Pre-Amp Tube Order Question

[TaronKeim]

Okay... so hypothetically if an amp has 2x6V6s with a 5AR4 rectifier in the power section and 5 12AX7's and 1 12AT7 in the pre-amp section. If you ACCIDENTALLY put the 12AT7 in the wrong position of the pre-amp... how much damage can that cause? Like enough to cause a loud popping sound and some smoke? The amp also has reverb and tremolo so the assumption was made that the 12AT7 was either a reverb driver or a Phase Inverter tube. Help... hypothetically.

-Essential this means there would be a 12AX7 tube in place of a 12AT7 tube and a 12AT7 tube in place of a 12AX7 tube-

I have no manual currently so I can not tell the proper order of the tubes or what sections belong to what circuitry.

-TJK

[gtrnstuff]

I've subbed AX, AT, AU and AY7 's all over, and no ill effects. Some tones were bad, but no smoke.

[tonezoneonline]

The misplacement of these tubes should not be a problem.The tube pins are fragile and you may have bent a pin and inserted one wrong.This could cause a problem and maybe cause smoke .

[donnyjaguar]

If you plonk a 12AX7 in the reverb driver where a 12AT7 normally resides you could very well exceed the power rating and cause smoke. The reason being is the 12AT7 is usually running hot already because the reverb calls for quite a bit of drive. This is also why they used paralleled sections to double up the output current. I've even seen amps use larger tubes like the 6FQ7 to drive a reverb because they can handle more power. (You can't swap a 6FQ7 with a 12A?7 as they are not the same pinout).

DJ