by bordonbert Mon Feb 22, 2021 4:57 pm
Great stuff there T Bone. Good to hear it went off ok. It actually isn't that traumatic a task to complete even when you have never done it before and now you have it is easier the next time. Don't fall for the internet myth about not touching valve envelopes with your fingers. It's complete bunk, they aren't halogen bulbs! Yes you want clean hands to do the job and it doesn't hurt to give the glass a wipe with a dry cloth, the rising smell of fish and chips from your amp is not a good addition to your playing, but there is no damage to be done by handling them normally. Just who used to bother about any of that when valves were in their heyday? It never resulted in them falling over like skittles or exploding like arc lamps then.
Also, my honest advice is to not let yourself be sucked down the path of the "quest for the ultimate valve" odyssey either. The differences between valves from different manufacturers is heavily overstated by marketing men and those keen to be seen as "valve amp gurus". There are more and more highly respected people coming out and stating that same fact, (Seymour Duncan for one). There are very minor differences, and then only when you drive the valves outside of their design capabilities as we do in heavy overdrive. They weren't designed to be used in that way so, while every aspect of their behaviour is well laid out for all manufacturers to follow within their working limits, there is no defined behaviour under those "unlawful" conditions. It isn't predictable as in "this manufacturer's 12AX7s are always sweet at the top end and this manufacturer is always clearer in the mids". Most of the measurable differences, (the workbench is always the final word for me), are not much more than the acceptable production spread for valves from the same manufacturer. When you have a production line spread of some 20% in parameters that matter the tiny claimed subtle differences from one make to another is pretty much irrelevant. The differences you may hear on swapping valves aren't so much down to the manufacturer, they are mostly just the random difference in parameters between those two individual valves which isn't consistent to a particular maker. There are much more relevant things to put effort into to improve your sound which outweigh the valve thing by many times over.
Anyway, time for you to keep on enjoying those new bottles. Have fun.
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