I've been realizing there is a lot of gain inside these amps. Too, the construction lends itself to the amplification of noises picked up here and there.
First, I realized these amps need the PI being dirty like most Marshalls. The PI circuit is like a Fender anyway. I ended up putting a Tesla E83CC in there - a very clean and high headroom sort of tube that is not really bright, just clean. Really helped out the clarity of the whole amp, and improved the sweep of the gain control on the module.
So I thought maybe we'll see what we can do with V1 - the input tube. I figured only half of it is used anyway, but I don't really know for sure. A Mullard CV4024/12AT7 wins. Various 12AX7s made it harder for the amp to clean up well, and added compression and even fizz with higher gain modules like the Mr. Scary. The 12AT7 though is very musical, less hard sounding than most 12AX7s, and works great with both clean and distortiion modules, bringing clarity. With something like the Mr. Scary, the gain needs to be turned up more, but there is still ferocious amounts of gain available. It's just a better sweep.
Anyone else try a 12AT7 in V1?
There is a lot of information out there that the 12AT7 is not a good tone generator when used in V1. Which makes me wonder why it would work well in this amp. I am not sure what V1 does in these amps. But less gain seems to be better.
First, I realized these amps need the PI being dirty like most Marshalls. The PI circuit is like a Fender anyway. I ended up putting a Tesla E83CC in there - a very clean and high headroom sort of tube that is not really bright, just clean. Really helped out the clarity of the whole amp, and improved the sweep of the gain control on the module.
So I thought maybe we'll see what we can do with V1 - the input tube. I figured only half of it is used anyway, but I don't really know for sure. A Mullard CV4024/12AT7 wins. Various 12AX7s made it harder for the amp to clean up well, and added compression and even fizz with higher gain modules like the Mr. Scary. The 12AT7 though is very musical, less hard sounding than most 12AX7s, and works great with both clean and distortiion modules, bringing clarity. With something like the Mr. Scary, the gain needs to be turned up more, but there is still ferocious amounts of gain available. It's just a better sweep.
Anyone else try a 12AT7 in V1?
There is a lot of information out there that the 12AT7 is not a good tone generator when used in V1. Which makes me wonder why it would work well in this amp. I am not sure what V1 does in these amps. But less gain seems to be better.
