I've got a '96 Tremoverb 2x12 that I run with a pair (2) of Svetlana EL34, and a JJ 5AR4 rectifier. I love this set up, it really brings out the life in the tone from the power section when cranked, ala master at 2:00 or more on both channels. I play either my '87 Am. Stand. Strat with Lace Sensors, or my 71 Les Paul through it.
I also retubed the preamp with Mullard ECC83's, RFT ECC83's, and GE 5751's which eliminated the slightly harsh midrange response on lower gain settings of the modern red, and just really brought the tone of the amp out from behind the blanket is was hiding under. This amp kicks out killer clean, clean/crunch, rock, punk, old school metal, and beyond to stoner/death metal heavy tones.
I love stuff like COC, the Melvins, High On Fire, Alabama Thunderpussy, Halfway to Gone, etc..., and the amp kicks all kinds of *** for those tones. I typically run the amp on the modern red channel, power set to bold, tube rec, gain at 12:30-1:00, Treble 3:00, Mids Max, Bass 2:30-3:00, Presence 12:00-1:00, and Master 2:00 to max, no verb. This gives a biting and ballsy crunch tone that excels for rock, punk, and some metal tones.
When I want a little more, I hit this with a clean boost from my SansAmp set to boost the lows, and mids. This tone smokes for most all metal tones, and heavy stuff like COC, Soundgarden, Slayer, Metallica, DRI, etc...
When unreal amounts of low end grind are called for I also use a sweepable eq with control for center frequency and bandwidth called a Systech Harmonic Energizer to get some beyond thick doom/stoner tones.
This way I get a great stock crunch tone from the amp itself, and then layer certain frequency boosts and gain boosts to achieve a huge variety of outstanding uber heavy tones.
The mid-gain tones, which I felt were the amps one relatively weaker point when I first purchased it (still better than most non-vintage/boutique amps I've heard) have now been tweaked and this amp smokes for mid-gain rock and blues. Between my guitar set up (thicker pure nickle strings), the new tubes, and time spent with the amp I would proudly put this up against any vintage Marshall, Hiwatt, Orange, Ampeg, or Fender, or any boutique amp for outstanding mid-gain tones.
The clean channel yields tones from angelic and airy to jangly upper mid brilliance to full and furry to raunchy and stinging if you like, and the reverb is tasteful without getting too splashy. It's not a 3 knob Fender, but it's more than I need as I like a fairly dry signal anyways. All the wet subtracts from the raw wet glassy tone of the guitar after a while, unless you're using it for extreme atmosphere. BTW, this amp absolutely adores positions 2 and 4 on my Strat, and smokin' country, southern rock, and blues tones abound there.
With the pair of EL34's and the 5AR4 rec on the spongy setting you'ld almost swear you heard a JTM45 under there cranking out some sweet vintage clean to clean crunch tones.
I've used the amp with a decent variety of speaker set ups including;
The 2 V30's in the combo
The 2 V30's in the combo, and 2 EV12L in a halfback cab, holy Metalocalypse Batman.
2 EV12L in the halfback cab (absolute clarity clean and driven, and powerful low end attack for heavy styles, with a warm, smooth, and overwhelmingly powerful sound)
1 EV12L in the ported bottom section of the halfback cab (above times 1/2, great for lower volume jamming)
Peavy 5150 Sheffield Cab (blech)
Bogner 4x12 with V30's (I miss that cab, but the two set ups below sound better, but it excelled for all clean to high gain rock and metal tones, with that V30 grind)
Halfback cab loaded with 2 Fane Alnico AXA12 (YUMMMMMMY, excels from vintage clean to heavier than hell tones, but does it with a vintage smoothness, brilliant glassy and ripped upper midrange grind and warm fuzzy lowend punch)
Halfback cab loaded with 1 Fane in top section, and 1 EV12L loaded in the ported bottom (SUPER YUMMMMMMY, excels from vintage to heavier than hell tones, and does it with a vintage smoothness, brilliant glassy and ripped upper midrange grind and warm fuzzy low end, paired with utter clarity and punishing low end attack). This set up gives the most incredibly powerful, thick, and evil sounding mechanical grind when cranking the amp that I've ever heard. In fact, it convinced me within two seconds flat that I'm gonna yank the two V30's in the combo soon, and replace them with my other Fane and EV in the next week or so, and sell the V30's. These two speakers blend so **** well it's unreal. The EV is a little louder, but the Fane has this mid-grind that just slices through without ever sounding harsh like a V30 can at times.
I've had the opportunity to run the combo's two internal V30's with the last two cab setups, and it also sounded deliciously evil in both cases.
Finally, I've got two panels for the upper open bout of the halfback cab. One that makes it a fully closed back 2x12, and one that leaves the back semi-open, like a traditional widebody boogie 1x12, so I can get more air into my clean tones and mid-gain tones through the cab, and more chunk from my heavy tones, depending on what I want.
Today I just got my other amp back from the shop, an old KMDXV100SD running at half power with 2 6550 in the power section, to run in stereo with the T-Verb. I'm sending the fx out on the T-Verb to my stereo trem pedal (Gig Fx Chopper), sending one side back to the Mesa, and the other side to the KMD to run the halfback loaded with the two EV's . I had planned on mounting one Fane and one EV in the T-Verb, but the EV's frame was too thick for the mounting posts on the T-Verbs baffle. So, I ended up mounting both the Fanes in the combo. In the next couple of weeks I'll get some T-nuts to put in the T-Verb's baffle so I can mount the EV in there.
Peace.
