clutch . (ive read alot of your other posts...good stuff)
Thanks for the advice man. I appreciate it. So you are saying that the ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+'s are a real high gain preamp. I thought the hg meant "high grade". How do the tungsols sound. Obviously Im after that growling distortion.
As far as the TS9 is concerned I found it at Guitar Center used for like 60 bucks. I couldn't pass it up. I fully understand that the 808's are better put together and the reissues are wired the same as they where before with the opamp that everyone loved. (I also have a ibanez Metal Charger that was completely rewired with all the resistors and "Flex" compacitors upgraded. It has four opamps that are now interchangable. I have all JRC4558D's in it right now but you could put what ever opamp you want into it. Kinds cool. Dont use it however.
back to the TS-9 It was just a great deal. I have been pushing it early in my chain to add some attack and drive the tubes little more, but I will be totally overhaulling my setup when I get home. (military overseas) Im starting with a Alnico 8 in my JB bridge. After that Ill assess how that effected the tone (I hear good things) and go from there to the retubing of the entire amp. There in lies the conundrum. I have spent absolutely days researching what tube combo I wanted to go with. Bob from eurotubes has been extremely helpfull in answering all my questions. I learned all about the world of biasing. The power tubes will definately come from him. as I mentioned in other posts im leaning on the KT88/KT66 combo for my Dual Rect. (however the JJ E34L is a very very close second consideration) I love the EL34 tone and hear that the E34L's are better with better/tighter low end. I hate these hard choices!!! HELP ME OUT ON THIS ONE.
My overall thought is that the JB8 will add some punch and attack and with all the mid's that it will provide will somewhat compensate for what ever mids I lose from switching from EL34's to KT88/KT66's (if at all because I hear this combo is brutal). Be in mind I still want to retain some deversity in my sound for I play alot of other stuff from Blues, Chevelle, to Led Zepplin.
The preamp section, thats another story. I thought about the JJ's because I read alot of good things on them. But I also read something about the Ruby's. Then you get into the whole Chinese/Euro argument. ("Chinese are thin and sizzley" some say) ("Ruby's sound mechanical in my taste" others comment)
The bottom line is I have had a VERY hard time finding out anything on these new Ruby 12ax7ac5 hg+'s. They spark my interest and Im willing to give them consideration. Id just like someone to drop some experience on their tone. From what I gather the V1 is the most important slot for the distortion tone correct?
Maybe I should just get the set of reg JJ ECC83's with the balanced PI as a baseline and then get some others to plug into the V1 slot to see how they sound. What slots are the distortion and which ones are the "other".
I will write Doug for a second opinion... all opinions are welcome at this point.
Sorry for the long post, there is just so much to say. If you read it all my hats off to you.
...............oh and Clutch, about the tapdancing, I have Dance Dance Revolution to keep me sharp. lol jk. I like to have all my pedals out for use even though I dont use all them all the time. I just dont like having to move stuff around. Call me lazy... I know that it sucks my tone so that's why I keep as many as I can in the loops. The PSM-5 really helps keep all of my effects out of the chain when I dont need them on. As well as the wah in its own loop. I had a Line 6 POS X3 PRO but couldn't get on the "digital" train. I guess I like it raw.... Later bro..
