Lonestar Special - preamp tube replacements

[boogieman90]

I received my Celestion Golds yesterday. Now to schedule a time to get them installed. I am going to get it professionally done so I don't screw something up.

 

[RocksOff]

Anyone know what V30's sound like in a LSS 2x12? Was thinking about trying it out. I have a couple lying around.

 

[boogieman90]

It's an improvement over the stock C-90's. It will really depend on your syle and it becomes a matter personal taste. For more modern sounds, metal, thrash, etc they are good. I have a recto cab with 2 Vintage 30's and it's great to compliment the 2x12 amp. For blues or classic rock better than the C-90's but there are better to be had like Celestion Golds, Blues, G12H 30 anniversary; some of the Webers; Eminence.

 

[RocksOff]

Well... that is the deal.
I have a Recto 2x12 cab that i am considering pulling the v30's out of and landing them in the LSS combo. I'm just curious before i go to all that work.

 

[boogieman90]

That is a lot of work. I just kept mine as an extension and use it to round out my primary sound/tone as by thremselves the vintage 30's sound a little harsh IMHO. I am having the Hollywood Mesa store install my Celestion Gold replacements next week. It looks like I could do it, but I don't want to take a chance with the soder. If you switch your speaker out I understand that you need to torque them to the correct tightness and alter tightening from corner to corner pattern otherwise the sound coil will not sound right.

 

[RocksOff]

****... that sucks. i've used the recto 2x12 as an extension and i didn't care for it much... now a thiele or trad cab... maybe. the recto cab just booms too much and sounds a bit muddy with the LSS i thought.

 

[boogieman90]

There is a guy on harmony central that speaks about gluing " 2 INCH WEDGE- SHAPED AURALUX FOAM REFLEXION KILLING MATERIAL" inside his recto and raves about the result.
That will be my next move as well to tame this beast.

 

[boogieman90]

I finally swapped out the C-90's with the Celestion Golds. OMG!!! A good 30-50 % improvement. I can hear every string, move, and can nearly hear it breath. The tone is alive.
I still have a little buzz in the Lp and I do not hear with a Strat and the bridge pup in the LP sounds a little muddy. Any suggestions?

 

[RocksOff]

either turn up your presence knob or change the pole height on the bridge pup.

 

[boogieman90]

I change dthe presence and adjusted the volume on the axe and it got rid of the buzz, thankx.

 

[boogieman90]

it looks like Mike has sold out the Telsa's, at least for now. Any backup suggestions for preamp tubes Mick? It will be a couple of months before I can afford to switch the tubes , but with the speaker swap the difference is remarkable.
Bruce

 

[Bluewail]

I just scored a Lonestar Special 1x12 and, of course, I'm tube tweaking. I automatically go for putting a 12AT7 in the reverb slot (V4 on the LSS) on most amps but it doesn't seem to work well in the LSS. Using either a Mullard CV4024/12AT7 or an EH 12AT7 there is noticeable noise and tube rattle although neither of these tubes exhibit anything nasty in other amps either as a reverb driver or phase inverter. On the other hand all sorts of 12AX7's work fine - no rattle and good tone.

Anyone else had a similar experience? Is the circuit just not right for the 12AT7 swap?

One reason I mention it is prior to getting the LSS I did mt homework on this board and others and a hard-to-diagnose rattle was a complaint that came up a few times. Perhaps this is, at least in some cases, the culprit?

 

[RocksOff]

Can anyone post what preamp tube positions do what job exactly?

 

[Bluewail]

V1 - input (most critical) gain stage & Ch. 2 "drive" stage - this tube will have the greatest effect on the overall tone and feel of the amp. It's also the first place to look if you have weird tube noises, microphonics etc. I use a JJ 803s here but they will get noisy after a while and have to be replaced. Also a great place to drop some dough on a great NOS tube. The Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7 and Telefunken ribbed plate 12AX7 sound phenomenal here.
V2 - 2nd & 3rd gain stages - this tube is also tone critical, less so than V1 and influence the effect of the tone controls directly. I use a Tungsol reissue 12ax7 here. NOS is kind of wasted
V3 - effects loop - also the master output and solo controls - bypassing the loop bypasses this tube stage. If you are using the loop or output/solo, this tube is a bit less critical than V1 & V2. Tungsol again.
V4 - reverb - Mesa's circuit really is tough on tubes in this slot and very prone to noise & microphonics. Use a very quiet tube like the short plate EH 12AX7's. Avoid high gain tubes if you want to keep the 'boing" under control.
V5 - phase inverter/driver - lots of folks think this slot doesn't matter but I feel it's a critical one. Once again, I like the Tungsol reissue 12AX7's.

While you are at it, dump the Sovtek 5Y3 rectifier before it dies ( and it will). No big tone difference but they last. Get any good NOS 5Y3. They are cheap and much more reliable.

 

[boogieman90]

Thanks for the info, good stuff. I'm a year away from retubing as I have two other projects to finiash first. How about a 12 AT 7's in V-4 and V-5 like thwe Mullard 4024? They appear affordable and I've read some good things about them in these slots.

 

[Bluewail]

Look at my earlier post. I love the Mullards also but they don't work well in this amp in either v4 or v5. All the AT7's I've tried don't cut it in this amp's reverb. Noisy. I feel you need the AX7 in v5 too for headroom, unless your playing strictly in a really low volume situation.

 

[Strat N My Stuff]

I just scored a Lonestar Special 1x12 and, of course, I'm tube tweaking. I automatically go for putting a 12AT7 in the reverb slot (V4 on the LSS) on most amps but it doesn't seem to work well in the LSS. Using either a Mullard CV4024/12AT7 or an EH 12AT7 there is noticeable noise and tube rattle although neither of these tubes exhibit anything nasty in other amps either as a reverb driver or phase inverter. On the other hand all sorts of 12AX7's work fine - no rattle and good tone.

Anyone else had a similar experience? Is the circuit just not right for the 12AT7 swap?

One reason I mention it is prior to getting the LSS I did mt homework on this board and others and a hard-to-diagnose rattle was a complaint that came up a few times. Perhaps this is, at least in some cases, the culprit?

I can't say for sure that my nightmare was all in the v4 tube, but I did replace the Mesa tube there with a GT-M 12AX-7 and I can hear the improvement. I will likely search out some NOS tubes in the near future, once I find some $. Just thought I'd share that in case it affirms your thoughts. Jeff

 

[RocksOff]

same as subject!

 

[speedy mcfeely]

I have had a NOS 12AT7 in V4 for 2 years. no tone loss, works great. I have also used a 12AU7 with the same results, save for a quieter reverb output.

 

[timmerel]

Answering the question from March, I'm even happier with the tone now I've had a few months of tweaking. Setting svery different and the clean and drive are even better.