Don't put SED Winged C 6L6's in your 5150 III

all of the pre's were jj ecc83's and the powers look and sound pretty much identical to jj 6l6's. by the way i took out the jj ecc81 i put in v1 and put in a jan 5751 and Im loving the clean channel!. Channel 2 is pretty much useless to me anyways since im either playing very mellow clean stuff or using 3 for very heavy thrash type stuff
 
deadweight":dodewrzf said:
all of the pre's were jj ecc83's and the powers look and sound pretty much identical to jj 6l6's. by the way i took out the jj ecc81 i put in v1 and put in a jan 5751 and Im loving the clean channel!. Channel 2 is pretty much useless to me anyways since im either playing very mellow clean stuff or using 3 for very heavy thrash type stuff
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yeah i found that as well, most other tube combinations made channel 1 better at the expense of 2, channel 3 due to lots of gain seems to suffer less maybe due to the extra gain/compression but takes on some of the fizz characteristics, i'd change tubes + spend longer than normal playing blues licks/chords on the clean channel only to switch to channel 2 and be taken aback on how buzzy/fizzy it sounds, unfortunately there's no easy compromise but a clean channel seems easier to soup up than a drive one.

did you manage to try the KT66s yet?
 
nevusofota":2y21jov6 said:
university81":2y21jov6 said:
just thought i'd add, i decided to put the original preamp tubes back in to see and i'm back to using the stock configuration of sovtek 12ax7wc in v1+v4, EH 12ax7s in the rest with sovtek LPS in v7+v8,

i tried tung sols/jjs/sovteks and a 5751 in various combinations V1 to v6 only to come back to the sovtek/EH mix that the amp came with, the clean isn't quite as chimey but channels 2+3 sound creamier with less fizz than any of the other combos i used, and now i can finally get some sleep =0
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I have found the same thing. I have tried different preamp tube combos and nothing has beat the original set up of EH and Sovteks. I was always very happy with the sound of the amp but I just wanted to experiment. When I go to GC I'll occasionally plug into a late model EVH head to see if it sounds any different than mine and I keep noticing that there is too much sizzle in the high end and the mids aren't as cutting, especially on channel two. I relate it to the JJ's. I also feel the JJ's may be responsible for those people out there that do not like channel two. For me, channel two is where the amp shines.
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agreed, i think the problem people have with channel 2 which i can understand is that you almost want the gain range to go an extra 20-30% higher while retaining the same open character of the channel (the right OD/boost pedal will fix this though imo) ,
i think it's the most flexible channel on there, roll back the volume for a decent clean, roll up crunch- pedal hi-gain

i can imagine people not liking the amp with JJs, clean is still nice but a fizz/buzz present in channels 2 and 3 which is pretty much impossible to dial out, at our practice room i tried a combo of tung sol in v1+v4 with LPS everywhere else and cranked it.. never again lol
 
Ok, so do you guys happen to remember what the positions of the eh and sovteks were? Are they all 12ax7's?. No I haven't tried the kt66's, I just ordered them last night so I probably won't get them till next week sometime but I'll make another post in here when I do.
 
yep all 12ax7:

v1 : sovtek 12ax7wc
v2: EH 12ax7
v3 EH 12ax7
v4: sovtek 12ax7wc
v5: EH 12ax7
v6: EH 12ax7

v7: Sovtek 12ax7LPS
v8: Sovtek 12ax7LPS
 
some cut n paste:

LPS:

This is an entirely new 12AX7 design from Sovtek and a great step up in sound quality. They have very large ribbed plates and great sound reproduction. I found them very smooth and well balanced in terms of bass, mids and treble response. The large plates make them more prone to microphonics and in combo amps, so they can be a problem if you like to run things wide open. It is still the best thing Sovtek has produced in a 12AX7, with very good gain and low noise.
I would advise against using them in compact high-powered combo amps where they will be subjected to lots of vibration. One other note about the construction of these tubes is they have filaments that are almost completely encased in the plate structure. They often don't "light up" when working properly. This is not a problem, it's normal for the LPS."

I can't find anything as comprehensive on the WC unfortunately, but construction wise looks more like traditional 12ax7s, I only put them in v2,v3,v5,v6 didn't put one in v1 unfortunately, googling LPS V1 might give you more of an idea

also I'm not sure how much of a perceived difference the PI makes in the 5150, I couldn't really tell a huge difference in tone/feel when i put a mullard 12au7 or the 5751 in there instead.

I just know the LPS didn't work for me in the preamp slots in the 5150, although in my marshall JMP clone it sounds great with a tung sol in v1.
 
JakeAC5253":6tw6xwcj said:
Amps designed for 'clean' power sections are supposed to have their power tubes biased 'cold' :confused:
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My Zinky was that way, but it didn't sound good to me unless I ran JJ's at 75-80%. It also had a B+ of 550.

SED's sounded like poo in it too.
 
Hey Deadweight, Let us know how things turn out when you get the KT66's..... I am also considering getting a quad to put in mine. What brand did you end up buying.
 
jerrydyer":3u4yyuqm said:
SED's kick ass. Something else isnt right here. JJ's over SED 's ? no fricken way.
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Holy shit man, give it up, some tubes just don't suit certain amps. And I ordered JJ kt66's.
 
deadweight":j35n3urg said:
jerrydyer":j35n3urg said:
SED's kick ass. Something else isnt right here. JJ's over SED 's ? no fricken way.
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Holy shit man, give it up, some tubes just don't suit certain amps. And I ordered JJ kt66's.
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give what up. just posting an opinion in your thread. Isnt that what this is about ?? sheesh ..
 
Sorry man I'm just gettin annoyed with guys telling me I'm wrong because SED's sounded great in their Mesas or their Peaveys, I know that, they sounded great in my Peavey too that's why I even have them but that has nothing to do with how they sound in a 5150 III, I'm not the only one here of that opinion either. Same with telling me I biased them wrong , it doesn't matter how I bias them, either way they were lacking the punch that the JJ's provided.
 
deadweight":2yqezhxl said:
Sorry man I'm just gettin annoyed with guys telling me I'm wrong because SED's sounded great in their Mesas or their Peaveys, I know that, they sounded great in my Peavey too that's why I even have them but that has nothing to do with how they sound in a 5150 III, I'm not the only one here of that opinion either. Same with telling me I biased them wrong , it doesn't matter how I bias them, either way they were lacking the punch that the JJ's provided.
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theyre just trying to help you. some of us buy tubes by the dozen. I cant stand JJ's lots of failures and they sound generic and borderline harsh in comparison.. thats all

its all good no harm no foul.

rock on :rock:
 
I'm just wondering, did you ever try putting the 12ax7 back in V1? with the SED's installed. When you get new power tubes you should start out with the basic preamp tubes installed in there normal positions, I know you said that the ecc81 gave you better cleans but the thing is if you stuck the 12ax7 back in there with the SED's you might have got the balls back on the dirty channels and still had good cleans on the clean channel. Good luck with the kt66's but don't give up on the SED's without trying all your options. Going from a ecc81 to a 12ax7 in any amp in V1 will bring more ummph/balls back to the amp and I know that was your initial complaint about the SED's.
 
now ive ordered the sovteks and eh's as well so if the kt66's dont work put i can throw in the original cocktail of tubes and see what the fuss is about!!
 
JakeAC5253":3h4d94rk said:
Amps designed for 'clean' power sections are supposed to have their power tubes biased 'cold' :confused:

Bias them properly, then come back and give a proper review.
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Oddly enough I had some crumble in my Ch.1 of the VH4S a few weeks back. Talked to Peter aobut it, we ran through the glass in the amp. He recommended I bias the 6550's slightly hotter, kinda strange I thought, but sure enough, Ch.1 became clean again. Granted, the tubes swung from their original 35mA, but I just up'd them to 40mA and the cleans were super clean once again :dunno:

YMMV,
V.
 
deadweight":ragopgt7 said:
now ive ordered the sovteks and eh's as well so if the kt66's dont work put i can throw in the original cocktail of tubes and see what the fuss is about!!
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hopefully both work out =) , i'm half kicking myself for spending the money on the other preamp tubes only to find the original and stock were best, i guess i have spares for another amp
 
deadweight":397tfuwz said:
now ive ordered the sovteks and eh's as well so if the kt66's dont work put i can throw in the original cocktail of tubes and see what the fuss is about!!
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I did this with my ivory one about 6 months ago. I dig it. Replaced all the JJ preamp tubes that we're in it with the Sovtek and EH setup. Still have the JJ's in the power section with original factory biasing. Might address that at some point. I have all JJ's in my black amp though and I really like it's tone as well. Guess it depends on my mood.
 
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