Tube WAR on VHT Special 6 Ultra combo!

[An Kerreng]

Lets start with the STOCK shitty
and brand-less tubes which consist
of a 12ax7 x2 preamp and a 6V6GT.

To my ears, the clean channel is quite
ok. But lack of highs and very bassy.
Turned the TONE knob full clockwise
and the DEPTH full counter clockwise
but still abit bassy. But in this setting
and at full WATTS, the clean sounds
good!

Now, the ULTRA(gain) channel. One
thing to say: SUCKS. Its damn horrible
and muddy! DEPTH and TONE full right
and WATTS at noon ULTRA noon, it is
so unplayable! Fizz, hiss, hums, shreeks,
blah blah blah! Tried diffrent settings but
only less than 5 settings that i like.

Waiting for my JJ ecc83s and JJ 6L6gc
to arrive. Just read some reviews and
decided to get those.

Anyone using this amp? Whats YOUR fav
tubes? Anyone tried other brands for 6V6,
6L6, EL34 or EL84?

 

[subversion]

i've tried this amp many times in the store, namely to try guitars with or pedals. i find the overall performance of the drive channel acceptable. it's not a distortion-inclined unit so expecting a (Peavey) 6505 or (Blackstar) Series One 200 attack tones is out of the question. we buy amps, especially tube amps, with some high expectations when it comes to tones. just because there are tubes in there doesn't mean it's going to deliver stellar cleans/ distortion. this is why i make it a point to hear the amps in action, sometimes took the trouble to lug my guitar down to the stores. they are voiced according to how the manufacturer wanted them to be. i've come across similar grievances from Marshall MA series owners- they are expecting some DSL/ JCM ferocity which is the wrong expectation.

6V6/ 6L6/ EL34/ EL84 are not tube brands, they are the different tube types.

 

[An Kerreng]

Did i say its a brand? What i meant
was diff brand for 6v6, 6l6.... Like eg
Tungsol 6v6, JJ 6v6... Anyways...

Ive recieved my tubes yesterday. Two
JJ 12ax7 and a JJ 6L6. Swapping the
tubes for this amp is a breeze...
Sound: To my ears, the ultra channel
gets kinda more highs. Its not boomy
dark like the Chinese 6v6. But its fine.
Its a start of my tube swapping shit.

Next to try:
TUNGSOL EL34b
=C= 6V6
JJ ecc803s
TUNGSOL 12ax7