Andy Hiwatt
Member
A couple of days ago I finally changed the tubes in my little 15W Ampeg Jet12R, a 1997 reissue of the classic '60s combo.
I bought it used last May and, despite some crackling and humming noises at extremely high volume ( when gigging on stage) and some farting bass notes due to the stock Ampeg speaker it worked fine, I was particularly enamoured of the tone this little monster produces, so I hesitated changing the old tubes even if I knew sooner or later they had to go.
Last week when practicing at home I noticed the hissing noise was more constant at medium volume ,so I decided to change the tubes and after some researching I bought a pair of JJ Tesla 12ax7 and a pair of matched JJ Tesla El 84. The stock tubes were Sovteks , and when reasearching for the new tubes whenever I read reviews or comparisons the Sovteks were always refferred to as a poor product, flat sounding, cardboard tone,robust and cheap but nothing more, even if they're always stock tubes on Fenders, Mesa Boogie and other name brands.
After changing tubes I immediately noticed the amp quieted down: all the noises almost disappeared , no more background hummings rattling or hissings, this shows that the old tubes were probably well used and responsible of the noise issues.
Then I discovered a new improved sensibility in the EQ control knobs of the amp, now really very useful.
At first I didn't particularly like the changed tone these tubes produce :it's a bit harsher than before, it rocks and definitely has more gain and volume, more overtones ( this I like) and less clean headroom than before, now it begins to distort around volume 5.5 with Lollar P90s or Humbuckers. With Telecaster or Rickenbacker around 6.5.. It was kind of strange to get used to this tone , because the Sovteks actually had a very mellow, warm tone that I really loved, and the distortion was darker and more profund , thay had less gain but sounded more in control, anyway I liked the amp clean or crunched with natural distortion, it's a single channel amp and I manage to get distortion out of some good pedals.
When I plugged in through the pedalboard things were better and I started to apppreciate the best definition and versatility of the JJs, they react very well to minimum changes of pedals settings and with some compression thay are not that harsh as they sound when directly plugged. Still the warm tone of the Sovteks is what made me love this amp till last week.
I've decided to keep the JJs in for some weeks, play some gigs to see how they cut through the mix when played live, then decide if it's the case of changing just the first preamp tube ,the one that shapes the sound, and try a new Sovtek ( despite the bad reputation I loved that sound) or some other warm sounding or less gainy tube.
I'd like to hear from the experts here, any suggestion on brands...or about a great pre amp 12Ax7 tube to go for if I should change only that one.
I'm not very inclined to invest in expensive NOS tubes that here are rare to find and extremely expensive. Mullards nowdays seem to be produced by Sovtek as well, and reviews don't rave about them ,everybody agrees that old Mullards are exceptional and new Mullards are totally different and inferior.... I read good ireviews about Tung-Sol..I don't know...
Hopefully the more I'll play these JJs the more I'll be able to appreciate them
I bought it used last May and, despite some crackling and humming noises at extremely high volume ( when gigging on stage) and some farting bass notes due to the stock Ampeg speaker it worked fine, I was particularly enamoured of the tone this little monster produces, so I hesitated changing the old tubes even if I knew sooner or later they had to go.
Last week when practicing at home I noticed the hissing noise was more constant at medium volume ,so I decided to change the tubes and after some researching I bought a pair of JJ Tesla 12ax7 and a pair of matched JJ Tesla El 84. The stock tubes were Sovteks , and when reasearching for the new tubes whenever I read reviews or comparisons the Sovteks were always refferred to as a poor product, flat sounding, cardboard tone,robust and cheap but nothing more, even if they're always stock tubes on Fenders, Mesa Boogie and other name brands.
After changing tubes I immediately noticed the amp quieted down: all the noises almost disappeared , no more background hummings rattling or hissings, this shows that the old tubes were probably well used and responsible of the noise issues.
Then I discovered a new improved sensibility in the EQ control knobs of the amp, now really very useful.
At first I didn't particularly like the changed tone these tubes produce :it's a bit harsher than before, it rocks and definitely has more gain and volume, more overtones ( this I like) and less clean headroom than before, now it begins to distort around volume 5.5 with Lollar P90s or Humbuckers. With Telecaster or Rickenbacker around 6.5.. It was kind of strange to get used to this tone , because the Sovteks actually had a very mellow, warm tone that I really loved, and the distortion was darker and more profund , thay had less gain but sounded more in control, anyway I liked the amp clean or crunched with natural distortion, it's a single channel amp and I manage to get distortion out of some good pedals.
When I plugged in through the pedalboard things were better and I started to apppreciate the best definition and versatility of the JJs, they react very well to minimum changes of pedals settings and with some compression thay are not that harsh as they sound when directly plugged. Still the warm tone of the Sovteks is what made me love this amp till last week.
I've decided to keep the JJs in for some weeks, play some gigs to see how they cut through the mix when played live, then decide if it's the case of changing just the first preamp tube ,the one that shapes the sound, and try a new Sovtek ( despite the bad reputation I loved that sound) or some other warm sounding or less gainy tube.
I'd like to hear from the experts here, any suggestion on brands...or about a great pre amp 12Ax7 tube to go for if I should change only that one.
I'm not very inclined to invest in expensive NOS tubes that here are rare to find and extremely expensive. Mullards nowdays seem to be produced by Sovtek as well, and reviews don't rave about them ,everybody agrees that old Mullards are exceptional and new Mullards are totally different and inferior.... I read good ireviews about Tung-Sol..I don't know...
Hopefully the more I'll play these JJs the more I'll be able to appreciate them