TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Well, a fresh approach and an early start is always preferable to doing any kind of testing after a long day of work! 
Today I tackled the testing with an entirely new mindset (see Part 2 for details).
I decided that the 'grinders were probably driving the Splawn to clipping, and would divide the testing into two sections:
The first round would use the following:
V1, glass 12AX7
V2, glass 12AX7
PI, Red/Red
The second round would consist of:
V1, X100
V2, glass 12AT7
PI, Red/Red
After going back and forth a couple of times I noticed that the 'grinder/12AT7 combo was pushing the mids a lot and sounded rather boxy compared to the glass valves.
I very carefully worked up the gain/EQ/Presence for each type of tube to maximize it's particular tonal characteristics. Same results.
Then I took out the 12AX7 in V2 and replaced it with the 12AT7, and lo and bohold -- it sounded midrange heavy and boxy, too!
Blind-tested, you couldn't tell the difference between the 'grinder and the glass 12AX7 using the 12AT7 in V2. However, I found this to be less than acceptable due to that huge midrange push and the diminishing of overall size/boxiness of the tone.
NOTE: All listening tests was done through a Rivera 4x12 and further testing as well as all recording was done through the following chain:
Randall iso cab
Scumback M75
Sennheiser e609 silver
SSL XLogic mic preamp
This was my first ray of hope, because if I couldn't hear any significant difference between the 'grinder and the glass using the 12AT7 in the V2 slot, could I put a glass 12AX7 into the V2 slot and avoid the gain issues I had previously experienced?
I will let the clip provide the answer, if indeed there is an answer to be found.
Summary/review to be in Part 4, because I don't want to prejudice anyone prior to listening to the clip. Can you guess which setup was used on each part?
One guitar is using a 12AX7/12AX7/Red/Red configuration, the other guitar is using an X100/12AX7/Red/Red config.
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=dVlxNWNrdVUyWGNLSkE9PQ
I tried to do something that has clean guitars (well, clean for me -- I like a little hair on my cleans), riffing, as well as some intervallic stuff so you can hear the inner voicings.
One final note:
I did no post EQ or volume rides. I did do some minor adjustments to the Quick Rod to get the tones the way I like them, howoever.
Today I tackled the testing with an entirely new mindset (see Part 2 for details).
I decided that the 'grinders were probably driving the Splawn to clipping, and would divide the testing into two sections:
The first round would use the following:
V1, glass 12AX7
V2, glass 12AX7
PI, Red/Red
The second round would consist of:
V1, X100
V2, glass 12AT7
PI, Red/Red
After going back and forth a couple of times I noticed that the 'grinder/12AT7 combo was pushing the mids a lot and sounded rather boxy compared to the glass valves.
I very carefully worked up the gain/EQ/Presence for each type of tube to maximize it's particular tonal characteristics. Same results.
Then I took out the 12AX7 in V2 and replaced it with the 12AT7, and lo and bohold -- it sounded midrange heavy and boxy, too!
Blind-tested, you couldn't tell the difference between the 'grinder and the glass 12AX7 using the 12AT7 in V2. However, I found this to be less than acceptable due to that huge midrange push and the diminishing of overall size/boxiness of the tone.
NOTE: All listening tests was done through a Rivera 4x12 and further testing as well as all recording was done through the following chain:
Randall iso cab
Scumback M75
Sennheiser e609 silver
SSL XLogic mic preamp
This was my first ray of hope, because if I couldn't hear any significant difference between the 'grinder and the glass using the 12AT7 in the V2 slot, could I put a glass 12AX7 into the V2 slot and avoid the gain issues I had previously experienced?
I will let the clip provide the answer, if indeed there is an answer to be found.
Summary/review to be in Part 4, because I don't want to prejudice anyone prior to listening to the clip. Can you guess which setup was used on each part?
One guitar is using a 12AX7/12AX7/Red/Red configuration, the other guitar is using an X100/12AX7/Red/Red config.
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=dVlxNWNrdVUyWGNLSkE9PQ
I tried to do something that has clean guitars (well, clean for me -- I like a little hair on my cleans), riffing, as well as some intervallic stuff so you can hear the inner voicings.
One final note:
I did no post EQ or volume rides. I did do some minor adjustments to the Quick Rod to get the tones the way I like them, howoever.
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