Question about a rectifier tube?

[gushtone]

Hi all,
I'll start out by saying please pardon my ignorance ;-)
I recently bought a little vintage tube amp from an eBayer with a perfect feedback rating (over 400), who assured me that the amp worked perfectly. When it arrived he had not pulled and packed the rectifier tube as requested and it fell out and the guide pin broke off. I could not repair it or be certain of it's alignment so he covered my buying a replacement, which I did off of eBay, from another person with excellent feedback who backs up their sales.
So I put the tube in a fire it up, and holy crap, it makes the strangest sounds I have ever heard when you turn teh knobs, HUGE burps and snarls, etc. Totally unuseable, and I can barely get s hint of guitar sound out of it in a few positions on the vol knob.

My question (finally), can a rectifier tube do this? I thought when they went they just went. But I guess if it was degrading it could produce less voltage? Could it? And if so could it make these wacky sounds?

I want to press the guy about this as there were no "As-IS" clauses in his listing and it clearly does not work, almost at all. But I don;t want to give him a hard time unnecessarily. If it could be the rectifier I'll grab another first, but it also happens to be the only amp I own with a 5Y3, and the guy who sold me the tube assured me it tested as new.

Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Peace...

[chaz]

Wow! I dunno but something tells me it might be more than just a tube. I think I'd be sending it back!

[Groovey Records]

lf something arrives dead on arrival i would file a complaint with ebay and escalate it as a seller i would look to make you happy so not to hurt my score

does his history show he deals in amps and guitars?

If shipping damaged one tube it probably hurt others as well.

If that doesn't get you satisfaction I'd bring it to a reliable tech in phily

[Timbre Wolf]

There may be another problem with the amp itself - something could have shaken loose in the shipping. Do everyone a favor, and buy a known new 5Y3 (not too expensive anyway), try it out in the amp, and then decide where the problem lies.

It'd be bad to blame the tube seller for a problem with the amp, and you really shouldn't be using an unfamiliar amp as a tube tester (of sorts).

Good luck!

- T

[donnyjaguar]

I've never bought a used tube amp that didn't require serious attention. :)

[TopBooster]

I've never bought a used tube amp that didn't require serious attention. :)

That's so true. I think anyone buying a vintage amp has to expect that they're going to have to open it up sooner or later...but usually right when it comes out of the box!

[wallaceSnr]

+2.

[doctorx]

what brand is the amp?

[gushtone]

Thanks gang. I agree on pretty much all fronts. I don't want to dong teh seller without due cause, and I have a bunch of vintage amsp, and they all need a visit to my tech for the (what seems like) standard $200+ tune-up. But this one was professed to be in perfect working order. I'll try the new 5Y3 and see what happens.
PS: It's an Excelsior, made by Sano, and it's clean. Also, teh two powere tubes and teh pres all had retainer clips. I specifically asked him to pull and pack any unsecured tubes, and he did pay for the broken one, so he's been cool . I jsut need to get a new 5Y3 ASAP so I don't drag this out any further for him or me.
I'll let you know what happens. But for what it's worth, I'm fairly certain it's not a rectifier issue (not from electrical knowledge, but from years of personal vintage tube amp experience).
Thanks for the input!
Peace...

[donnyjaguar]

I once bought an amplifier that was completely dismantled. Everything was labeled, including the screws and nuts and all the new parts. I guess the seller took it apart to rebuild it and got flustered. I still have the amp and its working to this day.