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Post by Ridgeback on Jan 28, 2009 15:13:54 GMT -7
This came up in the "Too much gain" thread of the Maz Jr section but I thought it might get a better response here. I've been using a 12AY7 in V-1 of my Maz Jr NR combo for a long time now. I really like the balance of clean and gain with this tube for my playing style. Can it really hurt my amp to have a low gain tube like the 12AY7 in V-1 and in what way? Are there tubes which will be OK to use that will still give me a similar gain profile?
Thanks in advance for any responses.
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Post by bustertheboy on Jan 30, 2009 0:18:13 GMT -7
No, lower gain preamp tubes can't damage anything, at least not from the gain point of view. Some tubes do have different operating characteristics, such as how much current they draw and things like that, but I'd be VERY surprised if that would damage any amp let alone a DRZ- they are totally overbuilt. If it sounds good use it. You don't need to do things like bias preamp tubes- it's a case of suck it and see! Brett
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Post by Ridgeback on Jan 30, 2009 14:53:39 GMT -7
That's pretty much what I always thought. I was surprised when John indicated that Myles, our resident tube expert had reservations about using an AY7 for reasons other than tone\gain. I guess I'll see if Myles or the Doc chime in here. For now, I'm leaving the AY7 in there.
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Post by myles on Jan 30, 2009 16:21:40 GMT -7
No reservations with an 12AY7 ... it is a great tube, very smooth and the first tone/gain stage of the tweed bassman, bandmaster, super and deluxe.
I do have issues with a 12AT7 or 12AU7 but not a 12AY7 or 5751.
You might love the 12AY7 and you will also get more clean headroom, change the ratio of front end to back end distortion and you may be able to turn pedals up to higher output levels before things squash and compress.
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Post by Ridgeback on Jan 30, 2009 17:05:41 GMT -7
No reservations with an 12AY7 ... it is a great tube, very smooth and the first tone/gain stage of the tweed bassman, bandmaster, super and deluxe. I do have issues with a 12AT7 or 12AU7 but not a 12AY7 or 5751. You might love the 12AY7 and you will also get more clean headroom, change the ratio of front end to back end distortion and you may be able to turn pedals up to higher output levels before things squash and compress. Thanks Myles, I was hoping you would chime in. As I said in the "too much gain" thread, the AY7 allows me to use all of my guitars and both inputs in pretty much any combination I'm in the mood for. I couldn't say that about the AX7 (and I tried several) before digging out the AY7. Perfect balance of gain and headroom for what I want.
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Post by mrsooty on Sept 8, 2009 0:37:00 GMT -7
Just digging up this thread. So what's wrong with a 12AU7 then? Another guy here recommended it.
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Post by myles on Sept 8, 2009 9:51:06 GMT -7
Just digging up this thread. So what's wrong with a 12AU7 then? Another guy here recommended it. AY7 has similar plate current to a AX7. An AU7 is a bit different but then again, some folks use AT7s with no issues even though they are a terrible tone generator tube in V1 or first gain/tone stage.
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