Studio 22 with eq, what's next!

[jwdude]

Just picked up a Studio 22 with eq., sounds good already but perhaps it could be even better!

First boogie and my first "vintage" tube amp.....

Do I change all the tubes for new straight away? Any other good ideas?

It seems to have a mix of JJ and electro harmonix in right now.....

but I have no way of telling how old they are....

 

[jwdude]

just to confirm, it is a 22+

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Congrats on the purchase! I bought a Studio .22 non-plus without EQ about a month and a half ago, and I recently got a Studio .22+ with EQ which is intended to replace it but it's in the shop right now.

I usually like to replace tubes if they are of unknown provenance. Worst case scenario is that they didn't actually need replacing and you just spent ~$100 on a backup set.

My .22+ sounds good on the rhythm mode (can't get the lead mode to work on it yet) but the .22 sounds a little darker and less articulate, which makes me think that it may need a cap job. That's maybe something to consider if you're not happy with the tone, given the age of the amp. Otherwise, just play it and enjoy it!

 

[Pablomago]

I've only done two things to my Studio .22+ since I got it about four or five years ago. I replaced V2 with an old tube of unknown origin. Just an old 12AX7 I had laying around. It smoothed the distortion and warmed up the whole amp. (That tube died and it now has a newer tube that doesn't make noise, but doesn't sound quite as good) I replaced the speaker with an old Altec 417-8H that I bought to put in my MK I RI, but the EV it came with sounds better, so the Altec went into the Studio. It works well for the sound I'm after. It's a great little amp. I bought it just to have a grab and go jam amp and I've ended up using it for 85% of the gigs I play. And I have some nice amps!

Enjoy your new amp!