Retubed DR w/ JJ HG, E34L's, & GZ34's & not quite su

[DaxNelson]

So I just retubed my dual rectifier with the JJ high-gain E34L kit along with GZ34's. I had GT EL34's and 12AX7's in there before and it sounded pretty good. But because that is how the amp came when I bought it, I figured I'd retube and and it would sound better. Well, I'm not sure what I think of it. It's different for sure, but something seems lacking. For one thing, the gain is a lot more noisy even at gain levels where the sound isn't totally saturated. I knew there was going to be more gain and I'd likely have to dial the gain down a little, but it's odd how it's more noisy. I went with the HG option because Jay (who was very cool) at Eurotubes explained that even if I didn't want more gain, I'd get more headroom. Also, I went with the E34L instead of a EL34 because it was explained that the E34L would tighten things up.

So.... I still need to do some messing around. I wish I could A/B the tube setups more easily so I still have the sounds fresh in my head. I can't put my finger on it, but I don't think it sounds optimum. Any ideas on why I could be perceiving this new setup to be lacking?

I also ordered a HG KT77 retube kit for my Marshall TSL 100 and the difference was huge. It sounds so much better with the KT77's (which I re-biased). I don't know how much of what I like is the KT77's and what is from the JJ HG preamp tubes. Ether way, I was expecting a similar jump in quality whey I retubed my DR. Any thoughts are appreciated....

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I was never a fan of JJs in the Rectifiers...they are dark tubes, as that is NOT an amp you want to make darker. Sounded sterile to me.

 

[DaxNelson]

How much of that do you think is attributable to the preamp tubes, the power amp tubes, and the rectifier tubes?

 

[CaughtLikeFire]

Sounded sterile to me.

+1

I keep giving JJ ECC83 preamp tubes another chance and another and another . . . and I can't find any amp they truly sound good in. lifeless . . like having a blanket over my speakers

as far as their power tubes go, KT77s are nice, the EL34s, well, there are worse choices out there but also much better.

with a DR, most of your sound comes from the preamp tubes. switching power tube type (6l6 to EL34 and to a lesser extent el34 to KT77) will yield a noticeable difference but generally, you need to crank the hell out of the master before you really hear a difference in power tubes . . .that is unless your old power tubes were poorly matched or on their way out.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

I say the preamp tubes...definitely!

 

[Platypus]

I liked the EL34Ls from JJ.. that's about it.

I am not a fan of their preamp tubes and their 6L6s sounded a tad sterile to me in my Mark IV and Dual Rec.

 

[disassembled]

Another thing I found about JJ's is they are not as reliable as other tubes. I have had many that have gone sour on me and given me a similar feeling of trying to find what it is that sounds off. Turns out when I pull the Pre tubes one by one I find the culprit that is causing the tone to go bunk. Sometimes I have to do the reverse: Pull out ALL of the JJ's and swap them in one by one to find the bad JJ's if there is more than 1 tube that's bad.

I would swap your GT tubes one at a time to see if your ideal tone returns due to a bad tube being removed.

I went through this with my first amp that I retubed with JJ's (PV 5150 back in 99-2000 ish) and my latest amp (Triaxis). I must have bought over 100 JJ tubes since 99 or 2000 when Bob was just starting out with his website. I think they sound good but you just have to have ones that sound good in the first place to get the most out of those tubes.

Their power tubes seem to be noisier than others because I think every power tube I bought from Bob had pops, clicks, and static of some degree.

I am sticking with a mix of tubes and so far this has yielded the best tone for me (3 JJ's and 2 Mesa chinese).


Greg

 

[ToneAddictJon]

Those are the tubes I use and I love them. I use channel 3 in vintage mode and channel 2 in raw mode- everything around noon, but I'll crank the mids in channel 3 and have the presence between off-noon (depending on the guitar). I'm not a fan of the modern mode in my recto right now, but that changes depending on what I'm playing. They are dark sounding tubes, but I have bright sounding guitars with high output pups, so they work for me. Good luck and hope you find your sound with them.

 

[domct203]

The JJ ECC83S "High Gain" is my favorite in V2 so far, but just that position. With another JJ in V1 & V3 as well the amp was harsh, muddy and sterile.

I've found the JJ pre's quite reliable.

For EL34 & 6L6 types I feel there are better choices available.

Dom

 

[DaxNelson]

A lot of good input here. Up to here, for the most part, I have been a plug and play type player and didn't mess too much with different tubes. I need to mess around with the tons of tubes I have and find something that works for my sound. I'm always trying to find a middle ground between a metal tone and a thick tone - I also am a fan of mids.

Well... hmmm... I was originally turned onto JJ tubes b/c of the KT77 and the fact that the Marshall lacks in low end. I love what it did for that. And I am sure that I prefer the EL34 in the Recto - I just need to find a good combination for that. Plus, I need to read up on what the significance of all the V positions are. Like I was saying, before I just pretty much put all one type of Mesa 12AX7 or Groove Tube preamp tube in there.

I see a lot of you have described JJs in the Recto as sterile. I think I would agree with that. I can't say I think it necessarily sounds darker, it just sounds a lot less aggressive and full to me.

Tone Addiction - are you running the high-gain preamp tubes in your recto? What power tubes? Did you think the stock tubes were too bright in your opinion?

 

[ToneAddictJon]

Yep, I run the high gain preamp tubes with the e34l's and gz34. I thought the stock tubes were lifeless, in my setup at least. I also use my DR with a thiele (ev) and a 1x12 open back (ev), and the tubes work well with those cabs and my guitars. Every time I plug my DR into a recto cab it feels muddy and lifeless to me, so that's something to take into consideration with your tube search as well. I actually have my DR setup to play jazz/hard rock fusion, so thats something to look at when looking at what I suggest, it might not be what you're looking for.