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Post by Ridgeback on Jul 26, 2006 11:27:30 GMT -7
Technically a GE 6072A. I have had my Maz 18 NR 1x12 combo (my first Z) for just over a week now and was having a hard time finding a usable gain setting with my LP and Lucille (neither have high output pups). Even on the low input, anything past 11:00 on the Volume started getting an unpleasantly harsh breakup. It was easily fixed by rolling back the guitar's volume pot but I decided to try a lower gain tube in V-1 just for kicks.
I read many of the posts here that recommend a 5751 but I didn't have one in my stash. I did have a variety of NOS 12AY7's and 12AX7\ECC83's from my years messing with tweed amps.
Obviously, the 12AY7 reduced the overall gain of the amp considerably and really smoothed it out. I could even run the HB's through the high input without it getting harsh at higher gain settings. It may now be too tame for my P-90s and strat but I didn't have time to test that out last night. If it is, I'll probably mess around with some of the RCA and GE 12AX7's to see if I can get back a bit of the gain but keep the smoother OD. If I just played HB's, I could easily keep the 6072 in there full time.
As many have posted, the 5751 is probably the perfect middle ground and I may eventually wind up calling Mike at KCA to get a couple after the wallet recovers from buying the amp. It is fun to experiment and I just thought I'd share.
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Post by billyguitar on Jul 26, 2006 11:55:50 GMT -7
The tweed amps REALLY like the 12AY7s, note to reissue Bassman owners. I need some new tubes too, those 5751s are pricey. The one in my Ghia staticed out completely. I put two 12AY7s in it. they sound good to me!
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Post by Ridgeback on Jul 27, 2006 8:08:03 GMT -7
One last observation and then the thread can die a natural death. I spent a lot of time with my two P-90 guitars and my strat with the 12AY7 in the amp last night. Maybe I'm just not a heavy gain kind of guy but the amp responded well with all of them and I was able to use the entire range of the volume knob without harshness or going over the top on the grind. It really made the clean to snotty grind range of the amp perfect for me at all combinations of the volume\master\cut that I tried with everything from my Lucille\Les Paul HBs to my strat. That Cele Blue speaker in the Maz is really something.
I may still try a 5751 someday if I'm ordering other tubes but I'm not sure I really want or need more gain on tap.
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Post by jessterr on Oct 6, 2006 16:29:54 GMT -7
Ridge,
You could always try a 12AT7 as well. Has a gain profile in between the 12AY7 and the 5751, and they are generally less expensive I think than a 5751 for NOS.
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Post by Ridgeback on Oct 9, 2006 7:42:25 GMT -7
Thanks jessterr. I didn't think of that.
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Post by flem on Oct 9, 2006 14:18:45 GMT -7
I like a 12AT7 in V1 with humbuckers, it lets me use the HI input with a lil more headroom. I find anything with a gain factor under a 12AT7/5751 in V1 and the amp starts to sound a bit stale eg. 12AY7, 12AU7.
I also swap out V1 with a sovtek 12AX7WB, JJECC83S and JJ ECC803S to get a slightly different color to the amp.
This amp is so versatile it's hard enough to find a tone setting to stick with now I'm playing with different preamp tubes. You can make it cleaner or dirtier without modding anything.
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