Splawn nitro tube question

[magnum]

I just got a splawn nitro (thanks kurt) that has EL34's in it but I'm curious what kind of effect the KT77's and KT88's have on the sound. I'm trying to get a very high amount of gain with good low end while the overall response remains articulate and controlled.

 

[TX6Strings]

I just got a splawn nitro (thanks kurt) that has EL34's in it but I'm curious what kind of effect the KT77's and KT88's have on the sound. I'm trying to get a very high amount of gain with good low end while the overall response remains articulate and controlled.

Shreadhead75 (I believe is his screen name) over on HS is the guy to ask. He's on here as well but not as much.

While I have a Nitro I run EL34's in mine and haven't switched them over to KT-77s. He has run both in his Nitro and could give you a better idea than I could.

From what I understand the 77's won't give you any more gain than the EL34's or 88's. The low end will be more pronounced with the 77's or 88's over the 34's but from what I understand the low end always stays articulate and controlled as long as you don't go crazy with the bass and resonance.

 

[fearhk213]

I never played the EL34 version, but the KT77 version has an incredible punchy bass response. No problems keeping the bass articulate and controlled either. The amount of gain is relative and I didn't find it overly saturated. As a reference, I used 2nd gear at 3-4 o'clock on the Nitro for a similar amount of gain I got at 11-12 on channel 3 of a Herbert or 1 o'clock on an Uberschall.

 

[strungup]

You wont be able to use KT-88's in the nitro without a mod unless you bought it that way. I have only used the 77's in my nitro and I really like them. Windsen bought his with EL-34's switched to 77's and now is back with EL-34's. I think the biggest complaint I have heard with the 77's is the tubes going bad really fast. I have only had the amp over a month now so I can't really comment on the tube life since i have had no problems. I would say windsen has clocked the most time with different tubes and has tried several EL-34 brands. In fact he probably has more time with a nitro in general than anyone one I know. He is the one to ask.

 

[windsen]

hey magnum, this is windsen. i have experimented a bunch with different tubes in the nitro including sed winged Cs, kt77s, ruby el34b-strs and most recently tung-sol 34lbs, which splawn has started to use in place of the kt77s...for good reason imo.

the kt77s will give you a really strong and punchy low end. that's what i loved about those tubes. however they also are really prominent in the lower mids. this in conjunction with the voicing of the nitro can make things sound really boomy if not dialed in correctly. you can definately get great tones from the tubes. i did a lot of recordings with them (https://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... dID=358837) & (https://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... dID=812881). check out http://www.netmusicians.org/index.php?s ... wn%20Nitro also for a lot of great nitro recordings with kt77s.

however i felt that the amp had more than enough lows/low mids and was missing some of that mid snarl that standard el34s provide. out of all the el34's i tried, i felt the tung-sol el34bs were the tightest and most responsive. the SEDs sounded great but the low end was a bit too spongy in the amp (they are badass in the quickrod though!). the ruby's are kickass. they are a very even sounding tube. tight low end. the tung-sols have a bit more character in the mids. but they are super touch sensitive and really help give the nitro a quicker response. they were the tightest el34 out of the ones i tried too.

i'm planning on doing some proper recordings of the amp with the tung-sols but i did happen to throw together a brief video that has the nitro with the tung-sols in them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaqU36oLDIQ

also, i'd highly suggest messing with the preamp tubes. i've recently switched to using shuguang 9th gens in some of the preamp positions. helps give the amp some bite and tightens up the low end even more!

let me know if you have any more questions and i'd be happy to help. enjoy the new amp!

-windsen