Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

[mwalluk]

I'm going have some extra preamp tubes, I'm thinking about putting them in the other guitarists amp. He's satisfied with his tone. Thing is he's had the same amp for 4-5 years now and hasn't changed the tubes since. So both his pres and power are old. If I replaced all the pre's how much of a difference would it make?

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

Depends. Preamp tubes can last a LONG time. If you put the same brand tubes in, you may not notice any difference. If you change to a different kind of brand, you'll notice the difference more. Put on in V1 and see what happens. That shapes almost 80% of the behaviour and tone of the amp.

[Van Noord]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

Yeah pre's can last anywhere from minutes to decades. Power tubes can last for a while too depending on the miles put on them. Typically you will hear more of a difference replacing the power section, unless they where performing fine to begin with.
Preamp tubes won't degrade slowly over time like power tubes though. They will just all of the sudden fail or become microphonic.
Your ear slowly adjusts to the tone degradation of power tubes as well. They often will sound fine to the user, because the transition is so slow. Then they play another amp with a fresh set or try new tubes in their amp and it becomes immediately apparent to them.

[Scott_F]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

It's fun to play with the very first preamp tube in the chain. The rest of them don't make as much difference to my old ears.

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

The amp in question is your buddy's Carvin V3, correct?

[mwalluk]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

The amp in question is your buddy's Carvin V3, correct?

Carvin Legacy series I

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

Legacy? Can you change power tube type? That would definitely make a difference, going from EL34s to 6L6s or 6L6s to EL34s.

[Archer_of_Fish]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

I actually think it depends on the amp itself. I have some amps that are really sensitive to tubes and others that aren't overly touch. Of course this is provided you are talking 12X7 to 12AX7 not 12AX7 to 12AT7 or something like that

[mwalluk]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

Yes. Right now he's running El34s

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

Yes. Right now he's running El34s

And he hasn't changed the power tubes in 4-5 years? Longest Ive had them last is 2 years, so he might benefit from new power tubes. I bet he would notice if you changed to 6L6s. In my PVs and Rectos, that kind of switch was wickedly noticable, both in tone and playability.

[brunogio]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

In my experience I notice the difference when tubes go bad.

Bad power tubes especially in Fender amps make the sound break up more and lose punch. Just had two changed and the amp instantly got more clean headroom and opened up the sound.

Bad preamp tubes usually lead to lots of noise and lost gain if there is a gain channel on the amp.

So in my experience the power tubes have more effect

[glassman]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

So both his pres and power are old. If I replaced all the pre's how much of a difference would it make?

He might lose "his" tone.

Not everybody is a new tube guy. When tubes get a few miles on them, they start doing what tubes do best...they start to breathe; you can't emulate that.

I'd say try 'em in there but mark the one's you pull so you can put them back in the same positions in case he wants his old tone back.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

Do yourself a favor and get a tube tester. Then you won't have to guess. The amount of money you will save when you realize you don't need to change out tubes nearly as much as you thought you did will blow you away, as well as pay for the tester.

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Which has a more noticeable affect on the amp's tone (tubes)

He might lose "his" tone.

Not everybody is a new tube guy. When tubes get a few miles on them, they start doing what tubes do best...they start to breathe; you can't emulate that.

I'd say try 'em in there but mark the one's you pull so you can put them back in the same positions in case he wants his old tone back.

I may have posted it before, but Im pretty sure BB King has a song called 'lightning in a bottle' that was inspired by how the powertubes in his fenders would arc in and out at loud volumes, creating 'lightning bolts' inside the tubes. I think I remember him saying those were his favorite tones, the raunchy kind of breakup he used to get when the tubes were on the verge of death.

So glassman is right. He might lose 'his' tone. Is his tone bad, or do you just want him to try something else to see if he might like it?

I played with a guy years back who never wanted to really tweak and experiment with stuff unless something broke. I didn't really like his tone, but he did. I offered to help him tweak stuff, but he kept saying no. Finally, I just decided to work my tone around his and with some careful tweaks, they blended really nice.

Though, as you know, once you start rolling tubes, its hard to stop.