Tubes Tubes Tubes

[afu]

I'm on a tight budget, so I couldn't completely re-tube my preamp for the Dual Rec, but I ordered a Tung Sol for V1, since that's the most recommended change I've seen. I also use tube rectification 90% of the time and I'm a little worried about them, since they're the factory tubes (2006, I think). I saw the EHX black plates at a good price, but there were also JJ, Ruby, and other big bottle options out and about. Any recommendations? I'm not a connoisseur, it needs to be practical and sound good.

I have Ruby 6L6GC in right now and I like them. Are their other tubes as practical and robust?

Maybe some opinions from you guys for future reference on some budget-friendly upgrades or replacements would be a good idea.

 

[elvis]

Rectifier tubes last a long time and have relatively little effect on tone.

 

[afu]

Actually, their compression effects do affect the tone and dynamics, so the question still needs an answer.

 

[Nick Lehman]

FWIW, I recently replace the rectifiers in my 2 channel triple. It had big bottle groove tubes in it, and I scored some old school RCA rectifiers from eBay for $45. They are the small bottles, about the size of a 6L6 tube. They were brand new looking but who knows. I noticed a slight tightening of the amp. I always play on the recto setting ( play drop b, but southern style metal, kinda Downish ).

I also Think they are producing more power or voltage or whatever because there is not as much of a volume difference between the recto tubes and diodes.

Its almost as tight as the diodes but much warmer sounding. I've heard the GZ34 recto tubes do the same thing.

To sum it up, if you want more sag go with the bigger bottle versions. If you want to tighten a bit, Get the 5U4GB or spring for the GZ34's.

IMO, Hands down the best tube upgrade you can make is making the switch to KT-77 power tubes. It wakes the recto up, warm and gnarly like an EL-34, but with almost as much bottom as a 6L6. I also just retubed my preamp with all JJ, its a bit dark, but I like it. I am thinking about trying one of those gold pin EH 12AX7's in V1, just to see what the differences are.

 

[afu]

That's cool, Nick. Thanks for the input. I like the way the tube rectifiers make the distortion sound like it's ripping in some of the frequencies and it kind of seems to narrow the overall sound; like a natural band pass filter. The mids just seem more present when the recommended mid setting is used. I have the stock Mesa tubes. I like the subtle looseness, but adding a bit more low end definition would be ok. I play in D Standard, Drop C, and Open C and balance the pickups to take the mud out.

I play Metallica, AIC, Soundgarden, Tool, and Danzig a lot and my own songs are sort of stoney. I love Down, by the way (NOLA is in my Top Ten Albums of All Time), and sludgey, stoner music is on rotation here on a regular basis, though I don't inhale. Give me a link if you have some music out.

Thanks.

 

[Nick Lehman]

That's cool, Nick. Thanks for the input. I like the way the tube rectifiers make the distortion sound like it's ripping in some of the frequencies and it kind of seems to narrow the overall sound;like a natural band pass filter. The mids just seem more present when the recommended mid setting is used. I have the stock Mesa tubes. I like the subtle looseness, but adding a bit more low end definition would be ok. I play in D Standard, Drop C, and Open C and balance the pickups to take the mud out.

I play Metallica, AIC, Soundgarden, Tool, and Danzig a lot and my own songs are sort of stoney. I love Down, by the way (NOLA is in my Top Ten Albums of All Time), and sludgey, stoner music is on rotation here on a regular basis, though I don't inhale. Give me a link if you have some music out.

Thanks.

I only have clips I've recorded here at home so far, definitely not pro sounding but decent. This clip was actualy recorded with my orange th30, but I run it through the mesa power section. i recorded with a 57 i believe.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0d12lzu43cvh62e/Flat%20Tire%20Blues.mp3?dl=0

 

[afu]

That's pretty cool.

I just found a Vintage mode sound I like after 2 years of having my amp. I saw Jimmy Page's Marshall settings in a Guitar World interview, approximated the EQ by comparing it in Duncan's Amp Tool, and tweaked from there. It has a lot of harmonics and sounds vowel-like, but the gain is low enough to not fuzz the more prominent higher-mid and treble. It doesn't end up sounding exactly like Page, but I might not use Raw for a long, long time. It's set like:

Bold, Tube

P: 3
M: 11
G: 9

B: 12.5
M: 9
T: 2.5

I have Ruby 6L6s in the boot and a Tung Sol in V1; otherwise it's Mesa tubes.

I tried putting matched pairs of Ruby and Mesa together in the power amp and I didn't really like it much. This quad of Mesa tubes are more grainy, which means the Ruby's are probably a little warmer and the mix of them was just completely off. A person could almost tell that one half cycle was pushing against the other.