Anybody tube smart?

[5150 Musician]

Tube amps in my opinion have always been a step above solid state in versatility and in tone alone. The beauty of tube amps is the modifying. Rebiasing and changing tubes is something that competely changes a tube amps tone, and if done right it can result in a major improvement of the amplifier. Just wondering if theres anyone else out there who hears me on this one?

 

[sweetshoes18]

Oh boy do I agree with you on this one


I built a High Octane of the AX84 disign along with a California Dreamer also of the AX84 disigns.


I will never buy or build anything other than a tube amp...

 

[5150 Musician]

Oh boy do I agree with you on this one


I built a High Octane of the AX84 disign along with a California Dreamer also of the AX84 disigns.


I will never buy or build anything other than a tube amp...

Soon, I'm ordering some premium graded ecc83S's from EuroTubes.com. These have 110 more gain than a regular 12ax7 as well as a higher filament rise time, yet it does not effect the cleaned up rythm channel in a bad way. These will definetly slaughter the no-name Chinese generic MICROPHONIC tubes that have sat in my 5150 for God knows how long. I can just tap my head and you hear a very harsh *ping* sound; oh yeah, it's brutal. And when I flip the standby on... PING!!

 

[Outlaws]

Tube upgrading is over rated.

Solidstate amps have there place in something like Jazz. Infact...almost all amps record well IMO given the right technique.

But personally...ya I'll take a tube amp.

 

[freshmattyp]

The Roland JC120 is a serious amp. If you've never played through one, give it a try. I'd put it up against the clean channel of a tube amp any day.

 

[AlfredB]

yeah, the guy from eurotubes is a very nice dude ...

i personally play (badly an older LP-studio trough a '94 Sovtek 60W all tube head (w/ higher gain eurotube's 12x7's) , and if i put the master volume beyond 8 o`clock (yeah, 8 !!!!) hell breaks loose ... hehehe



just goto: http://www.funender.com/music/bands/254/music.php and d/l the latest track "boceto" (still a mockup) and hear for yourself ;-)

there is no other thing as nice as a LP through a tube (well there is, but it doesnt lend itself for discussion in this forum

rock on!
alfred

 

[5150 Musician]

yeah, the guy from eurotubes is a very nice dude ...

i personally play (badly an older LP-studio trough a '94 Sovtek 60W all tube head (w/ higher gain eurotube's 12x7's) , and if i put the master volume beyond 8 o`clock (yeah, 8 !!!!) hell breaks loose ... hehehe



just goto: http://www.funender.com/music/bands/254/music.php and d/l the latest track "boceto" (still a mockup) and hear for yourself ;-)

there is no other thing as nice as a LP through a tube (well there is, but it doesnt lend itself for discussion in this forum

rock on!
alfred

You should check out, if you can EVER find one, a Sovtek Mig-100. With good tubes in them, they are brutal. I heard a band who used em once. Point-to-point wireing too! Golly. Also, RedBear MK120 Lead Tube Amplifiers are real nice. Both built extremely well; those Russians aren't messing around. Right now in my 5150 I have 4 Sovtek 5881's... its nice, real nice.

 

[5150 Musician]

Tube upgrading is over rated.

Solidstate amps have there place in something like Jazz. Infact...almost all amps record well IMO given the right technique.

But personally...ya I'll take a tube amp.

Tubes aren't a thing you change like guitar strings, they last years. Changing from 9 year old power tubes to a brand new match set as well as microphonic generic chinese 12ax7's to a brand new set of ecc83s's is not over rated. When my uncle changed the tubes in his 400+, it sounded like a whole different amplifier, in a very good way. You change tubes like you change tires on cars. Is changing tires on cars overrated too?

 

[Outlaws]

Changing from 9 year old power tubes to a brand new match set as well as microphonic generic chinese 12ax7's to a brand new set of ecc83s's is not over rated.

Yes...but you see...thats not "upgrading". That is called replacing.

Changing out old tubes is one thing. Changing from the stock Groove Tubes to some JJ's or some exspensive "new old stock" tube is over rated. The sound quality is not that different. Sure a multimeter or some other electricians device might be able to tell you a fancy figure that looks good on paper, but in reality, they isn't much differnce between tubes.

 

[jonhall5446]

I just bought a brand new hot rod deluxe. Played on it a bit and I like the sound, but after a visit to torres engineering I have deided to do a few mods. How important do you think it is to get a better speaker? Thinking a Jensen.

sorry a bit off topic but what the hell

 

[Outlaws]

Thinking a Jensen.

I am thinking of getting a Ford for my next car.

What do you think?

Whats that?

What model?

Oh....

I don't know...

I just heard Ford was good.

 

[BlindCowboy]

Sure a multimeter or some other electricians device might be able to tell you a fancy figure

That's funny stuff. Not to say your wrong or right. Just, my multimeter has never given me a fancy figure. Now some of the curves on my O-scope are remarkably to a lady's sillouette. But I digress.

 

[5150 Musician]

Yes...but you see...thats not "upgrading". That is called replacing.

Changing out old tubes is one thing. Changing from the stock Groove Tubes to some JJ's or some exspensive "new old stock" tube is over rated. The sound quality is not that different. Sure a multimeter or some other electricians device might be able to tell you a fancy figure that looks good on paper, but in reality, they isn't much differnce between tubes.

For one thing, lets not have a grammar battle. Upgrading and replacing can be used in the same way in a sentence without distorting its meaning (haha... distorting...sorry). For example -which was a true scenario- I don't like groove tubes. Every one I ever had was microphonic... even the ones that came stock with my new Blue VooDoo back when I had one. However, UPGRADING (Or replacing the Groove Tubes) with JJ's happened to turn out for the better. It depends who you are. If you're someone who can hear a slight difference in the tone of a certain tube like a train coming at you, you'd know why some people replace their tubes with ones they feel sound better.

 

[Outlaws]

Rebiasing and changing tubes is something that competely changes a tube amps tone, and if done right it can result in a major improvement of the amplifier. Just wondering if theres anyone else out there who hears me on this one?

So you are just a troll who is looking for an arguement? Waiting for someone to disagree?

This thread is pointless now.

 

[Dethska]

I got a Sovtek Mig 100. It used to sound AWESOME!!! So heavy and crunchy.

It sounds not so good anymore.


Why?


My guess is after ten years and many rough handlings my tubes are in less than great shape.

I can't wait to get the money to replace those things. Then my Mig will ROAR again!

 

[5150 Musician]

So you are just a troll who is looking for an arguement? Waiting for someone to disagree?

This thread is pointless now.

That's quite foolish of you to say. And why did you pick that quote to justify what you stated? It made no sense. Having a different veiw on something is not disagreeing. This thread was put up so that people who own and know about tube amps could talk about them, not call eachother names. Threads are topics made for people to post their opinions, ideas, etc. on it, and it can cause debate and discussion. What you've just caused is this thread to be pointless. So there you go... it IS pointless now.

I guess that's why you call yourself the "pisser offer". You're great at it.

 

[5150 Musician]

My guess is after ten years and many rough handlings my tubes are in less than great shape.

10 years is quite a long time for the same set of tubes. You're very right that a fresh set of tubes would be a rather good thing. Like I said before, my uncle had 9 year old tubes in his Mesa Boogie 400+ and after changing them it made it sound like a total different amplifier; so much brighter and more dynamic.

 

[Farview]

I got a Sovtek Mig 100. It used to sound AWESOME!!! So heavy and crunchy.

It sounds not so good anymore.


Why?


My guess is after ten years and many rough handlings my tubes are in less than great shape.

I can't wait to get the money to replace those things. Then my Mig will ROAR again!

Ten years! I used to replace the tubes in all my amps (that I used regularly) every 6 to 9 months. Tubes don't last that long in a guitar head that is used all the time.

 

[5150 Musician]

Ten years! I used to replace the tubes in all my amps (that I used regularly) every 6 to 9 months. Tubes don't last that long in a guitar head that is used all the time.

Indeed you are correct. However, you could go an extra mile with the preamp tubes, they do not wear out as fast as the power tubes do. Also, if your amp is biased hotter (effects the tone and some prefer a hotter bias, as do I) your tubes do not last as long.

 

[Dethska]

Thing is, I almost never use the amp. And it hasn't been pushed hard in probably five years. But, for all I know the tubes could be older. I bought the thing used, and haven't changed the tubes. They could be 15 years old for all I know. They sure look stock. Sovtek tubes in a Sovtek amp.