Recto Preamp tubes!

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Hey guys!

I think it's time for me to start playing with the preamp of my dual recto!

What tube combinations would you guy recommend?

The Tung Sol seems to be hte new hype....how are JJs? I like their tubes for the poweramp, but I have heard not so good stories in the preamp.

Overall, what would you recommend.

Like most people, I am looking for an additional tightness, definition, less buzz, and more cut in the mix!

 

[Shep]

get a set of JJ's dude...the best..tung sol are very good to..but i love and use the JJ's..

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I just put in a quad of JJ 6L6s, and am about to give them a test drive!

As for the preamp tubes, I'm worried about the "blanket" many complain about....

Many people seem happy with a Tung sol in V1 and JJs in quite a few of the other positions!

Comments?

 

[Utah]

Just put in Tung Sols in the first three positions. Definate improvement over the Mesa tubes. Lost a lot of the buzz. Even better once I put in new E34L power tubes. Much tighter and better mid range now.

I've also got an order coming from Eurotubes of the JJ high gain preamp section, GZ34 rectifier and 6V6GC power tubes. Should arrive by next week.

Figured I'd through a bunch of tubes at it to find the best combination. Seems most people only put the Tung Sols in V1. I'll be able to try those, the JJ's and some EH that I already had to find the best combo. Up until today I hadn't really found a sound I liked.

I'm using an Orange 4/12 cabinet and a LP.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Keep me updated if you don't mind!

 

[53crew]

Currently, I'm using a Tung-sol in V1. Sovtek 12ax7 LPS's in V2 and V5, and the Chinese in V3 and V4 since they have less impact on the overall tone.

My three favorite preamp tubes are the Tung-Sol, Sovtek LPS's, and the JJ ECC83's, in that order. To my ears, the Tung-Sols have the most balanced tone. The Sovtek's have slightly more mids, a little less highs, and a hair less in the lows. The JJ ECC83's are the darkest sounding of the three. They have even less highs than the Sovteks, and more low mids. All are good tubes..... Just depends on how you want to tailor your tone.

You can mix and match to get the right tonal coloration. V1 has the most affect. Followed by V5 and V2, IMHO. You can put the tube that gets you closest to your sound in V1, then fine-tune the tone with V5 and V2.

I liked the tone of the Tung-Sol the best, then gave the amp just a little more mids by running the Sovtek's in V2 and V5.

-Steve

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Nothing more?!?!

 

[oyster]

Getting rid of the BUZZ!!!

I think I have a simple solution for reducing the typical recto buzz, with the kind help of our buddies at JJ's. Of course the usual disclaimers apply (if you **** up your amp don't blame us!!), but JJ's didn't think this would harm the amp in any way. We'll see I guess! :wink:

Put a ECC81 (or 12AT7, same tube), in third preamp tube position V3 on the DR Roadster - best placement for the tube may vary per amp obviously. V3 on the roadster is:
V3A Fourth gain stage, CH3 & 4
V3B Tone stack driver CH3 & 4
Channel 3 & 4 are the "high gain" channels.

The 12AT7 is a much lower gain tube than the 12AX7 (40% lower gain), so this reduction seems to all but eliminate the buzz in Channels 3 & 4, while still maintaining excellent tone (especially when using "spongy" and 50W setting on the DR Roadster - and by the way I am using EL34s most of the time, not 6L6s).

You could go further and add another 12AT7 in V2, but when I did this it reduced gain too much and tone seemed to suffer.

Although this "V3 fix" does reduce the amount of total gain you can get there is still plenty to go around IMHO, at least for my purposes (although JJ's was surprised to have someone asking them how to actually REDUCE the gain from the amp - usually people want more more more). If you are one of these dudes who likes everything dimed, this fix may not be for you! :wink:

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has tried this.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Us recto users are definitely spoiled when it comes to gain :twisted:

Not a bad idea....in theory, won't boosting the gain to compensate for this bring the buzz back?

 

[Mr_You]

Still waiting on my amp, but in my Triaxis I really liked using GE 5751s in all clean positions (I hear New Sensor: Sovtek/Electro-Harmonix/Tung Sol might be coming out with a new 5751), and Philips 12AX7WA in the distortion positions. Will probably try the same in the Roadster. A couple 5751s in the signal path add noticeable compression, probably not as dark as 12AT7s, but darker than 12AX7s. They don't lower the signal greatly and won't distort easily. Me likey.