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How do you open a Hartke TX600 head to replace the tube?

T

TomAbeyawardene

Jun 20, 2019
8
2
#1
I'm wanting to replace the tube in my Hartke TX600 head as after letting a friend borrow it there has been greatly increased preamp hiss. Unfortunately sending it to a verified service centre is not an option as the postage would be too expensive.

I have a few tubes I would like to try but cannot figure out which screws to undo to open the head, I can't find any documentation to help with this.
Does anyone know how to open a Tx600 head?

Thanks in advance :)

And yes I am now a lot less friendly with that guy....
 
#2
A failing preamp tube (which is unlikely) has absolutely nothing to do with your friend's use of your amp.

There should be information in the owner's manual of access to the tube is "tricky".
 
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#5
Thanks for the advice guys but really I AM COMPLETELY UNABLE TO SHIP THE AMP BACK TO HARTKE due to where I live.
It would genuinely be cheaper to buy a new one than pay for the shipping.
Also I would like to try out a few different tubes to see if I can get more overdriven tones from the currently very clean preamp, so opening the amp myself is rather essential.

And the owners manual is of absolutely no use.
 
#6
Since we have no idea where you are located, it's tough to make useful suggestions.

Your initial problem in not likely due to the tube. You need to identify the cause of the problem before assuming a solution. This generally takes some knowledge of electronics, safety procedures as well as some test equipment.

Do you have any of this?
 
#7
Yes I do.
I'm asking if anyone knows how to open my head.
I was probably going to change the tube at some point anyway.
Telling me that the tube probably does not have anything to do with the hiss is not useful to me in any way.

I appreciate the feedback but all I want to know is how to get into my head.
It must be possible as they put the thing together.

And I live in the UK but I'm completely broke at the moment.
And yes calling it a tube not a valve hurts me.
 
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#8
TomAbeyawardene said:
I'm wanting to replace the tube in my Hartke TX600 head as after letting a friend borrow it there has been greatly increased preamp hiss. Unfortunately sending it to a verified service centre is not an option as the postage would be too expensive.

I have a few tubes I would like to try but cannot figure out which screws to undo to open the head, I can't find any documentation to help with this.
Does anyone know how to open a Tx600 head?

Thanks in advance :)

And yes I am now a lot less friendly with that guy....
Click to expand...
I would take take the screws(Phillips Head) out of the top. The tube should be in the left front Quadrant.
 
#9
Since you don't see any value in useful information, and you are completely broke, additional valuable information that you might not see any value in would be to leave your "valve" alone, if it's not broken then don't fix it. It's not going to change the ability to overdrive your amp as there's not enough gain in the circuit to do so with a typical bass.

A better and more valuable and useful suggestion would be to look at an overdrive pedal, which would be MUCH more effective than wasting money you don't have on a solution that won't do as you hope.

If all you are asking for is a confirmation and stroking of your poor idea, just disregard everything I have suggested as clearly "I don't know what I'm talking about"...

Being in the UK doesn't mean there's no qualified techs that could (properly) troubleshoot your original problem (to see if there's really a problem first) and then suggest a solution that will work. Good techs don't work for free of course.
 
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#10
agedhorse said:
Since you don't see any value in useful information, and you are completely broke, additional valuable information that you might not see any value in would be to leave your "valve" alone, if it's not broken then don't fix it. It's not going to change the ability to overdrive your amp as there's not enough gain in the circuit to do so with a typical bass.

A better and more valuable and useful suggestion would be to look at an overdrive pedal, which would be MUCH more effective than wasting money you don't have on a solution that won't do as you hope.

If all you are asking for is a confirmation and stroking of your poor idea, just disregard everything I have suggested as clearly "I don't know what I'm talking about"...

Being in the UK doesn't mean there's no qualified techs that could (properly) troubleshoot your original problem (to see if there's really a problem first) and then suggest a solution that will work. Good techs don't work for free of course.
Click to expand...
This +1000!
 
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#11
Sorry if I caused any offense.
From what I have read and heard of tube amps on other forums and from knowledgeable people around and about changing the tube can influence the ability to overdrive, and simply changing the valve is not a process that can destroy an amp. If this is incorrect I am happy to be corrected with explanation of why.

I just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with the TX600 head in this regard.

I will heed your warnings and look into overdrive/distortion pedals, perhaps selling the tubes I have to pay for it.

Thanks again
 
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#12
TomAbeyawardene said:
Sorry if I caused any offense.
From what I have read and heard of tube amps on other forums and from knowledgeable people around and about changing the tube can influence the ability to overdrive, and simply changing the valve is not a process that can destroy an amp. If this is incorrect I am happy to be corrected with explanation of why.
Click to expand...
Probably won't influence that amp all that much, but it very well could be a tube that's hissy, and if you have a spare around, it's worth it to try it IMHO and it won't hurt the amp to do it. Should just have to take out the top screws, lift the lid, pop the old tube out, pop the new one in. Just don't have it plugged in while you open it up and don't touch anything else but the tube.
 
#16
TomAbeyawardene said:
Yup. The I'm assuming preamplifiers in all tube amps function similarly to the one in my hybrid, cause you never see stuff on hybrids anywhere.

Again please correct me if I'm wrong though.
Click to expand...
They don't. Some amps use the tube fully, some amps use them in what's called a "starved plate" functionality, which increases tube life and does give you some tube vibe, but it cuts down a bit on the tubiness and you won't hear much change when you swap out different tubes. But I absolutely have had amps that were buzzing because of a bad tube, and it's the easiest thing to try and always the first thing I suspect when an amp with a tube goes haywire. At worst, you'll have to send it off if the new tube doesn't clear it up, so I think it's worth a shot.
 
#17
I had a store owner tell me that Hartke amps are notoriously harder too work on than they should be. I had a lead sled Hartke amp head that had one bad input Jack. He wasn't interested in trading for it because the repair cost even for just a Jack on that and would make it cost more than he could make.
I would up replacing it myself, but it was a lot of screws and bits to remove just to replace a jack.
It wasn't a Tx600 so I can't tell you exactly what to do, but I can witness in your defense of puzzling repairs on a Hartke.
 
#18
JimmyM said:
They don't. Some amps use the tube fully, some amps use them in what's called a "starved plate" functionality, which increases tube life and does give you some tube vibe, but it cuts down a bit on the tubiness and you won't hear much change when you swap out different tubes. But I absolutely have had amps that were buzzing because of a bad tube, and it's the easiest thing to try and always the first thing I suspect when an amp with a tube goes haywire. At worst, you'll have to send it off if the new tube doesn't clear it up, so I think it's worth a shot.
Click to expand...

Alright thanks mate.
The phrase rings a bell, a vague memory tells me that 'starved plate' circuits use a lower voltage across the tube, making it much more ineffective (if that's the right word) in the circuit.
The TX600 uses the preamp from the LH1000 head I think, I don't know if this is regular or starved plate.
 
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#19
TomAbeyawardene said:
Alright thanks mate.
The phrase rings a bell, a vague memory tells me that 'starved plate' circuits use a lower voltage across the tube, making it much more ineffective (if that's the right word) in the circuit.
The TX600 uses the preamp from the LH1000 head I think, I don't know if this is regular or starved plate.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about them either, but I've heard from others that they don't notice much change at all from tube swaps in Hartke amps. Don't know if that means starved plate or some other type of design that makes tube changes more consistent, but that's what I hear from folks.
 
#20
RiffwRiter said:
I had a store owner tell me that Hartke amps are notoriously harder too work on than they should be. I had a lead sled Hartke amp head that had one bad input Jack. He wasn't interested in trading for it because the repair cost even for just a Jack on that and would make it cost more than he could make.
I would up replacing it myself, but it was a lot of screws and bits to remove just to replace a jack.
It wasn't a Tx600 so I can't tell you exactly what to do, but I can witness in your defense of puzzling repairs on a Hartke.
Click to expand...

Yeah I really don't know how they make a casing so confusing. To make matters worse the handle is embedded in the side of the amp so its part of the structure too.
 

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