rsilverst
Member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2024
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 3
Hey there -- I saw somewhere, at some point (can't remember if it was here or on Gear Page) someone had said they love the Rhythm channel so much on the Maverick that they wish the amp just had 2 rhythm channels instead of the lead channel. I understand the sentiment, because for me, the Lead channel is delivering a tone that I don't really want or need, so I never touch it. Even with the gain set very low, it's still pretty much "crunch" land.
It occurred to me today... what if I could knock down the gain of the Lead channel to the point that it is more to my liking? So I decided to pop a 12AU7 tube into the V2 position, which is the first preamp stages for the Lead channel only. The 12AU7 nominally has only 20% the gain of a 12AX7.
Voila - now there's something interesting going on! The gain is reduced enough that I can set the gain control at 12 o'clock and be in "edge of breakup" mode with humbuckers. And what is super interesting is that because of how the Lead channel is voiced, the tone is "bigger" even when similarly clean, compared to the Rhythm channel. It's like a different, but still vintage-sounding amp (instead of the Lead channel sounding "Modern", whatever that means, but I think you know what I mean). I found that I wanted to keep all the tone controls *very* low, only 1 or 2 steps above their minimums for the best tone.
The one potential "gotcha" is that 12AU7s draw about 10 times as much current as 12AX7 (10-20mA versus 1-2mA), so I don't really know if the strain this puts anywhere in the power section would be problematic, or if everything is still within ratings. I'll probably open up the chassis and measure the voltages to see how different they are. If not very different, I might presume I'm good to go, whereas if the voltage has dropped a lot, then perhaps it's not a good idea (additionally, if it is affecting voltages, it may be affecting them on other preamp tubes as well).
In any case, I thought it was interesting enough to mention here for those of you who own the Maverick (and those who do, seem to have bought it for the rhythm channel, so perhaps this will be of use to you). There's also 12AY7, which is lower gain, but not as low as 12AU7, and does not draw as much current, as an in-between.
It occurred to me today... what if I could knock down the gain of the Lead channel to the point that it is more to my liking? So I decided to pop a 12AU7 tube into the V2 position, which is the first preamp stages for the Lead channel only. The 12AU7 nominally has only 20% the gain of a 12AX7.
Voila - now there's something interesting going on! The gain is reduced enough that I can set the gain control at 12 o'clock and be in "edge of breakup" mode with humbuckers. And what is super interesting is that because of how the Lead channel is voiced, the tone is "bigger" even when similarly clean, compared to the Rhythm channel. It's like a different, but still vintage-sounding amp (instead of the Lead channel sounding "Modern", whatever that means, but I think you know what I mean). I found that I wanted to keep all the tone controls *very* low, only 1 or 2 steps above their minimums for the best tone.
The one potential "gotcha" is that 12AU7s draw about 10 times as much current as 12AX7 (10-20mA versus 1-2mA), so I don't really know if the strain this puts anywhere in the power section would be problematic, or if everything is still within ratings. I'll probably open up the chassis and measure the voltages to see how different they are. If not very different, I might presume I'm good to go, whereas if the voltage has dropped a lot, then perhaps it's not a good idea (additionally, if it is affecting voltages, it may be affecting them on other preamp tubes as well).
In any case, I thought it was interesting enough to mention here for those of you who own the Maverick (and those who do, seem to have bought it for the rhythm channel, so perhaps this will be of use to you). There's also 12AY7, which is lower gain, but not as low as 12AU7, and does not draw as much current, as an in-between.
