Tube amp brands

We obviously need and are sorely lacking in definitions.....

The I.S.O. needs an R.F.C. re: defining the exact clinical meaning of "major change" and "substantially different."

Then maybe we could settle this Ramblers to Oranges comparison foolishness....:spank:
 
soundchaser59 said:
defining the exact clinical meaning of "major change" and "substantially different."
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That's not possible.
What "standard scale" are you going to use that everyone will understand and agree on for measuring "major change" and substantially different? :)

I already defined what "major change" and "substantially different" means to me.
Like I said...when I can swap out one preamp tube and make an amp go from nasty/harsh to sweet/creamy...THAT is a *major change* to me.
Likewise, when I can swap out a pair of EL34 tubes with a pair of 6V6 tubes, and then drop some different values and brands in the preamp section...it makes the amp sound "substantially different" to me.

YMMV.....

The real key here is how many folks have actually swapped out dozens and dozens of tubes, new and old...pre, power and rectifier...
....before they came to their conclusions about the effects of tube swaps. ;)
 
miroslav said:
The real key here is how many folks have actually swapped out dozens and dozens of tubes, new and old...pre, power and rectifier...
....before they came to their conclusions about the effects of tube swaps. ;)
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Which once again reiterates the contradiction in your statements....

On one hand you keep saying you have boxes and boxes of tubes so you were able to learn all these differences about how huge of change they can make to your tone and that it takes time and effort.

...but the on the other hand you say how cheap and easy it is to for someone to swap tubes as a simple and cost effective improvement to their tone.

That is a complete contradiction.
 
Outlaws said:
That is a complete contradiction.
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No...you are just nearsighted. ;)

I didn't buy cases of tubes all at once.
I bought a few...then later some more...then some more...then some more.
The reason I kept buying was because I saw the value of tube swapping. :)

At this point, I got tubes for a lifetime...and tons of amp tone options because of them. :cool:

Even a few tubes will get you some options. How far you want to delve...well, that's your call.
 
miroslav said:
No...you are just nearsighted. ;)

I didn't buy cases of tubes all at once.
I bought a few...then later some more...then some more...then some more.
The reason I kept buying was because I saw the value of tube swapping. :)

At this point, I got tubes for a lifetime...and tons of amp tone options because of them. :cool:

Even a few tubes will get you some options. How far you want to delve...well, that's your call.
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Interesting....

miroslav said:
Until you can try out dozens of tubes and as many brands...you may not see much difference between a Sovtek or one of the other Russian made "fake brands". :)
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So now you saw the light right off the bat so you kept buying tubes....or you tested out dozens of tubes by as many brands to hear the difference?
 
Oh brother...talk about living in denial! :p

Dude...I was just saying you need to get away from comparing the Russian/Chinese crap.
The first bunch of tubes I bought were NOS tubes...and when I swapped them for the Sovteks I said WOW!...so I proceeded to buy more and more...that's how I got to the dozens, and then I really saw the differences.

I think you are just very eager NOT to believe, so you are trying to read between everything I say in order to make your case that swapping tubes --- "its a joke IMO". :rolleyes:

Let me put it to you this way.
Do you really think I would waste money on dozens and dozens of tubes (I'm very frugal and careful how I spend my money)...
...if I didn't hear any worthwhile changes or see any value in it....??? :)

DUH!!!

:D

;)
 
KOP,

Sometime when you take a mind to, try swapping the positions of your existing preamp tubes (those JJs are fine tubes IMHO by the way). I'd give it a 50/50 that you will be able to hear some difference in tone depending on which one is in the 1st preamp stage and which is serving as the phase splitter for instance. The experiment will cost you nothing and will not hurt the amp. You don't even have to figure out which tube is doing what. You may find that one arrangement sounds better than the others.

I doubt you will be able to tighten up your bottom end doing this though.

Swapping out the rectifier may help if your issue is caused by too much sag.

Swapping out the power tubes can make a greater difference in the bottom end. The difference between brands is greater than some would have you believe. But here again the Rubys are considered by many to be one of the better new EL34s on the market. FWIW JJ EL34s have a decent reputation fir having a tight bottom end.

There is a capacitor tied to pin 8 (I believe) on your output tubes. experimenting with it's value will greatly affect the bottom end. That will require a tech.

I still say the best place to look is your speaker/cab.
 
Many Peavey amps are cathode biased. Does anyone know if this is true of the Windsor? If it is cathode biased you can swap tubes without having the bias adjusted.

It's not a bad idea to have a spare set of tubes for your amp on hand in case of failure. If you're gonna do that anyway why not try another brand?
 
miroslav said:
Likewise, when I can swap out a pair of EL34 tubes with a pair of 6V6 tubes, and then drop some different values and brands in the preamp section...it makes the amp sound "substantially different" to me.
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EL34's and 6V6's? That's a pretty big change. Can you do that? I wouldn't try to put EL34's into my Deluxe Reverb even if the pinout would match; I'd be afraid of damaging the power supply.
 
ggunn said:
EL34's and 6V6's? That's a pretty big change. Can you do that?
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Yes...I can do that with my THD Flexi. :)

I can even put in one EL34 and one 6V6, as the amp allows for individual bias of each tube. :cool:

Yes...it's a pretty big change.

I have a Tungsten amp that will go from 6V6 to 6L6 and also do a few rectifiers, and a couple of my other amps will take a variety of rectifier tubes...
...all that to can be a pretty big change in both tone and feel.

My Carr Hammerhead will take EL34, KT77, KT88 and 6550 power tubes…and no re-bias needed.
 
Update: I posted this thread recently. As mentioned, I was having trouble with my guitar tone just as I was about to give up when I remembered this thread.
There was a piece of advice given... it was that even changing the tubes around in your amp can yield a difference. This piece of advice was correct, you see in my recent thread I mentioned that the low end of my tone was flubby/flabby/loose but just a few moments ago I switch my preamp tubes around and my low end tightened up considerably.

I thought that it was just my amps low end that sucked, which it could still be contributing but then again so could my 4x12 cab. But just know that even a simple tube change or switch could give you that last improvement in sound that you're looking for.
 
I have an Alamo amp which was a Texas made tube amp from probably the 70's.

I need to get new power tubes. The paper tag in the amp calls for two 6V6 tubes. The tubes in there are 6V6GT tubes. I'm gonna guess that the "GT" stands for "guitar tube and means nothing. Is that right?

It probably doesn't matter but I am using this for keys for heavy guitar sounds. The tone I like is brown and fuzzy like Van Halen and Leslie West. What manufacturers should I lean towards for that sound?

The current 6V6GT's are Mazda brand. Overall the amp sounds great.

It has uno 12AX7 and any recomendations as far as that brand would be appreciated.
:)
 
dintymoore said:
I have an Alamo amp which was a Texas made tube amp from probably the 70's.

I need to get new power tubes. The paper tag in the amp calls for two 6V6 tubes. The tubes in there are 6V6GT tubes. I'm gonna guess that the "GT" stands for "guitar tube and means nothing. Is that right?

It probably doesn't matter but I am using this for keys for heavy guitar sounds. The tone I like is brown and fuzzy like Van Halen and Leslie West. What manufacturers should I lean towards for that sound?

The current 6V6GT's are Mazda brand. Overall the amp sounds great.

It has uno 12AX7 and any recomendations as far as that brand would be appreciated.
:)
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The 6V6 was made in a variety of bottle styles. The GT describes one of them. Perhaps this article will help.http://www.audiotubes.com/6v6.htm


I like the new issue Tung-Sol 12AX7s well enough that I no longer bother with NOS ones.
 
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tube sounds

im assuming your preamp tubes are 12ax7's but the same would be true of most any preamp tube.... many amps have multiple 12ax7's and maybe a few 12au7's thrown in....

ive played around with preamp tubes quite a bit.... best sound i get is from NOS tubes... RCA, GE, Mullard, Tungsol....i like the american made tubes..

been playing around with tubes in my amps for about 40 years

Mellonhead
 
Well, I purchased a second-hand Peavey Bravo 112, small combo amp with three 12AX7s and two EL84s. I'm willing to change the preamp tubes. The guys from Peavey recommend me the Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH. Do you think is a good option or should I try the Tungsol 12AX7?

Just in case, I play death metal.
 
I have had a good time reading all of the tone freaks (I'm one too) ranting about tone, tubes and the such. I have done a lot of tube and speaker swapping in my day and those 2 things really DO make a difference in tone.

But having been a recording and performing artist for many years, I should remind y'all that unless the listener is a guitarist, they don't know a great guitar tone from crap. Not only that, but for the most part, people don't even want to hear guitar solos anymore.:rolleyes:
 
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