preamp tubes in stiletto

[cpepper]

Hey it's me again. Over the weekend I replaced my front end of my stiletto with electro harmonix 12ax7's eh and boy did this screw up the sound it was very glassy and running the amp on channel two just gave me a high shrill sound that was horrible. Long story short went back to the messa russian 2's and eveything was back to normal and the sound was good again. I just wanted to change the tubes to see what kind of difference it would make because when I changed the mesa el 34's to jj e34ls it was a great change and gave me a smoother sound. I was just wondering what a good high gain front end would be if I ever decide to experiment again. Oh and any advice is appreciated.

 

[Bobbypols]

ive ordered jj ecc83s and will throw em in and give u a low down. Did the JJ tighten up the tone? I find that my neck pups can flub out on fluid drive.

 

[xnfx]

Yeah I would like to know how much, or if those JJ's actually tighten up the bass and such.

 

[cpepper]

well i just struck gold just off a whim I bought the groove tubes 12ax7 c's the chinese reissue (it gives awarmer sound and and cut's out some of the highs in the preamp). In the stiletto it actually sounds more warm while still retaining that the origanal high gain character at least to my ears. I like the jj's 12ax7's too but I justt wanted to try something different.

 

[Bobbypols]

im still waiting on my tubes...any day now...can you describe how much of a change the jj's did. Is it signifigant, if not can you explain how significant the gts were...? thanks.

 

[cpepper]

well to be honest mabey it's just me but tubes will not drastically alter an amps sound just a couple of changes you may notice. I used to own a tremoverb head that I retubed the front end with jj 12ax7s and I did notice that it smooths things out but also adds a darker character which I liked It did not change the sound to a tight high gain sound you would get from a VHT persay but it did soften the harshness a little which is more niticeable when you crank the amp. A certain head will always sound a certain way and tubes don't change eq structures.

 

[Bobbypols]

so then the e34ls you would say had greater impact? Essentialy does the power tubes or preamp tubes have a greater impact? thanks for your response.

 

[cpepper]

Oh definently the power tubes converting from 6l6's which have a deep bottom sound to el 34's which have a higher lower end. The e34ls is an el 34 but has a deeper bottom than normal. It's all personal though

 

[Bobbypols]

Well i got my tubes from jj's today. 2 preamp tubes were dead. You can imagine the proceess and how long it took to find the faulty ones . So 2 stock mesa preamp tubes are floating in there some where. Well, while the jj's did remove the harshness of the highs and add low end that is a bit tighter and did improve the overall sound it was not drastic. The e34l's are nice. I still get flabby bass respones with neck pick ups on the low e and low a most noticable when striking a cord. the moral of the story is that while tubes can change the sound from good to great the change is not something to depend on while making or breaking when using a amp.