TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
The JJ ECC832 I ordered from Tube Depot arrived the other day.
First, about the packaging -- comparatively speaking, this was the most well-packed shipment I have ever received. Tube Depot REALLY well-packed this valve!
The reason I ordered this valve was because I have been looking for something to put into the V1 slot of my EAST Studio 2 that would lessen a bit of the front end gain (this amp does not have much headroom to speak of) but not change the voicing of the actual preamp; every other low-gain valve I've used in V1 has really changed the sound of the preamp and made it rather stiff and bright sounding.
So, the ECC832 looked like a really interesting option.
Of course, this valve will not work in every amp; it really depends on what you are going for. I thought that lessening the overall gain by 50% would be a very good thing.
Well, this does pretty much exactly what I wanted! The amp still sounds like one of Jeff's designs; if anything, it's probably more classic 'Budda' sounding now. But the gain is greatly reduced. With the EQ set at noon, Presence off, Master at 9 o'clock, Volume at 9 o'clock, the gain really defines how much grit your tone has. I have used it with my SG and with my 'super tele' with a Bare Knuckle VHII and Trilogy Suite.
With the gain all the way up, the amp has a really nice, musical breakup -- on single notes you may not even notice how much gain is there, but it's definitely noticeable on chord work. Goosed with a gain or the BB Preamp, and you are right into metal country -- tons of crunch galore.
I am using this setup on a new recording and am quite happy with it -- it's a very Yes Album Steve Howe type of tone -- clean but lots of bite!!
First, about the packaging -- comparatively speaking, this was the most well-packed shipment I have ever received. Tube Depot REALLY well-packed this valve!
The reason I ordered this valve was because I have been looking for something to put into the V1 slot of my EAST Studio 2 that would lessen a bit of the front end gain (this amp does not have much headroom to speak of) but not change the voicing of the actual preamp; every other low-gain valve I've used in V1 has really changed the sound of the preamp and made it rather stiff and bright sounding.
So, the ECC832 looked like a really interesting option.
Of course, this valve will not work in every amp; it really depends on what you are going for. I thought that lessening the overall gain by 50% would be a very good thing.
Well, this does pretty much exactly what I wanted! The amp still sounds like one of Jeff's designs; if anything, it's probably more classic 'Budda' sounding now. But the gain is greatly reduced. With the EQ set at noon, Presence off, Master at 9 o'clock, Volume at 9 o'clock, the gain really defines how much grit your tone has. I have used it with my SG and with my 'super tele' with a Bare Knuckle VHII and Trilogy Suite.
With the gain all the way up, the amp has a really nice, musical breakup -- on single notes you may not even notice how much gain is there, but it's definitely noticeable on chord work. Goosed with a gain or the BB Preamp, and you are right into metal country -- tons of crunch galore.
I am using this setup on a new recording and am quite happy with it -- it's a very Yes Album Steve Howe type of tone -- clean but lots of bite!!
