Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread Pt. 45: Rule 34: Handwired Gear Pronz

[swspiers]

Originally Posted by CL400Peavey

That rig should scream.

I think you will like the 3015's over the Faital alternatives.

Agreed. I'm kinda surprised that the Faitals are more popular than the 3015's

[Corey Y]

Originally Posted by CL400Peavey

That rig should scream.

I think you will like the 3015's over the Faital alternatives.

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

I love my 3015s.

Originally Posted by CL400Peavey

That rig should scream.

I think you will like the 3015's over the Faital alternatives.

Originally Posted by swspiers

Agreed. I'm kinda surprised that the Faitals are more popular than the 3015's

Yeah, from all the demos I've heard and reviews I read (Especially John K's stuff), seemed like the 3015's were the best choice for the tones I like. The 10" in my little practice cab is an Eminence neo driver and it kicks all sorts of booty.

[CL400Peavey]

Originally Posted by swspiers

Agreed. I'm kinda surprised that the Faitals are more popular than the 3015's

Inherently the Faitals are a little lower, more old school flavor. Some people dont want the upper mid presence that the 3015's have.

[Lazarus.Bird]

I listened to clips (specifically johnk) and couldn't discern much of a difference, so I went with the 3015s as they were slightly cheaper and louder. I think they sound absolutely fantastic, and so does anyone who's heard me play :P

[swspiers]

Originally Posted by CL400Peavey

Inherently the Faitals are a little lower, more old school flavor. Some people dont want the upper mid presence that the 3015's have.

Yeah, but it's not the 'gank' one would get from a dedicated mid.

I can just imagine the same guys complaining that they can't 'cut through the mix' in a live settting.

[Corey Y]

Trade secret here...if it's a 5-10% difference in sound, the one that's cheaper sounds WAY better in the mix.

[Lazarus.Bird]

So, as a guy who doesn't know anything about tubes, is it worth my time and money to try some nicer 12ax7s in my Orange TB? I'd have to double check, but I think it's just got the factory installed Chinese tubes.

Was looking at http://tubedepot.com/12ax7reviews.html. No real talk about bass tone, but it does mention that the JJ ECC803s are built for low and low mid response.

[dunwichamps]

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

So, as a guy who doesn't know anything about tubes, is it worth my time and money to try some nicer 12ax7s in my Orange TB? I'd have to double check, but I think it's just got the factory installed Chinese tubes.

Was looking at http://tubedepot.com/12ax7reviews.html. No real talk about bass tone, but it does mention that the JJ ECC803s are built for low and low mid response.

Swapping between brands? Honestly you wont see much difference IMO. Swapping different types? Yes lots of difference in tone and gain

[bassboysam]

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

So, as a guy who doesn't know anything about tubes, is it worth my time and money to try some nicer 12ax7s in my Orange TB? I'd have to double check, but I think it's just got the factory installed Chinese tubes.

Was looking at http://tubedepot.com/12ax7reviews.html. No real talk about bass tone, but it does mention that the JJ ECC803s are built for low and low mid response.

JJ Preamp tubes are hit and miss. The EH gold pins have been really good for me. In the GT200 where the preamp doesn't distort much I don't mind 12ax7s, but if the preamp distorts I like the sound of and overdrive 5751 a lot more. The JAN are very nice. It also seem that New Sensor is producin 5751s under the Electro-Harmonix brand, may have to give those a try.

[JoeVictim]

Originally Posted by dunwichamps

Swapping between brands? Honestly you wont see much difference IMO. Swapping different types? Yes lots of difference in tone and gain

When I was testing tubes from my old guitar amp, an old 12ax7 (Mullard I think) sounded way better than the chinese nonsense that came equipped. Do bass amps react differently? I know I heard a difference and the chap whom let me borrow the tube was there to confirm the difference.

[Corey Y]

Originally Posted by dunwichamps

Swapping between brands? Honestly you wont see much difference IMO. Swapping different types? Yes lots of difference in tone and gain

^ This. Difference between brands is pretty miniscule, since most of them are the same tube, made in the same factory, with a different logo screened on them. Different types of preamp tube (12AX7/12AU7/12AT7/12AY7) sure.

[jerrymcdougal]

Originally Posted by dunwichamps

Swapping between brands? Honestly you wont see much difference IMO. Swapping different types? Yes lots of difference in tone and gain

I've noticed a lot more difference when swapping preamp tubes in a guitar amp than in a bass amp. My understanding is that a tubes character is more obvious when pushed hard. For lower gain applications, that character difference is less prominent.

I prefer the new production Tung-Sol 12AX7's to your defacto JJ any day in my Laney AOR. Some NOS stuff sounds quite different. I have NOS Sylvania, RCA, and White-Westinghouse 12ax7's and they are quite different than the new production JJ/Tung-Sol 12AX7's. More squishy and looser in the bottom end.

I'm not much of a fan of Electro Harmonix and/or Sovtek stuff these days. I realize Tung-Sol/EH/Sovtek are all New Sensor brands, but I'm pretty sure the Tung-Sols have something unique going on. They sound different than EH/Sovtek to me. EH/Sovtek sound very much the same in my opinion.

I've had great luck with thetubestore.com: http://www.thetubestore.com/12AX7-ECC83-Tube-Types

[dunwichamps]

Originally Posted by JoeVictim

When I was testing tubes from my old guitar amp, an old 12ax7 (Univox I think) sounded way better than the chinese nonsense that came equipped. Do bass amp react differently? I kno0w I heard a difference and the chap whom let me borrow the tube was there to confirm the difference.

Well all tubes have tolerance, so often you can get good results swapping just based on difference tolerance in specs. Plus let me say that the swapping is never blinded, and people are often a victim of confirmation bias. Not to say you where but you gotta be careful when doing A/B tests.

But like i say, if it sounds good it is good but YMMV with tube rolling.

That being said I buy JJ 99% of the time but thats just what I do.

[JoeVictim]

Actually that was a pretty cool day. He brought over his old Weber speaker and we ran my amp through that to see what gave the biggest difference to that Crate. Tubes proved to be a better change than a different speaker. The junky ax7 that was in there, still sounded like poop through his super nice 1-12".

[JoeVictim]

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

So, as a guy who doesn't know anything about tubes, is it worth my time and money to try some nicer 12ax7s in my Orange TB? I'd have to double check, but I think it's just got the factory installed Chinese tubes.

Was looking at http://tubedepot.com/12ax7reviews.html. No real talk about bass tone, but it does mention that the JJ ECC803s are built for low and low mid response.

It's only a 20 spot to find out...

[Lazarus.Bird]

So if I'm not the kind of person to notice subtle differences in tone and am happy with how my amp currently sounds, I should probably just leave them alone?

[dunwichamps]

The other thing is that if you only have a sample of 1 tube per brand, its really hard to say if thats how the average tube is from that brand, I just approach stuff like this from a scientific test. You would need to test a good number of each tube, in a blinded way where you didnt know which tube you were swapping and thus could not form a judgment ahead of time. Its often a subconscious thing that happens with A/B testing.

[dunwichamps]

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

So if I'm not the kind of person to notice subtle differences in tone and am happy with how my amp currently sounds, I should probably just leave them alone?

yes. unless for some reason you wanna lower gain then dont bother.

[JoeVictim]

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

So if I'm not the kind of person to notice subtle differences in tone and am happy with how my amp currently sounds, I should probably just leave them alone?

Speaking of, I should get some backup tubes for my pre...

[jerrymcdougal]

Might not be a horrible idea to stay away from long-plate designs in any application where there's lots of vibration. Greater chance of microphonics. The Mullard 12AX7's are usually long-plate, although I have no experience with them personally.