Anyone try Gold Lion KT88's in their Uber TJ....??

[Ventura]

Just wondering if anyone's pimped out their rig with these apparently buttery smooth and smokin' hot KT88's?

Secondly, what preamp tube recommendations are out there (new Uberschall Twin Jet)?? Reason I am asking is I'm putting together an order for tubes for another couple amps, and figured, what the hell - cheaper by the dozen - so just wondering what people's experiences with power/preamp varieties are.

Thanks in advance
V.

PS - I'd like to stick with KT88's, I think they sound bloody awesome...

 

[TheMagicEight]

Just wondering if anyone's pimped out their rig with these apparently buttery smooth and smokin' hot KT88's?

Secondly, what preamp tube recommendations are out there (new Uberschall Twin Jet)?? Reason I am asking is I'm putting together an order for tubes for another couple amps, and figured, what the hell - cheaper by the dozen - so just wondering what people's experiences with power/preamp varieties are.

Thanks in advance
V.

PS - I'd like to stick with KT88's, I think they sound bloody awesome...

Personally, I love the Sovtek LPS in the phase inverter! I could see it working well in V1, V2, V4 or all three, but for now I have Chinese in all positions and an LPS in the PI. The LPS has a slightly darker character with a ton of body, not much fizz that you get with Chinese tubes, and a flat out awesome tone!

I think someone had put the Gold Lions in their Twin Jet on this forum and really liked them.

 

[Ventura]

Well thanks for that... My post was more about the power section than the pre-amp section, but I'll take whatever opinions are out there for my future tube search. I'm digging my stock KT88's and whatever the hell Reinhold and Co. put in the pre-amp and PI section as a default...but just looking around out there. I have a killer line on some quad matched Gold Lion tubes (all sorts) so I was just wondering if it's worth going this route.

Are the preamp tubes stocked with Chinese/Shuguang? I've not taken a good enough look inside my chassis... Sovtek eh? I'll do some checking. I'm a Tung Sol fan from the past - as well as TAD tubes for preamp. I'll not want to start moving and shaking anything until I "need" to, but it's good fodder for thought.

I'll keep my eyes AND ears open - and hey, THANKS!!!

Namaste,
V.

 

[TheMagicEight]

Well thanks for that... My post was more about the power section than the pre-amp section, but I'll take whatever opinions are out there for my future tube search. I'm digging my stock KT88's and whatever the hell Reinhold and Co. put in the pre-amp and PI section as a default...but just looking around out there. I have a killer line on some quad matched Gold Lion tubes (all sorts) so I was just wondering if it's worth going this route.

Here's what I thought I heard earlier on the Gold Lions in the Twin Jet:

Today after I installed a quad of Gold Lion Reissue KT88s-
.

How did the Gold Lion KT88s change the amp compared to the stock sovteks? Are they worth the $?

Tighter, more clarity, bigger sonic footprint. WELL WORTH THE MONEY!!! I put these in My Elmwood M90 and same thing there.

 

[lolzgreg]

I like my Gold Lions in my Engl Savage, if that helps

 

[billm408]

Can't speak to the TJ, but I've got GL KT88's in my 101B and it kills!

 

[emperor_black]

At first I read the title as Gold Loins and thought it was a nice name.

 

[Ventura]

Can't speak to the TJ, but I've got GL KT88's in my 101B and it kills!

Does it pull into a nice rich hi-gain zone with OOOMPH??? How about crunch and dirt??

Any info - bless.

V.

 

[Ventura]

Lovin' the Gold Lion's in my TJ. Sounds killer.

Snider, right on man - can you give me a little description as to the difference in sound from stock, or what the clean, crunch, rock/gain, HI-GAIN territory sounds like?

What are you running for preamps?

Peace,
V.

 

[billm408]

Does it pull into a nice rich hi-gain zone with OOOMPH??? How about crunch and dirt??
Any info - bless.

V.

Here's a quick vid. Plenty of OOMPH!

 

[Ventura]

Billm408 & Snider - thanks both for your input... The GL's sound pretty round and full in the vid - albeit recordings never give all the detail - but I really appreciate you taking the time to upload that little soundbite.

I'll think about my options and will more than likely go the Gold Lion KT88 route when it's time. I've seen some chat about Sovtek preamps, Chinese/Shuguang, any other options out there - like TAD or Tung Sol?

I can keep things as they are and will most certainly do just that - like I said, I just got a killer lead on some pimp pricing on tubes that I can't forgo...

Best,
V.

 

[TheMagicEight]

The Tung-Sol preamp tubes I've had in my Bogners have been a little too bright for me without enough detail. Didn't really like them.

 

[billm408]

According to Charly at Bogner, the amps are designed for the Chinese preamp tubes- easier to find and less expensive to replace. I haven't run through a ton of configurations, but the experimenting I've done hasn't yielded any better results over the stock tubes. YMMV.

 

[FourT6and2]

Does it pull into a nice rich hi-gain zone with OOOMPH??? How about crunch and dirt??
Any info - bless.

V.

Here's a quick vid. Plenty of OOMPH!

Tone is good, but please tune your guitar when you make a video!

 

[billm408]

Tone is good, but please tune your guitar when you make a video!

Yeah, new strings & still stretching them out. Wasn't planning to record but thought I'd do a quick down n dirty clip of the GL KT88's for Ventura.

 

[hunter]

Tighter, more clarity, bigger sonic footprint. I biased it up around 38ma which is totally fine. It will roar not that it doesn't stock.

What's the plate voltage? Isn't that biased very cold?

 

[Ventura]

Tone is good, but please tune your guitar when you make a video!

Yeah, new strings & still stretching them out. Wasn't planning to record but thought I'd do a quick down n dirty clip of the GL KT88's for Ventura.

And for this I am super thankful... Tuning in or out, this was awesome.

Peace,
V.

 

[AusTexCap]

Would you guys say that the Gold Lions are the tightest KT88s on the market today? Would you recommend getting the soft-rated for the TJ?

 

[Ventura]

This is the brand and model that I'm going to go with when my current, stock Sovteks give up the ghost...

http://thetubestore.com/goldlionkt88.html

As for my lil' postulation on preamps in the other thread, I may go with TAD or Tung Sol in the V1 and V2 stages of the preamp, and then go with high grade Chinese (12AX7B) for the rest. I'll run this config by Rob at TM first and foremost, just to make sure we're good with the 2 oddball preamps up front, but I'm sure it is. I've used GL tubes in several other amps, and it's not just the packaging - they are beautiful rich potent tubes.

V.