preamp tube or power tube?
- Thread starter ciki
- Start date
subversion
Moderator
depends on which aspect of your amp you aare utilizing.
*drive dependent: pre-amp
*volume dependent: power amp
do keep in mind that power-amp replacement requires re-biasing
*drive dependent: pre-amp
*volume dependent: power amp
do keep in mind that power-amp replacement requires re-biasing
sub's right. If i may add, pre-amp tubes for me are the ones shaping your overall tone(dark, bright, middy, less middy, smooth, throaty, etc.) while power amp tubes tends to lean more on giving the amp its feel(early brake up, late break up) .Though power amp tubes will also contribute to some tone shaping like the bassy-ness or middy-ness of an amp, they are not as dominant as the pre-amp tubes.
I have an experience with comparing el34 and 6L6 power tube amps, while I can say 6L6 tubes are way bassier, I think on a live context the audience won't be able to tell what kind of power tubes amp are you using. But you will feel whether the tube amp is spongy or stiff in response.
I know some guys would say that el34 sounds marshally and 6L6 are fendery but IMHO, what they are hearing are the circuits where these power tubes are commonly used. Even if you interchange them(with some biasing involved), your fender amp will still be a fender-sounding amp and same goes for marshalls.
I have an experience with comparing el34 and 6L6 power tube amps, while I can say 6L6 tubes are way bassier, I think on a live context the audience won't be able to tell what kind of power tubes amp are you using. But you will feel whether the tube amp is spongy or stiff in response.
I know some guys would say that el34 sounds marshally and 6L6 are fendery but IMHO, what they are hearing are the circuits where these power tubes are commonly used. Even if you interchange them(with some biasing involved), your fender amp will still be a fender-sounding amp and same goes for marshalls.
ciki
New member
thanks for your elaboration edgie, now speaking of el84, 6l6 etc..what about 6v6 tubes? any experience with it? my is using a 6v6, had change the pre amp to tung sol from a china made to a RSD, but still i find that its lacking in the bass dept. which im looking for. currently its a ehx 6v6..through a 12 inch speaker..it a 6 watter tube amp btw..
subversion
Moderator
we also need to remember that volume play contributes to our amp's pre-amp character; this is why the same amp manifests different drive tones at different volume settings. for those of us who keep our volume low/ at a neighbour-friendly limit, investing in pre-amp tubes would be a more prudent move.
Ciki, I don't have experience with 6v6 and other small tubes. But what i know is they really not to have that much bass on them. I can try them on my amp but i still don't have the yellowjacket converters. If you are using a head and cab configuration, you might want to choose a cabinet that's quite bass heavy like mine. It's bass-y but in a right kind of way for me(crispy, not boomy).