Jolida jd-502p

I've had insane luck with guitar amp tubes...the last time one failed on me was in my Magnatone combo in 1968. This includes constant gigging for YEARS using an old Boogie, a HiWatt, a 1960 blonde Bandmaster, various Twins, Marshalls, etc., etc... I had a 1960 all original brown tolex Deluxe that I used as a studio amp seemingly forever and finally changed some leaky caps and it sounded exactly the same. I mean really...all the effort used by me and everybody else to isolate and pamper our hifi stuff, and I watch an airport lunatic drop a Twin Reverb in an Anvil case 10 feet out of an airplane...that amp worked perfectly for about 6 more years until I sold it.

Very enjoyable read of your equipment experiences. I was always amazed at the rough service and neglect guitar amps would accept. Mine have been in storage for a few years except for my Tweed Champ, so some may just die of a broken heart by being ignored. Of course my trusty vintage Variac is ready for their release. They are finally up for parole soon.

I should add the amplifier that I had (still own) owned the longest and played the way most as a "pseudo" pro, but also with much jam time, is a 65' Super Reverb. For a long time I owned one amp and one guitar, 59' LP Custom (still have). Upon purchase amp went to my technician, made "healthy" then a slight mod. Guitar would plug into the non-reverb channel, tho the reverb would work. A toggle switch in the back (no one knew about, HA) and both channels would link together. EVERY knob in effect!! It could scream, a Marshall killer! The other guitarists who want to dominate the volume, you know the types, would just scratch and shake their heads!! My point.. is that it could be extra rough on tubes. Still never a problem. Replaced power tubes once after years, tho the old ones never failed. Original speakers also never a problem, either. Amazing!!

Wolf don't you think "lurid" is a bit over the top. I like tube rolling mostly with old stock which has had it share of dissapointments. I do agree that the may be "pulls" and there is a flow of trading some which are indeed bad tubes until someone puts and end to it. If you can tolerate the chance issues, the rewards using old stock tubes can be enormous. I have a lot of fun listening for the differences the various tubes contribute. Some tubes are more reliable as old stock than others such as 6SN7s which are prone to microphonics but are usually good. The economics of rolling NOS/OS tubes are difficult to defend, but if you can afford it....
As far as power tubes go there is no sense in trying to find old stock that is still good, it is really almost a pure collectors market at this point.

Mechans...yeah...lurid is extreme as sometimes is my humor (only in the context of an often tedious forum) ...I'll change it to "tawdry." And besides, I'm into it anyway and I can afford it, but I tend to prefer "newer things I can break in myself." I admit that like other tube heads I sit there and think, "hmm...what would a dusty Bugle Boy sound like in there?" And who doesn't want to announce at a party that they scored a pair of Bugle Boys? Like when I "pounded 6 Circus Boys" with my girlfriend (Circus Boy wheat beer from Magic Hat). I've already got 3 sets of output tubes for my Jolida, and you can bet the small tubes will be piling up too.