Charly J

Thank you for the input, I appreciate you taking the time to give feedback - particularly the mod website. I had not found that one yet, and do intend to mod the head (it's either a V2 or V3) eventually. However, I'm still looking for some input regarding reducing noise via the tubes and speaker. I have to keep things quiet and noise reduction is top priority and are easier upgrades in the short term. Plus I want to put in an 8ohm speaker because I'd like to bring in other small-ish head(s) (like a Bassbreaker, Marshall DSL, etc.) over the long term.

I'm in the process of putting a Valve Jr. mini-stack together due to the relative low cost and ease of modification. Before I start replacing the electronics, my plan is to first upgrade the tubes and/or speaker. My goal is to minimize noise/gain/breakup and optimize headroom to the extent it's possible. Right now I am looking at these tubes: http://www.thetubestore.com/Preferred-Series-7189-Premium-EL84 http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/12AX7-ECC83-Tube-Types/JAN-GE-5751 And this speaker: Jensen Jet Series Falcon 12" 50 Watt: http://a.co/fLETcNq Any advice/critiques would be most welcome. Thanks!

Awesome, thank you John! This is precisely the kind of information I was hoping for.

Thank you both for the suggestions. I did find this set of Proline, which are diagonal and reasonably similar in style. Any idea if they will fit without redrilling any holes?

I have an old ET-275 that has a couple of bad tuners/pegs that need to be replaced. I've browsed allparts.com for replacements, but haven't been able to find any that match the style for under ~$40. The other concern I have is that the screw holes are diagonal and I want to be 100% certain that whatever I purchase will fit the pre-existing holes. Any recommendations would be much appreciated. If I have to pay more for similarly styled parts that fit, so be it. Thanks. I should also note that the purported sales guy at Guitar Center is the one who directed me to Allparts. Backstory: this guitar was purchased by my high school in the early 70s for use by the high school band. I started school there in 1980 and don't recall it ever being played, though it was always an object of curiosity for students. It was purchased by my parents at a school auction in 2005. I honestly believe that when I plugged it in last weekend, it was the first time it had been played in 40 years. It didn't work at first - I had to bend the connection on the jack a little to get any sound out of it, which might be the reason it hadn't been played. As you can imagine, after 40+ years of handling by teenagers, it is pretty beat up and probably not worth much so I don't want to invest too much cash into it. It sounds and feels great though, so I may change my mind about this in the future.