Shoddy reverb/general preamp tube question.

Started by fulltone1989, January 13, 2013, 12:58:54 PM

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fulltone1989

Hey all, so for some time the reverb in my Soul O is getting progressively worse. It's currently sounding like a fuzzy echo when the reverb is engaged - I had it looked at and while the tank was fixed back in July, I think it may be the tubes this time. The reverb driver and recovery stages are shared by half a 12AT7 and 12AU7, I have the AT7 and the three AX7's (AU7 is backordered for another week -_-.) Should I wait to retube the preamp section until the AU7 comes in?

Also.. how often do you guys retube the preamp section of your amps? This is the first time I have done it on this particular amp.

Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

Heady Jam Fan

I don't change my preamp tubes often unless something seems wrong. They should last a good while, but if you hear noise, try replacing one at a time.

If your retubing because you just want a different sound, then just go for it. I personally wouldn't worry about waiting for the AU7 (but I wouldn't put anything else in there either - a higher gain tube will probably maybe your reverb super loud I think). Or wait if you prefer ;)
Headless Hollowbody > Mesa Boogie MK III > TRM Trucker 212 w/ V30's
Whammy 5 > Mini Wah > 74 Script Phase 90 > CP9Pro+ > 82 TS9 > 83 TS9 > Ross Compressor > Turbo-Tuner > 83 AD9

fulltone1989

Quote from: Heady Jam Fan on January 13, 2013, 07:42:10 PM
I don't change my preamp tubes often unless something seems wrong. They should last a good while, but if you hear noise, try replacing one at a time.

If your retubing because you just want a different sound, then just go for it. I personally wouldn't worry about waiting for the AU7 (but I wouldn't put anything else in there either - a higher gain tube will probably maybe your reverb super loud I think). Or wait if you prefer ;)

I'm mainly retubing because I haven't swapped the preamp section since I've been the owner, wanted a fresh slate with gigs coming up and whatnot.
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

Stecks

How long has it been since your amp has had some lovin'?  (As in re-tubed, re-biased, etc...)
Schecter C1 Classic - Takamine EG334BC acoustic/electric.  Tuner>volume>VOX wah>TS9> Morley ABY selector/split/combiner, PathA:CS9>BF2>DigiDelay, PathB:envelope filter>AD9, 1971 Fender Twin (slightly modded) amplifier

"Remember:  information is not knowledge; knowledge is not wisdom; wisdom is not truth; truth is not beauty; beauty is not love; love is not music; music is THE BEST." - FZ

fulltone1989

Quote from: Stecks on January 14, 2013, 11:00:47 AM
How long has it been since your amp has had some lovin'?  (As in re-tubed, re-biased, etc...)

Retubed it with KT66's back in july, however I'm picking up some Mesa or GT 6L6's and seeing how they sound in there. I remember reading that the speaker got very ice picky though so we'll see, there's an Eminence Legend at work I may try out in there. First time preamp tube retube.

To be honest, I've never had the amp biased. I have a Bias King Pro I am going to try out when biasing it for the 6L6's, the GT was built for user biasing.
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.