Express 5:25

[Gthewildman]

Hi Guys,

I need help with two things, if you could assist me!

My amp has no real problems but it hisses, would new tubes cure this or could it be just 1 tube. Will it be pre amp tubes or finals.

I would also like a warmer sound does that come from power tubes and if so do you have any suggestions.

I can afford a whole new set , but worry nothing will change.

Your experience will be appreciated.

G

 

[DrKev]

My amp has no real problems but it hisses, would new tubes cure this or could it be just 1 tube. Will it be pre amp tubes or finals.

Impossible to say without the amp in front of me. It could be caused by one tube or two or four, or it could be no tubes.

I would also like a warmer sound does that come from power tubes and if so do you have any suggestions.

Tubes (that are working correctly) don't change the basic character of the amp. That's the circuit and the speaker.

When were the tubes last changed?

 

[diabolical]

I have a 5:50+ - that amp took a lot of preamp tube rolling to get right.
Now, the question is - what sounds exactly "cold" to you? The clean or drive channel?
Perhaps try playing the clean channel with a a bit of "hair" - clean on "crunch" setting with gain just a touch where it breaks up a little, or perhaps a Klon or clean boost in the front.
I am not sure in the end what preamp tubes I ended up with but I remember rolling a Mullard and a Shuguang a Tung Sol and leaving one of the original ones in there.

 

[JiJoe]

Hello G

If it's any use - I have a 5 50 + and recently rolled some tubes that I had to hand. I got good results with PM12AX7 in the V2 position (that's where the input hits the first tube - normally V1 in other amps). That seemed to make the most significant difference. It's subtle but seems to have brought a bit more clarity and rounding of the top end frequencies across all channels - cutting out a bit of fizz and harshness on top.

Not sure if that translates to the 5 25. I tried Ruby, Tung-sol and JJ in there too - the PM was the best to my ears. Rolling later gain stages seemed to make very little difference at all - although I was working with a limited selection of tubes.

 

[Gthewildman]

Impossible to say without the amp in front of me. It could be caused by one tube or two or four, or it could be no tubes.

Tubes (that are working correctly) don't change the basic character of the amp. That's the circuit and the speaker.

When were the tubes last changed?

Don’t know, I bought it used!

 

[SteveB]

I bought my Express 5:25 + in 2012 or 2013. At that time there were many Express owners who were active on this forum and tube choices were a frequent topic. A lot of people went with a "preamp tone kit" created by an outfit called Doug's Tubes. They liked the sound and less hiss. He no longer lists the Express tone kit on his website but I'm sure he can recreate it. Or you could review posts in the Express section of this forum from that era to see what other people did and what worked or didn't work.

 

[marcel20855]

When I got my Express used, it was making squeals and clicks and pops and other weird noises, even after I cleaned the tube pins with Deoxit and wiggled them in the sockets before it dried. A full set of new tubes fixed all of that. Replacing one or two problem tubes might have fixed it too, but I figured I'd rather start fresh than try to figure out which of 7 tubes was the problem. I got mine from Eurotubes and was very happy with both the customer service and the tone.