At last!
My new tubes for my Express 5:50 arrived this afternoon. I've been discussing this in at least two threads
but this requires a new thread.
The story so far
I bought the amp used earlier this year. When firing it up for the first time in my kitchen my emidiate reaction was that it
was very bright. Since it was used I ordered new power tubes and two SPAX7 that I put in the V1 and V2 positions
since that's where low noise tubes makes the most sense.
Fought the brightness by learning the tone controls and posting/reading on this forum, but it still had some ice-pickiness.
Soon the power tubes begun to rattle and I got a new set cheaper without returning the old ones. Picked a set of Mesa
6L6GC Red's thinking they might be less bright, as some info stated that, but they where not.
Suggestions from the forum
On this forum there was info on all sorts of tube combinations that users found working well, but the solution didn't
appeal to me. Mainly because of how I know I work, with a slight Alzheimer Lite I sure would have forgot where to put
which tube. The one suggestion that made sense to me was putting SPAX7's in all positions. Clean and simple.
But I also wanted to tame the IMO a bit over the top reverb, and found a thread about putting in a 12AT7 tune in V5.
The present
So today the tubes arrived. I had ordered two Mesa SPAX7 and a Groove Tube 12AT7. Plugged them in and without
changing any control settings I fired it up. The first thing I noticed was the the small barely noticeable crackle some
seconds after taking it off the standby position was gone.
Rolled up the guitar volume and played a chord. WOW! A a smooth, soft, full, very nice tone filled the room!!
The amp was in the clean mode and I continued to play some solo and really provoked it with hard picking. No ice-pick!
And the reverb is so full, and I am able to tune in just the right amount for my taste; barely noticeable at 9 o'clock.
This was impossible before the 12AT7.
The configuration
My Express 5:50 now has Mesa SPAX7 in all positions except V5 where a 12AT7 sits. And Mesa 6L6GC Red's.
Conclusion
The last tube change really made a difference, I'm so very happy it turned out so well. Now I must start to explore the
other modes as well, I have mainly used the clean mode because I didn't really liked the others. I believe one of the last
changed tubes (V3 or V4) must have been faulty. The SPAX7's might also been good for my amp!
/G
My new tubes for my Express 5:50 arrived this afternoon. I've been discussing this in at least two threads
but this requires a new thread.
The story so far
I bought the amp used earlier this year. When firing it up for the first time in my kitchen my emidiate reaction was that it
was very bright. Since it was used I ordered new power tubes and two SPAX7 that I put in the V1 and V2 positions
since that's where low noise tubes makes the most sense.
Fought the brightness by learning the tone controls and posting/reading on this forum, but it still had some ice-pickiness.
Soon the power tubes begun to rattle and I got a new set cheaper without returning the old ones. Picked a set of Mesa
6L6GC Red's thinking they might be less bright, as some info stated that, but they where not.
Suggestions from the forum
On this forum there was info on all sorts of tube combinations that users found working well, but the solution didn't
appeal to me. Mainly because of how I know I work, with a slight Alzheimer Lite I sure would have forgot where to put
which tube. The one suggestion that made sense to me was putting SPAX7's in all positions. Clean and simple.
But I also wanted to tame the IMO a bit over the top reverb, and found a thread about putting in a 12AT7 tune in V5.
The present
So today the tubes arrived. I had ordered two Mesa SPAX7 and a Groove Tube 12AT7. Plugged them in and without
changing any control settings I fired it up. The first thing I noticed was the the small barely noticeable crackle some
seconds after taking it off the standby position was gone.
Rolled up the guitar volume and played a chord. WOW! A a smooth, soft, full, very nice tone filled the room!!
The amp was in the clean mode and I continued to play some solo and really provoked it with hard picking. No ice-pick!
And the reverb is so full, and I am able to tune in just the right amount for my taste; barely noticeable at 9 o'clock.
This was impossible before the 12AT7.
The configuration
My Express 5:50 now has Mesa SPAX7 in all positions except V5 where a 12AT7 sits. And Mesa 6L6GC Red's.
Conclusion
The last tube change really made a difference, I'm so very happy it turned out so well. Now I must start to explore the
other modes as well, I have mainly used the clean mode because I didn't really liked the others. I believe one of the last
changed tubes (V3 or V4) must have been faulty. The SPAX7's might also been good for my amp!
/G