duende questions?

[joepete77]

I just got my new duende today! I was first turned on to the duende while testing out a purple anniversary combo and absolutely loved it! Although my new amp shares similiar tones it isnt quite as nice sounding. I noticed that the purple one had a 5y3 rec tube while mine has 5ar4 rec and was wondering if this could be why the diff in tones?? I also was wondering if I could simply install a 5y3 in mine with no damage or mods needed? anyone have any experiance with trying out some nos 12ax7 preamp tubes to improve tone ?? I also notice that I can hear a slight reverb effect even when the reverb knobs are turned all the way down, anyone else notice this? Is there any tonal differance in older duende models ? any experianced input is appreciated, thanks

 

[H Golf Sport]

5y3 rec is for the 12 watt 10" speaker version. Not sure if you can replace that in the 15 watt 12" version. Call Bogner they can give you the answer. I don't have any rev. bleed but mine is also the Seco Mojado version. I believe the gain channel was revoiced in the newer version. Again bogner can give you the details or try Rob at tone merchants. Rob really seems to know the bogner line well.
I replaced the sovtek LPS in V1 with a chinese. Slightly brighter not a big difference. sovtek was microphonic. Liked the thickness of the sovtek better. Don't have any NOS to try.
Give the speaker a couple hours at high volume to break in. That said I like the amp much better through a 2x12 closed back cab with greenbacks. Don't know if replacing the stock speaker with a greenback would be an improvement. Maybe that new j series scumback? Stock speaker works great for cleans though have no desire to swap it out right now.
Hope this helps.

Aloha, Rob.

 

[joepete77]

Hey, thanks for the help. I know that on bogners website etc they list that the 5y3 rec tube comes in the 12 watt 10inch version but thE one I liked originally was the normal sized cab with a 12 inch speaker like mine. On a groove tube site it said that with some amps that run the 5ar4 a 5y3 can be used for earlier breakup and more crunch but less headroom but I want to be sure i can try without damaging the amp. I have an old english made celestion Heritage I was thinking of trying just to see but I think I will wait a bit first to see if break in could help like you said above. I played the amp again for a while and really got adjusted to the creamy dark tone of the duende, after i didnt really care for my marshall as much!!