Karyn
There is a small heater element at the heart of a tube. This gets hot, heating the cathode and releasing electrons into a cloud around it.  Then there are 1 or more wire mesh layers to control the electrons. All of this is inside more metal jackets forming the anode.  This is the part you see on the outside and it should NOT glow red, or any other colour.
 
Depending on the type of tube you may or may not be able to see inside as far as the heater.  Mostly you can. This is the only bit that should be glowing like a tiny lamp.

Are you married?

I have a Carvin Nomad. Great amp. The clean sound of this amp is fantastic.

I also have at least 80 old 12AX7, 12AT7 tubes of different brands. Some RCA black plates, GE, Philco, Mullard, and others I can't remember. But what jbow was saying about changing tubes is an easy way to effect a dramatic sound change is spot on. Even changing a tube from V1 to V2 has a big effect.

I would highly recommend trying different tubes in V1 &V2.

And for a fun, turn that amp up loud. Keep the gain settings low to medium, but crank that master up. That's what I call Rockn'!!

bayoubill
WHAT A WOMAN!!!

ampfixer
Are you married?

It's nice to know that at my age I haven't lost it yet
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I just wish I could remember what "it" is...

I'm not an amp tech but I have slept at a Holiday Inn Express several times....
 
And..... played using tube amps for decades.
 
Red glow in a tube... on the plates, is not good. It indicates bias voltage is not correct and too many electrons from the cathode is hitting the plate. Super distorted sound, weak sound, and blown fuses are the result.
 
A slight red glow from the heater is normal.
 
A properly operating power tube will not have plates that glow. There may be a slight blueish glow around them from normal operation as incoming electrons knock others off resulting in the classic blue glow.
 
I have used Carvins and Boogies and love them both. For the pots....I have used some spray type contact cleaner and carefully spray it into the pots with the amp off.... being careful not to touch the wiring and being careful not to get the overspray and drips on finished wood. It can damage the finish so be careful.  Work the pots and the push/pull switches. The contact cleaner gets rid of the gunk and the oxidation and lets them move easily and silently.
 
 

Instead of spray on they use to have brush on Deox
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=29879646&znt_campaign=Category_CMS&znt_source=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032229
 
Take the entire amp apart and clean it all up (contacts, soldering joints, everything)
 
Or visit your local electronics store.
 
 

Here is the response I got back from Carvin:
 
"You can't really tell if the tube is bad unless lost it's vacuum and you will see white cloud on top of it. I suggest retubing because of it's age and cleaning all jacks with electronic contact spray specially the effects loops."
 
For right now, I do not see tube/sound issues, only that contacts are corroded. John's comment about residual lubricant caught my eye, but not sure what is best to use for this?
 
FYI - I do not intend to dismantle this at all yet, since it sounds like I remember; but would like to spray something appropriate into all of the contacts on the control panel (just not sure "what" is best).

For cleaning jacks, use some of the black, very light sand paper (see below for an example) then roll up some and carefully put into each of the jacks.  I'm guessing someone like Michael could recommend some nice contact cleaner spray along with tips on how to use it best.
 

Thanks all for the inputs! I finally got around to this project and my Caig DeoxIt D5 was at the door when I got home so I immediately took to cleaning the electronics in the amp. Unfortunately the pots needed to be removed one by one (they were not in a carrier of any sort as I had seen in videos on other amps), and they were a bit tight to get in/out. Only issue I didn't expect was the power cabling was not long enough to get the amp out fully and had it resting on the tubes till I got some books for the back end (something to keep in mind if anyone else sees this thread in the future). Everything went smoothly and I simply put a cotton towel over the electronics while I did my work (and Armoralled the faceplate when each pot was out). Looks like new.
 
Playability is better than when I first got it! Very smooth operation all around - no jumps in volume at all, and even higher ranges of gain didn't cause issues. I put it on 100% RMS and played through the 0db jack for about an hour and is astounding. The first time I have really used this amp since I rebuilt my guitar in 2012 and they match extremely well. Sustain till the cows come home and the rumble of a tube amp is just "awesome." It plays better than I ever remembered, so I will hold off on tubes for the time being - they seem to be perfectly fine, but the pots were definitely in need of TLC.
 
Again, thank you to all who took the time to help me out. This was the first time I ever did this and it went very smoothly. Your time is most appreciated!

Might not be a cure-all for it in the long run. But someone ought to have potentiometers to buy, but I just leave them in the amp and move the dial at the time. They do have brush on also that may leave more on it to work out the kinks so to say also with the spray.
If too far gone, then I suppose only replacement ones will work then.
 

Karyn

bayoubill
WHAT A WOMAN!!!

ampfixer
Are you married?

It's nice to know that at my age I haven't lost it yet
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I just wish I could remember what "it" is...

I remembered what it was several times when you posted your picture, showed your trophies, and I saw your guns. I don't know what "it" is but I like it! I almost come unglued when you  described hot heat elements then heating the cathode and releasing electrons into a cloud! OMG!  Thank you very much! Since then I lost "it"   but I know if I keep an eye out I'll get to remember "it" again!