good preamp tubes to go with my mark IV / sed winged C power

[Fronzil]

ive heard good things about vintage tung sol 12ax7..any other suggestions for something that goes well with the winged sed 6l6 power tubes?

 

[jpdennis]

All I can go by is my recent experience for my Heartbreaker Rev B with the SED Winged-C 6L6GC (Equal to Mesa Green Rating) and the TAD 7025-S with a balance TAD 7025-S for the PI & a JJ Gold [Gold only because it was a good price] for the Reverb .... :!: WOW :!: .... :mrgreen:

But that is just me :wink:

Dennis

 

[sparklesmcgraw]

The new Tung Sols sound good. Definitely better over the stock Mesa's.

I would recommend checking out ebay to get a Mullard 12ax7. The smoothness and thickness of the tone from them really is worth it.

 

[Heritage Softail]

Do you want to buy new production tubes or new old stock/slightly used old tubes? Old vintage tubes can sound better but are sometimes a bit pricey? You could get some good new production TS and a sweel old tube fro V1.

Look in the tubes thread. More info there than you can shake a stick at.

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

I still like those Russian 2s. I must be deaf... :lol:

 

[jpdennis]

I still like those Russian 2s. I must be deaf... :lol:

I have a complete set of the Mesa Russian 2 preamp tubes. I replaced them when I received my Heartbreaker last month. They had a some hum at higher volumes (probably just the PI and the Reverb, but ...) then the 5 TAD 7025-S and the 2 JJ 12AX7 tubes I replaced them with and I didn't notice less gain; I noticed more. But that is my rig and YMMV.

Respectfully,

Dennis

PS: I am going to replace my Mark III tubes with Winged-C and TADs (balanced/matched in the PI and a JJ Gold 12AX7 in the Reverb like the HB) so I may have more to share next month when the TADs are restocked at the store.

 

[grokostimpy]

I'll add a question here:
:?: Why do you need a "balanced" tube for your PI?

On topic because I also want to order preamps to go with Winged C's. I'm looking at the JJ ECC83S's and Eurotubes sells a set with a balanced one included, whereas TheTubeStore just has a sells 5 at a time.

Thanks!

 

[dodger916]

The PI or "driver" sends the signal to the power tubes, and is often considered part of the power section. Because power tubes are paired, the signal coming from the driver should be balanced so that each tube gets a similar strength signal. (I'm assuming each triode of the PI drives one half of the power section.) Having said that, some say the balance is more applicable to hi fidelity equipment, and is not so relevant in guitar amps where tolerances are looser. I dunno, just regurgitating what I've heard.

 

[lespauljoe1]

I have always had good luck with JJ preamp tubes. The reliability has been very good and the tone is always improved over stock tubes.

At the moment I am using JJ ECC803S gold pin in V1 and V2 and standard JJ ECC83S tubes in V2 thru V6. I will probably upgrade V2 & V3 to either ECC83S gold pin or ECC803S gold pin. I feel like the gold pin tubes add a little of everything over the regular JJ tubes. A slight change however. Tube Depot has a 15% reduction on the JJ ECC803S gold pin tubes at the moment.

I Like the sound of the new Tung Sol preamp tubes, but I have had serious reliability issues, especially in my Electra Dyne. Not so much in the Marshall. I have especially had failures at the V4 position for some reason.

 

[grokostimpy]

Maybe someone can give some experience/advice:
I also decided on SED Winged-C 6L6GC's for power tubes, and I'm thinking all JJ ECC83S preamps.

My question is what preamps tube positions, if any, would be suitable for the "high gain" version. If possible, I'd like to beef up RHY2 and Lead while keeping the clean channel more stock sounding. I suspect that V2 would be a good spot, which jives with Doug's tube cocktail too... So what do y'all think of this idea?
V1: regular ECC83S
V2: high-gain ECC83S
V3: regular ECC83S
V4: regular ECC83S
V5: triode-balanced, regular ECC83S

Thanks!

 

[lespauljoe1]

Maybe someone can give some experience/advice:
I also decided on SED Winged-C 6L6GC's for power tubes, and I'm thinking all JJ ECC83S preamps.

My question is what preamps tube positions, if any, would be suitable for the "high gain" version. If possible, I'd like to beef up RHY2 and Lead while keeping the clean channel more stock sounding. I suspect that V2 would be a good spot, which jives with Doug's tube cocktail too... So what do y'all think of this idea?
V1: regular ECC83S
V2: high-gain ECC83S
V3: regular ECC83S
V4: regular ECC83S
V5: triode-balanced, regular ECC83S

Thanks!

I have read varying opinions regarding high gain preamp tubes. Some say it is noticeable while others say the human ear really can't hear the minor difference. Who really knows?

I think JJ's are a great choice. They are my favorite new preamp tubes. I can't compare them to NOS tubes, because I've never tried any due to the high cost. Just for laughs and giggles, try a ECC803S gold pin in V5. This particular tube really seems to push the power section a little harder.

Good luck.

 

[grokostimpy]

Thanks for the advice. I may try one of those gold pin tubes too...

Cheers