Where to buy new valves/tubes?

artvandulet

If I want to replace the valves in my amp where is the best place to go?
Is there a particular online place to buy them to do them myself (once I learn about biasing!) or do the guitar shops stock them?
How much do the shops charge roughly to change them?
Thanks.

Kenny_D

http://www.watfordvalves.com/

Lots of advice on what valves to go for depending on your amp in their forums

Paolo_M

+1 on Watford Valves, they've a great selection, quick delivery and good prices. There also an excellent eBay supplier called Voc Rock Guitars that I've dealt with.

As a rule of thumb steer clear of any chinese made valves and you'll alright. Some people complain about Russian valves also but I've found SovTek, Tung Sol and Electro Harmonix to be sound so far. I think all of those come from the same plant anyway.

Other current quality valve brands include JJ Tesla (may also be Russian I think?), Sylvania and Svetlana. Mesa Boogie, Groove Tubes, TAD etc simply rebadge valves after their "quality" testing and power valve "matching" and aren't worth the extra money IMO. Watford match power valves themselves anyway as part of the deal when you buy a set.

Mullard, Brimar, RCA, Pinnacle and Siemens made arguably the finest audio valves back in the day and stocks of them are sold as NOS and are fairly pricey. TBH if you don't have a finely tuned ear or a serious taste for nostalgia then current production will be fine and you're money would be better spent elsewhere.

What amp have you got?

IamMetaldave

I've bought valves off these guys on eBay.

Super value and great to deal with!

Watford Valves site is amazing for info on everything you will ever need to know about valves!

artvandulet

Paolo_M wrote: »

+1 on Watford Valves, they've a great selection, quick delivery and good prices. There also an excellent eBay supplier called Voc Rock Guitars that I've dealt with.

As a rule of thumb steer clear of any chinese made valves and you'll alright. Some people complain about Russian valves also but I've found SovTek, Tung Sol and Electro Harmonix to be sound so far. I think all of those come from the same plant anyway.

Other current quality valve brands include JJ Tesla (may also be Russian I think?), Sylvania and Svetlana. Mesa Boogie, Groove Tubes, TAD etc simply rebadge valves after their "quality" testing and power valve "matching" and aren't worth the extra money IMO. Watford match power valves themselves anyway as part of the deal when you buy a set.

Mullard, Brimar, RCA, Pinnacle and Siemens made arguably the finest audio valves back in the day and stocks of them are sold as NOS and are fairly pricey. TBH if you don't have a finely tuned ear or a serious taste for nostalgia then current production will be fine and you're money would be better spent elsewhere.

What amp have you got?

Great answer. Thanks for the advice.
No particular amp as yet. Just considering a valve and wanted to know how much I'll have to invest in the future.
Would you have a rough idea on how long they last. I suppose it depends on quality, how often you play and at what level yes?

darrenw5094

www.eurotubes.com
Actually based in USA. The tubes are made in Europe and China.

Kenny_D

Some 10-20 year old amps have the original valves in them. The cost of a valve change shouldn't even come into it once you hear the difference in sound between a SS and a tube amp. How long you get out of them obviously depends how much you use your amp. Generally you can switch them once they become microphonic but you'll generally get a LOT of use out of a set of good valves

artvandulet

cheers, thats reassuring.;)

Paolo_M

To expand on the valve life expectancy slightly.

In any valve amp there are three classes of valve:

• Rectifier, if present. Solid state would be the "other" kind.
• Preamp valves
• Power valves

Preamp valves should last a life time. However if the amp get knocked about then over time they can become microphonic and squeel. All valves are microphonic to a degree but this is helped along by any knock they take along the way and eventually the noise can become annoying to say the least. Left sitting still they should last a life time as they have to dissipate less than 1/2 their max power rating but who's honestly going to do that?

Power valves are different. As they are "power" valves, and the consumer likes their watts!!, they tend to be run at their max dissipation levels. This means that when your amp is cranked fully the valves are working right at their performance limits. Used like this, gigging and rehearing twice a week say, you'd be lucky to get 6 months out of them. Eddie Van Halen and George Lynch were two guys who almost single handedly kept the valve production industry going in the '80s by using their amps like this!! Using an attenuator to get low volume with the cranked amp sound is doing the exact same thing. However most of us don't play outdoor arena's regularily and tend to use more moderate volume levels :pac:. I typically change power valves every other year although I experiment with different brands/types a fair bit anyway.

Recifier valves are a different story altogether and their life span is dependant on how well, or not, the power supply was designed.