Telefunken, Sylvania in JP-2C

[eudaimonia02912]

I've decided to slowly experiment with some NOS tubes in my JP-2C.

First, I replaced the stock Mesas STR-440s with dual getter Sylvania STR-387s.The amp is thicker, with a smoother midrange, and more detailed highs without being harsh. There's a bit more thump. It's noticeable but not dramatic. For what it's worth, I have a set of the Tube Amp Doctors with identical construction, and they really do sound the same as the 387s. I threw the TADs in my Roadster and kept the Sylvanias in the JP-2C.

Today, I got hold of a fairly high gain Telefunken, long smooth plate. I put that in V1 in lieu of a stock Mesa (JJ). The clean channel is even richer than before, but still stays nice and clean. The two drive channels are bigger and thicker, with more apparent gain and saturation, but with even more detail. It's like someone augmented the whole range of the spectrum, but without any harsh highs, woofy mids, or boomy lows.

Good stuff. I'm sold.

I have a few other things coming, so I'll try changing some of the other tubes as well.

 

[eudaimonia02912]

Update:

So, I tried putting it in V1 of the Roadster instead. That's an even better use for it. The Roadster has a tendency to be dark and somewhat congested, which can be hard to dial out. The on-board EQ seems to hit the wrong frequencies for me--the treble has too much bite, the presence makes the amp thin, etc. But putting the Telefunken in there cleared the amp up on all the channels. It removed the wooliness of Ch. 3 vintage, making it sound more like a Mark.

I'm getting some Sylvanias soon, so I'll put those in the JP-2C instead.