Question about retubing and biasing

[vander]

Hey fellas,
When your amps need new tubes do you guys take them in for retubing and biasing, retube and bias yourselves, or not rebias them. I am trying to find a place in Chicago and by looking at websites..retubing and biasing is not listed on any of them..just repair work.
If you do take them to a shop do you buy your own tubes online and take them with or have the shop provide them.
Sorry for the newb question but I got my first tube head a while back and the guy I took it to locally (first and only google hit)for a retube screwed up the master volume electronics and it cost a couple hundred to fix. I am trying to find someplace else as I got another tube going bad and the lack of advertising for this service makes me think I should know how to do this myself.
Thanks for any insight

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

Unless you are a technician, rebiasing the amp yourself is not a safe or smart idea.

Call local repair shops and see what they want for the service. Shouldn't be hard to find or expensive in your area.

Buy the tubes yourself and bring them. A great(my preferred) and easy to find tube is the SED Svetlana brand ("wing C" is their best model), or maybe Tesla/JJ .

The www.Tubestore.com or a place like that is the best to find them as a matched set. Once you get them and have the amp biased, you'll have the bias voltage written on the tubes that you gave the tech and can then keep replacing them yourself with tubes from the same place with the same bias voltage.

Power tubes are the only ones you have to have biased, preamp tubes are self biasing.

[vander]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

Just what I wanted to know....thanks!

[maxboost]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

what type of amp are you retubing??

[vander]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

[ QUOTE ]
what type of amp are you retubing??

[/ QUOTE ]
Laney TT100H

[jk2171]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

Pickup a copy of Illinois Entertainer at a record shop, music store, etc. There are a bunch of good amp repair shops listed in the Classifieds and back section.

[maxboost]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

laney? oh sorry I only know fender. On the fender website you can get the manuals (if you hunt around) that tell you exactly how to do it, if you got a voltm\eter.

[vander]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

Thanks JK..I will do that

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

[ QUOTE ]
laney? oh sorry I only know fender. On the fender website you can get the manuals (if you hunt around) that tell you exactly how to do it, if you got a voltm\eter.

[/ QUOTE ]

400-700 volts running around in a tube amp, even after it's been off. Deadly for the inexperienced.

Not the best advice.

[sl2lover]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

I understand that if your tubes are matched you don't need to bias your amp? Is that true??

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

Generally, matched power tubes means, that the tubes all require the same bias voltage. If you are installing them in an amp, you should have the amp biased to the needs of those tubes.

Once, that amp is matched to a particularly rated tube, you can keep buying that exact rating of that tube, and the amp doesnt have to be re-biased.

[sl2lover]

Re: Question about retubing and biasing

Thanks Cleveland dude! I have always wondered how that worked!!