Caliber 50+ tone problem...just change V1 tube!

[TSM]

I bought this beauty a year ago and it was a huge improvement in my sound but I wasn't completely satisfied with the tone. It was a little bit harshy, "ice pick" sound with the lack of bottom and low middle. It seemed that my solo tone needed a little bit more gain, or sustain.

I changed a lot of things in my setup, tried different speakers combinations but nothing helped. Two experienced tech checked the amp and they convinced me that there was no need for changing caps or LDRs because everything is untouched and in original shape. There is a picture of it:

About a month ago I desided to try a different preamp tube in order to solve my problem. I ordered a Tung Sol 12ax7 and replaced the v1 tube and that little change solved everything. Suddenly my Lead tone got balls, body, warmth, infinite sustain...eveything became as I expected from the beginning...perfect!!!
I even had to lower the gain because there was plenty of it.

I still can't believe what an improvement single tube can bring to overall sound and tone!

Now I can freely enjoy in this amazing piece of gear

P.S. This is my rig:

 

[MichaelC4]

I notice you still had your power tubes in when you took the chassis out. Alot of people suggest taking them out to avoid damaging anything during chassis removal.

I just put 4 new Tung-Sols in my .50 Caliber +, and 2 of them were bad. I couldn't even get the amp to work. Trading the bad ones in. (Thank you Amplifiedparts.com, not your fault)

I'll be getting more of these tubes, though. They sound really good in my Marshall Valvestates (practice amps, my Mesa/Boogies are for shows and studio).

The V1 in my amp gets chewed up. Because, I pull the gain and turn it up to 10. After a while, they go microphonic and I get a low feedback from the amp.

 

[TSM]

Your gain settings is way to high for my taste. I found that anything above 7 will bring nothing but mess in my lead tone. Riffs will also loose tightness.

I set master volume to 6 and lower the overall sound level with the pot on the TC G major (between preamp out and poweramp in). This settings brings me more saturation, gain and sustain from poweramp section.