Doug's Tubes review ... Hard rock & Metal preamp tube kits.

[zerofivefour]

First off a Big thank you and cheers goes out to Doug at Doug's Tubes. He knows what he is doing and has fabulous kits. Doug's customer service is top shelf. He takes the time to answer his phone personally and his shipping is unbelievably fast! Insane fast.

Amps:
Rev f. Triple Rectifier head,
Rev f. Dual Rectifier rackmount head.

Tube kits:

I bought 2 kits from doug's tubes, both are preamp kits.
I have both the 'hard rock' and 'metal' preamp kits.

I wanted to outfit both of my amps with some new preamp glass and figured I would go the route of having different options.


Metal kit below:

V1 - Tung 12AX7 (High Gain)

V2 - JJ ECC83 (High Gain)

V3 - Penta 12AX7 (High Gain)

V4 - Penta 12AX7 (High Gain)

V5 - Sovtek 12AX7 LPS (High Gain)

Hard Rock Kit below:

V1 - Tung 12AX7

V2 - JJ ECC83

V3 - Penta 12AX7

V4 - Penta 12AX7

V5 - Sovtek 12AX7 LPS




Power Tubes:
I have TAD 6L6GC power tubes in my Dual Rectifier, and Stock MESA branded str 440 tubes in the Triple Rectifier.

The difference in sound of the 2 preamp kits is rather obvious. They both offer something special over each other, as well as over the stock preamp tubes. ( I find the stock preamp tubes to be a bit grainy and cold at times).


Metal Kit:


The first thing I noticed was that the amp took on a a more 3d sound to it. It just sounded bigger with more depth. The metal kit adds a whole lot of definition to the notes resulting in better articulation, (big time articulation for tracking notes), tightness. The whole amp sounds "bigger" and has more punch and ooomph. The cleans have more depth and a bit of chime is added. Cleans are tight and thick and solid. Much more gain available and the entire eq section is more aggressive. More usable gain is here folks. Harmonics bounce off the fretboard when wanted. Brutal tones to be had for sure if desired.

With dirt the amp simply tracks much much better for extremely fast multiple triplet runs and soloing etc... It really surprised me that the amp tracked as good as it did. I did not need to boost it in order to get the notes not to flub in very fast runs. This is a definite positive. The whole tone of the amp sounds more ballsy. The trade off is that it is a bit more unforgiving and will showcase sloppiness. Roll off the guitars volume knob and the amp seems to yield some really nice fat sounding tones. Reminds me of when I had my Soldano GTO pedal in front of my triple rev f. years ago. The Metal kit is fabulous and is now a permanent fixture in my Rev f. Triple Rectifier head. I found running the gain near 3:00 was near perfect for killer tone. I found eq'ing the head was easiest if placing all knobs on 12:00 and adjusting minutely to taste. Love this kit!


The Hard rock kit.

The first thing I noticed after putting in the Hard Rock kit was that when using high gain the sustain was effortless. Bends, single notes, higher register notes simply sing and SCREAM. The whole tone has a more rounded and juicy tone with more Burn and bite. Again, the sustain this kit offers is where the money is for this kit in my opinion. The amp just rips effortlessly.

Cleans are shimmery and sweet, like butter. Juicy tones galore. It should be noted that with this kit metal tones are at your finger tips with ease, just not to the degree of brutality that the metal kit offers. The amp has a looser and more forgiving nature and feel with the hard rock kit than with the metal preamp kit.

The hard rock kit sounds so good to me and was such a joy to play that it is now a permanent fixture in my rev f. Dual Rectifier Rackmount.


Eq'ing the kits:

With the metal kit beware that all the tone knobs and gain simply have more available. I had to re eq the whole head with it. And that is a very good thing. This kit is doing what it is advertised as. It really shines. I didn't need to boost my head for tight note tracking with the metal kit.

With the hard rock kit I could dial in serious solo tones in seconds. Effortless eq'ing here. The gain is more rounded and has enough hair for any one in my opinion.

My take on the two kits is that they are both big time winners. With the metal kit having more gain, (as advertised), and accentuating the highs and lows more with the ability to dial in more 'brutal tones', and the Hard Rock having a more mid range character to it resulting in a raunchier tone with sustain for days.

Contrast the kits and Conclusion:
The hard rock kit has a more raunchy flavor to it than the metal kit, a raunch that I love to death. It has less punch, with less definition, (although it must be said that the definition in the metal kit one of its top strengths, with its usable gain and punchy character being others. This is not a negative for the hard rock kit, it is just a different recipe for a different flavor of tone. I found the hard rock kit to have a more rounded sizzle to it, where the metal kit has a more biting aggressive dirt voice to it. Both valid and amazing tones. I am glad I can have both to be absolutely honest. Both kits do exactly what they are advertised to do.


Thanks again goes out to Doug at Doug's tubes.
Both kits are big time winners.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[deeman]

thanks for the review, i was planning on getting the hard rock set from the website within the next few weeks. It sounds like i'm definitely going to give it a shot. Did you have any issues with ordering or delivery?

 

[zerofivefour]

thanks for the review, i was planning on getting the hard rock set from the website within the next few weeks. It sounds like i'm definitely going to give it a shot. Did you have any issues with ordering or delivery?

deeman,

No problems at all.

Ordering was simple through his site and delivery exceeded my expectations, (you can order by phone too as well). He had it to my door within 3 days from my ordering.
He is in NY and I am in HI so that is outrageously fast in my book. I ordered the two kits about a week apart from each other and both kits arrived extremely fast.

Good luck with your kit.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[bendo]

Doug's Tubes kick ass. I have been using him for a few years now. I bought a quad set of Mullard EL84s that had a tube go bad. He replaced it fast, and haven't had issues since.

 

[Jorn218]

When you retubed, was the amp in need of retubing, or you just decided to tube roll? I am only asking because I feel the same way you articulated in your review. An older guy overheard me telling a friend about the Dougs metal set I had bought. This old guy then asked what I just asked you, told him it was in dire need of a retube. He said the reason the amp sounds better than before is you changed its diaper so to speak and no longer sounds like poo. He suggested i take note of where i finally reset my tone settings and write them down somewhere. when I retube again write down my current settings then retube then when controls are reset write them down then compare to first written settings. He said more than likely they will be identical or very close. I did this past two tube changes, and you know what? That oldtimer was pretty much dead on. It was also interesting to see how far i was compensating with the tone controls for dying tubes.

 

[zerofivefour]

When you retubed, was the amp in need of retubing, or you just decided to tube roll? I am only asking because I feel the same way you articulated in your review. An older guy overheard me telling a friend about the Dougs metal set I had bought. This old guy then asked what I just asked you, told him it was in dire need of a retube. He said the reason the amp sounds better than before is you changed its diaper so to speak and no longer sounds like poo. He suggested i take note of where i finally reset my tone settings and write them down somewhere. when I retube again write down my current settings then retube then when controls are reset write them down then compare to first written settings. He said more than likely they will be identical or very close. I did this past two tube changes, and you know what? That oldtimer was pretty much dead on. It was also interesting to see how far i was compensating with the tone controls for dying tubes.

bjorn218,


With the Dual I was in need of a retube, with the Triple I replace the new stock tubes that the factory sent in my recently acquired head.

I tried the metal kit in the dual and played it for about a week, then I bought the triple and ordered the hard rock kit. I took the metal kit out of the dual and put it into the triple when I recieved the hard rock kit, which I then placed into the dual head.

The metal kit had the same impact on both of the heads. I had mullard M8137, (made in Great Britain), preamp tubes in the Dual racktifier before I swapped out to the kits. They were old and at least one of them was micro-phonic. They sounded killer but they had been there since before I bought it nearly 10 years ago. It was time to change them. I still have them and will get them checked when I get a chance as I think they are fairly pricey and desirable tubes.

FWIW the the mullard's eq response has more in common with the hard rock kit than the metal kit. And I believe that I was overcompensating with the gain levels using the old mullards and possibly the other tone controls as the old timer mentioned.

I'm sure that old timer could teach us both a thing or 2.
Cheers,

Tom

 

[Jorn218]

Cool, good to hear your review regarding the preamp sets.

Mullards...... to drool for. I pulled a few that were good form a family organ I saw lying on the side of the road once. Threw it back in the truck and tore it apart for the tubes. Lots of vintage 12AX7's in the old Hammonds. When the price for them skyrocketed, I pulled them out of my Marshalls and sold them. My go to 12ax7 since then have been old RFT's. They are just an aggressive tube, though very delicate. I won't put vintage glass in my Dual Rec though. Just doesn't seem like I would get the same effect, as the amp doesn't really go into tube saturation like the Marshall circuits due.