New/Spare tubes for Nace M1-18r?

[DannyB]

.............. I have no reason to believe that it needs new tubes but then again I'm not sure what symptoms to look for other than bizarre noises, squeals, etc. but occasionally lately it seems like it's lost a bit of its sweetness and doesn't seem to handle higher gain tones quite like it used to.
Do tubes in an amp wear down slowly over time or just "go" suddenly? Also, M1 owners, what would be a good set of tubes t keep on hand?

Usually, not always, but usually, tubes wear down. They lose their tone, gain drops, and sometimes they start getting real noisy. You'll notice you have to turn up the volume more than you used to. Yup! It's time for some new tubes.

There are MUCH better tube choices for blues than JJ's. Call Doug at http://www.dougstubes.com and talk with him about the tone you want from your amp. Follow his advise and your amp will come ALIVE!

Tell him Danny, his dog friend, said call.

 

[CapnDenny1]

I've never been impressed by JJ tubes. They just sound flat to me. Not bad, just not exciting at all.

The Tube Store has detailed descriptions and reviews of all the various brands they sell. I've found their reviews to be pretty accurate.

I use their Select Series on the V1 tube in all the amps I care about. For power tubes I stick with Tung Sol. The other tubes don't matter much, except I have gotten great results using an Electro Harmonix tube in the phase inverter, just ahead of the power tubes.

I've bought from Doug's Tubes also, and they were good as well. He doesn't have much info on his website though.

I like to read about stuff and make my own decisions, not have somebody tell me what to use.

 

[Bernie Fitz]

So, it looks like you have answered your own question! If it works for you, that's all that counts - it's all good.

So now the question is which amp? I'll have to get out and demo a few. There's no rush since I'm not having any problems right now but when someone asked me recently if I carried spare tubes with me it got me thinking.

 

[Bernie Fitz]

Here's the diagram Art sent me when i purchased my M1-18r a few years ago. As MM said Art recommended JJ's.
View attachment 7093

So on this diagram, which are the power tubes, the ones furthest from the input, the EL84's?

 

[DannyB]

The EL84s are you output tubes.

Call Doug. Ask questions. Lots of questions. He'll make a few suggestions. It's up to you to decide what you want to buy and where.

 

[DannyB]

Avoid the plain white box tubes you find at places like eBay. Often, those are tubes that failed testing by TAD, Ruby, etc, and are resold cheaply back into the market.

 

[Crossroads]

Thanks,It's my understanding, though, that these systems like the ones you mentioned, or the Headrush, require a set of speakers. We have a fairly good Peavey PA that we use only for vocals but I'm not sure how well it would work with that kind of unit?

Yeah Bernie any type of amp is going to require a speaker. With the Nace there are three connections on the back of it for 4 8 and 16 ohm connections. So you could if you wanted to, use either a mini amp head, or a modeler and plug right into the Nace cabinet. This cuts down on you having a lug a second cabinet around with you. Whatever you use though, you would want to make sure would sound good with a Celestion Greenback and remember the Nace amp uses the 8 ohm connection when you hook it back up and more importantly don't turn the Nace amp on without it being connected to the 8 ohm connection. It needs the load