How to change the tubes of a AC4TVH

[faizal_rocks]

! Btw faizal i am just curious abt how the ei el84 is treating u?

Yo, I didn't realised that u were asking me, Well, the Ei EL84 works great for me so far. I'm using JJ 12AX7. Good enuff for me for now, espcially in the cleans. Might wanna experiment with more tubes in the future. Btw, I have a spare Ei EL84 in my drawer that was never used

 

[naviros]

Yo, I didn't realised that u were asking me, Well, the Ei EL84 works great for me so far. I'm using JJ 12AX7. Good enuff for me for now, espcially in the cleans. Might wanna experiment with more tubes in the future. Btw, I have a spare Ei EL84 in my drawer that was never used

Care to share on the tones of the EI? My suggestion, change the 12AX7 for Tungsols. You will notice the nuances from your playing coming out more and more... Hahaha... but whatever suits you best dude ^.^

Maybe if the EI sounds good, I'll get 'em from you ^.^

 

[MrBukka]

Hey i wanna get the EI too!!! Hahaha if u dun mind sharing can u tell us where u got ur EI tubes from?

 

[faizal_rocks]

Well to me, the EI EL84 has a great clean tone, its an OEM in a Vox AC30. Well since I'm using a Strat with single coils, I can say its very sparkly and clean sounding. Dunno about humbuckers so I can't comment. Mines's the Early Distortion. It was Goose who recommended me this site (Doug's Tubes). I ordered from this site in 2008 if I remember well.

http://www.dougstubes.com/ei.html

Even though the shipping is pricey just to buy tubes, I feel its worth it cos they would do testing on tubes before shipping them out to ensure that they are working fine.

 

[L3stat]

Another point not mentioned is that pre-amp tubes tend to last longer than power tubes, so you don't always have to change both of them at the same time. Just keep some spares at home and change them out when necessary so you have minimal downtime.

Edits in bold, my bad.

 

[MrBukka]

Erm shouldn't it be the other way round?

 

[L3stat]

Oh yeah crap, remembered it the other way round, my bad!

 

[CITY_MUSIC]

Hi everyone,

In case more people decide to mod their AC4TVs, do note that all modifications done to the amp is carried out at your own risk and will void the warranty. Any servicing or modding should be done by a trained professional, and we may refuse to service any amps which has been modified or tempered with. Cheers, and enjoy your AC4s!

 

[JustAnother1]

Kinda OT but shouldn't changing the speakers have a bigger impact compared to tubes?

 

[naviros]

Alright, revival of old thread!!!

What do you do when you're sick, stuck at home, and bored out of your life..?

Yes! YOU EXPERIMENT WITH TUBES LYING AROUND THAT YOU COULDN'T PLAY AROUND WITH IN YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE *cough cough*

Anyway, Since I was bored, took out the 2 tubes that some uncle at Burlington told me to try. What I told him was that I wanted more clean headroom in my amplifier, and told him my current tube set-up. He told me to try these, the Mullard ECC81 (which, I didn't find out until today, was actually an Audio Space Made in China 12ax7... Damn uncle cheated me... advice, always check your purchases before leaving...), and the ElectroHarmonix 12AU7/ECC82. He told me that both the (what was supposed to be) 12AT7/ECC81 and 12AU7/ECC82 were essentially the same as 12AX7, thus could just plug and play, but it'll reduce the amount of gain. So those were my expectations.

Alright, let's start with the Audio Space. Crap. Ok next!!! Hahaha... no no, just joking... but not about the crap part. First, I had a hard time dialing in a good volume, cos its SUPER SENSITIVE to any picking / hammering / strumming techniques. Second, it was noisy, not to unbearable, but when you're not playing and you hear stuff buzzing, like one or two mosquitoes inside your amp, I don't know about you, but I can't take it. By the way, my amp doesn't hum etc. when using the previous Tungsol 12AX7s.

Next up, the ElectroHarmonix. Alright, this is actually what I paid for, 12AU7. First thing you'll notice. HUGE DROP IN VOLUME. Where previously I could play with volume knob at 9 o'clock @ 1/4 with considerable volume, now I have to crank up to 12 o'clock. But surprisingly, the amp was still clean! Not particularly musical, there was also a considerable loss of top end, but it was clean!!! People who want more headroom to play around with their effects, can consider using the 12AU7, not ElectroHarmonix though, a little too... boring... unmusical (for lack of a better word to describe)...

The search for tubes that can rival the JJ EL84s and Tungsol 12AX7 goes on...

These are only my personal opinions, feel free to try it all out. Now I've got 2 tubes that I've got no use for... Anyone wants 'em? I sell 'em both for $5 bucks, deal @ my convenience. First come first serve. Hahaha...