School me on amp tubes

[mwalluk]

Re: School me on amp tubes

You may want to take a look at Fryette amps and possibly Soldano

[richard parker]

Re: School me on amp tubes

I'm sure you're gong to love an Engl but I really wouldn't bother thinking too much about what type of tubes are in it.

[guitfiddle]

Re: School me on amp tubes

6L6: Fender clean
EL34: Marshall crunch
EL84: VOX Sparkle / Mayhem
6V6: Best of Both Worlds. Not an opinion, but more of an undisputable scientific fact.
That's the big 4.

I don't know much about the KT family.

Those are the big four only because the Western world stopped making the other varieties. These obviously got used the most, but there were a bunch of different, kliller tones to be had back in the day when good tubes were made everywhere.

Ampegs and Valcos and Supros with octal preamp tubes, and different power tubes...and all the other companies that they built amps for, man, some of those tones are nothing like you'll ever hear from an amp with the above four tube types.

[Scott_F]

Re: School me on amp tubes

Well, I have already found out that tube amps sound better than solid states IMO, and I have found out the most popular tube types seem to be EL34, EL84, 6L6 and ECC83.

Could you please explain me what tubes are used for what kind of sound/amp, what other "major" tubes are out there, and also tell me if some tubes do not fit into a certain sort of amp (powerwise or something, I don't know...)

I'm a huge fan of ENGL amps, want a tube one myself, and on their website, they use so many different tubes that I get kind of lost. Any input would be appreciated. It's like going back to school

You didn't list my favorite power tube, the 6V6. (6L6's crunchy & creamy little sister)

[Nagash]

Re: School me on amp tubes

You didn't list my favorite power tube, the 6V6. (6L6's crunchy & creamy little sister)

ImmortalSix already taught me about these. I had just never heard of them before.

[Red_Label]

Re: School me on amp tubes

I played some sort of ENGL tube combo, is sounded great, and there's a "friend" (more of a guy who almost LIVES in the shop and with whom I play and talk every time) who owns a Special Edition head that I tried out as well. The variety of sounds that this thing spits is incredible

Up until the SE, the only Engl that ever caught my attention was the Richie Blackmore head -- because I'd heard someone doing a spot-on ACDC tone on it.

But that SE... wow. I hesitate to believe that it's worth that much money... but I would sure like to give one a test drive to find-out.

Also... what's up with that $3K Engl preamp? Holee crap it'd better be good for that kind of dough. (Granted, the Bogner Fish isn't cheap and only has 4 channels. But I think it's overpriced too.)

[Nagash]

Re: School me on amp tubes

I get your point. But you know, for me amps are not like guitars. Guitars, I'll buy quite a lot of them, so I prefer to stay away from very expensive stuff(more than $3k that is). As for amps, I prefer to put a lot of money ONCE into a very awesome piece of gear, and then keep and use for as long as it survives. If I find an amp that allows me to play EVERYTHING I want, I'm okay to throw 3 grand on the table.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: School me on amp tubes

Here is all you need to know about 6V6 tubes:

[Nagash]

Re: School me on amp tubes

Thanks a lot for the video ! He didn't use as much distortion as I do, and he didn't play metal stuff anyway, but that was a lot of help.


PS : that guitar makes me think of something quite familiar...

[drakone]

Re: School me on amp tubes

Here -> http://www.tube-town.net/info/info.html
you can find a good tube map with massive explanation about the tone.
Look at the PDFs on the top of the page.

PS. Since this is my first post - Hi everyone

[Nagash]

Re: School me on amp tubes

LOL. First post and I already love the guy . Thanks a lot for the link !

[Fresh_Start]

Re: School me on amp tubes

Here -> http://www.tube-town.net/info/info.html
you can find a good tube map with massive explanation about the tone.
Look at the PDFs on the top of the page.

PS. Since this is my first post - Hi everyone

Hello & welcome!

Please do not take the following comments as discouragement. I love tube amps so much I'm learning how to design and build them.

That tube map is a great idea. Unfortunately, the tube selection shown is limited (JJ, EH, Sovtek, TungSol, and TT) and my experience doesn't fit the conclusions about dark/bright, etc. regarding certain tubes.

Also, tubes are imperfect devices - that's a big part of why they sound so cool. But it also means that there are a lot of variations even within a single lot from one manufacturer. Take any 3 or 4 Tung Sol 12AX7s and you'll get a range of both gain and brightness. Every once in a while you'll get a dud. I got 4 Penta 12AX7s ("selected" Chinese actually) in one order. 3 were pretty darn consistent and sounded good. 1 sounds fabulous as the first tube in a BF Fender. I've put in three different amps and had the same reaction with all three. Why? Don't know! Don't care!

As far as selection goes, it ignores the Chinese tubes. Ei makes my favorite EL-84s (stay away from Ei 12AX7s though). "Winged C" Svetlana 6L6s stand head and shoulders above most other new 6L6s for me. Those are a few examples. I do understand why the tube map can't show every alternative.

Perhaps most importantly, every tube amp is different. Different circuit, different supply voltages, different bias points. There are subtle variances even between two supposedly identical amps. Each capacitor typically is within 20% plus or minus of its stated value. Add up the variances in 10, 20, 30 caps and you can get a different tone, different feel even, depending on how everything adds up.

I fixed up a Crate VC-10 for a friend and his power tubes were shot (15 years old). Tried the Ei tubes I like so much in my Blues Jr. Meh... EH? Sovtek? Everything else I had in my stash - not there. Finally I tried a set of JJs that sounded like crap in the Blues Jr. BINGO! It took my buddy about 30 seconds to say "Yeah, that's it!" That was the right pair of EL-84s for that amp and that player.

Now I'm not saying someone can't lead you in the right direction for a Princeton Reverb or Marshall JCM800 or whatever. However, there's no substitute for experimenting with different tubes in any given amp. Your playing style, guitar and pedal setup is unique, and those factors determine the signal going into the amp.

Sorry. This sounds like a lecture to me after re-reading it. Hopefully some of it is helpful.

Respectfully,

Chip

[Nagash]

Re: School me on amp tubes

Sorry. This sounds like a lecture to me after re-reading it. Hopefully some of it is helpful.

Yes it is !

[drakone]

Re: School me on amp tubes

sure ... nothing is perfect and I agree.
Though the map is a good starting point. Besides all the oldest rule is the best - trust our ears

[IanBallard]

Re: School me on amp tubes

That site confirms what I think I want in my amp: A Tung-Sol in V1, EH's in the other three and JJ 6CA7's in the power section.