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Hello,
I got a question related to tube amps.
I play on a 10 year old Sovtek MiG 100 head thru a Marshall 4 x 12 "
1960 cabinet. Yep a bit too heavy for surf, but that's what I got.
I think my tubes have had it, since the amp starts to make strange
noises from time to time while playing. The tubes also don't lit up
equally as they used to.
Now, can I replace the tubes by other (of course I can) but would it
affect the sound in any way? Let's say If I put in Fender tubes, would
the sound differ from the Sovtek tubes? And if so, in which way?
TIA,
Jerry S. from Belgium "the Ohmmen"
Changing tubes will definatly change the sound. I'm asuming the
sovtek has EL34 power tubes ( or valves ), which yeild a sweetly
compressed 'Marshall' type of sound. If you replace these with 6V6
tubes, you'll get a more 'fender' sound. Of course, you'll have to
have the amp rebiased by a pro when you change the tubes. Keep in
mind however, the country of manufacture and brand are very
important; stay away from chineese made tubes ( distorted and
unmusical ). As for Russian made tubes, Svetlana seems to be the best
brand, sovtek's are a little harsh. Groove tubes and Fenders are just
repackaged chineese or russian tubes. Your best bet is to use N.O.S.
('new old stock' ) RCA or General Electric. The phrase 'they don't
make 'em like they used to' definatly applies here. Generaly, NOS
tubes are better made, more musical, and very durable. J.A.N tubes
(joint army and navy ) were manufactured for the military and are
practicly indestructable. NOS tubes are available online from KCA
(don't know the address, but just do a Google search for NOS tubes).
By the way, where in Belgium are you from? I played at the Vort N'
Vis in Ieper ( Ypres )a few times, I lived in the Netherlands for a
while and toured Europe a lot, and my cousin used to live in Brussel,
Anyway I hope this helps, Viktor
--- In SurfGuitar101@y..., "Jerry" <jerry.soetewey@b...> wrote:
>
>
> Hello,
>
> I got a question related to tube amps.
>
> I play on a 10 year old Sovtek MiG 100 head thru a Marshall 4 x 12 "
> 1960 cabinet. Yep a bit too heavy for surf, but that's what I got.
>
> I think my tubes have had it, since the amp starts to make strange
> noises from time to time while playing. The tubes also don't lit up
> equally as they used to.
>
> Now, can I replace the tubes by other (of course I can) but would it
> affect the sound in any way? Let's say If I put in Fender tubes,
would
> the sound differ from the Sovtek tubes? And if so, in which way?
>
> TIA,
>
> Jerry S. from Belgium "the Ohmmen"
hey....that's interesting...
since I lve in Tilburg Holland, close to the Belgian border, which band were
you in victor, i might have seen you...?
and uhhh, jerry, where are you from? we can't possibly be that far apart!
Did i understand correct that you're in a surf band called 'the Ohmmen'?
maybe we can try to get something like a double gig or so. do you have a
web-site? i'll mail you as soon as ours is in the air, should be about a
month or so.
and btw, Belgium kicks ass! I go there every twoo weeks or so to get good
beer and cheap gas. And two dcd's very likely to be found in my cd-player at
any time are from the O'hara's and Jaune Toujours (check'm both out.
O'Hara's are a very sort-of-surf band with an awesome trumpet-player, Jaune
Toujours is more Folk-Klezmer-and what have you, but very very impressive)
regards, Wannes
ps, thanks for the tube info! it helped me as well. is there anything to say
about pre-amp tubes as well? I have a Fender 75 amp (a weird amp)and changed
the pre-amp tubes to (very crappy) Sylvania's. They give a wonderfull bright
crunch on the verb, but it's to overdriven in general. I was thinking about
getting cleaner tubes for the pre-amp, but keeping the sylvania's for the
tube driver..... would this make sense at all, and uhh....how do i figure
out which is what?
>From: "viktor423" <>
>Reply-To:
>To:
>Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Amptubes question
>Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 16:19:33 -0000
>
>Changing tubes will definatly change the sound. I'm asuming the
>sovtek has EL34 power tubes ( or valves ), which yeild a sweetly
>compressed 'Marshall' type of sound. If you replace these with 6V6
>tubes, you'll get a more 'fender' sound. Of course, you'll have to
>have the amp rebiased by a pro when you change the tubes. Keep in
>mind however, the country of manufacture and brand are very
>important; stay away from chineese made tubes ( distorted and
>unmusical ). As for Russian made tubes, Svetlana seems to be the best
>brand, sovtek's are a little harsh. Groove tubes and Fenders are just
>repackaged chineese or russian tubes. Your best bet is to use N.O.S.
>('new old stock' ) RCA or General Electric. The phrase 'they don't
>make 'em like they used to' definatly applies here. Generaly, NOS
>tubes are better made, more musical, and very durable. J.A.N tubes
>(joint army and navy ) were manufactured for the military and are
>practicly indestructable. NOS tubes are available online from KCA
>(don't know the address, but just do a Google search for NOS tubes).
>By the way, where in Belgium are you from? I played at the Vort N'
>Vis in Ieper ( Ypres )a few times, I lived in the Netherlands for a
>while and toured Europe a lot, and my cousin used to live in Brussel,
>Anyway I hope this helps, Viktor
>--- In SurfGuitar101@y..., "Jerry" <jerry.soetewey@b...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I got a question related to tube amps.
> >
> > I play on a 10 year old Sovtek MiG 100 head thru a Marshall 4 x 12 "
> > 1960 cabinet. Yep a bit too heavy for surf, but that's what I got.
> >
> > I think my tubes have had it, since the amp starts to make strange
> > noises from time to time while playing. The tubes also don't lit up
> > equally as they used to.
> >
> > Now, can I replace the tubes by other (of course I can) but would it
> > affect the sound in any way? Let's say If I put in Fender tubes,
>would
> > the sound differ from the Sovtek tubes? And if so, in which way?
> >
> > TIA,
> >
> > Jerry S. from Belgium "the Ohmmen"
>
I used to play punk rock, I played in a band from NY called Nausea -
we toured Europe 2x in the early 90's and then I moved to England and
played in Chaos UK for about 4yrs and toured Europe many times with
them. I'm sure I played in Tilburg, but the name of the venue
escapes me. in 1995 I was deported from the UK and I moved to
Nederland where I lived in Gorinchem (!), which is near Tilburg I
believe, and then I lived in Amsterdam for 3 yrs in a squat (
Kraakpand!). It was in A'Dam that i saw Dick Dale at the Melkweg and
was inspired to start playing surf. When I returned to New York, I
formed my instro band, The Coffin Daggers ( check out our website
www.coffindaggers.com ). I really love Holland and am looking
forward to returning, Belgie is great too! In general I think
Americans can learn alot from the Europeans. As for the preamp
tubes, 12ax7's give a slightly harsher sound than 12at7's, but of
course different brands perform differently. Again, NOS rca's are
probably the best bet and can be found online for about $20 or $30
usd. (about 50 or 60 FL. ). Viktor
--- In SurfGuitar101@y..., "rock verb" <rockverb@h...> wrote:
> hey....that's interesting...
>
> since I lve in Tilburg Holland, close to the Belgian border, which
band were
> you in victor, i might have seen you...?
>
> and uhhh, jerry, where are you from? we can't possibly be that far
apart!
> Did i understand correct that you're in a surf band called 'the
Ohmmen'?
> maybe we can try to get something like a double gig or so. do you
have a
> web-site? i'll mail you as soon as ours is in the air, should be
about a
> month or so.
>
> and btw, Belgium kicks ass! I go there every twoo weeks or so to
get good
> beer and cheap gas. And two dcd's very likely to be found in my cd-
player at
> any time are from the O'hara's and Jaune Toujours (check'm both
out.
> O'Hara's are a very sort-of-surf band with an awesome trumpet-
player, Jaune
> Toujours is more Folk-Klezmer-and what have you, but very very
impressive)
>
> regards, Wannes
>
> ps, thanks for the tube info! it helped me as well. is there
anything to say
> about pre-amp tubes as well? I have a Fender 75 amp (a weird amp)
and changed
> the pre-amp tubes to (very crappy) Sylvania's. They give a
wonderfull bright
> crunch on the verb, but it's to overdriven in general. I was
thinking about
> getting cleaner tubes for the pre-amp, but keeping the sylvania's
for the
> tube driver..... would this make sense at all, and uhh....how do i
figure
> out which is what?
>
> >From: "viktor423" <vd423@y...>
> >Reply-To: SurfGuitar101@y...
> >To: SurfGuitar101@y...
> >Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Amptubes question
> >Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 16:19:33 -0000
> >
> >Changing tubes will definatly change the sound. I'm asuming the
> >sovtek has EL34 power tubes ( or valves ), which yeild a sweetly
> >compressed 'Marshall' type of sound. If you replace these with 6V6
> >tubes, you'll get a more 'fender' sound. Of course, you'll have to
> >have the amp rebiased by a pro when you change the tubes. Keep in
> >mind however, the country of manufacture and brand are very
> >important; stay away from chineese made tubes ( distorted and
> >unmusical ). As for Russian made tubes, Svetlana seems to be the
best
> >brand, sovtek's are a little harsh. Groove tubes and Fenders are
just
> >repackaged chineese or russian tubes. Your best bet is to use
N.O.S.
> >('new old stock' ) RCA or General Electric. The phrase 'they don't
> >make 'em like they used to' definatly applies here. Generaly, NOS
> >tubes are better made, more musical, and very durable. J.A.N tubes
> >(joint army and navy ) were manufactured for the military and are
> >practicly indestructable. NOS tubes are available online from KCA
> >(don't know the address, but just do a Google search for NOS
tubes).
> >By the way, where in Belgium are you from? I played at the Vort N'
> >Vis in Ieper ( Ypres )a few times, I lived in the Netherlands for a
> >while and toured Europe a lot, and my cousin used to live in
Brussel,
> >Anyway I hope this helps, Viktor
> >--- In SurfGuitar101@y..., "Jerry" <jerry.soetewey@b...> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I got a question related to tube amps.
> > >
> > > I play on a 10 year old Sovtek MiG 100 head thru a Marshall 4 x
12 "
> > > 1960 cabinet. Yep a bit too heavy for surf, but that's what I
got.
> > >
> > > I think my tubes have had it, since the amp starts to make
strange
> > > noises from time to time while playing. The tubes also don't
lit up
> > > equally as they used to.
> > >
> > > Now, can I replace the tubes by other (of course I can) but
would it
> > > affect the sound in any way? Let's say If I put in Fender tubes,
> >would
> > > the sound differ from the Sovtek tubes? And if so, in which way?
> > >
> > > TIA,
> > >
> > > Jerry S. from Belgium "the Ohmmen"
> >
