reza
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by reza on Apr 7, 2016 18:10:02 GMT -7
Hi all Love my Z-lux! Simply an amazing amp. I have been thinking of ways to slightly reduce the headroom.
To this end, I was wondering if anyone had played around with different preamp tube brands in various positions of the amp. In particular, I was surprised that the V1 position in mine had a svetlana 12ax7.
Do you think there would be a bit more gain and less headroom if V1 or V2 were swapped out for JJ ECC83 or a Mullard 12ax7?
Just trying to learn from others experience on this before I go tinkering.
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Post by digs57 on Apr 7, 2016 19:26:32 GMT -7
jj 83 very gainy...they make a med version that I have tried nd was decent...couldn't hear a huge difference between 5751 and that though...I would go med 83...
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Apr 8, 2016 7:32:44 GMT -7
I've noticed that this amp is very responsive to guitar level at the input. With the same settings, my Strat is pretty clean, but the Les Paul is getting pretty crunchy. That tells me a fairly mild boost on the front end could give back quite a lot of gainy sounds. Worth considering.
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Apr 8, 2016 9:51:17 GMT -7
I've noticed that this amp is very responsive to guitar level at the input. With the same settings, my Strat is pretty clean, but the Les Paul is getting pretty crunchy. That tells me a fairly mild boost on the front end could give back quite a lot of gainy sounds. Worth considering. What Steve said! Mine responds very nicely to my RC Booster.
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reza
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by reza on Apr 8, 2016 21:22:38 GMT -7
Dave, what settings are you using on your RC? I played around with that this afternoon and it was sweet. Currently I have my volume at noon and gain at 10 o'clock, with treble and bass at noon.
Also, I had a JAN GE 12ax7wa hanging around so I tried it in V1. Subtle difference honestly but sounded really good. I felt like there was a smoother transition to getting more hair on the tone... Sounded pretty great. But the duvet sounded great too!
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Apr 10, 2016 7:41:18 GMT -7
Hi reza, that's about where mine is too. I usually run the gain a little higher, around 2:00, volume to taste. Do you have the new adjustable boost pedal? I find I get a great tone with that set up around 10:00 or 11:00 too. Some guys run the boost full on all the time and use pedals to flavor the tone. There are a lot of ways to approach the Z-Lux, and I haven't found a bad way yet.
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Post by Faze on Oct 6, 2016 21:16:29 GMT -7
I had my V1 tube go bad on me. So I tried a few different tubes. I have a Mullard Ec883 on order that's the tube recommendation from the Z website. I tried a groove tubes and a tung sol. They both sound pretty good. I ended up going with the tung sol in V1. It sounds really warm.
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Post by zpilot on Oct 8, 2016 3:05:08 GMT -7
I had my V1 tube go bad on me. So I tried a few different tubes. I have a Mullard Ec883 on order that's the tube recommendation from the Z website. I tried a groove tubes and a tung sol. They both sound pretty good. I ended up going with the tung sol in V1. It sounds really warm. Good choice. My favorite new production 12AX7 type.
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Post by Faze on Oct 8, 2016 16:17:00 GMT -7
I had my V1 tube go bad on me. So I tried a few different tubes. I have a Mullard Ec883 on order that's the tube recommendation from the Z website. I tried a groove tubes and a tung sol. They both sound pretty good. I ended up going with the tung sol in V1. It sounds really warm. Good choice. My favorite new production 12AX7 type. Picked up this for the reverb tank... www.ebay.com/itm/302090993484
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Post by zpilot on Oct 8, 2016 17:14:44 GMT -7
Fortunately these are still plentiful and cheap: www.kcanostubes.com/content/nos-jan-philipssylvania-12at7I stocked up on these a few years ago. Like you I use them mainly for reverb drivers but I also have several that are balanced that I use in BF/SF era Fenders for output tube drivers. I actually have so many that I tried to sell some to KCA NOS Tubes but they had so many they were not interested. Folks should stock up while they can.
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Post by Faze on Oct 8, 2016 17:42:44 GMT -7
Fortunately these are still plentiful and cheap: www.kcanostubes.com/content/nos-jan-philipssylvania-12at7I stocked up on these a few years ago. Like you I use them mainly for reverb drivers but I also have several that are balanced that I use in BF/SF era Fenders for output tube drivers. I actually have so many that I tried to sell some to KCA NOS Tubes but they had so many they were not interested. Folks should stock up while they can. So how do you think the Mullard will do compared to the Jan Phillips?
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Post by zpilot on Oct 8, 2016 19:51:24 GMT -7
Fortunately these are still plentiful and cheap: www.kcanostubes.com/content/nos-jan-philipssylvania-12at7I stocked up on these a few years ago. Like you I use them mainly for reverb drivers but I also have several that are balanced that I use in BF/SF era Fenders for output tube drivers. I actually have so many that I tried to sell some to KCA NOS Tubes but they had so many they were not interested. Folks should stock up while they can. So how do you think the Mullard will do compared to the Jan Phillips? In your application you probably won't be able to tell the difference. I just prefer to buy from sources like KCA NOS Tubes because I have a higher level of confidence in them than Ebay.
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Post by Faze on Oct 9, 2016 19:55:51 GMT -7
So how do you think the Mullard will do compared to the Jan Phillips? In your application you probably won't be able to tell the difference. I just prefer to buy from sources like KCA NOS Tubes because I have a higher level of confidence in them than Ebay. I hear you thanks I usually get my tubes from Dougs tubes or the tube store and sometimes on E-bay. I just saw that was a mullard nos 12at7 and though it may be a rare tube or something cause I never seen it anywhere else. I can def tell the difference between the JJ reverb tube and the NOS ones the JJ sounded dark and not good in there. My buddy Joe gave me a NOS that I am using now and it sounded great today. The JJ sucked. Thanks for the heads up on KCA though I will have to check them out next time.
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Post by Faze on Oct 13, 2016 15:45:33 GMT -7
Finally Got the Mullard Ec883 In V1 and Wow what a difference! The amp sounds even fatter and warmer richer now then before. I can hear why Doc recommends this tube from his website. Cant wait to play live on Sunday and crank it up.
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