#1 · Jul 25, 2008 14:47 UTC
I've spent a lot of time farting around with tubes and during a conversation with Rik he asked that I put some shit up on the tubes that I am using and basically why I am using them....so here goes.
I find the Classic series amps to be very bright and especially in the gain channel. I think that when you crank the distortion up past about 6 the gain starts to get really hairy and lack any thing resembling definition. For this reason I use a GE JAN Spec (Joint Army Navy) 5751. I THINK the equivalent of this is basically a 12AU7 or perhaps a 12AT7. To me this tube lowers the gain a bit while also taming a lot of the bright shit that I don't want to hear. I got this idea from Stevie Ray Vaughn and it's a tube he used in his amps for the same reason.
In the V2 I was using a Sylvanie 12AX& that had a lot of really nice harmonic character to it. I recently out of curiosity bought a Gold Pinned Electro Harmonic 12AX7. This tube is very very organic and has a ton of harmonic character that to me is just amazing in sound. I can now use my lead channel on my amp which is something for years now I couldn't becuase the thing just sounded like shit.
In the V3 I have a balanced Chinese 12AX7. There is nothing special about this tube....it just inverts the phase really well I guess.
In the power tube section I have for a long time used JJ EL34's all matched. I use a set that overs a lot of headroom and would be considered not very HOT at all. My reason for this is that I like to play loud. I want definition and I like being able to play clean with out getting dirt and loud levels. This might not be something that everyone is into but it's something that I know I like. Recently I switched back to my Sovtek 6BQM (or whatever the fuck they are called it's basically the same thing as an EL 34 but since it's made in Russia it gets a different distinction in labeling) For me....I think there isn't a big sonic difference between the Sovteks and the JJ's. If' had the Sovtek's in since the end of Wateringholestock....and I am thinking I want to go back to the JJ's because they allow for a bit more headroom. I have gotten compliments on the tone of this current tube configuration.
To me though the most important change you can make to these type amps is the speakers. Again I like headroom and as such I don't want speaker distortion. A lot of guys like that....it's just not my bag. I use eminence speakers. I use a V12 which is a rip off of the Celestion V30. I think the V12 is a smoother speaker and is certainly sweeter in the midrange. I'm not sayign anythign negative about the V30.....it's a great speaker. Probably one of the greatest of all time. BUt I think the V12 does what I need a bit better. I also use a Tonespotter. This was the missing peice of the puzzle for me. If I had just a Classic 30 i'd probably go with this speaker. It's rated higher than the V12....but this thing is the bomb. Anything you hear of mine recently record has been this speaker. Lots of head room. Nice big round bottom end. Not flubby at all. And the speaker isn't even broken in yet!
I find the Classic series amps to be very bright and especially in the gain channel. I think that when you crank the distortion up past about 6 the gain starts to get really hairy and lack any thing resembling definition. For this reason I use a GE JAN Spec (Joint Army Navy) 5751. I THINK the equivalent of this is basically a 12AU7 or perhaps a 12AT7. To me this tube lowers the gain a bit while also taming a lot of the bright shit that I don't want to hear. I got this idea from Stevie Ray Vaughn and it's a tube he used in his amps for the same reason.
In the V2 I was using a Sylvanie 12AX& that had a lot of really nice harmonic character to it. I recently out of curiosity bought a Gold Pinned Electro Harmonic 12AX7. This tube is very very organic and has a ton of harmonic character that to me is just amazing in sound. I can now use my lead channel on my amp which is something for years now I couldn't becuase the thing just sounded like shit.
In the V3 I have a balanced Chinese 12AX7. There is nothing special about this tube....it just inverts the phase really well I guess.
In the power tube section I have for a long time used JJ EL34's all matched. I use a set that overs a lot of headroom and would be considered not very HOT at all. My reason for this is that I like to play loud. I want definition and I like being able to play clean with out getting dirt and loud levels. This might not be something that everyone is into but it's something that I know I like. Recently I switched back to my Sovtek 6BQM (or whatever the fuck they are called it's basically the same thing as an EL 34 but since it's made in Russia it gets a different distinction in labeling) For me....I think there isn't a big sonic difference between the Sovteks and the JJ's. If' had the Sovtek's in since the end of Wateringholestock....and I am thinking I want to go back to the JJ's because they allow for a bit more headroom. I have gotten compliments on the tone of this current tube configuration.
To me though the most important change you can make to these type amps is the speakers. Again I like headroom and as such I don't want speaker distortion. A lot of guys like that....it's just not my bag. I use eminence speakers. I use a V12 which is a rip off of the Celestion V30. I think the V12 is a smoother speaker and is certainly sweeter in the midrange. I'm not sayign anythign negative about the V30.....it's a great speaker. Probably one of the greatest of all time. BUt I think the V12 does what I need a bit better. I also use a Tonespotter. This was the missing peice of the puzzle for me. If I had just a Classic 30 i'd probably go with this speaker. It's rated higher than the V12....but this thing is the bomb. Anything you hear of mine recently record has been this speaker. Lots of head room. Nice big round bottom end. Not flubby at all. And the speaker isn't even broken in yet!