Post by G'OlPeachPhan on Aug 10, 2005 8:01:34 GMT -7
I was messing around with a few things the other night with the Ghia... I just happen to have one of those cheap coiled radio shack extension cables laying around, so I plugged my usual George L's cable into it, and then plugged the cheap cable straight into the Ghia.
To my surprise (after using George L's exclusively for a few years now), the cheap extension cable really had a cool sweetening effect to the high end and upper mid frequencies, while seeming to add a little more bloom to the low end.
I'd liken the effect this had to being similar to some of the NOS tubes I've tried in the Ghia (NOS Mullard, NOS Tungsram), where the midrange is just smoother, sweeter, and more beautiful than any of the current production tubes. The problem I've always had with the NOS tubes though, is that they've never had as much gain as the current production JJ and EH tubes, and I always end up missing that as I like to crank the Ghia to full and use it's max gain potential by turning my guitar volume all the way up for leads at times.
So with an EH ax7 in V1, and my cheap radio shack extension cable, I found that the slightly rolled off highs and slightly more rounded and blooming lows seemed to bring out more midrange character in this new production tube, but with all the creamy gain that I love about the EH. Overall, I had the sweetness of NOS, but more apparent available dynamic range.
In other words the touch response feel and fun factor was MAXIMIZED with a cheap cable! The whole experience was even more musical the usual with the Ghia, which I've always felt was a hard thing to do, as the Ghia is simply the most musical sounding and interactive amp I've ever played.
In the end, the more expensive George L's cables wasn't the component that was best suited to my signal chain... They're ceratainly a great cable, but the added capacitance from the cheap cable and extra length of the cable proved to be a good thing. Suddenly I can roll my guitar volume and tone to "10" and still have a fantastically useable cutting singing lead tone. Turning the guitar tone and volume up all the way at the same time was something I previously only enjoyed with a NOS ax7 in V1.
What's more, is that the tone with the guitar tone control rolled all the way OFF was even sweeter and clearer, with a better singing quality.
So a cheap, experimental accident turns out to be a really fun tone tool with the Ghia. An added benefit with the coiled cable plugged into the amp is that you get a natural strain relief on the Ghia's input jack, so if you ever walk a little too far from the amp, you've got a little give.
Maybe the slight loss of gain with the NOS tubes is because much of what's out there isn't quite up to spec, but I've gotten all my NOS tubes from reputable sources, and I've still found the gain to be lacking compared to current production tubes.
Sounds stupid and simple and hard to believe, but it's worth a couple dollars to give it a try. You might really like it!
Summary: cheap radio shack extension cable + current production 12ax7 tubes in V1 = instant NOS-itizer!
To my surprise (after using George L's exclusively for a few years now), the cheap extension cable really had a cool sweetening effect to the high end and upper mid frequencies, while seeming to add a little more bloom to the low end.
I'd liken the effect this had to being similar to some of the NOS tubes I've tried in the Ghia (NOS Mullard, NOS Tungsram), where the midrange is just smoother, sweeter, and more beautiful than any of the current production tubes. The problem I've always had with the NOS tubes though, is that they've never had as much gain as the current production JJ and EH tubes, and I always end up missing that as I like to crank the Ghia to full and use it's max gain potential by turning my guitar volume all the way up for leads at times.
So with an EH ax7 in V1, and my cheap radio shack extension cable, I found that the slightly rolled off highs and slightly more rounded and blooming lows seemed to bring out more midrange character in this new production tube, but with all the creamy gain that I love about the EH. Overall, I had the sweetness of NOS, but more apparent available dynamic range.
In other words the touch response feel and fun factor was MAXIMIZED with a cheap cable! The whole experience was even more musical the usual with the Ghia, which I've always felt was a hard thing to do, as the Ghia is simply the most musical sounding and interactive amp I've ever played.
In the end, the more expensive George L's cables wasn't the component that was best suited to my signal chain... They're ceratainly a great cable, but the added capacitance from the cheap cable and extra length of the cable proved to be a good thing. Suddenly I can roll my guitar volume and tone to "10" and still have a fantastically useable cutting singing lead tone. Turning the guitar tone and volume up all the way at the same time was something I previously only enjoyed with a NOS ax7 in V1.
What's more, is that the tone with the guitar tone control rolled all the way OFF was even sweeter and clearer, with a better singing quality.
So a cheap, experimental accident turns out to be a really fun tone tool with the Ghia. An added benefit with the coiled cable plugged into the amp is that you get a natural strain relief on the Ghia's input jack, so if you ever walk a little too far from the amp, you've got a little give.
Maybe the slight loss of gain with the NOS tubes is because much of what's out there isn't quite up to spec, but I've gotten all my NOS tubes from reputable sources, and I've still found the gain to be lacking compared to current production tubes.
Sounds stupid and simple and hard to believe, but it's worth a couple dollars to give it a try. You might really like it!
Summary: cheap radio shack extension cable + current production 12ax7 tubes in V1 = instant NOS-itizer!