New Tubes for 'The Blue'

[TimmyPage]

Right. Well. Im in need of new tubes for the Traynor YCV50 Blue. Basically, im looking for the best to put in it here. Im talking full retube, Preamp and.. those.. er.. other tubes (Shh, im not much of an amp-ologist). The Preamp is on a fixed Bias, so only EL34s will go.

If it helps or changes any answer, I play alot of blues and classic rock, and in a year im going to University in their Jazz program, the only high gain stuff I play is Opeth, and some Coheed and Cambria, and my personal tone is warm, thick, not particularly agressive, just sort of a.. vintage rhythm style tone..

I have an Epiphone Les Paul with a C5/59 set (though I am thinking about replacing the C5 because it's a little TOO agressive for my tastes.. In the few weeks since I decided on it, I settled down in music alot)

 

[bryvincent]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

on the YCV50Blue you can change all the tubes without adjusting anything. all 12ax7 preamp tubes are self-biasing and there's no need to bias the power amp on the blue because it has auto-bias. as on the brand of tubes, i recommend the Groove Tubes 12AX7-C for the preamp and SED =C= EL34 for the poweramp.
BTW, the blue sounds better with an extension cab.

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

Also, www.eurotubes.com has Traynor re-tube kits. I got the Blues kit when I had mine and it made the Boost more useable while still retaining plenty of gain.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

Also, www.eurotubes.com has Traynor re-tube kits. I got the Blues kit when I had mine and it made the Boost more useable while still retaining plenty of gain.

Did it have overall more or less gain than the stock? And was it tonally very different at all?

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

It dropped the gain very slightly, but to me there was already too much. I never used the gain past about 7 (2:00)

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

That Eurotubes kit looks interesting. Bob at Eurotubes is a great guy, and knows his tubes. I don't know anything about it personally. If you buy here, you will end up with JJ tubes, which isn't a bad thing, just reality. I personally don't care for JJ tubes....they are a little dark and too low gain for my taste. The only amp I ever cared for them in was a Fender Blues Jr. In my Marshall, they were too weak sounding.

As far as production tubes go, I am a big fan of Groove Tubes for the pre-amp (small tubes). The 12AX7-C is a higher gain version with a crisp high end and tight lows. The 12AX-7-M is a reissue of the famous Mullard pre-amp tubes, and is a little warmer and smoother than the "C" version. To give you a comparison, the C version sounds like a 59', while the M version sounds more like an APH, or Seth Lover.

As for power tubes, I like the Svetlana's quite a bit. You can still order the "winged C" version, and I like those the best. EH's are a little tighter and brighter IMO, but are good as well.

Just as a suggestion, if you are planning to drop some decent $$ on this, call or e-mail Mike @ www.kcanostubes.com . He will give you some great recommendations, just like Bob at Eurotubes, although his advice will not be limited to JJ tubes. Mike can give you suggestions ranging from current production tubes thru NOS tubes.

In my Marshall JCM800, I have a combination of GT M's and C's in the pre-amp, and Svetlana Winged C's in the power stage. It works for my classic rock/80's metal sound very well.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

It dropped the gain very slightly, but to me there was already too much. I never used the gain past about 7 (2:00)

I never use gain past 4 haha, so I suppose I win.

And to Jeff_H. I suppose in the future when im willing to put more investment and drop quite a bit more cash into it, I'll take that route. For the moment however, I believe that grabbing a kit from JJ would be my best bet for a beginner (on tube and amp related stuff..)

Most notably I cant get Svetlanas, as they dont offer service to Canadians... racists.. haha

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

IIRC, Steve got the new KT-77 tubes. He could be able to shed some light on whether it really does the 'warmer, thicker, less aggressive' thing that people claim it to do.

I think he used 2 AX7 pre-amp tubes and 1 AT7 pre-amp tube (lower gain factor) to reduce the gain. Maybe if that's not enough you could use 1 AX7 pre-amp tube and 2 AT7 pre-amp tubes.

Note I've had NO experience with this stuff, so take this with a grain of salt.

(Off Topic: Steve, does the position of the pre-amp tubes matter?)

 

[bryvincent]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

I never use gain past 4 haha, so I suppose I win.

And to Jeff_H. I suppose in the future when im willing to put more investment and drop quite a bit more cash into it, I'll take that route. For the moment however, I believe that grabbing a kit from JJ would be my best bet for a beginner (on tube and amp related stuff..)

Most notably I cant get Svetlanas, as they dont offer service to Canadians... racists.. haha

you can buy some SED Svetlanas and other tubes here:

http://www.thetubestore.com/

its a canadian(hamilton, ontario) online store so you don't have to worry about customs duty.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

You might want to talk with Doug at http://www.dougstubes.com/. Really nice, knowledgeable guy who helped me a lot with a recent order for my Blues Jr.

I have no experience with your amp so won't give any specific advice.

Chip

 

[greendy123]

Re: New Tubes for 'The Blue'

+1 on Sed winged C's those work great for classic rock. I would also suggest the reissuse 12ax7 tung sols, they sound great for classic rock and also more modern high gain tones.