, etc. I use a lot of pedals with this amp and have even used it for playing metal. My budget is around $100, but I may go as high as $150. Doug, KCA, etc. your ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks! Ok, $100 doesn't allow for much variation. Here we go:Keep the 5AR4 you havePair SED 6L6GCsTung Sol Reissue 12AX7sMullard CV4024/12AT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loghead Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 I guess I didn't read that first post very carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lord Valve Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 Originally posted by Chad I have a 2 input Allen Old Flame 2x10 combo that was built by David Allen in 2001. I'm looking to retube the amp and am looking for recommendations. If you're not familiar with this amp, it is similar to a blackface Fender Vibrolux Reverb and has the following tube layout:--(2) 6L6GC Power Tubes--5AR4 Rectifier Tube--12AX7 Phase Inverter Tube--12AX7 Reverb Recoverby Tube--12AX7 Reverb Driver Tube--12AX7 Preamp TubeTonewise, I am looking for versatile "all around" tubes as I play a wide variety of styles of music....rock, blues, jazz, surf, etc. I use a lot of pedals with this amp and have even used it for playing metal. My budget is around $100, but I may go as high as $150. Doug, KCA, etc. your ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks! Are you sure that amp uses 12AX7s all the way across? If so, then I'd spec a NOS Beijing-production Chinese grayplate 12AX7 for the input hole, Reflektor-production Tung-Sol 12AX7s for the reverb drive and recovery, and an Ei/Yugo ECC83 for the PI hole. (If your reverb driver is actually a 12AT7, I'd put a NOS Philips JAN 12AT7WC/6201 there.) For the power stage, a pair of the tallbottle Shuguang (TAD) 6L6 blackplates. A Sovtek GZ-34 for the recto hole, if you think you need one. (You probably don't.) That set-up will give you good service lifetime and kickass tone. Low noise floor, too. Lord ValveExpert "You have been banned from TGP for the following reason: none.Date the ban will be lifted: never." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chad Posted May 7, 2006 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Originally posted by Lord Valve Are you sure that amp uses 12AX7s all the way across?If so, then I'd spec a NOS Beijing-production Chinese grayplate 12AX7 for the input hole, Reflektor-production Tung-Sol 12AX7s for the reverb drive and recovery, and an Ei/Yugo ECC83 for the PI hole. (If your reverb driver is actually a 12AT7, I'd put a NOS Philips JAN 12AT7WC/6201 there.) For the power stage, a pair of the tallbottle Shuguang (TAD) 6L6 blackplates. A Sovtek GZ-34 for the recto hole, if you think you need one. (You probably don't.) That set-up will give you good service lifetime and kickass tone. Low noise floor, too.Lord ValveExpert"You have been banned from TGP for the following reason: none.Date the ban will be lifted: never." Hello Mr. Valve. Good to hear from you. I've emailed you a few times recently asking for your email catalogs, but I never get anything. My email account is through charter.net. Could they be filtering out the emails for some reason? I never have that problem with anybody else's emails. Yes, I'm positive the amp has all 12AX7's. David originally used some 12AT7's in his amps, but switched entirely to 12AX7's a few years ago. He sited his main reason as a lack of quality 12AT7's on the market. Thanks for the recommendations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chad Posted May 7, 2006 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 By the way, my main reason for wanting to switch tubes is a weird problem that seems like it could be tube related. I'll try my best to explain the problem.... When playing, some notes make a fizzy/buzzing sound through the amplifier. This only occurs with certain notes and the notes can vary from day to day. When a note does cause that sound, I can hit the same note over and over and the sound will repeat. The next day that note may be fine, but another will do the same thing. Sometimes I play for 20+ minutes before the sound starts occurring. Here is an extreme oddity. In the past I have experimented with 6V6 power tubes and a 5U4G rectifier tube. This problem NEVER occurs with that tube combination, but when I switch back to the 6L6GC/5AR4 combination the sound returns. I always rebias. Per David Allen's recommendations, the 6L6's are set around 35ma. The 6V6's are set in the low 20's. I contacted David Allen via email and he advised it sounded like a tube problem. But I've tried different 6L6 power tubes, different 5AR4 rectifier tubes, and I've even played around with switching preamp tubes and the problem continues. I'm really baffled with this anomaly and am wondering if an entire retube might take care of the problem. I've also wondered if it is resonance related. I don't play with a separate cab often, but I'm pretty sure the amp doesn't do this when hooked up to a separate cabinet. I've considered making a 5 second or so recording of the sound as it is hard to describe. Does that description make sense to anybody? Any ideas as to what is going on? It seems like there are ghosts in my amp that don't like 6L6 and 5U4G tubes. ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leadfootdriver Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Originally posted by Lord Valve Are you sure that amp uses 12AX7s all the way across? If so, then I'd spec a NOS Beijing-production Chinese grayplate 12AX7 for the input hole, Reflektor-production Tung-Sol 12AX7s for the reverb drive and recovery, and an Ei/Yugo ECC83 for the PI hole. (If your reverb driver is actually a 12AT7, I'd put a NOS Philips JAN 12AT7WC/6201 there.) For the power stage, a pair of the tallbottle Shuguang (TAD) 6L6 blackplates. A Sovtek GZ-34 for the recto hole, if you think you need one. (You probably don't.) That set-up will give you good service lifetime and kickass tone. Low noise floor, too. Lord Valve Expert "You have been banned from TGP for the following reason: none. Date the ban will be lifted: never." What's your favorite new production 12AX7 for a high gain amp head??? Do you try everything that comes along? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lord Valve Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Originally posted by leadfootdriver What's your favorite new production 12AX7 for a high gain amp head??? Do you try everything that comes along? Those Reflektor/Tung-Sols are killer. Yeah, I try everythingthat comes out, unless it's the same old {censored} with gold-plated pins. ;-)Lord ValveExpert"You have been banned from TGP for the following reason: none.Date the ban will be lifted: never" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lord Valve Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Originally posted by Chad By the way, my main reason for wanting to switch tubes is a weird problem that seems like it could be tube related. I'll try my best to explain the problem....When playing, some notes make a fizzy/buzzing sound through the amplifier. This only occurs with certain notes and the notes can vary from day to day. When a note does cause that sound, I can hit the same note over and over and the sound will repeat. The next day that note may be fine, but another will do the same thing. Sometimes I play for 20+ minutes before the sound starts occurring. Here is an extreme oddity. In the past I have experimented with 6V6 power tubes and a 5U4G rectifier tube. This problem NEVER occurs with that tube combination, but when I switch back to the 6L6GC/5AR4 combination the sound returns. I always rebias. Per David Allen's recommendations, the 6L6's are set around 35ma. The 6V6's are set in the low 20's. I contacted David Allen via email and he advised it sounded like a tube problem. But I've tried different 6L6 power tubes, different 5AR4 rectifier tubes, and I've even played around with switching preamp tubes and the problem continues. I'm really baffled with this anomaly and am wondering if an entire retube might take care of the problem. I've also wondered if it is resonance related. I don't play with a separate cab often, but I'm pretty sure the amp doesn't do this when hooked up to a separate cabinet. I've considered making a 5 second or so recording of the sound as it is hard to describe. Does that description make sense to anybody? Any ideas as to what is going on? It seems like there are ghosts in my amp that don't like 6L6 and 5U4G tubes. ha! Take the chassis out of the cabinet and set it on a table nearby. Run a speaker cable to the speakers in the cabinet. Play the amp for half an hour. If the problem doesn't occur when you run the amp this way, you probably have a bad solder joint, or a component (capacitor, choke, transformer) with intermittently punctured insulation. What you're describing sounds like an arc. Arcing is sometimes aggravated by vibration. One good way to find an arcing component or joint is to observe the chassis in the dark; wait 15-20 minutes for your eyes to adjust (do this at night, of course) and make sure you disable the pilot light and any other light sources (channel status LEDs, etc.) beforehand. You'll need a pad sander - vibratory type, not oscillating, if possible - to excite the chassis with. (I suppose I should mention that you'll need to remove the sandpaper and replace it with a piece of thick cloth, such as a washcloth, to keep from sanding the chassis. ;-) Buzz the chassis with the pad sander while observing it in pitch darkness. (You may want to have a 25-watt red lightbulb in a table lamp or trouble-light fixture nearby, so you can do your set-up without losing your night vision.) Buzz the chassis from different angles, at different locations - and if your pad sander has variable speed, mess with that, too. If anything is arcing, you'll see it. I've even found arcs *inside* plastic capacitors with this method - you can see the sparks through the plastic. Don't forget to eyeball the HV supply caps - you might miss 'em if they're under a doghouse like on a Fender. If you don't find your problem with this method, you may want to sub in a new output transformer. Of course, the above procedure assumes you've already looked for the obvious stuff, like cold or cracked solder joints on the tube sockets and the eyelet boards (if any) using a magnifying glass and *strong* illumination. Hopefully, you've also played the amp through a different speaker cabinet. As for the catalogs, I'm updating my e-mail list (more than 8,000 addresses!) now and I expect to start e-mailing them in the next couple of weeks. If you placed a request for a set, it's archived, and you'll get 'em. It's been 15 months since the last batch. Lord ValveExpert "You have been banned from TGP for the following reason: none.Date the ban will be lifted: never." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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