LeadedEL84
July 29th, 2010, 05:03 PM
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Some of you have probably read my posts concerning my V5 project in the past. This is an update on that and a little on my experience with NOS/used vintage tubes:
A few weeks ago I spent a couple evenings testing vintage tubes in my Crate V5. I bought this amp during one of the blow-outs for $71 and a little shipping from an ebay dealer. Not being happy with the sound I did some upgrades to make it a usable practice amp with good tone. I looked into the circuit mods available. I decided to pass on those because to get what I really wanted would require totally rebuilding the amp. I just don't have the knowlege level or talent with a solder gun to do a big project like that. I certainly didn't want to buy all the parts and pay someone to do the work. I felt it was not worth it to me to sink that much into this amp when I could have just spent the same money and bought a nice little tube amp I would have liked.
So I decided to take a simple approach: I replaced the crappy Crate speaker with a celestion G-10E Tube 10,replaced the 12ax7 preamp tube with a lower gain 12at7(to lower gain and increase clean headroom),then added a Marshall Guv'Nor 2+ pedal to get my distortion/overdrive.
I'm happy with the results. The amp actually seems louder now because the lower gain 12at7 lets me turn the volume up higher before overdrive. The amp used to go into nasty,fuzzy overdrive at anything past half volume. Now plugging directly into the amp it stays clean to about 2/3 volume and from there has mild vintage sounding overdrive. Now it's more power amp distortion than preamp. The clean is not bad. Sounds Fendery with a hint of Peavey. The overdrive at 3/4 volume is a low saturation vintage sound. Similar to a Hi-Watt type sound. Turning on the Marshall pedal makes it come alive at any volume setting.
I wouldn't recommend a V5 to anyone. There are much better low wattage tube amps. But at least I was able to get some usable tone from this one.
During my search for 12at7 tubes I discovered some deals on NOS/used vintage tubes. Good vintage 12ax7s and power tubes are pretty much untouchable these days. The prices are outragous for the popular brands. I was able to find some deals by buying a few lots of 12at7s and even some EL84s. I bought tested tubes from sellers with good records. By buying in quantity I was able to get good prices and obtain many different brands to try out and see what I liked for this amp. My idea was to find what I like,put a couple sets back for the future and turn the rest around on ebay. Since I don't have a tube tester to verify the readings I was provided my only way to test was using an amp. At least I could weed out any non working tubes or any that were microphonic. And of course I was able to have fun listening to different tone and characteristics between the different brands and types.
I burned up a couple evenings in a row testing tubes. Even though the warm up and cool off cycles took some time it was fun. I had time to drink beer and surf the net.
When it was all done I ended up with one bad EL84 and two preamp tubes that are slightly microphonic. The guy that sold me the EL84s sent me a matched set to replace the bad one. I didn't worry about the microphonic 12at7s because I have a ton of good ones just like them. I actually have the slightly microphonic RCA blackplate installed in the V5 right now and it sounds good.
So now I am planning to sell some tubes on ebay. I have learned alot about what tubes I like in this amp,and I have put back a few sets for future replacements. I was surprized that all these tubes sounded good even though some were distinctly different. The sylvania,raytheon,and GE 12at7s had a wider hi-fi sound to them. Clean and clear. The RCA 12at7s smooth and creamy. The tung sol and Magnovox harmonicly rich. The Reflecktor EL84s are glassy,bright,and spongy sounding and bring a warmer woody sound compared to the modern Sovtek I took out of the amp. The few RCA EL84s I have are creamy,chimey,and harmonicaly rich.
I have an RCA 12at7 w/blackplate and D getter and Reflektor EL84 in the amp now. I am putting back a couple sets. 1-Magnavox 12at7 and Reflektor EL84 2-RCA 12at7 w/greyplate and halo getter and RCA EL84. In addition I'll be keeping the microphonic Tung Sol 12at7 and the lone Tung Sol 12ax7(just because).
I found the RCA greyplates to be the top of the heap for 12at7s(at least in this amp). I was surprised how much I like the old Reflektor EL84s.
Beers sampled during this testing were:
-My last Sam Adam's Winter Lager I saved since February
-Various varieties from Boulevard Brewing Co.(the best being the one with the devil holding the goblet and pitch fork on the label but can't remember the name because it was a 550ml triple or quadruple bach w/over 10% abv)
-Samual Smith's Taddy Porter
Some of you have probably read my posts concerning my V5 project in the past. This is an update on that and a little on my experience with NOS/used vintage tubes:
A few weeks ago I spent a couple evenings testing vintage tubes in my Crate V5. I bought this amp during one of the blow-outs for $71 and a little shipping from an ebay dealer. Not being happy with the sound I did some upgrades to make it a usable practice amp with good tone. I looked into the circuit mods available. I decided to pass on those because to get what I really wanted would require totally rebuilding the amp. I just don't have the knowlege level or talent with a solder gun to do a big project like that. I certainly didn't want to buy all the parts and pay someone to do the work. I felt it was not worth it to me to sink that much into this amp when I could have just spent the same money and bought a nice little tube amp I would have liked.
So I decided to take a simple approach: I replaced the crappy Crate speaker with a celestion G-10E Tube 10,replaced the 12ax7 preamp tube with a lower gain 12at7(to lower gain and increase clean headroom),then added a Marshall Guv'Nor 2+ pedal to get my distortion/overdrive.
I'm happy with the results. The amp actually seems louder now because the lower gain 12at7 lets me turn the volume up higher before overdrive. The amp used to go into nasty,fuzzy overdrive at anything past half volume. Now plugging directly into the amp it stays clean to about 2/3 volume and from there has mild vintage sounding overdrive. Now it's more power amp distortion than preamp. The clean is not bad. Sounds Fendery with a hint of Peavey. The overdrive at 3/4 volume is a low saturation vintage sound. Similar to a Hi-Watt type sound. Turning on the Marshall pedal makes it come alive at any volume setting.
I wouldn't recommend a V5 to anyone. There are much better low wattage tube amps. But at least I was able to get some usable tone from this one.
During my search for 12at7 tubes I discovered some deals on NOS/used vintage tubes. Good vintage 12ax7s and power tubes are pretty much untouchable these days. The prices are outragous for the popular brands. I was able to find some deals by buying a few lots of 12at7s and even some EL84s. I bought tested tubes from sellers with good records. By buying in quantity I was able to get good prices and obtain many different brands to try out and see what I liked for this amp. My idea was to find what I like,put a couple sets back for the future and turn the rest around on ebay. Since I don't have a tube tester to verify the readings I was provided my only way to test was using an amp. At least I could weed out any non working tubes or any that were microphonic. And of course I was able to have fun listening to different tone and characteristics between the different brands and types.
I burned up a couple evenings in a row testing tubes. Even though the warm up and cool off cycles took some time it was fun. I had time to drink beer and surf the net.
When it was all done I ended up with one bad EL84 and two preamp tubes that are slightly microphonic. The guy that sold me the EL84s sent me a matched set to replace the bad one. I didn't worry about the microphonic 12at7s because I have a ton of good ones just like them. I actually have the slightly microphonic RCA blackplate installed in the V5 right now and it sounds good.
So now I am planning to sell some tubes on ebay. I have learned alot about what tubes I like in this amp,and I have put back a few sets for future replacements. I was surprized that all these tubes sounded good even though some were distinctly different. The sylvania,raytheon,and GE 12at7s had a wider hi-fi sound to them. Clean and clear. The RCA 12at7s smooth and creamy. The tung sol and Magnovox harmonicly rich. The Reflecktor EL84s are glassy,bright,and spongy sounding and bring a warmer woody sound compared to the modern Sovtek I took out of the amp. The few RCA EL84s I have are creamy,chimey,and harmonicaly rich.
I have an RCA 12at7 w/blackplate and D getter and Reflektor EL84 in the amp now. I am putting back a couple sets. 1-Magnavox 12at7 and Reflektor EL84 2-RCA 12at7 w/greyplate and halo getter and RCA EL84. In addition I'll be keeping the microphonic Tung Sol 12at7 and the lone Tung Sol 12ax7(just because).
I found the RCA greyplates to be the top of the heap for 12at7s(at least in this amp). I was surprised how much I like the old Reflektor EL84s.
Beers sampled during this testing were:
-My last Sam Adam's Winter Lager I saved since February
-Various varieties from Boulevard Brewing Co.(the best being the one with the devil holding the goblet and pitch fork on the label but can't remember the name because it was a 550ml triple or quadruple bach w/over 10% abv)
-Samual Smith's Taddy Porter