The ED pre-amp tube swappin' thread

Been messin' with pre-amps quite a bit.
Stockers (including 3 of Mesa's condom tubes), JJs (RI), Tung-sol (RI), Telefunken (mid '60s),
3 Groove Tubes (Sovteks ?)and some gutless sounding Peavey re-lables.
Had an RFT in the V3 slot with the 2 T-Funks, sounded good for about 2 minutes
'til it went badly miccrophonic.

Just been swapping V1, V2 and V3 slots.
Best tones at bedroom-ish to "have to REALLY REALLY yell to talk" volume for me is ;
V1 - Telefunken *
V2 - Telefunken *
V3 - Tung-Sol re-issue

* Only had 2 Telefunkens to use.

To my ears (with the stock 6L6 Mesa pwr tubes), it now sounds a little fuller in clean mode,
noticeably smoother and warmer in Lo/Hi. Only pedals I run in the loop are a Boss TU-2 tuner and a DD3 Delay.
I live in the blue channel 90% of my playing time. 45/90w...1/2 and 1/2.

* note to self....gotta find and try at least 3 RFTs together sometime.

I'd probably do JJ ECC83S or JJ ECC803S. Both my favorite tubes for all preamps, after 25 years of swapping.
They offer the feel and tone I like. I reach for them always.

papersoul said:

I'd probably do JJ ECC83S or JJ ECC803S. Both my favorite tubes for all preamps, after 25 years of swapping.
They offer the feel and tone I like. I reach for them always.

Click to expand...

You will probably be pretty happy then, that the stock pre amp tubes are JJs.

Birdy said:

To my ears (with the stock 6L6 Mesa pwr tubes), it now sounds a little fuller in clean mode,
noticeably smoother and warmer in Lo/Hi.

Click to expand...

If you only changed V1,V2 and V3 the clean tone should not change. The clean mode does not use those tubes at all. V4 and V5a are the clean tubes.



Here is what I like so far.

V1 Mullard RI. Helps fatten up Vintage high, but not Vintage lo.
V2 Stock
V3 Stock
V4 Tungsol RI. Adds sparkle can clarity to the clean mode
V5 Stock
V6 Tungsol RI. Sweetens up the reverb and adds clarity
V7 Sovtek WPS.

::curious:: What do you mean by 'phatten up' the red channel?

You know that situation where you have a great vintage lo sound, but then you switch to vintage hi and it thins out ? The Mullard tube lessens the effect. It seems to knock a bit off in the very top and help round things out. I wouldn't say its a massive change, but it can be really good. the tube has been in my amp nearly a year now, so reliability is looking good.

So far that was really the only tube swap I have liked in the gain modes, but I usually limit myself to current production tubes.

OK, so it makes the gain channels more balanced which in turn makes the amp easier to dial in. I also notice this, where Vintage Lo gets a bit tubby when Vintage Hi starts to sound awesome. I definitely think that these discrepancies are only things that are audible on a recording or when practicing. They have little to no impact live.

J.J said:

Birdy said:

To my ears (with the stock 6L6 Mesa pwr tubes), it now sounds a little fuller in clean mode,
noticeably smoother and warmer in Lo/Hi.

Click to expand...

If you only changed V1,V2 and V3 the clean tone should not change. The clean mode does not use those tubes at all. V4 and V5a are the clean tubes.

Click to expand...

JJ......you're 100 % right about the clean channel.
We moved the amp/cab to a different part of the room while we were tube
swapping over 2 days, hence the clean tone change I mentioned. Different
acoustics and all that I guess.
Interesting about you running the Tungsol RI in V6. I'm going to have to try that.

YellowJacket said:

OK, so it makes the gain channels more balanced which in turn makes the amp easier to dial in. I also notice this, where Vintage Lo gets a bit tubby when Vintage Hi starts to sound awesome. I definitely think that these discrepancies are only things that are audible on a recording or when practicing. They have little to no impact live.

Click to expand...

Ok, I find the most trouble when live. Nobody ever says anything so maybe it isn't a problem for the others, but it does iritate me when I stand on vintage hi and the bark from behind the bite is lost. Perhaps I should get over myself, but with the Mullard RI and a bit of careful dailing I'm happy.

Birdy said:

JJ......you're 100 % right about the clean channel.
We moved the amp/cab to a different part of the room while we were tube
swapping over 2 days, hence the clean tone change I mentioned. Different
acoustics and all that I guess.
Interesting about you running the Tungsol RI in V6. I'm going to have to try that.

Click to expand...

I've been fooled by cab/listening position enough times :mrgreen:

A NOS tube in V6 would be worth trying too. Will be interested in what you find.