Any tube gurus out there?

[Rick1114]

I just picked up a new amp - Mint condition Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue with a tube upgrades for $600 American!

Anyway, The previous owner installed the JJ power / Rectifier/ and phase inverter tubes: JJ 6V6, GZ34 S, ECC81 - Is this a good combo for this amp?

I would also like to check the Bias because me mention he re-set that along with the new tubes "for more headroom". I can't seem to find anything on the web specific for the DRRI bias adjustment.

BTW - This amp smokes with my VH Les Paul with the Burstbucker pros in the neck position- Shhwweeet tone!

Thanks,

Rick

 

[tubeman87]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

Dang bro, sound like you got a winner. I play tube amps but I've never really learned which tubes are better than others. I usually just get advice from these guys or the local amp tech. But good score!

 

[wahwah]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

I just picked up a new amp - Mint condition Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue with a tube upgrades for $600 American!

Anyway, The previous owner installed the JJ power / Rectifier/ and phase inverter tubes: JJ 6V6, GZ34 S, ECC81 - Is this a good combo for this amp?

I would also like to check the Bias because me mention he re-set that along with the new tubes "for more headroom". I can't seem to find anything on the web specific for the DRRI bias adjustment.

BTW - This amp smokes with my VH Les Paul with the Burstbucker pros in the neck position- Shhwweeet tone!

Thanks,

Rick

Hey Rick, I found a page which you might find informative and interesting... http://aga.rru.com/Events/MM-DRRI-rebuild/

The best 6V6's ever made were the RCA blackplates from the 1950's. I have these in a pair of Super Champs and there is nothing else like them. Current production tubes will work, but they don't sound anything like these! The same goes for the preamp, blackplate RCA 12AX7's are heaven in a Fender. They are getting harder to find but are well worth it. Enjoy your new amp.


Cheers........................wahwah

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

It sounds like it has JJ 6V6's and Sovtek rectifier, which are perfectly good.

You might want to pull out the ECC81/12AT7 and put in a regular 12AX7/ECC83 for less headroom and more gain. You won't notice much, but it'll be slightly gainier at lower levels. He put in that 12AT7 because he wanted it cleaner.

 

[wahwah]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

You might want to pull out the ECC81/12AT7 and put in a regular 12AX7/ECC83 for less headroom and more gain. You won't notice much, but it'll be slightly gainier at lower levels. He put in that 12AT7 because he wanted it cleaner.

I think you'll find that the 12AT7 is actually the suggested and original phase inverter tube for a DRRI. You might be confusing it with the preamp tube, which should of course be a 12AX7. He would have put the 12AT7 in the PI slot because that's the correct tube, not because he wanted it cleaner.


Cheers.....................wahwah

 

[Rick1114]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

I think you'll find that the 12AT7 is actually the suggested and original phase inverter tube for a DRRI. You might be confusing it with the preamp tube, which should of course be a 12AX7. He would have put the 12AT7 in the PI slot because that's the correct tube, not because he wanted it cleaner.


Cheers.....................wahwah

Thanks for the replies fellas...This guy DID say he wanted more headroom b/c he was trying to gig this amp and it was breaking up to early on him. I'm using it as a practice amp so if Gearjoneser is right, I'd like to go back to less headroom! I'll look into ECC81/12AT7 some more to see what's what. I heard the bias adjustment is simple as well, but I can't find quick "how-to" on it. I'd like to make sure that is on the recommended setting as well.

Thanks,

Rick

 

[jeremy]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

the pi tube is supposed to be a 12at7 in the dr but putting a 12ax7 in there will push the power tubes a little harder.

to lower the headroom crank the bias up, it will lower the voltage on the power tubes and there for break up earlier.

the jj 6v6 tubes are the best new production that ive tried. v2 in that amp is the first preamp stage so by changing that you can get different flavors

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

Yeah, I thought you meant the 1st position pre tube, or all of them, were ECC81.

In any case, I'd leave the power tubes and rectifier, but buy a few 12AX7s rated for highgain, and try them out if you want earlier breakup. It's a good idea to have a few extras lying around anyway.

 

[bigbob]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

This is a good resource for all things fender. If you're asking about how to bias the amp the pot is a 10K next to the bias board in the upper left of the layout sheet at the bottom of the deluxe reverb page located here...http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/

If you want to know what to set it at. As I recall it's about 19-23 ma per tube but you really should use the proper method of measuring voltage to know exactly what the tubes are getting and what they're putting out.

Heres more on how to bias. A little technical but not bad. http://people.cornell.edu/pages/mt24/Amp/mm/mm_main.html


That's a great amp you've got there with some of the best tones a guitar ever produced in it. Good luck.

 

[bigbob]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

OK I just noticed it's a reissue.... OK no problem, different board but just look for the bias adjust pot, same as the other one. I'm not sure but there may even be a bias test point in there too. Making your job easier. The best resource is the FDP though.

 

[RockStarNick]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

I love JJS for non-master volume amps like fenders. For master volume amps, they tend to get fizzy, IMO.

 

[Rick1114]

Re: Any tube gurus out there?

Ok, just to follow up - After playing a while, I couldn't get a decent tone with my Strat at all. The LP sounded cool (very old school bluesy) through both channels. But the Strat sounded flubby & lifeless. For an amp that was known for being too bright, this one was extremely dark sounding.

So I opened her up and all the tubes were JJ's throughout. The previous owner probably bought the "JJ" re-tube set from eurotubes. (except the vibrato tube, the least important one). Some JJ's are known for being "dark" and that was part of the reason. So I decided to buy a few tubes and experiment.

I bought a Tung Sol 12AX7 & GT5157-M (Mullard clone) from Rudy's in NYC. After much experimenting, I ended up taking out the 12AT7 from the PI slot and replaced with one of the JJ's 12AX7. I used the 5157 for the vibrato channel preamp (this is a great tube BTW) and it was sounding just perfect with my strat.

I wanted the Tung Sol 12AX7 for the normal channel (this is a highly regarded tube for DRRI's), but I thought it sounded too bright. I ended up putting the darker sounding JJ-12AX7 back there, so that can be my "Bluesy" channel. Just for kick's I put the Tung Sol in the Reverb Return (V4) and it got rid of a lot the "mushiness". I was really happy with that discovery!

So I'm pretty content now, I ve got one channel for my LP and the other for my Strat, although the amp altogether is sounding much livlier now. Not too bright, not too dark - just perfect and enough versatility for both my axes.