5150 III Tube replacements vs stock

[stoneyboy16]

I have heard alot of variations as to what the 5150 III came with stock. Mine was one of the first 500 made and I had red rubys in the power section, mixture of sovteks and EH in the preamp section. I believe v2, v3, v5 and v6 were EH and v1, v4, v7 and v8 were sovtek. I am going to replace them, but not sure what to go with becuase I don't have alot of experience with other tubes. I was planning on going with all jj's with a balanced one in v8. Any comments or suggestions would be awesome.

Later

 

[Joe-TX]

Hey, new guy here too. Been registered but still lurking for a bit. Finally something I can post about.

I also have an early model 5150III 100w (snXXX505), mine has all EH Sovtek labeled tubes across the board.

As far as replacing them, I ran across this.
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... 59&page=34

5th post or so down is the EVH head engineer and his recommendations for 5150III 100w replacement tubes.

Hope this helps.

BTW, the early heads were biased at 20mA and the new ones at 30.
This is info came from the head engineer at Fender/EVH and designer of the 50w head.

 

[ibenhad]

Yeah he is recommending Fender branded tubes. I would contact Laura (valvequeen.com) and see what she recommends or offers up. I personally don't like JJ's. Good luck with the search and let us know what you get and your results.

 

[acalaf]

I would avoid JJ power tubes. Go with ruby instead.

 

[sgill72]

The 5153 is a very picky amp in regards to tubes. Particularly power tubes. Go with the JJ's. You can try a Sovtek in V1.

 

[Jordon]

I would avoid JJ power tubes. Go with ruby instead.

Quality control issues are out of control. I've had 5 (FIVE!!!!!) brand new sets blow on me after 20 minutes of playing time. Hell, one blew as soon as the amp came off standby. They were installed in two properly biased amps, and the tubes were correctly rated.

 

[acalaf]

you mean rubys or jjs?

 

[nwright]

4 of the 8 JJ preamp tubes that were stock in my 5150 III 100 watt head were microphonic.

My 50 watt III hasn't exhibited the same issue, I haven't checked what pre tubes are in it (I'm assuming JJ's).

 

[bonerhed]

Bringing this back expecting more suggestions.

I just had mine re tube with the "original" preamp lineup of EHs and Sovteks but with TADs in the power section, and the amp seems a lot brighter (not good for me) and seems to have less gain in channel two. It originally had all JJs (power and preamp). Any suggestions out there. I didn't do the swapping and bias-ing so I don't have the facts there, but it was done by a very respectable amp builder/tech in Los Angeles.

Thanks,
Alex

 

[madrigal77]

Mesas for power. Tug Sol in V1 and V4. Sovtek LPS in V8. The rest JJ's.

 

[nevusofota]

Bringing this back expecting more suggestions.

I just had mine re tube with the "original" preamp lineup of EHs and Sovteks but with TADs in the power section, and the amp seems a lot brighter (not good for me) and seems to have less gain in channel two. It originally had all JJs (power and preamp). Any suggestions out there. I didn't do the swapping and bias-ing so I don't have the facts there, but it was done by a very respectable amp builder/tech in Los Angeles.

Thanks,
Alex

Try Sovtek power tubes. I like the EH/Sovtek preamps. They do take some gain out of channel 2 but in turn tighten it up vs. the JJ's (which is what appeals to me for rhythm). They also gave me more room to boost channel 2 which creates a tighter, less saturated gain than the amp gain cranked.

 

[bonerhed]

Thanks for the tips. Right now I have two Mullards in V1 and V4; JJs in V2 and V3; EHs in V5 and V6; And LPS in V7 and V8. I'm liking it a lot better but it still a work in progress. I did try the Tung Sol's on V1 and V4 but like the Mullards a bit more. And those two better than the WCs that supposedly were used in those spots originally.

Thanks again.

Alex

 

[Laura]

I like using all JJ 12ax7's in mine. I tried a bunch of tubes and went back to JJ's. Power tube wise, I am digging SED's but The Sovtek WXT+'s sounded great also. Haven't tried Ruby's (which are the same as the rebranded Mesa tubes) but I am sure they would sound good also.

 

[the4thlast1]

Take Laura's advice and go with JJs in the preamp. IMO they sound best in that amp, Ive tried a lot of different preamp tubes in there.. I like the Sovtek wxt+ or the Ruby 6L6s in the power section.

 

[we intrupt this hour]

I am currently running a couple of nos tubes in my preamp, a RFT in v1; RCA somewhere in v2-v4. The rest are a mix between electroharmix, sovtek and tunsol 5751. The tone on this evh 5150 50w beast is breathtaking. The power tube is a different story. I'm running jjs. I appreciate the suggestions. Ill be trying some wxt's real soon and letcha know how that goes!

 

[stompboxfreak72]

I usually dont like JJs but Ive retubed my Stealth and 100 watt 5153 with them. I only buy from Valve Queen because I know if something goes wrong she will do everything she can to help me out. I bought those JJ kits from that tube guy in Seattle and the very first tube I installed had pins break before I ever plugged the Recto in.

Buy JJs from Valvequeen. Problem solved.

 

[jc986]

I have a 50w liked the way the JJ's sounded, but did some tube rolling with spare 12ax7's I had, and ended up liking the amp best with no JJ's in the pre.

Here's what I settled on:

V1 Tungsol
V2 Ruby AC7 HG
V3 Ruby 7025SS
V4 Ruby 7025SS
V5 Tungsol
V6 Ruby 7025SS
V9 Sovtek LPS

I am noticing less fizz and more clarity. Like taking a blanket off the cab.

 

[DAMIAN The MAN]

I have a 50w liked the way the JJ's sounded, but did some tube rolling with spare 12ax7's I had, and ended up liking the amp best with no JJ's in the pre.

Here's what I settled on:

V1 Tungsol
V2 Ruby AC7 HG
V3 Ruby 7025SS
V4 Ruby 7025SS
V5 Tungsol
V6 Ruby 7025SS
V9 Sovtek LPS

I am noticing less fizz and more clarity. Like taking a blanket off the cab.

Nice!
Is there any specific reason for having AC7 HG in V2 vs 7025SS in V3-V4-V6 ??

How do you find the Blue channel voice with the TungSol vs the stock JJ ?

 

[jc986]

I have a 50w liked the way the JJ's sounded, but did some tube rolling with spare 12ax7's I had, and ended up liking the amp best with no JJ's in the pre.

Here's what I settled on:

V1 Tungsol
V2 Ruby AC7 HG
V3 Ruby 7025SS
V4 Ruby 7025SS
V5 Tungsol
V6 Ruby 7025SS
V9 Sovtek LPS

I am noticing less fizz and more clarity. Like taking a blanket off the cab.

Nice!
Is there any specific reason for having AC7 HG in V2 vs 7025SS in V3-V4-V6 ??

How do you find the Blue channel voice with the TungSol vs the stock JJ ?

I had quite a few spare 12ax7's on hand since I had bought one of the tube kits from Doug's tubes, and I had seen someone else opt for the AC7 HG in V2 with the 7025SS in V3,4 & 6 with good results. Both tubes are Chinese, made in the Shuguang factory so I would imagine they are pretty similar. The 7025SS are out of production now.

The amp seems to be quite a bit quieter than with the JJ's as well. With the JJ's, the amps idle hum was louder than most other amps I've used, but with the new combination it's more in line with what I am used to. This wasn't a huge deal for me though since my ISP Decimator pretty much kills the noise completely either way.

Blue channel feels a little tighter, and maybe slightly less bass, but nothing that can't be added back with the Low control. Overall voicing seems to be about the same.

 

[DAMIAN The MAN]

Interesting, tnx for the info!
I fear however for too much gain and compression when it comes to Chinese 12AX7 ...