New F-30 owner, have questions about preamp tubes...

[GibsonV05]

I bought this brand new, and am loving it. However, the tone is VERY warm, and doesn't seem to have as much high-end sparkle. (I haven't really cranked it yet though).

I popped in a couple EH's, and a couple JJ's. Both sounded like POO compared to stock, (except I left a balanced/graded JJ ECC803S in the PI which seemed to add some bite, and sustain).

What's the deal with the stock (12AX7-A Russian-2, as they're labeled) tubes? Why do they sound SO MUCH better? As far as I know, they're just run of the mill Sovteks? I've never heard Sovteks that sounded so good.

Also - is this excess warmth common until the V30 "breaks in"?

 

[vulture2600]

i also own an f30 and at bedroom levels it is in fact pretty warm.
crank it past 11 o clock or so and you really hear all that sparkle, and
i can pretty much guarantee you that JJ's would sound better than
the stock pre amp tubes.

 

[GibsonV05]

i also own an f30 and at bedroom levels it is in fact pretty warm.
crank it past 11 o clock or so and you really hear all that sparkle, and
i can pretty much guarantee you that JJ's would sound better than
the stock pre amp tubes.

I tried high gain JJ's - no dice...

BTW - Do you run your's into your 4x12?? How's that? I have an Avatar V30 loaded 2x12 on it's way...

 

[vulture2600]

yes i run mine thru the marshall listed in my signature. i run
the internal speaker (8ohms) from the 4 ohm jack and the 16 ohm
marshall out of the 8 ohm jack. 4x12 sounds very tight with a focused low end.
i get a LOT of mids and highs from the combo (accentuated with a e609)
and a ton of bass from the 4x12 (mic'ed with an audix I5)

 

[Adam]

I run mine with the stock tubes with a THD Hot Plate between the amp and combo speaker - I couldn't believe the improvement.

I found my F-30 to be a little dark at moderate levels as well, but pushing the amp to the threshold of powertube breakup and bringing the gain back really makes the amp scream. Using the Hot Plate seems to brighten things up a lot, but fills out the midrange as well. It's a huge-sounding little rig.

 

[GibsonV05]

I run mine with the stock tubes with a THD Hot Plate between the amp and combo speaker - I couldn't believe the improvement.

I found my F-30 to be a little dark at moderate levels as well, but pushing the amp to the threshold of powertube breakup and bringing the gain back really makes the amp scream. Using the Hot Plate seems to brighten things up a lot, but fills out the midrange as well. It's a huge-sounding little rig.

You using an extension cab as well??

It seems to me, the tone brightens a tad when cranked. I haven't had a chance to really open it up, but hope to when my V30-loaded Avatar 2x12 gets here. I'm going to experiment with some tubes a little more as well.

 

[Mesaman]

You should try to buy some Svetlana tubes, which are made in Russia at the Reflektor factory. They are much higher quality than Sovteks.

 

[GibsonV05]

Same factory as Sovteks...

 

[Mesaman]

They used to be the same factory as the Sovteks, but not anymore. Sovteks are garbage.

 

[Adam]

I run mine with the stock tubes with a THD Hot Plate between the amp and combo speaker - I couldn't believe the improvement.

I found my F-30 to be a little dark at moderate levels as well, but pushing the amp to the threshold of powertube breakup and bringing the gain back really makes the amp scream. Using the Hot Plate seems to brighten things up a lot, but fills out the midrange as well. It's a huge-sounding little rig.

You using an extension cab as well??

It seems to me, the tone brightens a tad when cranked. I haven't had a chance to really open it up, but hope to when my V30-loaded Avatar 2x12 gets here. I'm going to experiment with some tubes a little more as well.

I have used a G-Flex 2x12 cab with it, though I run the hotplate just with the combo itself at home. I found that even cranked through the 2x12 the tone can be a little dark. Not too dark for me, but maybe for some people.