Tubes for Marshall DSL

[metalowns101]

hullo there! Jesus, it's been a long time since I made a post on rig talk, I've almost missed you lot!

Anyhow, my DSL has sat pretty redundant for a couple of years, due to a lack of a gigging band. So, i've decided it's time to breathe a new life into the ol' girl. I've been having a quick look around at tubes/valves, and to be honest i'm bloody confused! I have no idea what to go for, but then I found that hotrox is doing a deal for a set of JJ tubes for a dsl50. Kerching!

The kit consists of 2x E34L JJ (matched) and 4x ecc83 for the pre-amp stage, for a pretty good price that I can afford right now.

has anyone had any experience with JJ tubes in their DSL, is this a good deal for a good set of tubes or should I be looking somewhere else?

Cheers fellas!

 

[Doubleneck]

Put some SED EL34's and Chinese preamp tubes in that amp. It will sing.

 

[metalowns101]

bump?

 

[PeteLaramee]

I'm not a fan of JJs at all. I like SED <C> or Ruby EL34BSTR power tubes and chinese preamp tubes.

 

[lame guitarist]

Put some SED EL34's and Chinese preamp tubes in that amp. It will sing.

what he said

 

[MississippiMetal]

A lot of people talk about their preference for power tubes, but honestly in the DSL the majority of your tone is coming from the preamp. People who crank their 50 and 100 watt amps up a little bit go "Oh wow listen to that power tube distortion!"

FAIL.

That's likely phase inverter breakup you're hearing. Power tube distortion for anything other than classic rock and blues sounds like shit.

What you should really be concerned with when it comes to power tubes is how well matched they are and what kind of perceivable headroom you'll get. Sure, there might be a subtle difference between two labels of tubes, but it's not enough to justify spending an extra $80-100 or whatever to employ that difference, usually.

With JJ Tubes, my DSL sounds like a DSL. With Winged C's, it sounded like a DSL. And I'm willing to bet with Rubys, it'll sound like a DSL.

The two biggest tube factors of your tone in a DSL is going to be V1 and V4. V2 and V3 could care less as long as they are being fed some halfway decent tubes.

My advice? Pick some well-matched, cost-effective power tubes, install & bias and then have at it (after a recommended burn-in if they don't already come burned-in).

 

[metalowns101]

cheers guys! Does anyone know a good place in the UK to buy tubes/valves from? HOTROXUK has a big selection and some NOS tubes, but no SED that I can see? There's svetlana winged C's though....

http://www.hotroxuk.com/matched-valves- ... 909-0.html

 

[Marshall Law]

I love JJ tubes never a problem, sound great I can't stand chinese preamp tubes personally

 

[metalowns101]

Cheers for the input man What amp are you using in the first video on your bands site? Great tone with that les paul!

 

[Marshall Law]

Cheers for the input man What amp are you using in the first video on your bands site? Great tone with that les paul!

thats a 1x12 carr hammerhead 30 watt combo amp it is killer

 

[metalowns101]

Sounds huuuuggggeee for a 30 watt combo, I gotta get me one o' them!.......Can you even get them in the UK?

EDIT: bugger that, for 1700 GBP in the uk it bloody better sound that good!

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Ruby EL34's sound great in mine!