EVH 50 Watt tube swapping results

[mixn4him]

I have a Tung Sol in V1, JJ's everywhere else and an LPS in PI slot. Also changed the JJ 6L6's to Sovtek 5881 waffer bottoms and reset the bias , mine was glued wide open, sounds soo much better now. I beleive the Sovteks and correct bias made the biggest tone and feel impact..

 

[Harley90]

Thanks Much for Posting the info, the amp is on my short list....lots of them out there reasonably priced and they sound great at low volumes too.

 

[hammered]

Thanks Much for Posting the info, the amp is on my short list....lots of them out there reasonably priced and they sound great at low volumes too.

It definietly sounds really good at low volumes but it sounded like thunder when cranked up

 

[sytharnia1560]

man my tastes must be so different to every one else because I have the treble on full and the presence on 4 o'clock (so almost full as well)....and even then sometimes I think it needs to be a bit brighter

 

[crankyrayhanky]

man my tastes must be so different to every one else because I have the treble on full and the presence on 4 o'clock (so almost full as well)....and even then sometimes I think it needs to be a bit brighter

 

[jcj]

man my tastes must be so different to every one else because I have the treble on full and the presence on 4 o'clock (so almost full as well)....and even then sometimes I think it needs to be a bit brighter

Could also be the rest of your signal chain.

 

[DADA]

When I had my 5150 50 watters last year I used this thread for reference and after everything was said and done I felt the results of swapping in a bunch of different preamp tubes was pretty minimal and went back to all the stock JJs before I sold the 5150s in part so they would be in original condition when sold . The Sovtek 12AX7 LPS in V2 did cut some out of the harshness from the red channel. If I had to do it all over again I would have probably went with a Ruby 12AX7 HG+ in V1 and the Sovtek in V2 and left everything else stock JJs

Thanks Hammered!

Just installed the Ruby 12AX7 HG+ and the Sovtek 12Ax7 LPS and this in my 5150III 50W. First impression is that it is indeed less harsh.

Tomorrow the loud band test.

 

[hammered]

When I had my 5150 50 watters last year I used this thread for reference and after everything was said and done I felt the results of swapping in a bunch of different preamp tubes was pretty minimal and went back to all the stock JJs before I sold the 5150s in part so they would be in original condition when sold . The Sovtek 12AX7 LPS in V2 did cut some out of the harshness from the red channel. If I had to do it all over again I would have probably went with a Ruby 12AX7 HG+ in V1 and the Sovtek in V2 and left everything else stock JJs

Thanks Hammered!

Just installed the Ruby 12AX7 HG+ and the Sovtek 12Ax7 LPS and this in my 5150III 50W. First impression is that it is indeed less harsh.

Tomorrow the loud band test.

Cool , hope it works out for you

 

[DADA]

Yep. These are a keeper!

 

[Speeddemon]

Hey Herrieman

Question: would the RUBY in V1 be that much different (darker) than a vintage RFT (which I have now in V1)?

 

[DADA]

The same Speeddemon? Cheriooooo

Well the Ruby will be closed examined the comming days. Have to check the Snax settings. After the tube swap I experienced some extra noise. Noise Ratio Alarm Check. Ruby vs the JJ is the first to check. Second all the input and output levels to minimize Noise and Snax Tone Suckage. The Sovtek did what was expected. Less harsh Red channel.

 

[hammered]

Hey Herrieman

Question: would the RUBY in V1 be that much different (darker) than a vintage RFT (which I have now in V1)?

I had both the RFT and Ruby in V1 in my 50 watt , RFT was darker to my ears

 

[DADA]

So did some testing yesterday.
- the Ruby in V1 makes all 3 channels a bit warmer.
- the Ruby in V1 produce 1 a 2 dB less noise on high gain channel 3.
- the Sovtek moves the sound character of the red towards the blue and reduces some harshness.

For guys with a Snax Ultra in 4CM here some tips. Yep it is a challenge between tone suckage and hiss/noise.
So we ALWAYS experience some tone suckage and we ALWAYS experience some hiss and noise.
Gain Settings EVH Amp: Green/Blue channel 9 O-clock and Red channel 8 O-clock

First stage
To minimise hiss/noise optimise the SNR (sound noise ratio) by pushing the signal before the EVH amp.
Try to match the snax signal by A/Bing snax signal vs direct guitar signal. (EVH Amp effects loop of) and avoid clipping.
Snax settings: Input Snax EffLp Block: Clean +12db, Blue +7dB, Red +4 dB.
(Out2 Pot: 2 o'clock)


Second stage
(Input2 Pot: Full Clockwise)
The same SNR optimisation is needed combined with the volume mismatch between Green and Blue.
Push (Output Snax Eff-Lp Block) the Green signal towards clipping and after that back of a bit till the sound character between EVH effloop on/of stays the same.
Match the loudness of the Blue channel.
The SNR of the Red channel can be further optimized by pushing the signal till tone suckage becomes emminent and then back off a bit. Clean +12db, Blue -1 dB, Red +4 dB
Yep the signals into the power amp with the EVH Loop on are significant louder for better SNR results.
(Output 1 Pot: 2 O-clock.

AND DO NOT FORGET THE NOISE GATE BLOCK AFTER THE EFFECTS LOOP BLOCK.

Good Luck. And yes it sounds Less Realer.

 

[hammered]

I have a Tung Sol in V1, JJ's everywhere else and an LPS in PI slot. Also changed the JJ 6L6's to Sovtek 5881 waffer bottoms and reset the bias , mine was glued wide open, sounds soo much better now. I beleive the Sovteks and correct bias made the biggest tone and feel impact..

How much does the tone differ with the 5881s vs the 6L6s

 

[Rex Rocker]

I don't have a 5150, but in my Peavey XXX and Krank Rev Jr., I love those Sovtek 5881's especially when paired with a Sovtek 12AX7LPS in the PI position!

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I HIGHLY recommend trying the Sovtek LPS in V2. In my opinion, it has changed that channel from an essentially unusable one to a really good one.

It doesn't look like this profile exists anymore. Too bad; this recommendation was awesome!
I'm not a huge tube swapper, but this move Sovtek LPS in V2 made a very cool improvement in ch3

 

[midnightlaundry]

Sovtek 5881's last a long time but sound like..

 

[midnightlaundry]

There was a giant thread on TGP about these amps.. Didn't Eddie spec out JJ ECC83S's? If the amp was designed with those tubes then..