JT_Marshmallow
Well-known member
I was lucky to score a mint condition Heartbreaker head from GC for $700. It arrived today and, oh boy, the last 4 hours just flew by as I was having so much fun playing it. I set up channel 1 for a crystal clean Fender-ish tone, and it's just great. However, when I switched over to channel 2, it completely blew me away. Instant Eric Johnson lead tone! It doesn't have a ton of gain, so I stuck my Tubescreamer in front and a delay pedal in the loop... WOW! I have been trying to get this kind of warm/throaty/violin EJ tone out of my Studio Pre and Triaxis forever now, and kinda get close sometimes, but I'm never quite satisfied with the feel.
And now the reason for this post: On both channels of the Heartbreaker the low-end is just completely out of control. I kept double-checking if the bass knob was actually on zero and it was... now I remember when I had my Studio Pre running through a Mesa 50/50 power amp, there was this huge grunt in the low-mids that I strongly disliked for lead guitar tones, though of course it complemented clean tones beautifully. I concluded that I just am not a big fan of 6L6's for any kind of lead playing. It took me years to figure this out, and now I tend to avoid them.
So to all you Heartbreaker players out there, what experiences have you had with El34's or 6V6's in the amp? I am definitely looking to make the tone a little skinnier and squishier, and I know EL34's would be the prescription for this. And what about 6V6's in a Heartbreaker? How do these other tubes affect the clean tones?
And now the reason for this post: On both channels of the Heartbreaker the low-end is just completely out of control. I kept double-checking if the bass knob was actually on zero and it was... now I remember when I had my Studio Pre running through a Mesa 50/50 power amp, there was this huge grunt in the low-mids that I strongly disliked for lead guitar tones, though of course it complemented clean tones beautifully. I concluded that I just am not a big fan of 6L6's for any kind of lead playing. It took me years to figure this out, and now I tend to avoid them.
So to all you Heartbreaker players out there, what experiences have you had with El34's or 6V6's in the amp? I am definitely looking to make the tone a little skinnier and squishier, and I know EL34's would be the prescription for this. And what about 6V6's in a Heartbreaker? How do these other tubes affect the clean tones?