Favorite tubes for EVH 5150 III

[lettmusic]

I've been experimenting with different tubes on the EVH 50-watt head. The TAD 6L6 that usually sounds good in my Randall MTS doesn't really quite work in the EVH, but I did find a Mesa Boogie 12AX7 works a bit better in the phase inverter than the JJ.
What some of your favorite 6L6 and 12AX7 that you use in your 5150 III?

 

[nevusofota]

I have both the 50 and the 100. I really like the original tubes that came with the early 100w over the later JJ's. It has a mix of EHX pres and Sovtek powers. Haven't tried replacing the stock 50 tubes with these yet.

 

[jinch0]

Bump for this, but from what i have heard so far JJ's are the best for this amp

 

[lettmusic]

Bump for this, but from what i have heard so far JJ's are the best for this amp

thanks man, like I said, tried a couple different ones but the JJ sounded the best so far both in power and preamp.

 

[lettmusic]

I have both the 50 and the 100. I really like the original tubes that came with the early 100w over the later JJ's. It has a mix of EHX pres and Sovtek powers. Haven't tried replacing the stock 50 tubes with these yet.

So it's EHX as in Electro Harmonix?

 

[jinch0]

Should try experimenting with the bias

 

[nevusofota]

I have both the 50 and the 100. I really like the original tubes that came with the early 100w over the later JJ's. It has a mix of EHX pres and Sovtek powers. Haven't tried replacing the stock 50 tubes with these yet.

So it's EHX as in Electro Harmonix?

Yes. and they weren't all EHX pre's, there is a mix of Sovtek and EHX pre's. Power tubes are all Sovtek. Definitely like the Sovtek powers over the JJ's in EVH amps. I think someone did a clip years ago of the difference and it was noticeable.

 

[lettmusic]

I have both the 50 and the 100. I really like the original tubes that came with the early 100w over the later JJ's. It has a mix of EHX pres and Sovtek powers. Haven't tried replacing the stock 50 tubes with these yet.

So it's EHX as in Electro Harmonix?

Yes. and they weren't all EHX pre's, there is a mix of Sovtek and EHX pre's. Power tubes are all Sovtek. Definitely like the Sovtek powers over the JJ's in EVH amps. I think someone did a clip years ago of the difference and it was noticeable.

is this true for both the 100w and the 50w ?

 

[nevusofota]

I have both the 50 and the 100. I really like the original tubes that came with the early 100w over the later JJ's. It has a mix of EHX pres and Sovtek powers. Haven't tried replacing the stock 50 tubes with these yet.

So it's EHX as in Electro Harmonix?

Yes. and they weren't all EHX pre's, there is a mix of Sovtek and EHX pre's. Power tubes are all Sovtek. Definitely like the Sovtek powers over the JJ's in EVH amps. I think someone did a clip years ago of the difference and it was noticeable.

is this true for both the 100w and the 50w ?

No, only about the first 1000 or so 100w amps had this mix of tubes. By the time the 50w version came out Fender was using only JJ's in all of their amps (100w and 50w).

 

[acalaf]

Sadly, mesa 12ax7 ARE jj's. This broke my heart when I found out. I bought a mesa SPAX7, cut the black rubber surrounding it, and compared it to the pres in my 5153 50 watt, and they are the exact same tube (jj's). The only reason the mesa tube could sound better than the jj in your amp might be because it is newer or maybe because it's closer to spec. IMO, jj pres make you want to sell your amp. They kill your high end and send you into a downward spiral of depression, that you only come out of until you buy any other brand of preamp tubes.

 

[4Eyes]

it depends on what you're after, if you want to get little darker character or get rid of some harsh hi-end, you might want to try JJ E803CC in preamp

 

[Kevin11]

Was lucky enough to play through a first-run, pre-JJ 5150 III 100w right when they first came out. I still can't get that tone out of my head. Just an incredible sounding amp. A year or so later, I played through a friend's brand new JJ loaded EVH and I couldn't believe the difference. I couldn't stand it. I'd just experimented with JJs in my Bogner at the time and knew right away why I didn't like his EVH. They impart this overbearing mid-range honk that I don't gel with at all. I'm always surprised when I hear players talk about how much they love JJs because I'd go digital before I ever used them again. Maybe they just don't play well with low-mid voiced amps like the 101B and EVH.

That sound is all over 'A Different Kind of Truth' and a number of live clips from the first few shows on that tour unfortunately. Then at some point EVH decided to yank the JJs (not sure what he replaced them with), and clips from those later shows are worlds better.

 

[Joe-TX]

I own two 5150III 100w heads, an early one with the EHX/Sovtek mix of tubes and a later version with all JJ's. Both amps still have all the original tubes in them. The only thing I've done is rebias both amps to 30ma.
Both amps do sound a bit different from each other to me but it's not a huge difference. If I had to describe the difference in sound I would say that the EHX/Sovtek tubes sound a bit harsher in the highs and the JJs are warmer overall.
Some days I like the EHX sound better and some days I like the JJ's better.
When it's time to retube I'm probably going to go all JJs.

 

[EVHpickdust]

The only thing I've done is rebias both amps to 30ma.

Do you know what the factory bias is on those?

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

U guys need to try some vintage preamp tubes.

 

[lettmusic]

The only thing I've done is rebias both amps to 30ma.

Do you know what the factory bias is on those?

I recalled my tech, who is an EVH Gold Service guy, told me it was 32 or 36ma, couldn't remember exactly which, but it was definitely over 30.

 

[Joe-TX]

The only thing I've done is rebias both amps to 30ma.

Do you know what the factory bias is on those?

One was at 15ma and the other 20ma. The earlier amps were being sent out biased really cold for some reason. I don't know what the factory bias is on newer amps though.

 

[tommytom11]

Was lucky enough to play through a first-run, pre-JJ 5150 III 100w right when they first came out. I still can't get that tone out of my head. Just an incredible sounding amp. A year or so later, I played through a friend's brand new JJ loaded EVH and I couldn't believe the difference. I couldn't stand it. I'd just experimented with JJs in my Bogner at the time and knew right away why I didn't like his EVH. They impart this overbearing mid-range honk that I don't gel with at all. I'm always surprised when I hear players talk about how much they love JJs because I'd go digital before I ever used them again. Maybe they just don't play well with low-mid voiced amps like the 101B and EVH.

That sound is all over 'A Different Kind of Truth' and a number of live clips from the first few shows on that tour unfortunately. Then at some point EVH decided to yank the JJs (not sure what he replaced them with), and clips from those later shows are worlds better.

he never yanked the JJ preamps

 

[lettmusic]

well, I got some new JJ preamp tubes, 2 Golds and 2 regular 12AX7s, 3 Mullard ECC83 put into the preamp. also replaced the power with TAD 6L6. Not sure if I like the TAD in there, they seem to lack bass compare to the JJ, and the tone is not that much better, I do like the preamps though, seems to give the amp a bit more harmonic richness.
Will report back with more results.

 

[madrigal77]

What TAD are you guys using? I'm using the 6L6GC-STR in my 100w and they sound killer. Tons of low end. A lot more than the JJ's and Mesa's I've tried in there.