What Kind Of Tubes For My B-52 At-100?

[toddler68]

I recently bought a B-52 AT-100 head (which I absolutely love) after reading some reviews on harmonycentral. However, I also read that the stock tubes will likely croak after about 6 months and I wanted to have a replacent set ready if/when that happens. I wondered if anyone here would recommend any particular brand over another.

I play mainly METAL, so I'd prefer something that would lend itself to that style. Any recommendations on power tubes and preamp tubes would be appreciated. Also, If any of you have any firsthand knowledge of this head and would like to share your thoughts, I'd really like to hear what you've got to say. Feel free to reply to this or PM me.

Oh, and do any of you amp gurus have a favorite amp mod website? I thought I might pose these questions in an amp-specific forum.

Thanks, Todd

[toddler68]

bump

[mikhailgtrski]

Don't know much about the B-52s... or anyone that has one.

Terry "Tube Tramp" Kilgore always has good stuff, real reasonable: terry_kilgore2003(at)yahoo.com

Or try Mike Kropotkin @ KCA NOS Tubes for some recommendations.

Metroamp is a great place for amp builders, though it's mainly Marshall Plexi-oriented.

[syxxstring]

Most likely you will only need power tubes. Its almost imposible to kill preamp tubes.

In that amp I would stick with Groove Tubes. I've always had luck with them and I don't know if the circutry in that amp will benefit much from boutique tubes.

However 6 months would be short for tube life unless your gigging/practicing several hours per day.

[RGman]

12AX7 power tubes right? I use EHX tubes, not really fussed on others as they do the job fine.

[mikhailgtrski]

Most likely you will only need power tubes. Its almost imposible to kill preamp tubes.

In that amp I would stick with Groove Tubes. I've always had luck with them and I don't know if the circutry in that amp will benefit much from boutique tubes.

However 6 months would be short for tube life unless your gigging/practicing several hours per day.

According to this your amp uses 6L6 or 5881 output (aka power) tubes. Good quality output tubes can last 6 months to two years or more, depends on how often and how hard you push them. You also have a rectifier tube, not sure about the life span on those. NOS preamp tubes can last 10,000 to 20,000 hours or more.

If you play at fairly low volume (say, below 4-5 on the master volume) and get all your overdrive from the preamp section, you may not hear much difference between new production and new-old-stock output tubes. On the other hand, good NOS preamp tubes (your amp uses 12AX7) can make a huge sonic difference. For metal you might be just fine with new production... depends on the tone you prefer, and they all have different tonal and overdrive characteristics. V1 (the first tube in the signal chain) has the most impact on your tone, so you might want to try a few different 12AX7 "flavors" in that position to see what you like.

[toddler68]

Thanks for the replies guys, this is exactly the info I needed. FYI, the power tubes are Sovtek 5881WXT but all the preamp tubes are stamped China. Don't know if that makes a difference in quality or tube life, but I will definitely have some fun trying different tubes in V1 to tweak the tone.