could someone recommend me a tube tester?

Hi All,

didn't know where to post this so i put it in the brewery. At the moment i just started working for a backline rental company in amsterdam. I mainly just prep the stuff and deliver, but i'm also slowly becoming the go to tech guy... (fixed 5 fender twins and 2 Ampeg classics last week (damn you prodigy      )) I'm coming to the realization that i really need a tube tester to sort through the piles of spare tubes we've got spread over the place and to test the tubes in all of the amps just to keep them all within spec. Now i've never used a tube tester in my life but that's the least of my worries. I'm a quick learner so i can get up to speed with a machine like that pretty quickly. But i have no idea what so ever what to get. I'd love to get one that easy to maintain and can test most of the common preamp and power amp tubes used in guitar and bass amps. All suggestions are welcome!

greetings,

Thomas

How much do you want to spend? Testers can get very expensive. An AVO Mk2 will do pretty much everything you want.

You may also want to look into software-controlled testers. Some of these will give you curve tracing abilities - this can be useful for variable-gain types.

You'll find the AVOs get pricier as they get later. A Mk4 will cost more than a Mk2. A CVM163 (the last one) will be silly money. If I needed to test tubes regularly, I'd go for one of these: http://www.tubesontheweb.com/matic.htm

Justin

edit - Avos and Hikoks etc tend to be pretty reliable, but bear in mind they're several decades old... If you can find a modern PC-based one that satisfies your demands, it'll be worth considering.

check this out: http://www.amplitrex.com/at1000.htm

Plug the tube into a known good amp.  If it works it's good.  If it's a preamp tube, tap it with as pencil and listen for microphonics.  Seriously.  I have an old Hickok I use to make sure the tube ain't shorted.  I let my ears do the rest.  A common tester won't check for microphonics and it won't tell you if this tube sounds brighter than that tube.  I once matched up a whole box full of KT88's with my Hickok.  That's great-n-all if you're running your outputs at 120V.  They no longer matched when idling at 500V.  You can go out and get a spendy boy tester, but how many tubes do you need to check?

actually i won't be paying for the tester my boss will..... 

i actually only need it for matching output tubes. We buy tubes in bulk and a lot of the times the power tubes aren't matched or i've got 4 matched ones and i need 6 etc.... Because we rent out amps to big venues and for european tours we need amps that don't crap out on the other side of europe because then we need to drive all the way over there and replace it. We obviously supply spares but in our business a non working amps costs time and money...

i saw a few testers on marktplaats.nl (kind of a dutch ebay) and i saw a bruel and kajer tester for under 700 euro's. B&k in my mind has always been a good brand so that might be an option. i'll do some more research....

thanks for the replies guys!

greetings,

Thomas

I'm always a bit sceptical about buying matched valves.  

Mainly because whoever is selling them sticks them in the valve tester, lets it warm up takes a reading & pulls it out.    

In reality once the valve has been used for 24 hours or so the electrodes all move around a bit until they're comfy, & the reading that the person took when matching the valves is not the same as the real working condition reading.

And that was confirmed to me by a dealer locally that I buy valves from.

That said, I like my AVO mk III  

The B&K that makes tube testers should not be confused with Bruel&Kjaer.

+1 for the AVO - I have and use the mk4, it's a unit that's hard to live without when building commercial tube stuff!

Jakob E.

No Tek 570s lurking in Arhuus then, Jakob  One can dream. That said, these new-fangled PC-based testers look interesting. Anyone used one in anger?

Justin

thermionic said:

You'll find the AVOs get pricier as they get later. A Mk4 will cost more than a Mk2. A CVM163 (the last one) will be silly money. If I needed to test tubes regularly, I'd go for one of these: http://www.tubesontheweb.com/matic.htm

Click to expand...

Sorry to bump an old thread but THAT LOOKS AWESOME.

I got my tube testers use from the guitar/amp shows that rolled through town. They were inexpensive but far bit of warning if it does not have the tube book to go with it, then pass. Luckily mine had the tube book and has been good to me over the years. 

Fuses are getting expensive so you don't want to be using the " throw them in an amp "
method for checking power tubes, but noise and preamp tubes , you can set up a jig into
your computer.

I have one of these........

http://dos4ever.com/uTracer3/uTracer3.html

.......that I like just fine.

My $0.02.
Best,
Bruno2000

We have been using an Orange Amps Tube Tester at work, and It is really good. https://www.orangeamps.com/products/accessories/amplifier-management/vt1000/

Recommended.

aomahana said:

We have been using an Orange Amps Tube Tester at work, and It is really good. https://www.orangeamps.com/products/accessories/amplifier-management/vt1000/

Recommended.

Click to expand...

I saw an orange one but I would really like to be able to get deeper readings than "good, worn, and bad" for only a hand full of tubes. The Mu woukd be nice. I've got a pile now of about 15 random old tubes. Some are Russian.. I have no idea how to even start testing this is all.

As my pops will tell you at his age of 82

When he was growing up, you would go down to the local drug store and they would have a tube tester in the store. You could then pop in your radio tubes and test them to see which one would need replacing. Then you could buy the tubes right at the store.  The displaces were pretty simple usually have a meter that read from left to right replace(in red),  ?(in yellow) and good(in green)  dial up the settings you read from the book, pop the tube in the socket and hit the button.  Then presto after a few seconds it would tell you what to do. back then tubes ran around .50 cents  Man I wish we would go back to that.