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My amp has a tube I've never heard of before. A 6jw8 any suggestions on replacements? I cant read the brand on it and havn't found it on any sovtek or EH tube list.

thanks!

sonikBOOM wrote:My amp has a tube I've never heard of before. A 6jw8 any suggestions on replacements? I cant read the brand on it and havn't found it on any sovtek or EH tube list.

thanks!

Tube Depot has replacements.

http://www.tubedepot.com/nos-6jw8.html

What kind of guitar amp uses it? It looks like a radio tube.

Further along in the search, I found the opinion of one Fred Nachbaur on usenet regarding the 6JW8:

" As tubes get
scarcer and scarcer, people will discover new uses for those "useless TV
tubes." For example: 6JW8 makes a fantastic guitar amp input stage (I
like it even better than 7199). 6AV5's make nice output tubes, giving
good power at moderate B+. 6CB6's make great constant-current sources
for long-tail pairs. 6AU6's in triode mode are fantastic preamps.
Vertical-circuit dissimilar triodes (13EM7 et al) make great one-tube
"mini amp" projects. Horizontal sweeps - hard to find tougher power
tubes. Compactrons - some of them are simply amazing. The list goes on
and on.... "

I think I'll finally sort through this box of TV tubes I came across and look out for some of these...

the amp is a garnet bto400. I think the 6jw8 is used in the "stinger" distortion circut, but I don't have a schematic , and probably could'nt read it if I did!.
the stinger is a pretty strange distortion perhaps this tube is the bugger that powers it! and upon further inspection its a stock garnet tube. so that tube is damn near 31 years old.

sonikBOOM wrote:the amp is a garnet bto400. I think the 6jw8 is used in the "stinger" distortion circut, but I don't have a schematic , and probably could'nt read it if I did!.
the stinger is a pretty strange distortion perhaps this tube is the bugger that powers it!

I wonder if it's like the unusable distortion circuit on my later year Ampeg V2. It gives you a little boost up until about 12 o'clock, but by the time you turn it past 3 o'clock, it's crushed your signal to the point that you think your amp has blown- pure 1 kHz square wave.

not sure, the stinger on my amp is like a tube getting destroyd. its really bassy and gravely ive yet to hear anything like it. and it has an ungodly amout of gain. plus no controls over that channel at all other than the stinger volume. its really for killing ears i think. Gar gilles was out to make heads burst!
if i can get my kit into a jam space soon ill record a but of the stinger and send it your way

sonikBOOM wrote:not sure, the stinger on my amp is like a tube getting destroyd. its really bassy and gravely ive yet to hear anything like it. and it has an ungodly amout of gain. plus no controls over that channel at all other than the stinger volume. its really for killing ears i think. Gar gilles was out to make heads burst!
if i can get my kit into a jam space soon ill record a but of the stinger and send it your way

That distortion sounds at least occasionally useful, like the "Thick" knob turned up full on a Peavey Roadmaster. The distortion on that Ampeg V2? No use for it ever, unless you wanted a guitar tone that competed with no other frequencies because the bandwidth becomes about as wide as a drumstick.

Definitely post some audio to a MySpace site or something. I would gladly listen to your Garnet chewing through tubes.

The Stinger uses a remote-cutoff pentode, if I remember correctly. It's a TV tube, so try any old electronics repair shop with a tube caddy lying around. The stinger circuit is an asymmetrical distortion with a lot of crossover fuzz. When I asked Gar Gilles (Garnet designer/owner) about it, he said it was designed for Bass fuzz, because regular distortion tended to take the bottom away.

Neat, freakish distortion.

the tube in the stinger circuit is a 6an8.
pretty common.

thanks for all the info guys, Steve I've used this head with bass too and it sounds amazing even for only 150watts. I'll have to agree with Gar that its better voiced for bass but it does add some really wierd sounds with guitar. Like I said I'll try and get it in a space soon and record a touch of it.
Steve do you have this head too? it's the straight up bare bones bto400 one volume no gain. What are your thoughts on this beast if i may ask.