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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Replacement tubes for super clean tone?

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I have a '65 Twin Reverb RI amp and I've noticed the tone getting more and more gritty. I figured it was time to replace the tubes, so I got some JJ tubes as I'd heard they were good for clean tones. The sound is better than it was, but the amp still breaks up pretty easily. It's difficult to find good tube suggestions since most of the guitar world seems to prize an overdriven tube amp, but I want significantly more headroom for surf stuff (and for the type of music I make in general...part of the reason I liked the '65 twin).
Any suggestions? I can't demo tubes like I would a guitar or amp, so it's hard to figure out what's what without significant trial and error (and money down the drain).

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Speakers can make a big difference in headroom, depending on how efficent they are. Try putting some EVM12L speakers in there. Bonus: they're are practically blow out proof.

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

DannySnyder wrote:

Speakers can make a big difference in headroom, depending on how efficent they are. Try putting some EVM12L speakers in there. Bonus: they're are practically blow out proof.

Good advice! The issue I'm struggling with at the moment is that the amp had been super clean for years leading up to now. I bought it in 2006 and believe it or not, never replaced the tubes. The amp unfortunately hadn't seen much use leading up to this since its SUPER loud and I've lived in apartment buildings. This last year I got a signal attenuator and have been recording my signal direct from the preamp for color. I have an ongoing cartoon scoring gig so the amp has seen significantly more use in the last year than the rest of it's life. The distortion has been getting worse over the last few months which is why I suspected it was a tube issue (and it was about time...it's embarrassing to have owned a tube amp for 15 years and not once had to replace the tubes).

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aha! Well, the attenuator does complicate things. I've used JJ's for years and had ample headroom, did you adjust the bias when you switched to the new tubes?

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

DannySnyder wrote:

Did you adjust the bias when you switched to the new tubes?

Since I don't know what that means nor how it's done, I will go with no Confused
Apparently I have more research to do.

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DannySnyder wrote:

The attenuator does complicate things.

I know attenuators are often used so guitarists can crank the gain to overdrive the tubes then bring the volume back down to a level that suits their environment, but in my case I'm only using it to bring the level of the amp to less than an "eviction" level. The '65 twin RI is so loud even when the volume is at the lowest it will upset neighbors if going through the cab, and blow out meters if recording direct.
Thank you for all your help btw!

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Last edited: Sep 05, 2021 16:01:52

Sure thing. I suggest you find a local amp tech. OR, trade in for a smaller amp. Or, explore using software modeling. The album we just released was entirely on garageband, no live mics except drums.

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

DannySnyder wrote:

Explore using software modeling.

A lot of the work I've done these last several years has been with modeling which works a treat! I've been going back to using more analogue gear lately because I haven't been able to dial in the exact sound I want with plugins anymore (not that it's impossible...it's just fiddly). Regardless, I do want to chase down whatever issue is happening with my amp. Ideally I'll be able to choose using modeling plugins or recording direct from my amp without being forced into one direction due to some sort of phantom distortion.
I look forward to checking out your recordings!

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JJ's would be my first choice too but I don't think it's a big deal that you haven't replaced the tubes until now. It doesn't sound like the amp has been used that much or driven very hard.

If you remove the attenuator from the signal chain completely, and use the volume knob on the amp to control the volume of the amp, are you still getting a distorted sound? Does it happen on both the Normal and Vibrato channels? Assuming you have ruled out bad cords, guitars, speakers, etc. too?

Is the amp operating quietly when you are not playing? Without static, hissing, popping, or any other extraneous noises?

Which tubes did you replace? All of them? Or just power tubes? If you replaced the power tubes then checking the bias is essential.

Here's what I would do as an experiment...Go back to the old power tubes (which we'll assume the amp was biased correctly for). Start by cleaning the tube pins with a toothbrush size, brass or stainless steel bristle brush. Then use a little DeoxIt D100L on the tube pins and insert them in the socket and wiggle around a little. Even a bad pin/socket contact can cause loss of bias and distortion. Do the same for the pre-amp tubes.

There are other things that could be causing distortion too but what I've listed above is about all you can do before you'll need more knowledge or technical assistance. In which case, put the new JJ's back in and take it to a amp tech.

Good Luck!!

Once you get your issue sorted out there's something else I recommend. You could try switching one preamp tube from a 12AX7 to a 12AT7. The gain is slightly less but still sounds great. I have a small combo that distorts a little too early and I have been swapping the second tube for years. In small amps like tweed Deluxes, playing with the various 12A(U/T/X)7 tube can make a big difference in rhe onset of overdrive.

Solid suggestion to start ruling out potential points of failure. I actually did some test playing through the built-in cab at various volumes both with attenuator and without. From what I can tell, the distortion isn't actually coming from my amp at all, but from somewhere in the recording chain. derp Embarrassed
I can play long enough that the amp starts breaking up when I'm recording, but when I switch to playing through the cab at that point, it's clear as a bell.
Fortunately for now it seems that the tubes are fine and dandy. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have some tech gremlins to chase down.

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