Guitar Myth Busting: Tubes Change The Amp’s Tone At All?
#tubeamp #guitaramp
I’ve heard many things about the importance of tubes (aka valves) in guitar amps. Some say they define the tone, others say it’s all made up, they don’t change a thing. Most tests are with high gain amps, I wanted to see what’s up for myself with a very different amp.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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TWS Single Six: https://lmy.de/JeccBdzV
Amp tubes at Thomann: https://lmy.de/DlIorSVt
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Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:54 The tubes in the comparison
1:48 Blind test | Clean
2:45 Blind test | Cranked
3:25 First impressions
6:30 Reveal | Clean
7:26 Reveal | Cranked
8:07 How did they FEEL to play
9:14 Which amps REACT to swapping power tubes
Gear used – signal chain:
(the short links are Thomann affiliate links)
-Fender Telecaster CS ’53: https://bit.ly/40qKWi1
-TWS Single Six: https://lmy.de/JeccBdzV
-One Control Agamidae switcher: https://bit.ly/3HHhoG3
-Evidence Lyric cables: https://bit.ly/3QJHQ40
-DR Strings: https://bit.ly/3QcKUon
-Shure SHM7b: https://lmy.de/ZvxCTEzl
-Warm Audio WA273 preamp: https://lmy.de/KlgYdmEc
Other gear I use in my videos:
-Harley Benton Fusion-III https://bit.ly/3He3utv
-Gibson Les Paul CS ’58: https://lmy.de/xzRezYby
-Gibson Les Paul CM 2015 – heavily modified “Junior”
-Barocsi Troublecaster – Custom built T-style
-Barocsi “Frankenstrat”
-Kasleder Vintage King: https://bit.ly/3bPU0sN
-Kasleder Toxic Twins: https://bit.ly/2VJRDiO
-REVV Tilt overdrive: https://bit.ly/3PtrWdv
-Warm Audio Centavo: https://bit.ly/3XOmsxG
-VS Audio Royal Flush https://bit.ly/3CYRtFK
-UAFX Astra Modulation: https://bit.ly/3ycxXFu
-UAFX Galaxy delay: https://bit.ly/3KNrOFj
-UAFX Golden Reverb: https://bit.ly/3vS36JN
-Xotic Super Clean: https://bit.ly/36fsHka
-REVV Dynamis 7/40 head: https://bit.ly/3C8MfbE
-Tone King Imperial MkII: https://lmy.de/qqrSUDcZ
-Universal Audio OX BOX https://bit.ly/2IyOeuj
-Two Notes Captor X: https://bit.ly/33FPfcW
-REVV Tilt boost: https://bit.ly/3L10wLO
-Soldano SLO pedal: https://bit.ly/3FyRcwj
-Empress Effects Compressor https://bit.ly/3BAubVe
-Analogman King of Tone analogman.com
The speech mic:
-SENNHEISER MKH 416: https://bit.ly/2w1EAMP
Audio Interface:
-Audient iD44: https://bit.ly/2Jo73zN
Check out the Thomann Music channel for some wicked guitar videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MusikhausThomann
Cheers,
Kris
#Guitar #Myth #Busting #Tubes #Change #Amps #Tone
Originally posted by UCcwL-y7JNkuQwiGXKntzpKg at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enF3enL6PSE
If the anode and cathode resistor values match the different tubes so that the outputswing dont go into the unlinear region of the tubes you dont really hear any difference, that is correct.
I have a Randall RD100. Can I use EL34 tubes by adjusting the bias of the amplifier without causing problems for the transformers?
Your guitar amp is not a hifi system. The tubes you need as musicians travel is cheap and widely available.
Rookie stuff here.
I know it's all preference, but tube 3 sounds the best to me.
Hv a Peavey classic 50 4×10. It matters. Good video!
I recently had some of my amps biased with 5881's, replacing the 6L6's. I have long preferred the 81's, as they are less boomy in the bottom. Sound really fine!
Tried several different makes of power tubes in one amp, all 6L6's, they were all subtly different in tone. I settled on JJ's.
Swapping the bottles out on my Epi BC30 does make a big difference. A Soldano design for Gibson, built cheap in China. Quality of the valves does seem to be important. The chinese wasp in a jam jar type are pretty useless. The Eminence Pot Luck speakers were poor, very thin brittle sound, Greenbacks sorted that. With the right bottles used it is a Bluesbreaker clone. And a master volume added without which the volume is fearsome. It is difficult to make the output valves sag until the volume is too high to use. Not my only valve amp. The bottles do make a difference.
yeah tube amps are bullshit pushed by amp manufactures to make you pay for their product. It's a bit like apple products, super overpriced and unreliable.
The 1 power tube in this that I didn't like was the EL34, which is what I've always used. As well, the differences in the preamp tubes were small, but in both cases (power tube and pre amp tube) the difference is enough to warrant changing tubes for me.
just put an old mullard in v1 and listen if you can't tell a difference you don't have ears which is great cause you will save a lot of money on vintage tubes
my favorite combo is the Matchless Chieftain with the KT77s inlace of the EL34's… it's so nice!
You did great on this & nailed it. Tubes types don't matter for the hype they get. Anyone saying otherwise believes def needs to practice more & worry about their gear less.
To me, the differences are most apparent in the breakup area.
This is where distortions and nonlinearities prevail.
Although all tubes emphasize even-order harmonics (which are pleasant and consonant sounding), it is the proportion and amplitude of these harmonics which impart the “sound” of the tube.
An FFT analysis would shed further light on this.
Good job!
Very good. Very true.These things should be done with a clean(ish) amp, as you did. Indeed, a very small difference in sound , and this is even with different types of tubes, not even the same type by different companies. One other question. Ruggedness, reliability ?
Very comprehensive and well thought out comparison Kris. I found the differences subtle but recognizable, the KT88 suffered as it was an "elephant in a canoe", not suitable for this circuit. For me, as an amp designer and builder, the most important parameter in tube swaps is whether the amp used has a feedback circuit. The most commonly used feedback loop is from the OPT to the power tube (Champ 5F1) or to the power tube driver (Champ AA764). Feedback tends to even out response of the different tubes and make them quite similar. I do not know if the amplifier used has a feedback loop, I suspect it does. If so, disconnect it and you should hear and feel more differences. Another criterion is the different output impedances of the tubes used. Each is optimum with different output transformer primary impedances. Single ended amps such as this tend to use a "middle value" impedance if tube swapping will be an option.
You can't just change tube types without considering the relationship with the output transformer primary windings, because that might not be optimised for that particular tube, which will affect performance. EG. A 6v6/Kt66 prefer a primary value around twice that for a say a 6L6. So you are not comparing apples and apples there. And I'm afraid I disagree that the tube type didn't matter. In that amp maybe, but you don't say if there is some kind of transformer impedance switching going on when you swap tubes?. These tubes will all respond differently IF the tube type is optimised wrt operating conditions, voltage and output transformer spec etc.
One thing I can say, is that you get a huge diference between EL34 and KT88.
EL 84 compress more than the others, KT88 being the less compression in sound and the more solid/ ballsy.
my top 3
1. 6L6
2. EL34
3. EL84
Kris– thank you for making this video. It was really helpful and informative. I think the power amp tube changes were most noticeable when the amp was distorted. I was listening on earbuds and I could easily hear the difference between, say the EL34 and the KT88. Very cool. I'm sure it took a lot of time!
I swapped the JJ EL34's in my marshall with JJ E34L's (slightly higher headroom), with the same settings, and the same fuzz face, set the same as always, it sounded awful. Put the EL34's back in, sounded fine again.
My amp is cathode biased, meaning swapping tubes doesnt require rebiasing. So yeah tubes can make a difference.
big change in tube #4
I think you see small difference because you have 1 power tube. On a 4 power tube amp o a 6 one (like the Diezel Herbert) the difference is more apparent.