Preamp tube choice in modules

To what extent does the choice of preamp tube impact the tone in the modules. I recall reading someone saying they disliked the recto they had until they swapped the preamp tubes out: I dont care for it as my high gain tone but id like to look into which pre tubes work best for the modules


-dave

The two that I have found to sound best are Electro-Harmonix 12AX7-EH's and Tung-Sol 12AX-7's. You should talk to Lance-A-Not on here, he knows a LOT about tubes!

I find the NOS Sylvania 12ax7 and Baldwin 12ax7's work very good in the modules. they are clear, articulate, high gain and low noise. they are fairly cheap too.



If you want cleaner "cleans" then try the 12at7 > 12ax7 or dual 12at7's
again, sylvania's work great in the 12at7 range. 12at7 has 60mu (gain)


A good middle of the road tube is the 5751 it has 70mu vs the 12ax7 100mu its a nice tube to try if you want to experiment.

i didnt realize there was so much involved with it haha. The tubes in my black stripe rectified are electro harmonix are those the same ones you were talking about guitarguy


-dave

Yeah Dave, I think for the most part the Randall modules should come with the Electro Harmonix 12AX7-EH's in them, although I've seen some like my Mr. Scary came with JJ's stock, might be to tame the brightness of the module? I might experiment with the tubes in that one, but I have to wait until I get my M4! :?

After trying a bunch of different preamp tubes my favorites are the Shuguang C9's, Shuguang Silver Dragons, & the Electro-Harmonix 12AX7's. I want to try out the Tung-Sol 12AX7's though. For me the Silver Dragons work real well in my SL+ but they are too high gain for any of the other modules or the common input tube slot. For the common input tube and the 2 effects loop tubes I run the EH 12AX7's but want to try the Tung-Sol's in these 3 slots. For the Recto I think the C9's sound the best.

For power tubes I was running 6L6's but realized that they are a bit muddy on the low end so I went back to the JJ E34L's. I have set neck mahogony guitars with hot pickups so that may have something to do with it. The 6L6's might work better with a brighter guitar.

Yeah 6L6gc can get muddy. but if you back off on the bass a bit or boost the bass AFTER the preamp (ie desinity knob or another eq) it can very powerfull

I use x8 6L6gc and 4x KT88 in my Strategy 400, which technically makes it a Strategy 500 which uses 6L6gc & 6550 tubes. the bass is very deep, controlled and highs have really detailed but not brittle or ice pick. The whole amp sounds so MASSIVE :twisted: I barely run any preamp bass anymore. I really recommend trying KT88's if they are paired with 6L6 or el34's.