Dave da Dude

Okay. Will do Myles. Thanks.

Myles, back to the Epi Galaxie 10 that I bought back in the early fall. I did switch the PreAmp tube from a 12AV7 to the 12AY7 that you recommended, a NOS JAN Tungstol from 1961 that I found locally. Tremendous improvement. Thanks! The Power Tube is a 6L6 and had been re-tubed to a new RCA 6L6. I was just surfing around and looked at GT Tubes where I saw they listed 6V6's besides the 6L6's. Would the 6V6 be a better choice for the Galaxie 10? They also list three different 6V6's, the 6V6C, 6V6R and 6V6S. The descriptions are rather... terse. It seems as though they go from soft 'n bluesy to hard 'n rockin' in alphabetical order. Is that right? Which of those would you recommend? Or, something different? As usual, thank you in advance for any help at all that you can lend in my quest for... 'the tone'.

A 12AU7 is a good phase inverter but a poor tone generator. Grab a 12AY7 ... the front end of a tweed bassman. Much nicer tone and very smooth. Myles, thanks for the advice! I won't be able to pick it up until next week sometime now, but I'll be sure to get a 12AY7 to try out in it. I thought the amp sounded... strained, or something. Thanks again, u r Myles, I finally picked up the amp. The sound I was trying to describe was "Brittle" and not "Open". I got a nice JAN Tungsol 12AY7 (NOS, 1961) from Al at Alpha Sound & Light here in Charlotte. I told him (as I found out on... another... forum) that you'd bailed out of GT before the crash. Good for you! btw, I misunderstood (or he mis-informed me) about what tube was in the amp. It was an RCA 12AV7. According to the "Manual" (one 8x11.5 folded over) it originally SHOULD have been a 12AX7WA, not a plain 12AX7 as I was told. It does still sound better now though, still quite "Brite"... but with the Treble down (3) and Bass up (7) it sounds good, and actually not UNusable with everything flat if a brite sound is wanted/needed... and MUCH smoother. Thanks!!! Once I put the BOSS EQ7 in front of it (tomorrow), I'm sure I can shape the sound real fine. A real bargain ($100) for a home practice tube amp, imho. THANKS again Myles. You're a marvel.

A 12AU7 is a good phase inverter but a poor tone generator. Grab a 12AY7 ... the front end of a tweed bassman. Much nicer tone and very smooth. Myles, thanks for the advice! I won't be able to pick it up until next week sometime now, but I'll be sure to get a 12AY7 to try out in it. I thought the amp sounded... strained, or something. Thanks again, u r

Myles, next week I will be picking up a lightly used Epi Galaxie 10 Combo practice tube amp. It has a 10" Celestion speaker in it, I'm not clear if that is stock or not. Originally it was suppled with a 12AX7 PreAmp tube and a 6L6 Power tube. The guy I'm buying it from has retubed it with a Groove Tube 12AU7 (to get "more headroom") and a RCA 6L6. The amp tends to be bright and trebly to begin with (by reputation) and most definitely was when I tried it out. The B, M, T controls do take much of it out. And I do have an EQ and Genesis 3 that I could take even more out, but it is very... "brittle"... until the gain is up past "7". It doesn't get loud at all until the gain is at, or past, "5", not much breakup until "7" or more. Is that PreAmp tube the best choice for this amp?

Myles, no reply needed on this, just a great big thank you for your help on this. I know how busy you must be and the Forum is certainly extremely fortunate to have you as our resident amp guru. May all your amps be... RAWKIN~!!

Myles, not even with this? Weber Headphone Tap and Dummy Load

The ONLY one I can find (low power/low cost) is the Peavy ValveKing Royal 8 (8W Class A). Do you know of any others? I have a thread going on this atm too. Myles, as always, thanks for your help on this.

Myles, still tryin' to work out how to do tube amp on a budget. I absolutely MUST have a Headphone Output. The only one I can find (low power/low cost) is a Peavy ValveKing Royal 8 (8W Class A). And that may suit my needs just fine. But... IF I find it won't, is there's any (easy) way to get headphones plugged into an external Spkr Out or Line Out without melting down the amp?

Myles, in another thread a while ago, someone was asking for advice on what very small tube amp to buy etc. I mentioned a Kustom 12W Practice Amp (Hybrid tube PreAmp, SS Output) and someone pointed out that did not give the desired result since the power tube distorting was the sound that was treasured. I thought the PreAmp tube also lent a favorable distortion to the sound. I had (since lost... still lookin') a 1993 Randall Tube Pro II that I liked very much for tone with my Highway 1 Strat. Would a Hybrid amp like that be so far off the mark? I'm trying to get started again, no guitar or amp atm and trying to keep if very cheap.

Off Topic Good Morning Have a great day

Myles, this was posted on another thread, and I didn't know if you noticed it. I'm kinda' interested in the definitive answer too. Author: Peemonkey Senior Member Member # 39312 Topic: Gain Control Box do these work? posted 07-07-2004 10:37 ------------------------------------------------- Ive seen these for sale and was wondering do these work good with tube amps, it basically just goes into effects loop so you crank up the volume or something on the amp and you lower it through this box, its supposed to get the tubes working at high volumes but with low output. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38074&item=3734340774&rd=1 Heres a link for one on ebay ------------------------------------------------- Posts: 57 | From: Home | Registered: May 2004 Dave th Dude

Hi Myles, Long time no see. There's a thread running around about "attenuators, power brakes, air brakes" that could use your help. Would you mind takin' a look and offerring some (expert) opinions, facts, recommendations? Dave

Myles, In jzgtrguy's thread asking about preamp tubes (PreAmp Tube suggestions for Quiana), CatBoy mentions audiotubes dot com. Do you know anything about them? Dave the Curious

Myles, I'm looking for your (very learned) OPINION here. Do you think that (in general) the new Pre-Amp tubes are on a par with NOS tubes yet? In other words, is it worth the premium to buy NOS tubes? Dave

Myles, If you want to get another amp, no problem. I'll take one off of your hands, no questions asked. I don't even care which one it is, it will probably be better than what I've got. Seriously though (just in case you didn't realize the above wasn't ), you could list one here. Dave

Shooo did! And Happy New Year to you and yours. Dave.

Hey Myles, In your reply to rsf1977 .... "I use either a "Y" cord, and A/B/Y box or a mono in / stereo out pedal. I don't like to compromise the effects loops and have one amp's preamp coloration impact the other amp's, and this is what happens if you use the effects loop of one amp to drive the other." First, why a 'Y' cord with the A/B/Y Box? I thought I would only need an A/B/Y Box to play through my JC55 and Randall Tube Pro. Second, I was thinking specifically of purposely driving the preamp of the Randall with the guitar, coming out of the effects loop and then split (w/ A/B/Y Box) to both the JC55 (has EFX loop) solid state power output section and the Randall (has EFX loop) tube power output section to get a tube overdriven sound out of the JC55 (solid state). Should I reconsider? Will any damage occur? Dave

Hey Myles, In your reply to rsf1977 .... "I use either a "Y" cord, and A/B/Y box or a mono in / stereo out pedal. I don't like to compromise the effects loops and have one amp's preamp coloration impact the other amp's, and this is what happens if you use the effects loop of one amp to drive the other." First, why a 'Y' cord with the A/B/Y Box? I thought I would only need an A/B/Y Box to play through my JC55 and Randall Tube Pro. Second, I was thinking specifically of purposely driving the preamp of the Randall with the guitar, coming out of the effects loop and then split (w/ A/B/Y Box) to both the JC55 (has EFX loop) solid state power output section and the Randall (has EFX loop) tube power output section to get a tube overdriven sound out of the JC55 (solid state). Should I reconsider? Will any damage occur? Myles, again (and again, .... etc.) thank you in advance for your learned reply, Dave.

quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Dave th Dude: Myles, Would YOU consider my amp modern or vintage? 1993 Randall Pro Tube II I know it's pretty recent in manufacturing date, but the impression that I've gotten is that Randall pretty well coasted along with the same design for a while until 1994(?) when they got bought out by Washburn. Would it benefit from NOS Pre-Amp tubes? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave... Your amp to me is MODERN. Then again, to an old 53 year old like me, anything less than 30 years old is sort of modern I break amps down into a few classes ..... 1. Amps made up until maybe 1960, which includes the low power and mid power tweed amps, tube rectifiers, and lower voltages. These amps also have cathode follower tone circuits (which Marshall later copied in their first amps) which was famous in the tweed bassman. Hit the strings light ... it's darker and mellow. Hit hard, it brightens up. You have more playing touch dynamics that later amps. Fender moved away from this tone stack when the left the tweed era, but Marshall stayed there. 2. The amps such as Black Face era Fenders (and even the Brown Tolex Fenders, Plexi era Marshalls, etc.) Amps with solid state rectifiers, more power, and higher voltages. 3. The channel switchers and master volume amps. The Mesa Mk II was maybe one of the first in this era. 4. Amps made with effects loops, channel switching, and features. Your amp has a moderately high front end gain stage topology. NOS tubes will not show the same degree of change as they would in an older amp from the 1. and 2. era. BUT, the less expensive NOS tubes, such as JAN Philips, RCA, and GE's are more consistant and will last longer, and in many cases sound better while not being much more expensive. That is just my personal take on things, some will agree, some disagree, and we are all right and all wrong I guess. In your amp I like either the new 12AX7C9 (warmer and more linear than most Russian 12AX7's: http://www.groovetubes.com/product.cfm?Product_ID=1158 You can also get these from Ruby Tubes. Chinese tubes from other vendors are not from this tooling, so beware. In your amp, I use the 12AX7C in V1 with a rating of about 92/100. For NOS, the way to go is: Contact Doug Preston at: djp@optonline.net He has some great JAN Philips of a great batch of 12AX7's. He has these pretty darn cheap. From Mike over at KCA: NOS JAN GE 12AX7WA----------------------------------------------------$ 30 each Great guitar amp and audiophile tube. Very sweet sounding with a smooth top end. Very low in microphonics and noise. NOS GE 12AX7A------------------------------------------------------------$ 30 each Commercial version with white lettering. 1960s variety and a few ca 1960 long/wide plate version. Great guitar amp and audiophile tube. Very sweet sounding with a smooth top end. Very low in microphonics and noise. NOS RFT 12AX7/ECC83 (East Germany)-------------------------------$ 25 each VERY nice guitar amp tube in this price range. A bit less clean headroom than some of the others. Perfect for Marshalls, Voxes and clones of these amps. Sound nice in Fenders and Fender clones too. Limited supply on hand. NOS JAN Philips ECG 12AX7WA-----------------------------------------$ 17 each Great guitar amp tubes. I recommend these to everyone. Nice and "fat" sounding, higher gain. Creamy when overdriven. By the way, the above $17 ones are one of my personal favorites. -------------------- Myles S. Rose Myles, Thanks for the GREAT (as usual) info. And here I thought my amp was an ugly off brand (for non metal) dog that no one knew anything about. I'm STILL trying to get the schematic from Randall. They've been very cooperative, but it keepst getting snail mailed into Never Never Land. Strangely enough one of the tubes (the RFT) was one I was VERY seriously considering from it's Watford's subjective description (".. definetly for rockers, etc .."). Watford also has a "limited" stock. Maybe I should buy a few? As for the GE or Phillips, is there a separate tube for "Clean" and "Dirty" channel in my amp? I think my Nirvana would be the RFT in the "Dirty" channel and a nice clean one (probably your selection) in the "Clean" channel. What do you think? BTW, re: the vintage / modern thing and age; I agree with you (just thought the Randall might be an outdated "Vintage" design) and have you beat by four years (grey beard and all). Dave

Myles, Would YOU consider my amp modern or vintage? 1993 Randall Pro Tube II I know it's pretty recent in manufacturing date, but the impression that I've gotten is that Randall pretty well coasted along with the same design for a while until 1994(?) when they got bought out by Washburn. Would it benefit from NOS Pre-Amp tubes?

Myles, I'm sorry if my reply of 10/31 sounded kinda terse. Well actually it WAS terse. I was in a hurry, saw your reply and said to myself, "Oh, ~'&^%, he didn't answer the question. He didn't understand me. When I went back later and read my question and your answer I thought "Of course you didn't understand me! I worded my question (very) poorly." Thank you for your knowledgable answer to my question now that I've made it clear. As always, thank you, thank you, thank you. I think it's just GREAT that we have an expert like you on this forum. Dave

Myles, Now that I have a few minutes, I'll explain fully why I want to do what I previously explained. The biasing box that I want to build would have multiple sockets to match the multiple sockets on the amplifier. This is matter of convenience, not bang for the buck. Convenience is often not cost effective. I know that and am willing to accept that in these instances since I don't play as often as I should / would like to. The dual parallel sockets is in the same "convenience" category. I want to try both 6L6 and EL34 tubes and switch back and forth. The amp has a bias switch for those two tubes, so if I set the bias correctly the bias switch will take care of that. If the tubes are in parallel and switched in and out of the power (all) circuit(s) I can switch from one tube to another. Since I play infrequently and at home only for my pleasure, these modifications will let me enjoy playing, not waiting (for biasing, tube cool down, etc.). This convenience is worth the "buck", even though it's out of line with the "bang". I was looking only for expert (Myles, that's YOU) opinion on any technical reasons not to do either (impedance, power matching, ??). I gather from your responses that there are no concerns? I went to the site you recommended and found the sockets. Thank you very much for your help as always. A faithful follower of Myles The Great, The Guitar Forums guitar amplifier Guru extraordinaire.

Myles, Quote: "..... why add two more sockets? Your power supply will not handle it, and the heater current will be too high." Only one set of two will be "running" at any one time. Manual switch from 6L6 circuit to EL34 circuit. Change without letting the tubes cool to pull them out of the sockets. Dave.

Myles, I'm planning on building a "Biasing Box" that I found on one of the many EFX sites so that it will be easier to bias my amp. I'm also planning on (at the same time) adding two (2) more sockets in parallel (switched) to my amp ('93 Randall Tube Pro) so I can switch tubes back and forth (amp has a bias switch from 6L6 to EL34), even though you recommended against the complication (not the concept, I think). more I'm a Mechanical Engineer, but I've got an Electrical Engineer (plays the drums in a church group with two or three guitars and acts as Sound Engr) to help me in designing and building (one of the few perks of being an engineer). Sorry for the long intro, but I thought you needed the details. Now to my question. Where can I buy eight pin tube sockets? I tried Radio Shack, then PAiA. Radio Shack doesn't carry them and PAiA only had the nine pin sockets (preamp I think). He suggested Nusensor, but I couldn't find them with a search engine or with Thomas Register online. BTW, a great big THANKS to PAiA (as well as Myles, as always) for sending me a few diodes (that I couldn't find any place else) for FREE!! Just because I couldn't build an order big enough without the tube sockets. Dave