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[Alkaline]

I'm looking at having to re-valve my Marshall DSL100 and i was wondering what valves would be considered a good upgrade from the standard ones that are issued with it. Ideas for both pre-amp valves and power amp valves welcome. Links to sites where you've had good service and quick delivery would be much appreciated.

Also, will i need to re-bias the amp, i don't know too much about servicing valve amps to be honest. I know it blew it's mains fuse in a full flashed blow (blackened fuse) which could indicate a valve problem but i fancy trying out a new set of valves as it'll be over a year since it's been looked at.

Cheers in advance.

[lame guitarist]

Originally Posted by Alkaline

I'm looking at having to re-valve my Marshall DSL100 and i was wondering what valves would be considered a good upgrade from the standard ones that are issued with it. Ideas for both pre-amp valves and power amp valves welcome. Links to sites where you've had good service and quick delivery would be much appreciated.

Also, will i need to re-bias the amp, i don't know too much about servicing valve amps to be honest. I know it blew it's mains fuse in a full flashed blow (blackened fuse) which could indicate a valve problem but i fancy trying out a new set of valves as it'll be over a year since it's been looked at.

Cheers in advance.

watford valves - give them a call and have a yap and tell them the kind of sound you are looking for. They will advise you on what valves are best. I had 2 DSL's which in one i have Harma STR EL34's and JJ tesla 12AX7's - really nice sound.
The other one i put in RUBY EL34 STR's and JJ teslas - mean as hell raw sound.
you will have to rebias the amp when you upgrade the power valves. This is done by an external bias point on the back of the DSL should be 3 pins and 2 small bias points on the outside of these pins. If you fancy doing this yourself give me your email and i can send you an instruction on how this is done. its fairly simple, all you need is a multimeter and small croc clip connectors.

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by lame guitarist

watford valves - give them a call and have a yap and tell them the kind of sound you are looking for. They will advise you on what valves are best. I had 2 DSL's which in one i have Harma STR EL34's and JJ tesla 12AX7's - really nice sound.
The other one i put in RUBY EL34 STR's and JJ teslas - mean as hell raw sound.
you will have to rebias the amp when you upgrade the power valves. This is done by an external bias point on the back of the DSL should be 3 pins and 2 small bias points on the outside of these pins. If you fancy doing this yourself give me your email and i can send you an instruction on how this is done. its fairly simple, all you need is a multimeter and small croc clip connectors.

Cheers, if you wouldn't mind sending me the rebiasing info you can drop me an email at: fromherashes@hotmail.com

I'm looking for a warm tone with balls, i'll give the guys at Watford a ring though, so if you have any ideas that would be great.

I'd rather learn how to do this myself so i don't have to pay someone to do it.

When you're re-biasing do you need to have the amp connected to a load?

Thanks again for the info.

[lame guitarist]

Originally Posted by Alkaline

Cheers, if you wouldn't mind sending me the rebiasing info you can drop me an email at: fromherashes@hotmail.com

I'm looking for a warm tone with balls, i'll give the guys at Watford a ring though, so if you have any ideas that would be great.

I'd rather learn how to do this myself so i don't have to pay someone to do it.

When you're re-biasing do you need to have the amp connected to a load?

Thanks again for the info.

yeah you need the amp connected as normal and running as normal with no guitar connected to the jack and all volumes at 0. I will email you the biasing instructions tomorrow on a word page if thats ok. Its fairly simple to do and will save you cash.
its really a matter of experimenting and taste with valves. I would recommend the Harma EL34's for power amp valves and the Ruby EL34 STR's - the Rubys STR's are hard to get though and i dont think Watford stock them.
Preamp valves are a matter of taste as well, The JJ 12AX7s are good and so are TAD 12AX7s. I would recommend the TAD's if you want a high gain sound and the JJ Tesla if you want a slightly lower gain warm sound.
Watford will know best though

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by lame guitarist

yeah you need the amp connected as normal and running as normal with no guitar connected to the jack and all volumes at 0. I will email you the biasing instructions tomorrow on a word page if thats ok. Its fairly simple to do and will save you cash.

That would be great thanks

[doobie]

I recently replaced the pre-amp valves in my Laney from rather knackered no namer ecc83's to JJ ecc83's. I bought them from Hot Rox - Electro Harmonix Pedals, valves, ZVex pedals, MXR pedals. I did try Watford valves but the site was down at the time. I also have the JJ ecc83's in my home made 18watt amp. They sound quite bright and dont have huge amounts of gain. I usually have to turn the treble down (on both amps) as it can be too much. But with a bit of tweaking you can get some amazing sounds from them, clean or distorted. I run my laney with the gain control and drive control at 10 and it creates an amazing distortion and lead tone, not too fizzy. Its more of a rock guitar sound than a full on metal noise!

I've had a few dealings with hotrox and they're pretty good, one order from them I got the wrong item in the right box but they where helpful sorting it out.

edit: not had any dealings with re-baising or replacing power amp valves as of yet!

[Bailz]

I recently threw some JJ Tesla EL84s into my DSL401. Amazing sound difference compared to the stock Marshall ones.