Post by anacephalic on May 3, 2008 11:20:38 GMT -7
I'm currently doing a NOS preamp tube trial in the amp after switching to JJ el84s because the NOS phillips power tubes i've been using have gotten so pricey.
tube tweaking reminds me of cable tweaking on a high end stereo in that every tweak compromises some aspect of the tone while improving something else. You have to decide if the change is better not just different, it's driving me nuts trying to remember what change sounded like what. i've gone to evaluating a combo by the grin factor as much as by "tone". if a combination feels good and is fun to play it must sound good. if it ain't fun to play it's swap time.
all preamp tubes are 12ax7 in my amp
starting point was matched quad phillips Miniwatt el84 but with some use on them, NOS GE in v1 and sovtec 12ax7wxt in V2 and PI. Mullard NOS gz34 rectifier.
Tweak fest was held with a vintage reissue 63 strat with rosewood board and my '81 335 dot direct into the amp. had the amp airbraked and set to typical gig level most of the time. no brake WFO once in a while just for grins (and grin i did) but i figured to focus on normal playing conditions. i didn't stick to set tone settings as i was looking more at articulation, smoothness of distortion, chime and air and i figure tone controls are there to turn.
First i switched the miniwatts for the groove tubes in what KCA calls a mid range. that's were a GT 5-6 falls which is Myles recommendation. GT #3 came with my amp new and were yanked early on for the phillips. I put them back in for giggles and they aren't a good choice. Tthe distortion and top end with the miniwatts was smoother and the jjs were more compressed. The bottom in the JJs is a little tighter. the compression issue (i prefer more open less compressed tone) has been addressed by changing around preamp tubes i think. i have yet to put the Phillips el-84 back after pre-tube swapping. i'm guessing it could be back to square one if i do that but maybe not.
First pre swap consisted of puttting a GE 5751 in the PI. that really tightened things up and gave my strat a great whispy tone. pertty nice with buckers too but great with the strat. I replaced the GE in V1 with a NOS RCA and the tone darkened. things got a little more articulate but some of the chime went away. At that point the tweak fest was on in ernest.
So far:
NOS RCA in v1 and v2 with a 5751 in the PI probably was the smoothest and most articulate with a less gain than other combinations in v1 and v2 but it sucked the chime and air right out of the amp. Want to get an Rx as close to a jazz amp as it can get? that combo is probably the ticket with guitar vol rolled off. The tone of the guitars and the woodiness of my 335 really came through with this combo.
RCA in v1, a NOS Ge in v2 and a 5751 added back life but was a little piercing. might be better to say that the GE adds a grainyness to the amp. Still better than my starting point but could be improved on.
RCA in V1 and V2 with a balanced sovtec lps in the PI is where i'm at right now and i'm thinking its the best combination so far. as Good string definition and articulation (low notes have that piano character..solid not boomy or mushy), smooth distortion , and a lot of chime and air.
i found another ax7 in my stash that came with the amp. it doesn't look like a sovtec or anything else i have. it's a very early edition amp and i'm thinking maybe its nos something. i've read where the Doc used to do that. regardless i see a couple more phases of tweaking including the 5751 in V1 . i should probably pull the mullards out of my VTL and try them in the Z but i'd probably like them and i can't afford any more of them things.
i also tried a at7 in the PI at one time to back off the gain...don't do it. there was tons of nasty noises coming from that amp. the tubes had been swapped out of a VTL preamp (put NOS mullards there. nice tubes those) so they were good but my Rx did not like them.
tube tweaking reminds me of cable tweaking on a high end stereo in that every tweak compromises some aspect of the tone while improving something else. You have to decide if the change is better not just different, it's driving me nuts trying to remember what change sounded like what. i've gone to evaluating a combo by the grin factor as much as by "tone". if a combination feels good and is fun to play it must sound good. if it ain't fun to play it's swap time.
all preamp tubes are 12ax7 in my amp
starting point was matched quad phillips Miniwatt el84 but with some use on them, NOS GE in v1 and sovtec 12ax7wxt in V2 and PI. Mullard NOS gz34 rectifier.
Tweak fest was held with a vintage reissue 63 strat with rosewood board and my '81 335 dot direct into the amp. had the amp airbraked and set to typical gig level most of the time. no brake WFO once in a while just for grins (and grin i did) but i figured to focus on normal playing conditions. i didn't stick to set tone settings as i was looking more at articulation, smoothness of distortion, chime and air and i figure tone controls are there to turn.
First i switched the miniwatts for the groove tubes in what KCA calls a mid range. that's were a GT 5-6 falls which is Myles recommendation. GT #3 came with my amp new and were yanked early on for the phillips. I put them back in for giggles and they aren't a good choice. Tthe distortion and top end with the miniwatts was smoother and the jjs were more compressed. The bottom in the JJs is a little tighter. the compression issue (i prefer more open less compressed tone) has been addressed by changing around preamp tubes i think. i have yet to put the Phillips el-84 back after pre-tube swapping. i'm guessing it could be back to square one if i do that but maybe not.
First pre swap consisted of puttting a GE 5751 in the PI. that really tightened things up and gave my strat a great whispy tone. pertty nice with buckers too but great with the strat. I replaced the GE in V1 with a NOS RCA and the tone darkened. things got a little more articulate but some of the chime went away. At that point the tweak fest was on in ernest.
So far:
NOS RCA in v1 and v2 with a 5751 in the PI probably was the smoothest and most articulate with a less gain than other combinations in v1 and v2 but it sucked the chime and air right out of the amp. Want to get an Rx as close to a jazz amp as it can get? that combo is probably the ticket with guitar vol rolled off. The tone of the guitars and the woodiness of my 335 really came through with this combo.
RCA in v1, a NOS Ge in v2 and a 5751 added back life but was a little piercing. might be better to say that the GE adds a grainyness to the amp. Still better than my starting point but could be improved on.
RCA in V1 and V2 with a balanced sovtec lps in the PI is where i'm at right now and i'm thinking its the best combination so far. as Good string definition and articulation (low notes have that piano character..solid not boomy or mushy), smooth distortion , and a lot of chime and air.
i found another ax7 in my stash that came with the amp. it doesn't look like a sovtec or anything else i have. it's a very early edition amp and i'm thinking maybe its nos something. i've read where the Doc used to do that. regardless i see a couple more phases of tweaking including the 5751 in V1 . i should probably pull the mullards out of my VTL and try them in the Z but i'd probably like them and i can't afford any more of them things.
i also tried a at7 in the PI at one time to back off the gain...don't do it. there was tons of nasty noises coming from that amp. the tubes had been swapped out of a VTL preamp (put NOS mullards there. nice tubes those) so they were good but my Rx did not like them.