Changed my 5150 tubes

[Sly]

Hey guys,

I changed my 5150 Mk1 tubes yesterday, and did some tests.
I had Svetlana 6L6 in the power amp, and the following in the preamp :

V1 : Groove Tubes 12AX7
V2 : Electro Harmonix 12AX7
V5 : Electro Harmonix 12AX7
V3 : Electro Harmonix 12AX7
V4 : Sovtek LPS tube

It sounded great, very metal, lots of tight gain, cold and agressive but really great for metal stuff !

I changed the power tubes for four JJ 6L6 GC, and also the preamp tubes with the following :

V1 : Tung Sol 12AX7
V2 : JJ ECC83S
V5 : JJ ECC83S
V3 : JJ ECC83S
V4 : JJ ECC83S

Result is : amazing warm sound, not very metal (less gain) but sounded veeery close to that Gun's and Roses typical sound (we used a Gibson Les Paul and Mesa cab). It is like another amp, the warmth is incredible with those tubes, I was amazed how the sound was different, however strangely we had more larsens (because of the Tung Sol I guess, which has a lot of gain). Some of the typical fizz had gone.
If you want to record metal exclusively, I don't think this is the best tube combination in the preamp, but if you enjoy having a more polyvalent sound, it's the way to go ! On monday I'm trying another combination in the preamp, I think I will be mixing some of the JJ ECC83S, Tung Sol and also Electro Harmonix ! Samples soon !

 

[Metaltastic]

Sounds killer dude - but what are larsens?

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Feedbacks

 

[53Crëw]

I love the Tung Sol 12AX7A's in V1 on many amps, but they're not the most metal sounding tube. For an aggressive metal sound, I usually mix and match Sovtek LPS's, JJ ECC83S's, and Chinese 12AX7A's.

Do you have another LPS? They're one of my favorite preamp tubes for an aggressive sound. Try them in V1 and V5 with the ECC83S or EH's in the rest and see what you think.

Cheers.

 

[Sly]

Sorry for the word "larsens" lol, as Brett said, I meant "feedback".

53Crëw, thanks for the input, I'll try that ! The perfect 5150 sound looks like a combination of those two different sounds.