K
Kevin11
Active member
For owners or players considering the EHV Stealth...
I threw a JJ 12AU7 in V1 recently just for kicks to see what it would do. In short, it's staying. If the blue channel on the original 5150 III doesn't have enough gain, and the Stealth has too much, this is the perfect middle ground IMHO. I highly recommend trying it. Folks that actually care about this stuff can read on...
It completely opens up the range on the gain knob from zero to 11 o'clock / noon on all three channels. You're no longer hit with gain as soon as you roll up from zero. Green was only "pristine" just above zero. Now, it's variations of useable clean all the way up to 9 o'clock or so and the grit doesn't come in until after that. On blue, 9 o'clock is way more in "clean overdrive" territory. It's much less saturated with a nice mid-gain, JCM800-ish kerrang, which was a great surprise. It's perfect for almost any low or mid-gain tones you'd want. Then for reference, the VH1 saturation/sizzle starts around 10-11 and gets more modern above that. All the gain you'd ever want is still there, it just comes a little higher on the dial (9 before is noon after). I liked red OK before, but love it now and use it all the time. With a boost/od pedal added, which is MUCH more useable with a 12AU7, the amp is insanely versatile.
I threw a JJ 12AU7 in V1 recently just for kicks to see what it would do. In short, it's staying. If the blue channel on the original 5150 III doesn't have enough gain, and the Stealth has too much, this is the perfect middle ground IMHO. I highly recommend trying it. Folks that actually care about this stuff can read on...
It completely opens up the range on the gain knob from zero to 11 o'clock / noon on all three channels. You're no longer hit with gain as soon as you roll up from zero. Green was only "pristine" just above zero. Now, it's variations of useable clean all the way up to 9 o'clock or so and the grit doesn't come in until after that. On blue, 9 o'clock is way more in "clean overdrive" territory. It's much less saturated with a nice mid-gain, JCM800-ish kerrang, which was a great surprise. It's perfect for almost any low or mid-gain tones you'd want. Then for reference, the VH1 saturation/sizzle starts around 10-11 and gets more modern above that. All the gain you'd ever want is still there, it just comes a little higher on the dial (9 before is noon after). I liked red OK before, but love it now and use it all the time. With a boost/od pedal added, which is MUCH more useable with a 12AU7, the amp is insanely versatile.
