How do you roll?

If you're not recording each combo via reamping and then listening back later with fresh ears... you're wasting your time in my opinion.

Ideally you also want to compare these in a mix.

Differences in how a guitar tone sounds by itself is useless really... my 2c of course :D
 
No secrets here. A Tungsol in V1, JJ's in V2 & V3, and a Sovtek LPS in the PI spot. That's been my go-to in just about every amp I've owned, and rarely has it failed to produce great results. I flip-flop V1 and V2 in the Runt because of its layout, but other than that, same recipe for years.

If Im working with insane amounts of gain, I go with one of my USA GE 5751's in V2 to tame.
 
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No secrets here either.

I run all 12AX7WCs and an LPS in the PI

SLO based circuits I like to use ECC806S and Chinese 9th gen NOS. Sometimes I use WCs as well.

I do like to use NOS JAN philips 12AU7s in channels for cleans

All of these tubes have shot up in price lately. They’re getting hard to find or afford which is why I don’t play as much. It’s either these tubes or I sell the amps - nothing else sounds good to my ears.
 
True story, I met this dude at Mars Music in Tampa Fl, prolly’ 20 years ago.
I was in the amp room ripping shit up with
Madison amp.
These were popular amongst death metal dudes + Boss Metal Zone.
Madison + Metal Zone=the sound of actual death.

( silence is the sound of rotting…btw ).

Well, this dude heard me talking with
Al, the main Mars Sales Engineer dude ,
about Mullards & Telefunkens.
As I’m dippin’ and about to hop’ in my fat whip
( 81 Vette…-Chevette-),
And I hear “Hey dude, you got a minute?”,

Me:
“I always have the time for something fire..,
what’s up?”

Him:
“Listen man, I heard you talking about those new old stock 12ax7’s… man..give me a second ”..
(He then became emotionally distorted),
“I lost my wife to those damn Mullards and Telefunkens man.. argh!! “All this shit man.., these boutique f’n amps and all the bullshit that comes along with it”..”it’s all lies”.. “LIES!!”

Me: (mining the seam in my head-
“damn.. she must not have been easy on the eyes..a but’her’face maybe?)

Me for real: “You wanna start a band about it?”
-We both fervently chuckled,
(But y’all on RT know that I wasn’t kidding around)
I then pulled a “hobo slide” across my Vette’ hood & fired up that hard earned fat whip & dipped.
Al still works at GC, which was the old Mars building, (if you're from Tampa, I'm sure you know this). He's still got a ton of expensive shit, but I haven't set foot in that place in atleast 10 years. They tried to charge me $65 for a 10-pack of D'addarios. At the time, I actually had been ordering them online for $29.99 tax free, free shipping, of course, (back then). The guy at the counter basically called me a liar, (and i told him to look it up, since MF was his sister company for crying out loud). There it was. So then he told me they charge more because they work off commission. I proceeded to tell him to go fuck himself, and haven't been back since. But, my brother buys a lot from Al.
 
No secrets here. A Tungsol in V1, JJ's in V2 & V3, and a Sovtek LPS in the PI spot.
I have a similar; Chinese - Chinese - LPS recipe that I always end up which are mostly Marshalls.

But I start with power tubes. If the power tubes are shot the amp will sound like shit and be noisy no matter what. I've bought a couple of amps recently-ish that had totally shot power tubes. A set of good power tubes and they were a different amp. Tighter yet brighter yet richer mids, more quiet, better feel...everything.
 
I have a similar; Chinese - Chinese - LPS recipe that I always end up which are mostly Marshalls.

But I start with power tubes. If the power tubes are shot the amp will sound like shit and be noisy no matter what. I've bought a couple of amps recently-ish that had totally shot power tubes. A set of good power tubes and they were a different amp. Tighter yet brighter yet richer mids, more quiet, better feel...everything.
Absolutely. Plus, you don't know if it's biased too cold, or drifted too hot.
 
I don’t. I get what others recommend for my amp. If there’s something specific I’m trying to change I’ll ask specifically about that and trust their expertise, or try what I have in stock. I couldn’t be bothered to try a bunch of different combinations
 
If you're not recording each combo via reamping and then listening back later with fresh ears... you're wasting your time in my opinion.

Ideally you also want to compare these in a mix.

Differences in how a guitar tone sounds by itself is useless really... my 2c of course :D
So the only way is to record the amps in question? Completely disagree. That’s why I have a pair of ears that I use, and trust. When comparing power tubes there’s always a break in the action, as you power down to re install and re bias. Plus I don’t pummel my ears for hours at volume…a few minutes with each tube set is all I need. It’s very obvious to me, with my Marshalls over the years, that vintage power/pre tubes make a HUGE difference. I don’t need to record it to notice. It’s right there in front of me, coming out of my 4x12.
 
If you're not recording each combo via reamping and then listening back later with fresh ears... you're wasting your time in my opinion.

Ideally you also want to compare these in a mix.

Differences in how a guitar tone sounds by itself is useless really... my 2c of course :D

Yeah, I don't really agree with the recording part of this. But I think there is merit to the "compare it in a mix" comment. Although, that's what the tone controls are there for. I think you can get a pretty good baseline of the meat and potatoes of the amp when playing it by itself.
 
So the only way is to record the amps in question? Completely disagree. That’s why I have a pair of ears that I use, and trust. When comparing power tubes there’s always a break in the action, as you power down to re install and re bias. Plus I don’t pummel my ears for hours at volume…a few minutes with each tube set is all I need. It’s very obvious to me, with my Marshalls over the years, that vintage power/pre tubes make a HUGE difference. I don’t need to record it to notice. It’s right there in front of me, coming out of my 4x12.
That's cool if that works for you. Still think it needs a mix rather than testing iso.
Main reason is a little tube difference we obsess about might be irrelevant when put into a mix. As all those nuances may be lost

I personally do the record thing so I can totally let my ears reset (maybe a day or 2 later) and then go back to compare results.
And purely listen without having to play at the same time. (I'll usually do this blind too so i can't tell which test is which)

But i'm a bit OCD and nuts so definitely overkill :)
 
^ PS. The young version me in his 20's who used to just get up on stage and let it rock before partying with chicks would think this version of me is a loser 🤣
 
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