Replacing the Tubes in an Egnater Tweaker 15

[@jakesmith4506]

great video. I have the Tweaker 15 and the 40 watt version. I replaced the 6v6 tubes in both amps with 6L6GC. it's great. Those Tweakers can take the different tubes without re biasing the amp. I love the sound too. I use Sevetlana 6L6 tubes and I get good results. rock on.

[@SmokinFoolz]

Thanks Jake. This is actually what I was searching for. I SUBSCRIBED HERE. later.

[@suttondj87]

Thanks for the video! I just ordered the Tweaker 112 combo and it will be here next week so I planned on inspecting the tubes when it arrives. Very helpful!

[@tokyosodapop]

thanks this helped me a lot

[@fishpotpete]

Glad it helped!

[@shawnreese6538]

Sounds great! You'll change it, then wish you had it back, lol. You nailed a blackface sound, and the high gain sounds really great!

[@fishpotpete]

Thanks! I really love that amp. I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

[@bobkraft9029]

I know this is an older post but figured I should add that you don’t want to spray pots with contact cleaner as it can dry them out. You want a cleaner like Deoxit that’s also an electronics lubricant. Thanks for posting this video.

[@fishpotpete]

Thanks for bringing that up. I've used both. But sometimes the ones with lubricant can get a little messy. I've never heard of a problem with things drying out. But I'll certainly keep that in mind in the future and see if I can detect any issues between the ones where I used a Deoxit type cleaner vs just a cleaner.

[@michaelbarber1123]

Moving your hands around inside the amp near those power supply capacitors, you were scaring the hell out of me. Lol!

[@fishpotpete]

You are exactly right! I'm doing another vid on a VHT amp and I address the capacitor issue directly. I should have been more careful to point that out in this one. Thank you for bringing that up!

[@michaelbarber1123]

@@fishpotpete I actually just got an idea for this amp this morning. I went and ordered two 12AX7 to 6SL7 adapters on ebay so I can experiment with running one 6SL7 tube in the V1 position for a smoother, fatter and more vintage overdrive, as well as another 6SL7 with balanced triodes in the V3 position as a nice heavy duty phase inverter. I also ordered two 6V6 to EL84 adapters so I can see what kind of tones I can get out of this amp with a set EL84's, or the much better and lower priced vintage NOS Russian military 6BQ5 tubes.. I'm even thinking about getting a couple of 6N2P to 12AX7 adapters, because as you may know; 6N2P are the vintage Russian military equivalent of vintage high dollar US made NOS 12AX7's, except even though they look exactly the same, the heater pin is in a different spot which is corrected by the adapters. I have about 2 dozen of these tubes that were made in the 1950's and they sound as good as many of the old Amperex and Telefunken tubes made back in that era, except instead of costing anywhere from $75-$200 dollars a piece, they only cost about .50 cents to $1.50 each. HUGE difference in price, but not in sound.

[@dariuskohler251]

@@michaelbarber1123 did your plan work out to hear any difference?

[@michaelbarber1123]

@@dariuskohler251 Unfortunately, no. Those adapters do not address the voltage differences between a 12ax7 and a 6sl7, so using them could very well damage the amp's output transformer. I did however, order some 12ax7 to 6n2p adapters and those tubes sound every bit as good as NOS Telefunkin tubes from the 1950's, except they cost about $5.00 each as opposed to $150 - $250 dollars each. Huge difference.

[@kosmicwizard]

Unless you have extra money, or want to change the tone of your amp slightly, there is no benefit of changing tubes until they fail, especially the pre-amp tubes. I have 12ax7 and 12au7 tubes in my Ampeg SVT lll head from 1990 and they are still fine. Cheers. EDIT: if you are changing tubes to change the tone the slots that make the biggest difference are V1 and the phase inverter.

[@fishpotpete]

I pretty much agree with that statement. But I don't like to wait for something to fail before I do something about it. That would be embarrassing if I was playing out somewhere and they shot craps! I only changed these out because I bought the unit used and I had no idea how they were treated in the past or how many hours were on them. I do have a 64 Fender Vibro Champ and a Silvertone amp in a case amp both with original tubes. But I don' t take them anywhere to play live.

[@kosmicwizard]

@@fishpotpete totally valid, Bro. And great video, BTW! I was just trying to cut down on garbage and buck the capitalist trend (i.e. tube kits) that tells you to replace preamp tubes every time you change power tubes. Before the pandemic I never had to worry about my amp failing, I have an orange stomp on my board for such occasions. :)

[@scramblesthedeathdealer]

I was using my Egnater Tweaker 15 head the other day, I heard a loud pop then the volume cut drastically, pretty sure a tube blew out, gotta figure out which one to replace, or should I just do a full tube replacement? I got the amp new a few years ago, all stock tubes.

[@fishpotpete]

I wonder if one of the pins on a tube shorted out or something and knocked out half the power amp? You might want to check for any burn marks around the sockets - I had an ampeg head years ago that had some loud pops and it turned out the sockets were bad. I'd be interested to know what it turns out to be! Best of luck on this...

[@scramblesthedeathdealer]

@@fishpotpete Yeah, I will look for burn marks. I just asked my Guitar Center tech if he works on tune amps, he said unfortunately not, so I guess it's up to me... Thanks for the advice. 👍

[@fishpotpete]

@@scramblesthedeathdealer If you're not experienced or comfortable working on tube amps, just be carefull. I've never had a problem - but you might want to look up how to drain capacitors before you start poking around - that's where the danger can arrise of getting shocked. But if you know how to do that, then you're 99% safe (assuming you unplug the amp 🙂). There might even be a generric electronics repair person in your area that would be interested in taking a look. As much as I love Guitar Center, they're really not my first choice on amp repairs. You might find a good one, but they mostly do basic work focusing on guitars (and they may be extremely good at it!).

[@scramblesthedeathdealer]

@@fishpotpete Will do. 👍

[@ShineDawg]

Just got my Tweaker 15 and I love it! Bought it used for super cheap at Sam ash and it is my best sounding amp. Thanks for posting, I will definitely use as a resource when changing my tubes. Does your over hear at all? The top grill on mine will get very hot after a couple hours... Is this problematic or normal?

[@fishpotpete]

The heat is a normal byproduct of the tubes. And they do get VERY hot. As I learned on a little 3 watt Silvertone amp a few years back. Little tube, big heat, big blister! So the amp SHOULDN"T be overheating - but should get hot. If you have other tube amps to compare it too, see how hot they get. I think you notice it more on the Tweaker because it has that nice wide vent on the top. That's a great design because you get a good convection current going in there to help cool those hot tubes! And thanks for asking!

[@ShineDawg]

@@fishpotpete wonderful, thank you. Just snagged one used yesterday and have been playing the heck out of it. I noticed it got pretty hot on the grill but I'll keep an eye on it. I'm hoping to keep this head for the long haul. Checking other heads definitely get just as hot on their exhaust areas. New sub BTW, all the best and thanks for sharing. Any other egnater vids would be nice. This would be the first amp I'll service myself, so any vids on pot cleaning and what not would be helpful. Thanks again, all the best. I saw the comments,.one about drying out pots. Any way you could do a vid for beginners? Lol

[@ShineDawg]

I'm going to retube next week and this video is so very helpful. I appreciate it you save me a bunch of time and now I can't wait to swap out new tubes. Thanks again all the best

[@markferguson3745]

Put a new old set of vintage RCA 6L6, - which barely fit, height wise, and they really opened up the Fender and Marshall modes.It also increased volume -, which I didn't want, -as clean, you can't go much louder than 4. It's a modern design, and as such, scary in the quanity of crap wired direct to the board., but I did notice few complaints regarding reliability overall.( as on the cheaper Fender combos).Usually, you want jacks , tubes,and knobs, transformers free standing, and away from the boards. Keep in mind that , - in the States, you can still easily find the old Fender Twins and the like, which are always going to be most over engineered and reliable going,- for under $800.In most of the world, they don't have this luxury, and often also have more restrictive health & safety standards.The marketing of new hybrid and SS is more about their probs than ours,and while you still have the better options, - don't believe the BS marketing. If you can go Fender, Ampeg, Gibson, or Marshall, all tube, - why wouldn't you?

[@fishpotpete]

Thanks for the comments!

[@shlomtzi84]

How can you tell the types and brands of tubes that can fit the amp?

[@fishpotpete]

Usually either the manual or a label inside the case will indicate the tube types (and positions on the chassis). If not, you most likely can find that information with a quick Google search. As far as brands go, they are pretty much interchangeable. It's always a safe bet to go with the same brand as the originals - but that's not a requirement. Feel free to go with pretty much any major tube brand. There are plenty of KZbin vids that explore different brand tubes within the same amp... and they all essentially sound the same. If you think one sounds better than the others, then go with that if you like. If you want to "experiment" with tube types, the easy route is in the preamp tubes (12AX7 socket compatible). There are a few different types you can swap that WILL affect the sound characteristics easily and cheaply. I played around with that years ago and I ended up going back to the original stock type. But it doesn't hurt to do it - it gives you a sense of empowerment :-). On the power tube side of things - It's a little more work to change the power tubes and that is beyond the scope of this video.

[@engleharddinglefester4285]

There's a vid somewhere in youtube I don't have the link, some Japanese guy has a shop in his house and hand builds tubes, no lie. Probably not cheap, either for all I know.

[@fishpotpete]

That's pretty cool! I bet they look nice too if he's doing it by hand.

[@engleharddinglefester4285]

@@fishpotpete Might be this guy smoking cigarettes while he works lol I think i remember it now. Home shop on the ground floor. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f57WlJKAZ5qEo6c