NAD!!!!!!

Hartfeltmusic2010

Hartfeltmusic2010

New member
So lately i have been playing a lot of blues/heavy blues rock and have been in need of a new amp to cover those sounds. So I started saving for a Marshall vintage modern until a Gibson Les Paul caught my eye and the Marshall funds went out the window! Fast forward a couple months I found a add in craigslist for a practically new jet city jca50h for $400 . I had heard a lot of good things about these amps and after about five minutes with it I was blown away. It may not be the Marshall but its got to be one of the fattest, ballsy, and best sounding amps on the market in this price range! To put the cherry on top the gentleman who sold it to me threw in a new set of tung sol kt-66's and it was all ready loaded with two gold pin jj's and two regular jj's in the pre amp section!Definitely a whole lot of tone at great price and nails the kinda Bonamassa/ Warren Haynes tonal range I was looking for.
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

yeeeeeah! those KT66's look badass!

welcome to the Jet City club!
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

Seriously though, nice score. Esp with the tubes that came "stock" with it. I would maybe swap out the reg JJ ecc83s though.
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

mwalluk said:
Seriously though, nice score. Esp with the tubes that came "stock" with it. I would maybe swap out the reg JJ ecc83s though.
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Yea I got a box full of preamp tubes to try out . He left one of the stock Chinese tubes in there and I replaced it with a sovtek for right now in the last position. I kinda like the reg jj's dark tone. I have em in a couple other amps. I got the two gold pin jj's in v1 and v2 . Any recommendations? I have a assortment of electro harmonix, ruby, groove tube(Chinese and relabeled sovteks), sovteks 12ax7wa &12ax7wc's, and one tung-sol 12ax7. Maybe ill grab a mullard or two when I go get some back up kt-66's .
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

Soulcrusher_X would be able to give you a lot of insight.

From what I've read, heard and tried Sovtek LPS rocks in the PI. I like the Tungsol in my V1 spot. Do you have the schematics for your amp? That would help with finidng the best tubes for certain positions.

You have a lot of options to start with. Look forward to hearing/reading the results of tube rolling.
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

Ive been working hard on my chops so for right now I guess ill just enjoy the rewards of playing a good sounding amp and come back to tube swapping! This amp has become almost addicting to play. It has a kind of roaring tone thats just beefy as hell and remains clear and articulate as long as the gain is not dimmed out.
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

The amp also sounds great when hit with some fuzz! I like to run a amp a lil dirty with fuzz on top of it but that hasnt allways worked out with other amps. With the jet city set to nice crunch on the normal channel paired with my fulltone 69 im getting some excellent lead tones and the perfect sounds for old school riff rock!!
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

I know from LOTS of experimentation with the JCA20H that I like V1 Tung-Sol, V2 Chinese, and PI JJ ECC803S. The PI is really important in this amp and can give quite a bit of different feel. If you're getting too compressed a sound, use a 12AU7. It can make a huge difference.

The only difference between the preamp in this and the JCA20H is the addition of a tube for the effects loop and a tube for an extra gain stage in the overdrive channel. These you're on your own with, but give that a go and see what you think.
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

misterwhizzy said:
I know from LOTS of experimentation with the JCA20H that I like V1 Tung-Sol, V2 Chinese, and PI JJ ECC803S. The PI is really important in this amp and can give quite a bit of different feel. If you're getting too compressed a sound, use a 12AU7. It can make a huge difference.

The only difference between the preamp in this and the JCA20H is the addition of a tube for the effects loop and a tube for an extra gain stage in the overdrive channel. These you're on your own with, but give that a go and see what you think.
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Same set up as i have in mine with the Tungsol in V1 and a JJ in the PI. I however am running a second Tungsol in V-2 on my JCA 22 but I think it has an extra gain stage that yours doesn't have.
Power tubes are what really woke mine up BIG time and I'm running a set of TAD STR's.
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

Hartfeltmusic2010 said:
Nothing special just two emmy govenors in a marshall 4x12. Ive got to get some new speakers to fill the cab with.
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Look hard at running a set of Celestian 70/Eightys with the Jet City man. I have a bunch of different speakers here and when I bought the used Black Star planned on swapping the 70/Eighty. That was until I got the cab home and started working with it and the head. The combination just works and the 70/Eighty in this cab for this amp is a real killer!!
 
Re: NAD!!!!!!

Ascension said:
Same set up as i have in mine with the Tungsol in V1 and a JJ in the PI. I however am running a second Tungsol in V-2 on my JCA 22 but I think it has an extra gain stage that yours doesn't have.
Power tubes are what really woke mine up BIG time and I'm running a set of TAD STR's.
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I got a set of JJs because I didn't have any experience with any other EL84s, and they made a big difference. It just cleared everything up. I think the proper bias was the real kicker. I had a Tung-Sol in V2 as well and thought it was right for a while, but it flaked out on me and started giving some high-end whistle that wasn't right. I don't think it likes being in the tonestack driver position. I haven't looked at the SLO schematic in a while--and I believe that's the preamp for the JCA22H--but I think both triodes in V2 are gain stages. This means you wouldn't have that problem.

The other difference that the Chinese tube made was that it thickened up the low mids and bass a bit, which I'd imagine isn't an issue on the overdrive channel. It also cut just a bit of the highs while making everything else sound huge. Every once in a while I get the itch and try something different, but I've been pretty happy with that combination in V1 and V2 for quite a while now. I wish I hadn't been stupid about trying the Chinese tubes, because this one really sounds great. I constantly hear from people about the quality of Chinese manufacturing being garbage, and I think it sunk in subconsciously. I have no problems saying that in this case I (and they) were wrong.
 
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