attn. blue / guitar people[views:7810][posts:16]___________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:16pm - jere nli ""] hoping I could grab some advice from someone, I need to retube my 5150. Is there any suggestions of brands or configurations and places in the boston area that you could suggest? I am looking to pull a good distortion sound out of the head, and all I can pull is mud with the current setup. I have always played solid state, and do not know that much about this whole tubing thing. I have also looked into some modifications that look like they might be worthwhile.... any help is extremely appreciated!! |
| __________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:28pm - brian_dc ""] I know that JJ's sound great in a 5150. wait for other people to weigh in though. I've never actually played a 5150. Blue has...I know he had JJ's though. |
| __________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:28pm - brian_dc ""] http://www.jj-electronic.sk/ |
| _____________________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:34pm - MarkFuckingRichards ""] JJs sound good in almost anything, from my experiences. The model that I've heard and liked the best is JJ Winged C. I guess they're the original Svetlana tubes from Russia (not the new sub-par Svetlanas); they pack a punch but have some class to them so you can control the power and density of the distortion without sacrificing much, except for maybe a few extra bucks. Usually you have to have them ordered specially from what I understand. Guitar Center, I'm sure, can order them for you. |
| ___________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:36pm - jere nli ""] I might be wrong but I think there are jj's in it now, but they look old, they def sound like shit, maybe they just need to be replaced... |
| _____________________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:42pm - MarkFuckingRichards ""] jere nli said:I might be wrong but I think there are jj's in it now, but they look old, they def sound like shit, maybe they just need to be replaced... I've heard some awesome tubes go to shit pretty quickly, but it really all depends on how long you have them in there, how hard you're cranking the amp, how much you're playing it, how you EQ, the overall treatment of the amp (i.e. what temperature it's kept at, how much it gets knocked around, how long you let it warm up before playing, etc.). Another aspect to factor in is the number on the tubes (I think they go from 1-10). The number refers to how "early" or "late" the distortion is; the higher the number, the "later," or higher, the distortion. I have 6L6s in my Blue Voodoo right now with a distortion of 7, and it sounds fucking awesome, no matter what anyone tells you about Crate amps, haha. |
| ___________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:54pm - jere nli ""] crates make a lot of shit but the blue voodoo is a great head, I have heard them sound killer before. yeah seems like jj's are the census, does guitar center put them in as well? I have heard that biasing tubes is tricky shit. Thanks mark by the way |
| ___________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 12:55pm - jere nli ""] also, I hear that modifications help alot as well, any thoughts on that? |
| ____________________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 1:07pm - MarkFuckingRichards ""] No problem meng. Becker Guitars in Stoughton, MA is the company that does all maintenance for Guitar Center. I just go straight to Becker; they're good, honest people and they won't charge you as much as Guitar Center. Plus you'll probably get it done quicker. I actually called them to see how much they'd charge to bias the tubes, and they told me it was fine for me to just put them in myself, unless I wanted them to get a certain sound. Modifications are mostly personal preference, so I couldn't really help you with that. |
| _________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 1:13pm - |an nli ""] talk to Bob @ Eurotubes.com - He does matched sets of JJ power tubes that slay. I've been running a matched E34L/6L6 combo in my Dual rec for years now, with hotrodded GZ34 rectifiers. He'll ship you a set that's been graded for your amp already - no rebiasing necessary. Although honestly I would have someone do the bias mod (wiring in a bias pot) for your 5150 if you find someone. But the JJ's will help take the harshness off the top end (they're darker sounding tubes). Talk to Bob. He's the man. |
| __________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 1:21pm - jere nli ""] will do thanks |
| ____________________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 1:22pm - MarkFuckingRichards ""] Listen to Ian. His amp pummels, and I usually don't like Mesas these days. |
| __________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 1:47pm - fishcakes ""] I have JJ's in my mesa and I love them shits! |
| _________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 5:14pm - brian_dc ""] I actually have SED Winged C's in my Powerball and while they took a while to warm up they rule right about now. |
| ______________________________ [Aug 5,2007 10:18pm - blue ""] http://www.dougstubes.com a quartet of JJ 6L6GCs for your power section tung sol 12ax7 for V1 & V2 of your pre, and JJ 12AX7s for the rest. 5150s are fixed bias, meaning you cant get them biased without doing a modification to the head. call up dougs tubes and tell him youve got a 5150 and hell send you a set that you can drop in the amp yourself. you wont even need to bring it to a shop. |
| ____________________________________ [Aug 5,2007 10:58pm - NoodleFace ""] I like eurotubes.com. The guy responds extremely fast if you mail him any questions, and he'll be able to match you a set perfectly for your amp. I guess betweens dougstubes and eurotubes it's just personal preference since they're both incredible at customer service. |
| ______________________________ [Aug 5,2007 11:03pm - blue ""] the last 3 sets ive seen ordred from eurotubes (1 being mine) have all had at least 1 pre tube go bad within a month. |