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Tube Works

Dr Stankface

Dr Stankface

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2005
Messages
5,261
Location
Jacksonville, Florida
Ok. As a gift, a buddy of mine gave me an older combo amp. It's a Tube Works RT-3160. Anyone have any experinece with any Tube Works products? It's not in fully working condition, but when it is, it's got a nice warm tone. I'll post pics when I get them. Inside and out. Thanks alot guys. :)
 
Andrew, I know very little about those amps, however, a bud of mine had one. He wanted me to fix a few issues it had. Well I fixed it and took it to the studio, just for kicks. Man I got a sweet recording tone rom that joker.

Sweet score. Well see what we can do to get it working right.
 
I had a 7200-15 combo (which is probably just a newer version, or something similar, of what you have). It served me very well for about 5 years and countless gigs/rehearsals. It may have been a little underpowered for some situations, but it always delivered and sounded pretty good doing it. I'm assuming the folks over at Genz Benz could help you with parts/schematics for your amp. I know they owned tubeworks (and were very helpful) when mine was made, but they might have info for the older amps, too.

As much as I love my EA setup, sometimes I wish I had mine back for when I just need a combo.
 
Well, I pulled out the head and it looked as if the tube was hot glued in! Had to pull that crap off to see what kind of tube it was. 12AX7A. Anyone know a place I can get tubes from?
 
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Dr Stankface said:
Ok. As a gift, a buddy of mine gave me an older combo amp. It's a Tube Works RT-3160. Anyone have any experinece with any Tube Works products? It's not in fully working condition, but when it is, it's got a nice warm tone. I'll post pics when I get them. Inside and out. Thanks alot guys. :)
Click to expand...

That's a sweet sounding amp, Stanky!
I think Dave LaRue was endorsing them way back.
 
Dr Stankface said:
Well, me and Travis took a look.

Stuck in a 12AU7.

KILLER.

That is all.
Click to expand...

Again, it is a killer little amp. Prefered the 12AU7 over the 12AX7. That will be a great amp to have around.
 
I had a Blue Tube pedal for awhile as I tought it would make a good distortion pedal for bass. It did and it was fun to try different tube's in it as that made a big difference in sound. Turns out I dont really have any use for overdrive in my bass sound. It was a very well made pedal and could be very usefull.
 
I had a Blue Tube rack mount preamp for a while before my Demeter, and it was pretty good for the bargain basement price I paid for it. As with any tube preamp, wise tube selection can make a huge difference in sound quality. I've got a bunch of nice NOS tubes 12AX7/ECC83 size tubes I've acquired over the years (Brimar, Miniwatt, Sylvania, Telefunken), and whevever I buy something I'll try various tubes until I find the one that sounds best. For the sake of $20-$60, a good preamp tube makes a huge difference over the stock Chinese or Russian tubes on the market these days.
 
Dr Stankface said:
I highly recommend anyone picking up a Tubes Work rig if one pops up. Me getting this one for free is just unreal.
Click to expand...

TubeWorks is related to Genz Benz. I'm not sure exactly how, but they are somehow connected.

I have a TubeWorks RT-3300 head that I've been using at church for about two years (matched up with a Low Down Sound 5x8 cabinet). I just got a new Mesa Boogie Venture 2x10 combo, so I was thinking about selling my Tube Works amp. This is the standalone head version of what Andrew got, just with about double the output.

Andrew, I have a copy of the manual in Word if you need it.

If anyone is interested, I'll sell it for $240 shipped. It's a nice sounding, very reliable amp. It's switchable between tube and solid state preamp. The specs are:

300 watts at 2 ohms
260 watts at 4 ohms
180 watts at 8 ohms

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Help please!!!

todd4ta said:
TubeWorks is related to Genz Benz. I'm not sure exactly how, but they are somehow connected.

I have a TubeWorks RT-3300 head that I've been using at church for about two years (matched up with a Low Down Sound 5x8 cabinet). I just got a new Mesa Boogie Venture 2x10 combo, so I was thinking about selling my Tube Works amp. This is the standalone head version of what Andrew got, just with about double the output.

Andrew, I have a copy of the manual in Word if you need it.

If anyone is interested, I'll sell it for $240 shipped. It's a nice sounding, very reliable amp. It's switchable between tube and solid state preamp. The specs are:

300 watts at 2 ohms
260 watts at 4 ohms
180 watts at 8 ohms
...

Hi!
My Name is Vincenzo and I'm an Italian boy.
I have a tube works like this,really good sound. I'v tried to repair but I haven't the schematic. Can I find it? Even an internal photo can help me.
Thanks!!!

Vincenzo.
Click to expand...
 
Aussie Mark said:
I had a Blue Tube rack mount preamp for a while before my Demeter, and it was pretty good for the bargain basement price I paid for it. As with any tube preamp, wise tube selection can make a huge difference in sound quality. I've got a bunch of nice NOS tubes 12AX7/ECC83 size tubes I've acquired over the years (Brimar, Miniwatt, Sylvania, Telefunken), and whevever I buy something I'll try various tubes until I find the one that sounds best. For the sake of $20-$60, a good preamp tube makes a huge difference over the stock Chinese or Russian tubes on the market these days.
Click to expand...

Could not have said it better myself. I love my Mullards in my Demeter. You get what you pay for.
 
Tube Works 3300 experience-

I've got a Tube Works 2x10 RT 3300 combo with the 1x15 ported Tube Works cabinet. I used it 42 weeks a year- 6 nights a week, performing in all the major ( and minor) casinos in Nevada, for over 6 years.

This amp is a monster, that kicked ass with tons of great tone and volume, every single night I played. As a full time 'working' musician, I've used SVT's, SWR's, A.M.P's GK's, Eden's, etc. This Tube Works 3300 amp smoked them all. Then, on a fatefull night in 1999....
It went dead during a gig in Reno.

Now, in trying to have it repaired, I discovered that 'Genz Benz' had taken over the company. I sent it to them. They billed me $200 plus shipping, for the repair and sent it back in the same condition (Dead).

When I called them to ask why they did not repair it, they 'claimed' they had fixed the problem, which was of course, total crap. I told them I was sending it back, as it was still not working, they stated at that point, that they will "no longer repair the Tube Works line." They inferred I was pretty much 'screwed', and would not even consider a refund.

I have to say that the person(s) I spoke with, were rude, insulting and overall unpleasant. I would go as far to say, that they demonstrated the 'worst' customer service experience I had experienced up to that point, and I've dealt with some real A-holes in my lifetime.

A word to the wise- 'AVOID GENZ BENZ', unless you truly enjoy dealing with thieves.

The 3300 amp? Well, after collecting dust for 6 years, I finally traced down it's designer, the innovative 'BK Butler'. Dealing with him was on the other end of the spectrum from Genz Benz. He was 'amazingly nice' and after talking with him about my situation, he offered to do the repair himself. He tweaked it, threw in a couple of upgrades and sent it back to me, What did he charge me? Nothing...Not even shipping.

Now that's customer service.

Nowdays, I live on the island of Kauai, playing jazz, blues and hawaiian music. The amp still sounds incredible. My advice? If you can find one of these amps, by all means, 'buy it'. Just don't make the mistake of asking Genz Benz to fix it!
 
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