Thanks Badger, you made my day! You're always very kind and helpful toward me.

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New EP Louder Than Life available on bandcamp and website. Taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Dale.

Congrats!
Every surfers needs a board and a tank!

When you have to shoot ... shoot! Don't talk.

"Los Grainders" > https://losgrainders.bandcamp.com
"The Strings Aflame" > https://thestringsaflame.bandcamp.com
"Planeta Reverb" > www.instagram.com/planetareverb

And the entire world noted his ignorance...

So... the advantage to having a separate 'tank' is that it can be used with any amp much like the pedals that are used by us poor pedal pushers?

Please note that I DO have real reverb in the form of my '65 Gibson Invader RVT COMBO amplifier.

And I got a Fender Champion 40 SOLID STATE which has lotsa features and superior verb though yes, it is tank-less.
So what can a poor boy to do? Cept to sing play in a rock roll surfn'twang band?

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

Changing out tubes to get what you like is not a mod; all-season radials vs. off-road tires, etc., 'nuff said. As psychonaut (and many others here) said, use the tone knob and play with the settings.

My limited experience (but a lot of playing with different tubes in the past year just for fun) is that the RCA, benchmark for longevity, consistency etc.) can be a very bright tube. Some others are rather lifeless (like a Serbian I've got sitting around). Currently using an old "Wizard" which looks like it was meant to be RCA-clone from awhile ago. Just a touch less bright, but nothing the tone knob won't fix.

Doug has forgotten more than I'll ever know about tubes, but my limited experience is that the 12AX7WA has a bit too much drive for me. My tech told me the 12AX7WC was a special tube request from Fender some time ago to have a bit less gain & the 2 inside halves of the tube better balanced between each other. These are easily found new, old JAN, etc., and not expensive. I just tried one because that design goal made sense, given that tube does two functions: Tone of the recovered reverb signal and buffering of the dry signal to be Mixed.

Modern 5751's are mostly krap imo. Old GE or Sylvania 5751's are lovely in guitar pre-amps for smoothing the gain, but I've found them a no-go in a tank. YMMV.

For the 12AT7 in an inexpensive tube, try the Electro-Harmonix 12AT7EH. Very balanced tube; also worked good as a Phase Inverter in my BJr when I had it.

You can contact Fender Customer Spt with the SN & they can tell you when it was made. It likely came with the off-shore Korean Accutronics/Belton tank, which has been shown via the recent shootouts to actually be not so bad.

First, play with all the knobs.

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

Hey guys, I inserted the cable from the tank into the "low gain" slot of my Peavey 112 amp this morning, and I really like the way it sounded. Up until now, I've always used the high gain slot, even with my Flint pedal. The tone was nice, and it wasn't as loud. I can only imagine how good it will sound when my new tubes arrive. Btw, I checked my pan to see where it was made, and it said "Made in U.S.A." Anyway, I am loving this tank! I will never go back to a pedal!

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New EP Louder Than Life available on bandcamp and website. Taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Dale.

Last edited: Feb 13, 2015 13:16:34

Hey Sos,

Does that Invader have the killer tremolo? I had Gibson Falcon of that same vintage and it had a killer trem. A pretty nice amp really. Not loud enough to play with the band but it sure sounded smooth.

I have been sneaking peaks at those Champion 40's as a lug around option, like it huh?

ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

SixStringSurfer wrote:

Hey guys, I installed 3 "new" vintage tubes, and what a difference in sound/tone. It seems to be much smoother, less harsh, a tad more bass, I am loving it! I used a latex glove so I wouldn't touch the tube with my fingers. It also seems as if there is a tad more reverb, but that may just be in my head. Anyway, I am loving this tank more and more every time I play it.

Cool!

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

NOS RCA 6K6GT, NOS 12AT7, and a JAN Philips 12AX7WA. All tubes ordered from Doug's Tubes over the phone. Doug was very knowledgeable, and took the time to explain everything to me.

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New EP Louder Than Life available on bandcamp and website. Taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Dale.

Noel wrote:

SixStringSurfer wrote:

NOS RCA 6K6GT, NOS 12AT7, and a JAN Philips 12AX7WA. All tubes ordered from Doug's Tubes over the phone. Doug was very knowledgeable, and took the time to explain everything to me.

Thanks! It always helps to surf the very best!
Yes it does!

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New EP Louder Than Life available on bandcamp and website. Taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Dale.

Glad you like the result. Like I said, it's an easy swap and makes a huge difference.

The Hicadoolas