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trace elliot ah1000-12 TUBE REPLACEMENT?

sailorofcheese

sailorofcheese

Oct 5, 2008
463
2
Los Angeles, Ca
#1
hi,
so this is the second thread trying get a better idea what i may be looking at to fix my te head. i've contacted british audio service, and they apparently believe that the problem may be the cause of bad tube(s) in the preamp and said i should replace this first and then further diagnose the problem if its still there.

soo...i've never done this before and i dont know if it would be better to take it to a tech and get it done or learn how to do it myself. i dont know the difficulty of this job. right now im feeling like this is an expensive piece of equipment and worth taking to a tech but if there's anyone out there that can convince me to do this myself, please, i'd appreciate any help or advice. thanks
 
#5
Kelly Lee said:
Simple swap.

Remove top cover, locate the 12ax7 preamp tube, remove tube, replace with new 12ax7, put top back on, and plug it in.

BTW, I recommend a JJ's high gain 12ax7. It did make a noticeable improvement on my AH350SMX over the stocker.
Click to expand...

thanks so much for the advice. what kind of change in tone? where could i find these tubes? is JJ a brand? or type of tube? high gain (more headroom?) im sorry, but im so new to this. its about time i learn.
 
#6
You can find JJ's tubes here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] Check out the whole website for answers to some common questions and info on tubes and tube amps.

As for tone... well... it is subjective but here is my take. When adding the JJ high gain 12ax7 I noticed that my amp had smoother highs and slightly warmer bottom end. No break up/distortion/OD though as the older SMX series doesn't supply enough voltage to the plates (in the tubes) to get any. I admit if I had more cash to just play around I would buy lots of different brands and try them out to see if there was anything better as the JJ tube made that much of a difference IMO.

BTW, doesn't your amp have a preamp "drive" control? If so, you could probably get some OD out of it with one of the high gain versions.
 
#7
Kelly Lee said:
You can find JJ's tubes here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] Check out the whole website for answers to some common questions and info on tubes and tube amps.

As for tone... well... it is subjective but here is my take. When adding the JJ high gain 12ax7 I noticed that my amp had smoother highs and slightly warmer bottom end. No break up/distortion/OD though as the older SMX series doesn't supply enough voltage to the plates (in the tubes) to get any. I admit if I had more cash to just play around I would buy lots of different brands and try them out to see if there was anything better as the JJ tube made that much of a difference IMO.

BTW, doesn't your amp have a preamp "drive" control? If so, you could probably get some OD out of it with one of the high gain versions.
Click to expand...

ECC83S Standard
ECC83S Balanced
ECC83S Matched Triode
ECC83S Matched and Balanced
ECC83S High gain
ECC83S High Gain and Balanced

what does it mean that the current is balanced? matched triode?
is there any tube "biasing" involve or is it just a remove and replace job? no i dont have a drive control. i have a "valve" control.
 
#8
No biasing needed. Just plug and play.

You don't need a balanced or a matched triode. Balanced tubes are used for phase inverter use. Matched is for certain full tube amps that need each "side" of the tube to have identical properties.

Having said that, you can use a matched or balanceed tube with no problem.

Now, high gain vs. regular. The idea of high gain is just like when you really drive a tube amp. You get that gritty or overdrive sound. Basically, high gain will give you more of that grit if you want it by cranking up your "valve" control. The standard tube will be give you less.

The "valve" control is the same thing as "drive" control. It controls how much voltage reaches the tube. More voltage = more gain = more grit/OD.
 
#9
Kelly Lee said:
No biasing needed. Just plug and play.

You don't need a balanced or a matched triode. Balanced tubes are used for phase inverter use. Matched is for certain full tube amps that need each "side" of the tube to have identical properties.

Having said that, you can use a matched or balanceed tube with no problem.

Now, high gain vs. regular. The idea of high gain is just like when you really drive a tube amp. You get that gritty or overdrive sound. Basically, high gain will give you more of that grit if you want it by cranking up your "valve" control. The standard tube will be give you less.

The "valve" control is the same thing as "drive" control. It controls how much voltage reaches the tube. More voltage = more gain = more grit/OD.
Click to expand...

the ah 1000 needs only 1 tube for the preamp? also, you've bought direct from eurotubes?
 
#10
sailorofcheese said:
hi,
so this is the second thread trying get a better idea what i may be looking at to fix my te head. i've contacted british audio service, and they apparently believe that the problem may be the cause of bad tube(s) in the preamp and said i should replace this first and then further diagnose the problem if its still there.

soo...i've never done this before and i dont know if it would be better to take it to a tech and get it done or learn how to do it myself. i dont know the difficulty of this job. right now im feeling like this is an expensive piece of equipment and worth taking to a tech but if there's anyone out there that can convince me to do this myself, please, i'd appreciate any help or advice. thanks
Click to expand...

with a Sovtek 12AX7 LPS. I had a Telefunken back in the days before they were $500.00 - brilliant! Sovtek a close second, IMHO. About $20.00.

Cheers,
Cameron
 
#11
I'm reviving this thread because I have a related question. I have been considering the AH1000-12 for some time now, but I was also wondering about the ongoing cost of replacing tubes. Realistically, how much life can one expect to get out of a 12AX7 before it starts to go? How many in the AH1000-12? I can't seem to locate a technical manual for it that says.

I gig probably an average of four nights per month, so about 20 hours per month. (I practice thru a small combo.) I'm trying to determine an annual cost for maintaining this tube head, as I've never owned one before.
 
#12
Its pnly got one tube in its pre amp and if you use a serious quality tube like a Mullard CV4004 mil spec tube or Telefunken ECC83, Brimar ECC83,
RCA12AX7 it will last a good 20 years of serious abuse before it sounds crook. The mosfets in the output stage are more likely to fail or go out of bias first.:bassist:
 
#13
Oh wow...a real Brit, who lives in the land where the great Traces are created! Please forgive me, I think I'm a bit out of my league, I need to do some more homework on this head and precisely what MOSFET means...will come back to this thread in future when I am better informed. :D
 
#14
Whammytap said:
Oh wow...a real Brit, who lives in the land where the great Traces are created! Please forgive me, I think I'm a bit out of my league, I need to do some more homework on this head and precisely what MOSFET means...will come back to this thread in future when I am better informed. :D
Click to expand...
Long time ago back in 1986. I used to help the then technical director Fred Freidline with prototyping and testing in an old RAF nissen hut.
Christ that was cold in the winter, out there in the essex marshes.
The Trace Elliot amp that offers the most holy grail of all bass amps
tone and power is called the V8 the solid state amps where loud and reliable but the V series was the dogs bollocks mate!. Trouble was they
really cost more to make than they sold them for.:hmm:
 
#15
Bassmec said:
Long time ago back in 1986. I used to help the then technical director Fred Freidline with prototyping and testing in an old RAF nissen hut.
Christ that was cold in the winter, out there in the essex marshes.
The Trace Elliot amp that offers the most holy grail of all bass amps
tone and power is called the V8 the solid state amps where loud and reliable but the V series was the dogs bollocks mate!. Trouble was they
really cost more to make than they sold them for.:hmm:
Click to expand...

Wow! I will keep an eye out in case I ever see a V8 for sale by someone who doesn't know what they've got! One never knows...you sound like quite an interesting and knowledgeable person, thanks for taking time for me!
 
#18
Some of the stuff we tried out that was experimenting with carbon fiber
in sandwich with structural foam, It was V cool but the accountants always said no, I sadly lost track of the bloke who bought a lot of old test stuff.
I always had my eye on a pair of 1X15 scoop bin concentric tweeter cabs that where a co development with Celestion R&D.
There were only ever two made, but with modern neo's they would have been a fantastic power to weight ratio and they looked awesome stacked head to tail.
Too expensive to make but the floor and back of the cabinet where a one piece moulding of foam sandwich with the scoop shape moulded in and the baffle and folded horn duct was another piece.
You just clapped the plywood sides on and screwed the lid on.
It was light and low and loud.
Yeah some of the best early ideas never went into production because bass players are sadly far too poor in general.:bassist:
 

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