tube choice (el84s)

[cream123]

here's my setup

-epi LP junior w/ lollar p90 in the bridge strings: D'addario Chrome flatwound 12s
-PRS SE soapbar II maple with stocker pickups D'addario regular 11s but tuned to C std
-vintage duo-sonic soon to have 11s d'addario and a fast track 2 and a chopper for the neck

hiwatt custom 20 tube 1x10 combo w/ el84s (open back - not the current model) into a marshall 4x12

pedals: memory man stereo w/ hazarai, octave multiplexer, voodoo labs superfuzz (some sort of muff)

sound looking for: stoner/doom. thick, oomph


here's the tube complement of the hiwatt
12ax7 x 5
2 x el84

my current complaints: not good sounding breakup, its mostly in the high end, and i want to focus it lower on the lower end, i might get the amp slightly modded by myself or someone else.

idk what to do for tubes, never had an el84 amp

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: tube choice (el84s)

The first quick and cheap change would be to change out V1 and the PI to an 5751 or 12at7.

 

[cream123]

Re: tube choice (el84s)

thanks

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: tube choice (el84s)

I'd try a JJ 12AX7 or two in there, starting with V1. JJ EL-84s too. I normally wouldn't recommend either but it sounds like they might be good for your rig - JJs tend to be darker than other tubes IME.

You mention everything except speakers. I'm no expert on the subject but know they make a HUGE difference.

Not to be a butthead, but have you experimented extensively with your tone stack settings? Put all tone controls on 10, then roll down one at a time to 1. Put all on 1, then roll one at a time up to 10. Put all tone controls on 5, then play with one at a time both up and down. Throw the guitar tone controls into the mix after you get a feel for the amp controls. I think that it takes a while to learn how to play an amp but YMMV.

Oh, are you using George L cables? Try a longer cable or one with more capacitance. Try the "Low" input if your amp has one.

With respect,

Chip

 

[cream123]

Re: tube choice (el84s)

yeah, the speakers in the 4x12 are the g12t75s
and i've messed with the tone stack a good bit, i'm getting to around where i think i should be

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: tube choice (el84s)

One more thing to consider along with the preamp tubes is the strings you use. Are they steel? Do they have a nickle coating over steel wrap, or are they pure nickle? The pure nickle wrapped ones will give the deepest tone without as many highs.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: tube choice (el84s)

If you want thick stoner doom you bought the wrong amp...low wattage open back combos with EL84 p-ower tubes just are not gonna give you that sound, running it through a 2x12 or 4x12 will help but no amount of preamp tube swapping is gonna give you that boomy nasty low end you guys seem to be searching for these days...