Opened up my Valveking Head with Shocking Results!

[dmmi]

So, took off the grates...front and back, pulled out the power tubes....all are Ruby 6L6GCM-STR Stock..............Then I notice some rattling around behind the power tube slots.....my freaking reverb box is floating, I can almost pull it right off...huh?

Closer inspection....there are 4 mounting studs and 2 of them have the small nuts doubled up, and to of them nothing....I don't think this is right?

And if not, certainly not something I'd expect from Peavey.

Next Shocker.....everyones raving about JJ tubes.....so after I pull off the spring load guard for the preamp tubes....then pull out the tubes....huh...

3 - JJ ECC83S stock....weren't these supposed to be Ruby's stock?

I bought new.....from a major music store in town.

Lastly, when shake (gently) the power tubes like a lightbulb....1 of them, dead silent, 1 almost silent, and the other 2 like pices are rattling all over inside, but I can't see any.

So.....now, maybe my squeel is coming from loose reverb box?
or maybe bad power tubes?

Anyway, started a new thread due to the reverb box and stock JJ's....sorry if that was wrong.

Advise?
Thanks!

 

[SimonSez]

According to a search I just did some of the ValveKing's shipped with Ruby preamp tubes, others with Electro Harmonix, and some with JJ's.

Sometimes the reverb tank hangs loosely in amplifiers or it is offset with some rubber washers. This is so the vibrations from the head don't make the springs in the reverb tank vibrate.

I would replace the power tubes if I were you.

 

[dmmi]

There are rubber washers top and bottom....you'd think that the 4 nuts in total would be lightly tightened to "set" the rubber washers?

 

[Eddy]

So, took off the grates...front and back, pulled out the power tubes....all are Ruby 6L6GCM-STR Stock..............Then I notice some rattling around behind the power tube slots.....my freaking reverb box is floating, I can almost pull it right off...huh?

Closer inspection....there are 4 mounting studs and 2 of them have the small nuts doubled up, and to of them nothing....I don't think this is right?

And if not, certainly not something I'd expect from Peavey.

Same thing with my VK and my friend's VK. Seems to be normal with these things. The amp is made in China so...

Next Shocker.....everyones raving about JJ tubes.....so after I pull off the spring load guard for the preamp tubes....then pull out the tubes....huh...

3 - JJ ECC83S stock....weren't these supposed to be Ruby's stock?

I bought new.....from a major music store in town.

Yeah like SimonSez mentioned, the VK has been known to ship with various tube brands. I guess what ever happened to be on sale at the moment.

I haven't actually checked what brand my preamp tubes are. The power tubes are Ruby though. From what I've read some have been equipped with Electro Harmonics. Also I think I've read somewhere that Groove Tubes is another brand they have used, but don't quote me on that.

 

[SimonSez]

There are rubber washers top and bottom....you'd think that the 4 nuts in total would be lightly tightened to "set" the rubber washers?

Yeah I don't think it's supposed to be tightened. I have seen many amps and the reverb tank usually has a lot of room to move and I think that is done purposefully. If you tighten the screws until the rubber washers are compressed then you will still be transferring vibrations into the reverb tank.

 

[JHA]

So, took off the grates...front and back, pulled out the power tubes....all are Ruby 6L6GCM-STR Stock..............Then I notice some rattling around behind the power tube slots.....my freaking reverb box is floating, I can almost pull it right off...huh?

Closer inspection....there are 4 mounting studs and 2 of them have the small nuts doubled up, and to of them nothing....I don't think this is right?

And if not, certainly not something I'd expect from Peavey.

Next Shocker.....everyones raving about JJ tubes.....so after I pull off the spring load guard for the preamp tubes....then pull out the tubes....huh...

3 - JJ ECC83S stock....weren't these supposed to be Ruby's stock?

I bought new.....from a major music store in town.

Lastly, when shake (gently) the power tubes like a lightbulb....1 of them, dead silent, 1 almost silent, and the other 2 like pices are rattling all over inside, but I can't see any.

So.....now, maybe my squeel is coming from loose reverb box?
or maybe bad power tubes?

Anyway, started a new thread due to the reverb box and stock JJ's....sorry if that was wrong.

Advise?
Thanks!

Naturally a spring reverb tank will rattle when shaken (after all it consist of springs) and it's probably floating so it won't resonate with the head/combo when played loudly. Nothing to worry about if it's not that loose that it will drop. Also Ruby is just a selling brand name, they don't make the tubes themselves. They can be anything really (probably chinese) they just slap their own logo on them.

Squeal is most often caused by microphonic preamp tubes, you can test them by gently tapping the glass with like a wooden stick or so when the amp is on. If you hear that tapping noise loudly from the speaker the tube is most likely gone microphonic. Of course squeal can come from many things like bad wiring inside the amp/guitar (feedback) or poorly wound coils on your guitar etc. Peavey is Peavey but I wouldn't expect boutique class quality from an amp mass produced in China or so

Edit: of course don't touch anything inside the amp if you do this or give the task to someone who is familiar with tube amps as there is really high voltages running inside tube amps, I don't want you to get shocked or something.

 

[PhilTheBeard]

Almost every peavey tube amp has ruby power amp tube's and either jj's or a mix of electro harmonix and jj preamp tube's. it's been like that in every peavey amp i ever bought new

 

[dmmi]

Thanks guy.....guess it's not a shock after all..haha

There is a local "tube genius" that works full time out of his garage....taking my head to him after work for him to re-tube with the addition of 2 mods:

- Bias pot mod, his comments on this is that you NEED bias adjustment to get the amp it the sweet spot....yes it's fixed right now, and yes I could order a matched quartet, but that doesn't guarantee that the the tubes will be +- 0.5 mA (which is what he does, while inserted with a bias pot addition) AND biased for the particular amp, as each one is a little different. Also with bias adjustment, you can "dial in" the amp right where you want it. Most factory settings are pretty cold for warranty and tube life

- R100 Mod, this is to bridge the current R100 and is said to improve gain boost and make it less trebly and harsh...we'll see, if I don't like it....cut the wire of the bridge resistor.....I guess one could alternately put a pot in for the bridge so they could effectively turn the mod off.

There also is a "mesa mod".....which in all fact does not make it mesa....but tightens the boost tremendously....I may think about this one.

I'll report back with results
Cheers!

 

[Auroras]

i came up with a trick a few years ago when i owned one i am the originator of it haha bassicallly patch chord your effect loop together theres tremendous signal loss from the effects loop you'lll shit bricks

 

[dmmi]

Ya the tube guy I talked to told me about that one too.....I'll go into detail for you:

- basically the jacks for fx send/return are normalled when there is no plug inserted to pass the signal to the Power section(or pre section....can't remember which)
after time....even sitting in a box, or on the shelf the jack can and will degrade, limiting the signal pass through....by putting in your patch cord you've effectively made sure the signal is true with minimal loss.

apparently (haven't tried this) you can use mfx or volume pedal spanned for 80 to 100% to take that one step further and use as a volume attenuator. hook up mfx or volume pedal into fx loop, set volume on amp higher than normal, then set expression on mfx to control master out. This way you can drive the power section with the master volume, and cut back actual amplitude by attenuating.....therefor giving you cranked tone characteristics at bedroom levels.....the 80-100% trick is to give boost for live setting, but be careful!

 

[Auroras]

seems My little trick got a bit popular.haha I figured it out like 2-3 years ago when i had one i popped the effects loop together and was just shocked posted up on UG and i guess alot of people picked it up after .

all of the mods/tricks were compiled somewhere.

Fuck UG lol last time i mentioned this i was accused of not being the originator meanwhile in the archives It shows up as me originally posting it and other people comfirming that it works

 

[Notuern]

seems My little trick got a bit popular.haha I figured it out like 2-3 years ago when i had one i popped the effects loop together and was just shocked posted up on UG and i guess alot of people picked it up after .

all of the mods/tricks were compiled somewhere.

Fuck UG lol last time i mentioned this i was accused of not being the originator meanwhile in the archives It shows up as me originally posting it and other people comfirming that it works

Actually, its a pretty common trick with all amps.. even though its usually not related to signal loss, but rather that it sounds "different"(Often better.).

 

[Auroras]

well it's not commonly used in modern amps and i was the first to do it with the valveking ;p i had no clue about it being used before hand when i stumbled apon it. after i posted it up people went on to say that they remebered something like this being done to amps in the past but this does give a noticible boost in gain and improves the tone 10x it's like a completly diffrent amp

 

[dmmi]

Well took my head to buddy yesterday.....and the result so far is:
2 - microphonic preamp tubes
1 - bad....extremely unmatched power tube

So I'm expecting some serious change in the sound.....I bought it new around march this year, and have only played through it maybe 8 times...(jamming's tough to organize with a family and bandmates with famililies!). But this thing was obviously crapped or close to crapped from the store...makes me wonder about all tube amps... because:
The guy I took it to is an amp tech. genius, I figured that when I spoke to him on the phone, but confirmed when I saw his shop....shot the shit with him for almost 3 hours, super cool, fair, and knowledgeable. But he makes amps from scratch, his own tube overdrives...walls and walls of tubes NOS and new, drawers of new and vintage components...mustard caps for marshall, as an example (haha the only one I remembered)...his comments to me is that, why go for mesa or peavey or whatever tone when you can have your own....he said..."tell me what you want it to sound like and I'll modify it for you"....so I'm pretty excited.

Yes this costs money, and in the end I'll probably be at the same cost as my valveking head + parts and labour to equal a mesa or engl or whatever.....but I'll have MY tone, exactly how I want it. The other bonus, is it's in stages so....100-200 here, then 100-200 there...slowly building it up. I like that idea.

Cheers guys, I'll post results this weekend, I pick up today.

On another note.....if you guys have any requests for custom shit....let me know, I could have him make and ship to you.....just trying to help

 

[dmmi]

Got my head back today....and my GOD it sounds sooooooo good!
New tubes, with perfectly balanced preamp phase tube and matched within 0.5 mV of each other, then dialed in to run a little hotter....
So happy, think I'll be re-amping from now on instead of all ITB.
Cheers!

 

[Full_Tilt]

i came up with a trick a few years ago when i owned one i am the originator of it haha bassicallly patch chord your effect loop together theres tremendous signal loss from the effects loop you'lll shit bricks

Yeah I know exactly what your talking about and I found this out when I was running my Boss EQ 20 in the loop . Even when my EQ 20 was not turned on the whole amp came to life like never before .

 

[Full_Tilt]

apparently (haven't tried this) you can use mfx or volume pedal spanned for 80 to 100% to take that one step further and use as a volume attenuator. hook up mfx or volume pedal into fx loop, set volume on amp higher than normal, then set expression on mfx to control master out. This way you can drive the power section with the master volume, and cut back actual amplitude by attenuating.....therefor giving you cranked tone characteristics at bedroom levels.....the 80-100% trick is to give boost for live setting, but be careful!

Incorrect .
All your doing is turning down the master with said device and then turning it up again with the master volume pot . Dont think this will drive the power tubes any more than before.

 

[Eddy]

So dmmi, what mods did you get done? I guess the bias trim at least?