Feel free to ask Myles

[davidm]

Thanks Myles, I currently have a few different pre-amp tubes in my Quiana as well. I think I'll stick with what's working for now. I have to echo your sentiments on a previous post when you recommended Rivera amps for channel-switching applications. I've had some nice Fenders and Marshalls over the years, but my Quiana is my all-around favorite.

[myles_rose]

Thanks Myles, I currently have a few different pre-amp tubes in my Quiana as well. I think I'll stick with what's working for now. I have to echo your sentiments on a previous post when you recommended Rivera amps for channel-switching applications. I've had some nice Fenders and Marshalls over the years, but my Quiana is my all-around favorite.

 

They are terrific amps. Happy playing.

[sgguitarzz]

Any suggestions for tubes for a Vox AC30C2? I bought it used about a year ago and it still has the original tubes in it so I was thinking maybe it may be time to replace/upgrade them. I love the amp so far.

[myles_rose]

Any suggestions for tubes for a Vox AC30C2? I bought it used about a year ago and it still has the original tubes in it so I was thinking maybe it may be time to replace/upgrade them. I love the amp so far.

 

Tubes are really personal preference. Short plate, medium plate, long plate. Current production or NOS. Many choices.

 

I know your amp but have no clue as to your style, music, guitars, technique, etc.

 

Look at some of my posts on my GAB website and on my L.A. Blog as there are lots of reports and a lot of data.

 

Sorry I could not be more specific but your question is almost like me asking you for a dinner suggestion for this evening

 

What tubes are in it now? What are some of the qualities you would like to change?

 

[sgguitarzz]

Sorry about the lack of detail in my question. Right now I believe they are the original Ei chinese tubes. I play a 60's Gibson SG and Epi Les Paul through it. I play in a cover band that does a wide range of styles from early 60's , Beatles and pop stuff to country to Green Day but I get my distortion and effects out of a MFX Zoom G5. What I need is a good solid nice clean sound as my base. I hope this is more helpful. Thanks for your time.

[myles_rose]

Sorry about the lack of detail in my question. Right now I believe they are the original Ei chinese tubes. I play a 60's Gibson SG and Epi Les Paul through it. I play in a cover band that does a wide range of styles from early 60's , Beatles and pop stuff to country to Green Day but I get my distortion and effects out of a MFX Zoom G5. What I need is a good solid nice clean sound as my base. I hope this is more helpful. Thanks for your time.

 

Ei tubes are not Chinese. I am not sure as to your question but preamp tubes are personal preference. Start with V1 and change only one tube at a time. That is your first stage / gain stage. That is where you will see the most change. Assure your phase inverter is not weak and meets design spec for plate current. Most tubes are weak in this area. That will compromise your headroom. If the two triode sides are not close in match your sustain, articulation and definition will also suffer. You will also have increased hum.

[chromefaceplate]

hi myles- my 1st post here. have enjoyed your pieces with dan boul.

 

given dan's use of custom transformers as the narrowly spec'ed secret sauce for each of his blueline amps, do you have a feel for whether and how much merc magnetics could upgrade my 90s Soul-O 75 "americana" crunch tone, preferably with el34s and in class A? i hate to get rid of this mint monster if it can be improved. always sorta regret not getting a matchless head rather the the GT from freddie w. back in the day, but it was thought matchless couldn't stay in business, ironically.

 

any off-hand thoughts about pre- tubes for this and the other amps and pre- mentioned below, or power tubes? is patrick likely the most knowledgable GT amp person?

 

i play a stock spruce fly w/bridge piezo, and dimarzio humbuckers, dry or stereo thru GT's trio pre and sometimes sfx ef-1, and a marshall 50/50.

 

thanks, kindly.

[myles_rose]

hi myles- my 1st post here. have enjoyed your pieces with dan boul.

 

given dan's use of custom transformers as the narrowly spec'ed secret sauce for each of his blueline amps, do you have a feel for whether and how much merc magnetics could upgrade my 90s Soul-O 75 "americana" crunch tone, preferably with el34s and in class A? i hate to get rid of this mint monster if it can be improved. always sorta regret not getting a matchless head rather the the GT from freddie w. back in the day, but it was thought matchless couldn't stay in business, ironically.

 

any off-hand thoughts about pre- tubes for this and the other amps and pre- mentioned below, or power tubes? is patrick likely the most knowledgable GT amp person?

 

i play a stock spruce fly w/bridge piezo, and dimarzio humbuckers, dry or stereo thru GT's trio pre and sometimes sfx ef-1, and a marshall 50/50.

 

thanks, kindly.

 

Tubes in the GT amps varied depending on stock at the time. Your S-75 already has MM iron.

 

I was tech support for GT and Patrick was sales so on GT amp questions he might say I have a few more answers.

[davidm]

Myles,

 

I just got my Quiana Reverb back from my tech, who replaced the power tubes. I noticed that the pins on one of the power tubes are not sitting flush against the tube socket. Is this okay? Should I try to push the tube in, so it's flush or can I damage something by doing so. The amps sounds great with the new tubes (JJ 6L6GC).

 

Dave

[myles_rose]

Myles,

 

I just got my Quiana Reverb back from my tech, who replaced the power tubes. I noticed that the pins on one of the power tubes are not sitting flush against the tube socket. Is this okay? Should I try to push the tube in, so it's flush or can I damage something by doing so. The amps sounds great with the new tubes (JJ 6L6GC).

 

Dave

 

Dave,

 

No big deal. Just seat the tube a little deeper in the socket for security reasons more than anything else. Sonically it will make no difference.

 

 

[davidm]

Myles,

 

Thanks for the info and for the super quick reply!

 

Myles,

 

I just got my Quiana Reverb back from my tech, who replaced the power tubes. I noticed that the pins on one of the power tubes are not sitting flush against the tube socket. Is this okay? Should I try to push the tube in, so it's flush or can I damage something by doing so. The amps sounds great with the new tubes (JJ 6L6GC).

 

Dave

 

Dave,

 

No big deal. Just seat the tube a little deeper in the socket for security reasons more than anything else. Sonically it will make no difference.

 

[picker]

Myles, I just picked up a Fender Super 60 head in a trade. The clean side is really good, but the crunchy side sounds kinda nasty. I'd like to get a bluesier sound out of it, by which I mean smoother, lower gain, less harshness in the highs, but still able to sing like a pushed Fender. I wondered about using lower gain preamp tubes, i.e., 12AY7 or 12AU7, or even lower gain than those if you can suggest one. What would you say about that?

 

By the way, one thing about this amp; it has black knobs, not red ones. Is it the same model as the red knob amp?

[myles_rose]

The Super 60 is what it is. You can tame it a bit by trying a 5751 in the first gain stage. If you use a 12AY7 you will drop the gain too much from my point of view but it is all personal taste and preference where there is no right or wrong. The 12AU7 is a driver tube like an AVT phase inverter. It is not a good tone generator.

 

They were made from 1988-1992 and I never saw a black knob one but who knows. It is probably the same if the knobs are original. It is easy to change knobs.

[picker]

Thanx Myles. Who makes a good sounding 5751 and/or 12AY7 (gotta try the AY7 to see how it works, y'know...;^) )

[myles_rose]

There is no such thing as a new production 5751. They are just 12AX7s that did not meet spec.

 

You need to go NOS which are not all that pricey and will last for decades.

 

My guy is Mike at www.kcanostubes.com but also check with Doug at www.dougstubes.com They are two guys I have trusted for more than a decade at this point.

 

The 12AY7 is the first gain stage in a tweed deluxe, super, pro, bandmaster and bassman as a side note. So .... they are a great tone generator. On the 12AY7 .... NOS as well. They are also not expensive.

 

As a side note ... my "production" 12AX7 tube tests have been updated with some NOS data in case anybody is looking at 12AX7s. - http://la-economy.blogspot.com/2013/05/current-production-12ax7-tubes-ten-of.html

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

Just butting in: "red knob" Fender amps that later came with grey/black knobs are essentially identical to their red-knobbed predecessors, probably EXACTLY the same except for the cosmetics. If there are any differences at all, they are very likely VERY minor differences.

[myles_rose]

Just butting in: "red knob" Fender amps that later came with grey/black knobs are essentially identical to their red-knobbed predecessors, probably EXACTLY the same except for the cosmetics. If there are any differences at all, they are very likely VERY minor differences.

 

Thanks for the feedback. That is what I always found.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Just butting in: "red knob" Fender amps that later came with grey/black knobs are essentially identical to their red-knobbed predecessors, probably EXACTLY the same except for the cosmetics. If there are any differences at all, they are very likely VERY minor differences.

 

Thanks for the feedback. That is what I always found.

 

[CouchBed]

Hey, Myles!

Well, I finally got an amp. Bad Cat Cougar5 5 watt. It has 2 12AX7 preamp tubes and one EL84 power tube. There's a control for the gain in the pre amp and the power amp.

So anyway, I got a distortion pedal to go with it. Some very usable tones can be gotten by turning the preamp down pretty far, and cranking the power amp, letting the distortion pedal kind of act as the preamp. Is that okay for the amp, or is it going to put some kind of undue stress on the power amp?

I just ask because this is my first tube amp, and I don't want to do anything that's going to stress it somehow.

Is that going to be okay?

[myles_rose]

Hey, Myles!

Well, I finally got an amp. Bad Cat Cougar5 5 watt. It has 2 12AX7 preamp tubes and one EL84 power tube. There's a control for the gain in the pre amp and the power amp.

So anyway, I got a distortion pedal to go with it. Some very usable tones can be gotten by turning the preamp down pretty far, and cranking the power amp, letting the distortion pedal kind of act as the preamp. Is that okay for the amp, or is it going to put some kind of undue stress on the power amp?

I just ask because this is my first tube amp, and I don't want to do anything that's going to stress it somehow.

Is that going to be okay?

 

No problems, no stress, no worries. One of the cool aspects of pushing the power amp section is touch sensitivity response. Another cool aspect of tubes is that they naturally compress, so, pushing the front end hard with a pedal that has high output or level is no concern as the tube will naturally compress.

 

Happy playing!

 

[CouchBed]

awesome! thanks!

[myles_rose]

You are welcome. Happy playing!

 

[tommyga]

Hi Myles ..how are you?

I'm a 57 year old geezer that recently picked up a PV classic 30 1-12 combo. Mostly been a Fender guy..(and MARSHALL MAJOR in '78), but price/portability came into play here. Which pre-amp and power tubes..as well as replacement speaker..will clean up, or tame the Peavey? I know I'm never going to get the "blackface", or "silverface" thing exactly...but..can you help me get the amp to have more "Fender-like" clean headroom? P.S. I am only going to use the clean channel (effect pedals for everything I need).

Thank you very much my friend, I really do appreciate your time.

Tommy

[myles_rose]

Hi Myles ..how are you?

I'm a 57 year old geezer that recently picked up a PV classic 30 1-12 combo. Mostly been a Fender guy..(and MARSHALL MAJOR in '78), but price/portability came into play here. Which pre-amp and power tubes..as well as replacement speaker..will clean up, or tame the Peavey? I know I'm never going to get the "blackface", or "silverface" thing exactly...but..can you help me get the amp to have more "Fender-like" clean headroom? P.S. I am only going to use the clean channel (effect pedals for everything I need).

Thank you very much my friend, I really do appreciate your time.

Tommy

 

Tommy,

 

The Classic 30 is... well .... a classic The model has probably been in more bars and clubs than just about any amp than a Fender.

 

The amp is capable of nice cleans at moderate levels in the same general way as a Vox AC30 as an example.

 

To get the most out of the amp make sure the preamp tubes are of proper spec. Most current production tubes are not. You may want to consider NOS as in the end they are cheaper as they will last decades. V1 (most close to the input jack) is the main tone and gain stage of your amp. This tube will impact the quality, clarity, definition of your tone. V3 (closest to the output tubes) is your phase inverter. This drives the output tubes. It is not part of the tone/gain stage but if low in output plate current it will distort and pass that distortion on to the output section so this tube from my point of view is very important. This does not have to be an NOS tube. I recommend a long plate such as a Sovtek LPS of JJ803S. You can also try an NOS 5751 which will change the ratio of front end to back end distortion giving you more clean headroom at a given volume setting.

 

If you don't have a schematic for your amp you can find one here:

 

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electronics/schematics/audio/peaveyclassic30.pdf

 

Some of my personal favorite tube vendors are:

 

www.kcanostubes.com

www.dougstubes.com

www.tubedepot.com

 

Do not go for "early or late" distortion. Tell any vendor you want a tube that is close to design spec. Your EL84 output quad needs to be matched closely. Cathode biased amps are even more touchy than grid biased amps when it comes to matching as there is no compensating adjustment for the user and the factory bias network expects tubes to be somewhat close to design spec. Today that is expecting too much.

 

For vendors who can measure plate current at the proper settings (many measure at settings that produce numbers that mean nothing), the voltages should be set to 250 plate, 250 screen, -7.3 bias and then the expectation is 48mA plate current. Stay clear of "hard, medium, soft" rating nonsense.

 

The folks that I listed above have test gear that may not be able set to engineering standards but I have given them conversion tables for their test gear so no worries.

 

[tommyga]

Hey Myles!

How's things? Thank you very much for all of that helpful information. One more (i promise) question. A BETTER speaker for a cleaner (think 50s-60s) tone. Are Jensens the way to go?

Tommy

[myles_rose]

Hey Myles!

How's things? Thank you very much for all of that helpful information. One more (i promise) question. A BETTER speaker for a cleaner (think 50s-60s) tone. Are Jensens the way to go?

Tommy

 

Tommy,

 

First off .... you are not limited to a specific number of questions. Second ... I took our dialog and posted it to my facebook page as a note as many folks have the same question and the Classic 30 is an ongoing classic.

 

Clean tones .... speakers which are more efficient will be louder and cleaner at a given volume setting. A Celestion Heritage 30 is 1 watt in = 100db out. A very efficient speaker. A Jensen C12N (a classic American speaker) is 98.4db for 1 watt.

 

If one speaker was 97db and one was 100db it would be like increasing you amplifier wattage two times .... from 30 to 60 watts, going from a 97db speaker to a 100db speaker. But... there are many other factors.

 

Bottom line, the Jensens are generally more USA and Celestions are more British but both cover all bases. A Jensen Mod 70 sort of sits in the middle sonically and is a 96.3db speaker.

 

In the end, it is all personal taste and preference. A Celestion H30 is a great all around speaker in a 1x12 combo that many of my clients seem to favor for all around music. It is also not expensive which is a plus.

 

 

 

[tommyga]

Myles, I play only Strats (and once in a while a Tele...all lefty), and am a full time musician...playing 4-5 nights a week in NYC. I do alot of 50s, more 60s, and 70s-80s..(plus standards at say 20-30 weddings/year. What speaker for the cleanest, most FENDER-LIKE results? (when I do get to play Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc., I've got the pedals.

Thank you very much for your time once again, my friend...it is really appreciated.

[HaveFun]

I own a Budda Superdrive 18, 1×12. No Doubt, the drive channel is very good, and specially the mid and bass part of the tone is better than anything I have tried. And So far, -for drive tones, the treble of the superdrive is working well because of the limited, and rather closed upper frequencies that makes it sound smooth. But when setting to clean, I have the feel that it lacks some open/transparent high frequencies, and sometimes the upper mids sounds to harsh. I have tried all equalizer settings, everything from celestion speakers to several new and old EL84's, and even some EL84 tubes from Mullard that sounds amazing everywhere else. Do my Budda lack good tubes, biasing,or something. Or do others experience the same as me? Any hint would help. Thanks in advance.

 

 

[myles_rose]

Myles, I play only Strats (and once in a while a Tele...all lefty), and am a full time musician...playing 4-5 nights a week in NYC. I do alot of 50s, more 60s, and 70s-80s..(plus standards at say 20-30 weddings/year. What speaker for the cleanest, most FENDER-LIKE results? (when I do get to play Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc., I've got the pedals.

Thank you very much for your time once again, my friend...it is really appreciated.

 

If you want clean you need to eliminate as much speaker breakup as possible. The way to do that is with a higher wattage speaker. The way to do that is do what Fender did .... a big bad JBL. Great speakers! Find a vintage one and recone if necessary.

 

[myles_rose]

I own a Budda Superdrive 18, 1×12. No Doubt, the drive channel is very good, and specially the mid and bass part of the tone is better than anything I have tried. And So far, -for drive tones, the treble of the superdrive is working well because of the limited, and rather closed upper frequencies that makes it sound smooth. But when setting to clean, I have the feel that it lacks some open/transparent high frequencies, and sometimes the upper mids sounds to harsh. I have tried all equalizer settings, everything from celestion speakers to several new and old EL84's, and even some EL84 tubes from Mullard that sounds amazing everywhere else. Do my Budda lack good tubes, biasing,or something. Or do others experience the same as me? Any hint would help. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Your amp is a great one. It does not lack anything. It does what it is doing what it is designed to do. Your issue is a common one and not with your particular amp, with any amp.

 

I am sure you have heard the name Dumble. When folks come to me and say that they played a Dumble amp and did not get what the deal was I ask them if the Dumble they played was built for them. If not then I am not surprised at their comment. It is sort of like being 6'3 and trying to drive a great car that is owned by a 5'2 driver without adjusting the seat.

 

Howard / Alex Dumble built each amp for a specific player. It is what I call blueprinting. Sort of the way a specific race car is set for a particular driver.

 

Assuming you like the basic nature and quality of the amp there are actions you can take. Some issues such as articulation and definition (open, clarity, transparency) will be compromised by the quality of the transformers in some amps. Transformers are the heart and soul of an amp and also the most expensive components in an amp. These are the first cost cutting measure when an amp is built to a specific price as the main objective. But .... even this can be rectified via a transformer upgrade from folks like Mercury Magnetics.

 

You need to find a GOOD (great preferred) tech. Sit down with them and work in real time while playing with the chassis on a work bench. Have decade boxes and swap cap values, resistor values, resistor types (metal film, metal oxide, carbon comp), capacitor types (disc, ceramic, mica, Solen, Jensen, oil and foil, oil and paper, etc).

 

The objective is not to add qualities to the amp such as boost a frequency or increase something. The objective (if you basically like the amp and it is in the ballpark) is to remove qualities and aspects you do not like.

 

That approach works. For me and my clients it has worked 100% of the time.