Please tell me new tubes will help.... WITH UPDATE!!!

[strumminsix]

I am the original owner of an LSC. I'm guessing the amp was at least 6-7 months old when I got it. I found out that I was playing it set to EL instead 6L6 for the first few months. I've owned it about a year.

That's the background.

Recently (couple weeks), it's been harder and harder to dial in mids without mud. Past couple nights the tone has been changing as the amp is getting hotter and I'm adjusting away between tunes.

I'm not feeling to good right now. We've got a gig on Saturday and no room for erros!

I've got a new quad of powertubes and 3 new preamp tubes coming in tomorrow. On order are: SED 6L6s, Tung Sol 12ax7 (lower gain model), 2 Shuguang 12AX7C (9th gen).

Does it sound like this will help?!

 

[picnic]

I'm in the same boat as strumminsix. I bought a new LSC 2x12 at GC. It had a small rip in the grill and had been in the store for awhile. I played a new LSC and the tone was about the same as mine as for as I could tell. Saturday afternoons at GC aren't good for a test drive. I put alot of time on mine around the house and jam with friends one note a week.

Should I retube all or just the 6L6's?

Stumminsix I don't mean to split your thread, but it is something very similiar to what I was going to post.

 

[screamingdaisy]

When a set of power tubes is starting to go they generally start to loose upper end harmonics and the bass starts to tub out. The tone gets muddier and muddier, and the volume starts to lower. Next thing you know you have the volume, treble, and mids dimed and the bass on zero and it still sounds like muddy ****.

I'm guessing that this is what's happening to you guys. You only really need to retube the power tubes.....I've been using the same preamp tubes in my Recto since it came from the factory a few years ago and they're still good; and I'm willing to bet that my Recto is harder on pre tubes than your LSC.

That said, the stock EHX preamp tubes are actually pretty good for high gainers like myself, but I would venture a guess that the LS series could benifit from a retube of something a little more suited to your tastes.

 

[strumminsix]

When a set of power tubes is starting to go they generally start to loose upper end harmonics and the bass starts to tub out. The tone gets muddier and muddier, and the volume starts to lower. Next thing you know you have the volume, treble, and mids dimed and the bass on zero and it still sounds like muddy ****.

Yup, very close. It gets muddier, muddier, slight volume drop, I bring up the mids and presence to get back articulation in notes but it doesn't help then I bring down the lows and it sounds like a thin tone with too much bass (as odd as that sounds).

THANK!

 

[picnic]

Thanks for the feedback screamingdaisy. I don't think the LSC is ready for a retube just yet. I keep the bass around 9:00 on both channels most of the time. Above that it starts sounding thumpy. Articulation on the mids and highs is still clear.

After years of solid state amps, my tube knowledge is in need of some upgrading. I have a Tom Anderson Classic coming in this week and it will be my main guitar. Once I get it and know what it can do, I'll probably retube the6L6's.

 

[strumminsix]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! Replaced my poweramp tubes with a quad of SEDs, a low-gain Tung-Sol in V1, and a couple of Chinesse 9th gen something or anothers in v2 & v3 and what a freakin difference!!!

Each tone pot is so freakin' great and accurate.

The results are absolutely amazing to say the least!

I can get a scooped sound without being lacking
I can get a heavy mids sond without losing lows or highs
I can get a nice even mix with high end sparkle, tight low end and round mids!

Freakin' sweet!

 

[screamingdaisy]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!


Freakin' sweet!

That about sums up my first retube experience.

 

[Platypus]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!


Freakin' sweet!

That about sums up my first retube experience.

Ditto

Congrats man, good tone always makes your day better.

 

[strumminsix]

Congrats man, good tone always makes your day better.

Good tone always makes me play better!

It rhyhmes but it's true. If I am unhappy with my tone I think of changing it instead of my playing.


Thanks all!

 

[Cheez]

Strummin - I just ordered a quad of =C= from Doug, too. Current set up is nice, but from what I've read, those =C= ought to make things even more to my liking (and the stock tubes can now be my backups, since they're not dying yet). The other contenders were TAD, but I think the =C= are more up my alley.

Doug was very nice, and certainly knowledgeable. If he had a Tungsram ECC83 laying around, I would have gone all out & dropped some more $$... but, that will have to wait

 

[strumminsix]

Right on! BTW, what does "=C=" mean?

 

[Cheez]

It refers to the "Winged C" logo. Current production, that means SED. NOS, it's Svetlana. Nowadays (in the US, anyways) the "Svetlana" name is owned by Sovtek... apparently a real difference in quality. So the best way to know what you're really getting is to look for the =C=.

 

[Guitarzan]

It refers to the "Winged C" logo. Current production, that means SED. NOS, it's Svetlana. Nowadays (in the US, anyways) the "Svetlana" name is owned by Sovtek... apparently a real difference in quality. So the best way to know what you're really getting is to look for the =C=.

Or you can just get Groove Tubes "R2"'s. They are SED tubes.