DC-3 tube swapping

Ah the magic of multiple gain stages and channels that dont share but the input tube!

Decided to do some tube swapping but where to start? Luxury problem for some one with almost every old stock 12AX7 ever made.

Well the DC-3 is mid heavy but I didnt want to loose too much grunt. Had an RCA short plate in the V1. Its somewhat hollow mids work well with higher gain and keeping things sharp -especially with a dark amp.

Decided to try a few tubes in both the V1 and V2 anyways.GE black plate in the V2 sounded good but was a bit to "soft'. Figured I'd try a fat tube in thier and put in an RCA black plate. Wow fat but a bit too dark/mid heavy as I might have guessed. Put a Rayheon black plate in the V3 better. Its got a bit more highs and "leaner" than an RCA black plate. Still it could be a tad better ,brighter. So I decided to use another Raytheon black plate in the V1. Ah! Almost like using tubes as EQ's! lol! Now its clear yet fat,growling. Nice...for now. Ive got enough different tubes to wear out the sockets. Think I'll leave it as is for now. ; > )

For the clean channel Ive got a Raytheon in it too.

So its
V1- Raytheon black plate
V2- RCA black plate
V3- Raytheon black plate
V4- Raytheon black plate
V5- Sylvania long grey plate (very high gain) helps the reverb
V6- RCA short grey plate

Bob

A bit of tube porn...a few Raytheons from my collection. Bob

Hey Bob,have you tried any RFT tubes in the DC??

BobR said:

A bit of tube porn...a few Raytheons from my collection. Bob

Click to expand...

Son of a.......

Hey is there any chance you could post a video of the sound? I've been doing research on swapping my tubes on my DC-3 as well and I'm very interested to compare the stock tubes with what your set up is pumping out as it sounds like something I might want to try myself.
Mitch