Best source and advice on type for Fender Princeton 65 RI valves

jakeolly

hi chaps 
about to start gigging with a Princeton 65 RI
looking for a spare set of valves, just in case , originals currently installed 
any advice on 
(I) where to buy from 
(Ii) what to buy.
based on quality, price and service 

looking for clean rather than early break up ?
ta
Chris 

stefken147

Highly recommend Hot Rox. 

stefken147

Try a 12at7 in the phase inverter position, guessing it's a 12ax7 stock.

Sassafras

I think there's a guy on here called Karltone.
He seems to be highly thought of for all your valve needs.

RiftAmps

stefken147 said:

Try a 12at7 in the phase inverter position, guessing it's a 12ax7 stock.

No, you really shouldn't if you want the trem to work properly. One half V4 is used as the tremolo oscillator and a 12AT7 simply won't throb hard enough in that circuit.

+1 for Karltone.

Dan

+1 Karltone

Voc rock decent too.

Definitely not hotrox. Terrible company to deal with.

JJ 6v6 power and I quite like tungsol 12ax7 for pre. Phillips JAN 12at7 where needed.

stefken147

Can only speak from my own experience, but Hot Rox have always been spot on for me over the past 10 years or so. 

rico

stefken147 said:

Can only speak from my own experience, but Hot Rox have always been spot on for me over the past 10 years or so. 

Here here

DJH83004

I deal with Hotrox on a weekly basis, as I am Nottingham based, as are they and can honestly say Mark and Toni the owners, plus Adam and Chris on the counter are a great team, very knowledgeable and always sort out customer issues, particularly where valves are concerned. Equally Karltone also offer an excellent service, Mike at Modulus (who posts regularly on here) also does a great job, so lots to choose from IMHO.  

jakeolly

Thanks people. I mustve been clairvoyant. My reverb send tube went last night. Suddenly it's urgent !

StuartMac290

Well, this thread resulted in me looking up the Yell.com reviews for Hot Rox. Thoroughly entertaining all round!

crunchman

Karltone is good.

I used Hotrox a long time ago and didn't have any problems but I know some on here have had problems.  There are a few threads about it.

The other option is Watford Valves.  He can be a prickly guy to deal with but he has a good selection (especially of older NOS stuff) and it's well tested.  He's possibly guilty of a bit of snake oil on the cryo stuff, but it is plausible.  My degree was in metallurgy and materials and I found some academic papers on the effects of cryo treatment when there was a debate on here.  While it's plausible I'm not spending the money to find out whether it actually makes a difference.

ICBM

I have bad experience with the "guarantee" from Watford as well.

I would recommend Karltone, or Langrex for NOS valves.

StuartMac290

Well, that's what I get for having a laugh at the lousy Yell.com reviews for Hot Rox - my own dire experience to add to the long list!

Avoid like the plague - go with Karltone instead.