I think I am going to go with an Eminence Lil' Buddy and a Tung Sol 6V6GT or a JJ Tesla 6V6S. I am leaning towards the Tung Sol 6V6GT tho. Anyone compare these two tubes?
Much more important to swap out the preamp tube - the chinese 12AX7 in there sucks big time and has too much gain. A good NOS 5751 or 12AT7 will improve the tone and make it much more playable. ---------- /Greg
I like the JJ because it sounds more like a 6L6. It is loud and has good bass response. Good call on the speaker. ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas Updated 2/23/11
I swapped the preamp tube with a NOS 5751 and the power tube with a 1950's RCA. I also got a deal on two 10" Ragin Cajuns so I put one in and made a cab for the other.
To date, I've done the easy tone mods on Jim Rossen's page, added a line out and a switching jack for the extension speaker so I can run both 10" Ragin Cajuns (internal and external) at the same time.
I really like how it sounds now, although the jury is still out on the 2x10 configuration. The Ragin Cajun is 8 ohms and the stock speaker is 16 ohms so I changed the internal jack to tap the 8 ohm extension output (instead of the 16 ohm which is stock). What's strange is that the two 8 ohm speakers in parallel should be showing a 4 ohm load, but plugged into that jack (and the 16 ohm jack) the tone is thin and volume is low. Plugged into the 8 ohm jack, the tone from both is much more like the internal speaker at 8 ohms. A mystery as to why, but it probably has to do with how I wired it. When the extension jack is plugged in it disables the internal jack...but there must be some impedance effect up the internal jack wiring anyway.
I just picked up a Special 6 as well, so I'm also interested to hear what tube/speaker combinations folks have tried. I am going to stay away from the other mods for now.
Anyone have thoughts on what made the most difference on it's own: Speaker or tube swap?
@Mike - Are you still happy with the Ramrod, or would you do the Lil'buddy, or something else, if you were to do it again?
@joshnat - Essentially the same question for you except with regards to the Ragin' Cajuns.
@Greg - Suggestions on where to pick up reliable NOS tubes for the uninitiated? And by the way, I received that used Bulletized Ultimate 545 we talked about - love it.
@LSB: I think the tube changes smoothed out and warmed the tone quite a bit. The speaker change increased the volume and definition. I can't say which one was more dramatic in its difference, but the combination of both has been really nice. I think the circuit mods had a minor effect, relatively speaking. ----------
In general, ugrading the cheapa$$ tubes that come in a lot of amps, especially the ones made in China, with better-quailty ones of the same value, is the FIRST thing to do to make an amp sound its best, before any mods or speaker swaps. I had my Epi V Jr modded last year, and didn't change the tubes out til after it was used at HCH for the amp demo. Man, what a difference the tube swap made!
EuroTubes is a good source for tubes, and Bob Pletka there is a very knowlegeable guy who can help you find the tubes that work best with your amp. I've also used TubeDepot with good results, plus I've found some occasional steals on Ebay. ---------- Todd my moderator username is Admin007
Not meaning to hi-jack the thread but do you guys have any thoughts on the VOX VT-30? I just ordered one and it's been delivered today. Brandon uses one:
Joch...I have the 50 Watt version with 2 x 12" speakers. I really love the amp and it has all the bells and whistles you'll ever need for getting any tone or sound you want. The effects are great as are the different amp models. I like the AC 30 setting along with the bassman one ( 4 x 10). It has a valve pre-amp with a 12AX7 included and I found that this works best. I have changed it out but to be honest you don't need to and I changed it back to the original. You have to crank it on one of the hi-gain settings to get it to feedback so you are pretty safe cranking it on the two settings above.
Hours of enjoyment. I love this amp and it was great value for money.
Tell us what you think after you've played with it a while. ---------- Oisin
I have the Ramrod still in there and haven't felt the need to do more. Between just you and me, I like it better with my effects than my HG50, which seems to like some more than others.
I picked up a barely used one for cheap. It had some sort of weird tube noise from the get go but sounded decent. I had some vintage tubes on the shelf and a couple different speakers to try and I think it made a real nice difference. Tried an alpha 10a and a ramrod and both sounded great to me and the band guys were all impressed considering they thought it looked kinda cheap.
This was with a Shure controlled magnetic element, plugged into the “hi” channel, in high-power mode, with volume at 55% and tone at 45%. I subsequently swapped the tubes for a JJ 6V6 and unknown brand 5751 (money spent on tubes = $0 since I had these lying around anyway), which seemed to provide more warmth and feedback rejection with the same power available.
Is there any reason why people seem to favor the "JJ Tesla 6V6S" over the "Tung Sol 6V6GT"?
I didn't bring up the preamp tube 'cuz I have a 12AU7 lying around, but the 5751 and the 12AT7 seem to be tops with everyone. I thought that you'd loose a bit of volume with the 5751?
Last Edited by on Feb 24, 2011 6:33 PM
Re: volume loss with 5751, I switched both tubes at the same time and did not notice any volume loss after. Maybe the better 6v6 compensated, not sure.
@harpoon_man: Thanks, I heard this "word of mouth" and haven't tested it, so thinks for doing so! I'll have to order one, they seem pretty pricy compared to a 12AX7!
If you guys want to read some insightful writings on tubes, checkout greenbullet.com and click on the "tubes" option. It's easy to understand and very informative and I'm sure you'll enjoy everything else that is offer on his website...it's top shelf, check it out!
Undoubtedly, the early RCA long black plates 12AX7 has the most musicality and plenty of volume. The Sovtek's 7025/12AX7WA are close second. Loud without being shrill like the stock Chinese. Also right behind are a Philips 12AX7A 1959 GP, a Russian made EH 12AX7, a GE 5* 6201, and a GE 6201 redtip.
Uncommonly good was the Sylvania triple mica 12AT7...almost as ballsy as the top AX's. But the real surprise is a GE 5965 with long grey plates. I was expecting smoothe, but mushy. WOW ! Super nice tone, at full volume. I think it makes the mid's and hi's even fuller and pleasing...with no tinniness. I'll have to scrounge around for an Amperex 7062 with even longer box plates to try out.
For power tube, the 1949 Raytheon 6V6GT was fine. The CBS greyglass. Then, I fumbled a 1952 blackglass GE that hit the tile floor. OUCH ! Ah, I had another one. Better than the CBS, less than the Raytheon. I have matched pairs that I try to keep together, so I reached for a 1957 GE clearglass with Black oval plates that somehow was labeled weak. HOLY MOLY ! I think the Db's went up at least 20% ! With the strong AX7's and the Sylvie AT7, I had to dial down the volume from 3:00 to 12:00
@LSB...get friendly with an old radio tech. They don't much care for the old power tubes that we prize . I bring a six-pack of ordinary brew, and come back with a treasure trove of pickin's every time. Course, I salted it with a primo Mullard 6267 that I couldn't use. AND VIP tickets to any of my digs.
Anything picked up extraneous gets offered first vulturizing to my radio technie.
I believe I posted something about this in another thread, but for the op and anyone searching threads I'll mention it here as well:
I went ahead and swapped out the tubes and speaker in my Special 6. Didn't feel the amp really needed it, at least for my home practice purposes, but a forum member offered me a fair deal on a couple of old tubes and an Eminence Ramrod, so I got curious and went for it.
I swapped the tubes first and put in a Voice of Music 12ax7 (not positive where it was made, google searches show several possible countries of origin), and an RCA 6v6GT of some sort. Unfortunately I can't really crank the amp up really loud most of the time because I live in an apartment, in an old converted house, with the landlord's sister-in-law living right below me. She seems to hardly ever leave the house :( That said, at low - med volumes, the tube changes didn't seem to make a big difference to my ear.
Replacing the stock speaker with the Ramrod did make more of a discernible difference to me: The sound got rounder, smoother, and fuller. A nice improvement.
I didn't try putting the old tubes back in with the new speaker, perhaps I will if I get a day when I can really crank the volume.
I am quite happy with the speaker, however I'd really like to try a few other tubes as well, if and when I can find them cheap.
Anyway, that's been my experience so far with regards to the OP's original question. I realize my feedback on the subject is of limited value since I can't comment how the changes affected the amp's sound at higher volumes, but thought I'd share what I did find so far.
For me, the upgraded tone is worth the extra money I spent, but as always YMMV.
ozark@ i order from there, too. don't panic if the order status page says "processing" for a few days. i was getting nervous after it didn't change for a few days, and some of the vendor reviews on google said they took a long time to ship. but then it arrived on my doorstep, 4 days after i ordered. the NEXT day i got an email saying it had shipped.
Ozark Rich - Groove Tubes were a reseller, they didn't make tubes, they sold tubes sold by all the current manufacturers, some were special request, some were the same tubes as sold by other resellers, just put through GT's matching & grading procedures. We would need to know the suffix on the GT designation to know where the tubes in question originated. The GT tubes in new Fenders are usually Reflector (Saratov), AKA Sovtek. 12AXWAs are a bit weak on gain, flat sounding, 12AT are OK...but Phillips are stil available at competitive prices. However, there are no universally "good" or "bad" tubes, you need to try them in a circuit to know for sure a tube that sounds awful in one amp can sound great in another. So tell us what you think.
I had a Groove Tubes 12AX7 & a 12AU7 lying around when my amp came in the mail. I thought that the AX7 was an improvement over the one shipped in the amp, but liked the AU7 more? I bet your AT7 will sound good (I have yet to try one). I picked up a 5751 and now I think the amp sounds great! ----------
I have an AX7R. So Sovtek and Shuguang. I also have a EH AU7 I'll try.
@Garry: I was getting worried after a couple days but finally got an email from them today with a fedex tracking # and its already left CA. ---------- Ozark Rich __________ ##########
I just put a used JAN Phillips 5751 tube in, biggest bang for the buck yet: Got 2 used on ebay for under $23. shipped, for the pair. Sounds much better than either the stock preamp tube or the USA VOM 12ax7 I had in.
Have any of you who have done tube swaps with the VHT had any problems with the amp after extended playing time, especially gigging at volume? I was extremely fortunate to pick up a VHT Sp6 with mods by Jim Rossen - it sounds great as is, with stock tubes and speaker - but I do have the tubes mentioned here lying around. Any problems, overheating, amp dying out...that sort of nastiness after doing the tube swaps?
I run mine hours a week with no issue. I usually turn it off between sets. I've been running a 12ax7 and a 5881. I have used it with a 5751 as well as a 6v6 with no issues either.
I find the 12ax7 to be the best fit with my Ultimate 57. The 5751 sounds dead in comparison. ---------- Mike Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
Thanks, Mike - are you using the stock 12AX7? What is that other tube, the 5881? I use an Ultimate 545 - and it sounds great with this amp. Ridiculous how good this thing sounds. Can't wait to gig with it.
I think it is a Sovtek 12ax7w...it is for sure a Sovtek and whatever the "darker" 12ax7 they make is. The 5881 is a Sovtek too. They work great in harp amps. The speaker is an Eminence Ramrod. I did have the amp modded for $30 as well. I have less than $300 into the amp and use it all the time. I mike it with a Sennheiser e906, which costs more than the amp, ha!
This past weekend I used it without a monitor with a full rock band. It was miked FOH. The club was medium sized, but it wasn't packed or anything. I don't mean this negatively, but it was probably louder on stage than most blues groups and we probably had a similar or larger crowd to what I've seen from part-time blues groups. I mention this as I think the amp is loud as hell for 6w and the sound guy, who was exceptional, didn't believe me. I only had the amp turned up half way.
I only managed to get video for the first set and some of it didn't turn out, IMO. We ended up with a number of people close to the camera and talking, lol. If I was good with iMovie I'd post more.
We were asked to keep things mellow the first set, so I apologize for not having a clip where the band is loud and the amp is really pushed.
The only negative with the amp thus far is that it doesn't react well with some of my effects. I am talking the way out there mods and stuff like the Line 6 Growler. It seems to cut the signal way down. With all the delays and such, it works beautifully, though.
I've been working on a one man show that will debut June 4. I am working with a studio/producer on doing an album worth of material this fall. I'll use the VHT for all of that. The power modes and pull-boost give me tons of variety for said project.
Nice playing! I have tried a couple of different tubes, JJ's, EH, but always tend to lose volume. Weird, the stock tubes have sounded the best so far. First gig coming up soon with the amp - the acid test.
I'm with Greg H. First thing i did to my VHT was swap out the 12AXY for an RCA 12AVY (41% gain). That's probably the fastest cheapest thing to do. Next will likely be a tung sol 6V6. I put those in my bassman and I'm happy with them. possibly a speaker swap in the VHT later but overall i was pretty satisfied with it "out of the box". I may even take a Jensen out of my bassman and stick it in the VHT then order a fat weber for the bassman.
IMO, the preamp tube depends on the mic. A dynamic mic is usually good with a 12ax7 or 5751...anything less kills the bite and bass. If you have a hot mic, though, you can use other tubes.
The stock 12ax7 is a good harp tube. The 6v6 in it is just cheap. It sounds ok, but probably won't last long. I have a 5881 in mine still. I think I will pick up a Tung Sol 6v6 soon for lower volume and more or a brown sound when doing solo/duo shows.
