PDA

View Full Version : JJ Tubes- Re-Tube Harmony 410



Justaguyin_nc
August 21st, 2006, 07:57 PM
First off..I havent a clue on what tube is what... with that said: from another post this is how it started and I recieved the tubes today!! Great service!!

Part1:
I sent Bob at eurotubes a note telling him about all the G.A.S. happenings around here with the valve jr.. and told him I had an old Harmony H-410 I would like to see how much better it could sound (although I think it sounds good now) with new tubes before getting yet another small amp (ofcourse I probably will get one anyways..heh).. Well the man is very helpfull and quick on replys.. I wanted to see how clean and how bluesy this lil'feller could get before setting it to the side, seeing I love the tremolo on it.... I wanted from Jazz to Blues... ofcourse means tubes for each style... sent him the layout in jpg and he took some time to look it over...and sent his suggestions: I now have some tubes comming from EL84 cooler for jazz to EL84 Hotter for Blues with early breakup (Sounds like the EL84 does the breaking up instead of the 12AX7?).. A standard ECC83S to replace the 12AX7, A NOS RCA 5Y3 just because it doesn’t get any better than that. and some used but still very good 6AU6’s thrown in, two or three different brands that test out nice so I will have some more variety. All my tubes are the stock Harmony marked tubes at present.. so anyway I look at this.. it will be an experience in seeing what new tubes do to an amp. thanks for pointing out Eurotubes.com DV so far a nice experience. ofcourse all these tubes adding up did approach half the cost of the Valve Junior Head.. which they might end up in someday.

Part2:

I been spending the last few hours replacing and sampling the tubes as they go in the 410.. I waited 20 minutes on each tube to make sure they had enough heat in them.. warmed and ready..
First off I replaced a Harmony 12AX7 with a JJ ECC83S which to my ears did one thing.. made the notes come out clearer and brighter in a good way! Nothing added to breakup while checking from Volume 3 all the way to 10 but the one tube did bring some life back into this amp..

Next it was time to try the EL84-27 cooler tube which replaced a stock Harmony 6BQ5... once powered on I noticed that I had no volume under 3 on the dial.. I also had no hummm.. scary at first but with a little twist to 3 there it was... clear as a bell... This EL84 Added some more brightness and loudness to the amp with little breakup till I was at the 10 mark. With these two in the amp it sounded like another amp all together.. brighter , younger and ready to play..

Next I removed the EL84-27 and put a EL84-43 in it's place.. right away you could tell it was a much hotter tube..Breakup began on the 5 and the tube actually sounded like it brought a little reverb with it... presence abound with this tube.. loud.. breakup and ohhh so sweeet for da'blues...

Settling on leaving the EL84 Hot in there it was time to move on to the rectifier tube.. 5Y3GT.. I had one in there already.. but seeing I paid alot for this new RCA I decided to replace it for the heck of it.. Well wouldn't ya just know... When I removed the old Harmony 5Y3 I noticed the casing on the bottom was cracked and looked like a very old crack which was hiding in the back. I was very pleased I got the new one at this point and put it into the chassis.. Now something strange happened... That EL84 Hot.. well it still has the presence/reverb effect built in it.. loud and a beauty of a sound.. but the breakup is gone..go figure? ? ? But ya know..it sounds sooooo sweeet in this old amp...

I have audio files of each tube making a difference but I still need to edit them and cut them down in size.. about 10 megs a peice right now.. I also have the 6au6 to mess with.. I have three different ones to try there.. Also wondering what effect it has on the built in tremolo...

Till my follow up with clips.. I can only say... re-tubing is well worth it.. From a nice sound but not really outstanding to a much louder sound with some presence to it.. thumbs up to eurotubes.com for helping out!

Justaguyin_nc
August 24th, 2006, 09:55 AM
First progression file is available to hear some difference.. going from stock tubes to all tubes changed at volume 5... will add more later ..

Harmony H-410 8inch Jensen speaker all stock at starts..
Project: http://www.savefile.com/projects/1000016
Bridge Progression: http://www.savefile.com/files/114

Recordings do not do justice to what the sound in the room presents but it still can be heard , the difference adding each tube..

Umm ignore the playing... medium pick on a squier 51 attack soft to normal..

Nelskie
August 24th, 2006, 02:47 PM
Justa - What type of audio file extension are these clips in? (.mp3, .wav, etc.) I've downloaded them, but various players I have on my computer don't recognize them because there isn't a file extension. :confused:

I'd sure like to hear what your amps sounds like now that you've gotten it re-tubed.

Justaguyin_nc
August 24th, 2006, 11:20 PM
My Bad... named them to long..they are mp3's if you did get them..I am going to rename and send them back up..looks like savefile went to another version anyways and killed the files I did have up..

Justaguyin_nc
September 4th, 2006, 08:26 PM
Well, I lost the files that went thru the change from stock to retube thanks to savefile updating their systems... here is what the amp sounds like though.. Volume 7 tone 10 Trem 2 Speed 3 JJ EL84 #43 and JJecc83S.. plus new RCA 5Y3GT here...

also some sound clips with the digiverb and Harmony H410 on savefile at

http://savefile.com/projects/1006960