OT: Tube ?

[u1061810]

HI All,
  I'd like to replace the 6L6Cs in the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe I have,(which is the first tube amp I've ever owned),but when I went to Musicians Friend to order them, I saw that they had a designation of hardness 1-10 to choose from.What does this represent as far as sound, etc?
 I play classic rock from the 60s and 70s, so maybe someone could clue me in on the best choice for this sound.


PS. Is Musicians Friend a good place to purchase tubes?


Thanks for any help on these questions.

[Mike Burgundy]

The only tubes I know of with a 1-10 rating are Groove tubes. while they state it's a sound thing, it really is mostly about bias rating. I don't know if I'm right in this (someone please chip in) but I have the feeling the tube's "preference" bias has less effect on sound than the actual bias setting itself. It's not the tube, but how you bias it.
Back to the main storyline: the 1-10 rating means you (so GT claim) never have to re-bias your amp after having done so for the first set - as long as you keep buying GT sets with the same rating. I'm slightly sceptical about that - I like to check the bias settings every now and then. Trimpots drift, you know.
Oh wait - a Deluxe! That has fixed bias I think - not sure if there's an adjustment pot in there. This might limit your choice of GT ratings - some might run waay too hot (frying the tube), some too cold (sounding crappy).
If it does have such a pot, you must have the amp biased at LEAST this tube-swap.
I love Svetlana's personally, but that's the extent of my advice I'm afraid.
That, and the advice to have a qualified tech or knowledgable person check out the amp to make sure everything is running smoothly bias-wise, whatever tube you choose.

[Gilles C]

You have a choice of 3 colors for your tubes in the HR Deluxe.

They were effectively matched by Groove Tubes so that you don't have to adjust the bias. You just need to buy a new tube with the same color code.

Red, White, and Blue.

That's the amp I use also, but I never had to change the tubes yet.

Check this also.

http://www.torresengineering.com/fenbluesdevn.html

http://www.torresengineering.com/fenbluesdelb.html

[u1061810]

Thanks for the info guys.

[Lonehdrider]

I like JJ's personally, but then again I have a great source for tubes here WWW.TUBESANDMORE.COM , they're local to me so its great. Everytime I went to Guitar Center, they only sold groove tubes and usually had like one, or some such nonsense (which is fine, except I wanted to replace all four), same with preamp tubes, they had 2 of the 4 I needed (and those were 12ax7's, something any store SHOULD carry quite a few of since they're most often used in preamps on tube amps these days). While I won't dispute they're matching and all that, GT's are as most probably know just remarked tubes of other manufacture that meet they're specs and lightens your wallet. Just a opinion of course.

Regards,

Lone

[Gilles C]

A little note I forgot to say about the Hot Rod Deluxe.

It does have a pot (R82) to adjust the bias, so you can buy any tube you want, and just reajust the bias as needed, (If you are confortable with checking a voltage on a test point on the pcb, and keeping your hands off the high voltable that is present on the pcb, of course).

I am about to put a few pictures on my site to show that.