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Post subject: Tube Rattle
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:48 pm
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Hi there folks, I've been playing in bands for 50yrs. Been repairing and restoring older amps(50's-late 60's) for collectors and musicians for 20yrs. But I'm not familiar with the term "tube rattle." Does it refer to loose elements inside of the tube that generate their own signal? I'm an old guy, but would like to understand exactly what we're talking about. Still know which end of the soldering iron to use! Thanks Art


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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:36 am
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Hi Art,
I'm a geezer too. :D I've been playing for over 40 years and doing simple repairs on my older amps for a while. Tube rattle is just that. A rattling or tinkling sound coming from the tube sometimes just at certain frequencies.

I know you remember RCA, GE and Sylvania tubes that were common in the old amps. Well, they just don't make them like they used to. Tubes that used to last for years and years only last for a year or two if you're lucky sometimes just months or even just hours.


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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:42 pm
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Thanks Supro, I understand what you're saying. Didn't know it was such a common problem with the newer tubes. Guess I've been around tube snobs too long. RCA, Mullard, Tungsol, GE, Mazda, etc. is what I usually see and use. Actually I have all Sylvanias(4 octal) in my '55 Oahu that I retubed 6yrs. ago, works fine. Guess I need to realize that a young person will just walk into a shop, buy a tube off the shelf and expect a quality product. This indicates the necessity of good testing, but if the product is prone to early failure then all that testing is for nothing. Man! What a pain in the neck! I have some older GT tubes I use for testing PI and power tube problems, and found them to be very well matched. But they don't get very many hours on them. Oh yeah, the first band(The Tranquilizers) we started was in 1964, need to pay closer attention to my arithmetic. That's only 45 yrs. Peace Art


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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:41 pm
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Quote:
I know you remember RCA, GE and Sylvania tubes that were common in the old amps. Well, they just don't make them like they used to.


Man is that the truth! I've got a 35 year old GE 12AT7 that I just can't part with. Sounds better and is tighter than any current 12AT7 made.


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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:46 am
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Yep. I believe GT is just a sorting/supply house and I think Fender owns them.


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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:49 am
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Yep. I believe GT is just a sorting/supply house and I think Fender owns them. Years ago Fender used top notch tubes. I would gladly pay a few more bucks for a new amp with good tubes. I know you can do it yourself, but it would take the guesswork out when you tried the amp out at the music shop.


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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:02 pm
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Last edited by tinker tech on Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:46 pm
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aclempoppi wrote:
RCA, Mullard, Tungsol, GE, Mazda, etc. is what I usually see and use.


It's funny that you mention Tungsols. I love them, and they're by far the best sounding tubes I've used, but I've noticed that even these higher-quality can rattle. Not all of them do, but it does happen. I can't justify paying for Mullards, but I think tube rattle, especially in little combos like my PJ, is just part of the game. I've had cheap Sovteks that didn't rattle and expensive Tungsols that did. Who knows?


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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 3:26 pm
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Those Sovtek 5881's are solid tubes. They lack the nice overtones of the more expensive ones though. I still may switch back to the Sovteks.


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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 7:09 am
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Today's Tungsol are reissues made by Reflector to the Tungsol specs. Not as good as the originals. The same with Mullard. You have to actually get a NOS tube to have the original quality. Hard to find and more money.

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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 7:20 am
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I have JAN Phillips wgbs in my 59 Bassman ri amp and i like them alot.I believe the ones i got were military tubes NOS from the 80s.They sound pristine and tight .I have had to replace most of the GTs in my Blues deluxe and Blues jr due to rattling.Not real impressed with their quality.As a matter of fact , i had to replace my preamp tubes in my Blues deluxe almost imediately after i bought it. :roll:


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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 1:57 pm
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Yep, they're military(JAN= Joint Army Navy)and very rugged tubes with good life expectancy. I've never tried them as power tubes, but have used them in the pre amp and PI, with good results. Some folks feel they're not as multi demensional as other NOS tubes, and I agree, possibly a result of their high vacuum and sturdy construction. I particularly like a matched dual triode in the PI, as good as the JAN GE's. A very reliable tube and a good choice in any position. As for the NOS Tungsols, I've got two 5881's that I swap back and forth with some NOS GE's in my personal amps, just for fun! Great tubes! Do the same with a couple of 12AX7 Tungsols, but now that you mention it,I think one did get noisy, have to get those guys out and see. They're the old long plates, nice sounding tubes for sure! And GT, what changed? They were a fine company to do business with less then five years ago. I've got two of their home brew GE's that are great, and a few MPI tubes for testing amps. They were always known for their excellent testing and matching. ART


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