Hey thanks for all the help guys, here is what I came up with:
For testing, I removed the chassis and used test jumpers for the speaker & Reverb. This is how I test all amps that come through our shop (provided they need chassis removal).
I tried both Edward's & Rubadub's settings before doing anything else.
I really liked the setting that Rubadub uses. It is very lively and much more touch responsive. This would make sense since he is using a McCarty as well.
This also increased the ballance between the channels. Before, Channel 2 was much louder no matter what I set the Master to. I think this is because I had the EQ & Gain turned up higher and the amp was basically clipping already, before I turned the Master up.
I decided to experiment with tubes. Here is what I tried:
Tubes used:
JJ 12AX7
JJ 12AT7
JJ ECC803
Groove Tubes Mullard Reissue
TAD 12AX7C
V4 JJ 12AX7 for all settings, then I tried these same tubes in V1 with all of the other tubes in V4, 1 at a time
V1 JJ 12AX7 Very responsive and open sounding
V1 JJ 12AT7 Very small sounding, much less volume in Clean channel, about the same volume in the Lead channel
V1 JJ ECC803 Much more lively than the AT7, but not as nice as the AX7
The TAD & Mullard Reissue were both very microphonic in V1 on the Lead channel. They did sound good on the Clean though.
V1 was tried with all of the tubes mentioned above for each of the V4 selections below. Pretty time consuming
V4 JJ 12AX7 Very percussive, punchy and yet sort of dark. Great sustain
V4 JJ 12AT7 Very round sounding with lots of warmth, but lacking in sustain
V4 JJ ECC 803 Sort of the middle of the road between the JJ AT & AX tubes lacked sustain and depth though
V4 Mullard Reissue Very brittle and Marshally sounding. Not as much sustain as the JJ AX7
V4 TAD 12AX7C Absolutely beautiful and full sounding with tons of sustain. The blanket has been lifted from the Clean channel.
Here is the tube config that I ended up with after a few hours of testing:
V1 JJ 12AX7S
V2 EH 12AX7 (love that crunch, JJ 12AX was good here too)
V3 JJ 12AX7S
V4 TAD 12AX7C
V5 JJ 12AX7
V6 JJ 12AX7
I also experimented with each of these tubes in the V6 position. I really liked the Cleans with the JJ 12AT7, but lost all of the love that I have for the Lead channel.
I ended up with the JJ 12AX7 again in V6 because it was the best mixture of all the things that the amp does.
Gotta put it back together now........ :lol: