Tubes that 'break up ' sooner...

[GuitarDemon666]

I was talking to some dude about how I have to CRANK my Marshall to get the really cool distortion.

He told me you could get tubes that 'break up sooner' so you don't have to turn it as loud. Is this true??

BTW it was a drummer who told me this....

 

[Track Rat]

The only use I get out of drummers is to make sure the stage is level (they drool evenly out of both sides of their mouth).

 

[mikemorgan]

I'd be looking for a Marshall Power Brake.

 

[DogFood]

I second the Marshall Power Brake.

 

[timthetortoise]

The only use I get out of drummers is to make sure the stage is level (they drool evenly out of both sides of their mouth).

That brought an lol from me

 

[Farview]

I was talking to some dude about how I have to CRANK my Marshall to get the really cool distortion.

He told me you could get tubes that 'break up sooner' so you don't have to turn it as loud. Is this true??

BTW it was a drummer who told me this....

There are EL34's that are squishier than others. Groove tubes used to have a rating system, S1's would distort very easily H10's would hardly distort when cranked.

Get in touch with the guy from www.eurotubes.com He will point you in the right direction. I bought two different sets of EL34's. One for the early breakup, squishy thing. The other set for volume and power.

 

[Flangerhans]

Generally you will want to use 12AX7/ECC83/7025 tubes in your pre-amp section, rather that 12AT7 or other lower gain tubes. You are very limited in power tubes unless you go for NOS, as most today are made by the same manufacturer and just branded differently. Without testing gear, you are at the mercy of whoever is rating your tubes. Hope this helps!

 

[YeshuasFan]

Alright, you had to get me started:

What do you call someone with no talent who hangs out with musicians?
A drummer.

What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend?
Homeless

What is perfect pitch?
The ability to toss a saxophone into a toilet without hitting the rim.

Sorry, the drool joke got me started--oh, wait, that wasn't a joke? Oh, well. . . .

 

[boingoman]

I was talking to some dude about how I have to CRANK my Marshall to get the really cool distortion.

He told me you could get tubes that 'break up sooner' so you don't have to turn it as loud. Is this true??

BTW it was a drummer who told me this....

It's not going to make that much of a difference in volume. If it hurts now, it will still hurt even with new tubes.

 

[ocnor]

I have to CRANK my Marshall to get the really cool distortion.

Most likely the "really cool distortion" that you speak of is created by a combination of power tube distortion and speaker distortion. Just changing the tubes is not going to be a magic bullet. An attenuator like a THD Hotplate could help bring the volume down but that changes how hard the speakers are driven.

 

[visa]

get the TAD ToneBone

 

[ggunn]

I was talking to some dude about how I have to CRANK my Marshall to get the really cool distortion.

He told me you could get tubes that 'break up sooner' so you don't have to turn it as loud. Is this true??

BTW it was a drummer who told me this....

Here's another solution:
http://www.thdelectronics.com/products/yellow_jacket.htm

I've got a pair in an old 50w Marshall; they sound great and it's not nearly as loud as it was "stock".

 

[visa]

Here's another solution:
http://www.thdelectronics.com/products/yellow_jacket.htm

I've got a pair in an old 50w Marshall; they sound great and it's not nearly as loud as it was "stock".

that's exactly what the Tonebone does.

http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=669

 

[ggunn]

that's exactly what the Tonebone does.

http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=669

Ah, OK. I hadn't heard of those. The THD Yellow Jackets work great; I've got a pair of them. It looks like the ToneBone triode mode converters drop the power a bit more.

 

[mrface2112]

Get in touch with the guy from www.eurotubes.com He will point you in the right direction.

+1 for Jay at Eurotubes. I got some JJ's for my Champ and Epi ValveJr from them and they were great folks to deal with.

for the VJ i got one of the "high gain" 12ax7's and it does seem gainier than the "regular" 12ax7. tubes can be measured for their gain and matched accordingly. therefore some tubes can be "high gain" and should distort sooner than others of similar type.

while i wouldn't say you don't have to turn it up as loud (b/c as others have said, a good chunk of the crunch is in the power tube section).....but you have less headroom and you get into breakup earlier......so it gets crunchier as you go up.


cheers,
wade