Looking for old thread: Walkabout preamp tubes

I know there is discussion of that in the Walkabout Megathread, towards the beginning actually.

pm user tombowlus
he did a nice writeup on that at one point

Hi, when I was swapping tubes in my Walkabout head I have copied a random bits from various posts so here I paste it for you, FWIW.

I put to mine the Tung-sol 12ax7 in the pre, and EH 12ax7 in the driver section and was happy with results. Cleaner and more extended sound than stock tubes and they overdrive later.

Another info is here: http://bowlusblog.blogspot.com/2005/02/preamp-tubes-in-mesa-walkabout.html

Here are the bits:

popped in the Tung-sol's last night. These are great tubes and fairly similar the the EH 12ax7.
They are a bit warmer/fatter sounding, a bit thicker mids/bottom, but still has upper mid clarity like the EH. The EH has a bit less bottom and a bit tighter/more controlled lows. The Tunsols are more "tubey" sounding. While they are warmer/tubey sounding, they still have great clarity, more so then the JJ's.

As it is right now, I have 1 Tungol 12ax7 in the Preamp section, and the EH 12ax7 in the Driver section. This is the best combination I've found so far. It yields a very clear, but warm/tubey tone. More controlled tone then stock and less boomy. More clarity in the upper mids as well.

Anyone who doesn't want to spend lots of coin on a tube exploration, but wants more clarity/articulation and less bottom bloom (tighter bottom), all the while having fat/warm mids, I highly recommend the Tung-sol 12ax7 in the pre, and EH 12ax7 in the driver section.

An advice: replace the two Russian 12AX7 tubes with a vintage Mullard yellow label in the leftmost socket and a Tung Sol grey plated from the early 60’ies with square halo getter in the other slot … then you’ll be in the bass Nirvana
I have replaced the two original Mesa 12AX7 tubes, so my settings are probably different. The vintage Mullard in the leftmost socket improves dramatically the lows and harmonics, while the Tung Sol in the other socket increases the overall sound presence and smooths the highs.

The one closest to the front panel is the preamp tube. The one closer to the middle is the MOSFET driver.

I have owned my WalkAbout for years now. It still impresses me, so I am quite biased on the lmii vs WalkAbout [kinda like Apples vs Oranges (Oranges will always win in CA & Fl, but Apples will never lose in WA)].

Any how for those who don't care about that, but want more "usable volume".

First roll the tubes in this case. JJ ECC83s allround I recommend these; because the ECC83 has clean sound and low microphonics. If you want more gain and never over drive. Or are willing to swap tube more often due to occational microphonics. Drop a JJ ECC803 in the 2nd postion, this is a long plate Hi-Fi tube. That usually ranks with the highest gain ratings on current production tubes. I've run Sovtek LPS and loved them, but position one killed them.

Click to expand...

I wanted to revive this thread somewhat and add some of my own thoughts.

I did some tube rolling in my walkabout since it's become my main amp as of late. Keep in mind that I'm using the walkabout with the scout cab(s).

I had a few sets of tubes laying around, so I decided I'd try them out for a bit. I put everything flat tone wise on the walkabout including the tweeter.

Tung Sol 12AX7 Reissue (in both V1 & V2): In comparison to the stock mesa tubes, they added large amount of clarity. Anyone looking to maintain that mid presence but just want less wool and more detail, this tube will do wonders. I'm I'm not a tweeter guy at all, so with the added clarity, I actually ended up pushing the tweeter down farther on my cabs. It's not glassy bright and brittle high, but still much clearer. I'd recommend anyone on a budget to get these tubes if more clarity is what you're after.

Baldwin (Sylvania) NOS 12ax7 (in V1) and Penta 12ax7(V2): My Favorite Tube is this NOS Baldwin that I got for $25. It's a a nice medium of the Tung Sol and the Stock Mesa Tubes. More clarity than the stock Mesa Tubes but still that warm gooeyness that you can feel. Originally, I had two Baldwin's in this amp, but one of them went mircophonic in the process of this test. I'm guessing this happened because of it's long plate structure, age, and the fact that it's meant to be used in an Organ and not a combo amp. I decided to not have this tube be left in the walkabout regardless of the fact that I think I liked this tube best in the walkabout too, however, this is probably going to be the perfect tube for my newly acquired Kern IP777. Once I figured out that one of the Baldwin's was microphonic, I replaced it with the Penta 12ax7. Cool sounding tube. It reminds me of the EH12AX7 a lot, but I didn't spend much time with this combo as I knew I wouldn't stick with it.

For grins, I ended putting the stock Russian mesa Tubes back in the amp and I decided to leave them in there. I ended up sticking the tweeter back to flat (12 o'clock). Like I said, having a lot of top end clarity (at the flat setting) isn't something that I want. I use overdrive on occasion and I found that the overdrives sound most natural with a more gainy / gritty tube and one that doesn't emphasize more top end. Although the other tubes have their respective strengths, these tubes work really well with what I hear as the walkabout sound. These tubes give the walkabout it's signature character and I dig it...




For now...

While the Tung Sol reissue results intrigue me and sound like what I'd like, I *really like* the newer long plate sovteks that came in my blackface walkabout.
I may have to order some of the Tung's at some point anyhoo...more clarity is always better, for me.

thx!

Chef said:

While the Tung Sol reissue results intrigue me and sound like what I'd like, I *really like* the newer long plate sovteks that came in my blackface walkabout.
I may have to order some of the Tung's at some point anyhoo...more clarity is always better, for me.

thx!

Click to expand...

To me, the Sovtek LPS seem were always had a really large lowend and not as much top end (more than the basic sovtek 12AX7WA though). I think the LPS would sound incredible in the Walkabout for what I like, but I think the Long Plate Structure wouldn't be good for a combo amp due to the possibility of microphonics. If you want to try one out Allen, let me know. Maybe we can trade some tubes.

While I really appreciate the offer, the tung sol reissues aren't so very expensive...and I'm pretty sure I want to keep those LPS...thanks tho!

just to make sure, these are what you mean?

http://www.tubedepot.com/ts-12ax7.html

Chef said:

just to make sure, these are what you mean?

http://www.tubedepot.com/ts-12ax7.html

Click to expand...

Yep. Those are them.

These are the next tubes I want to try...

http://thetubestore.com/tad7025s.html

They are the only Tube that they've given 5's straight across for, aside from a NOS Tele.

al little pricier than the TS reissues, but, not bad...

Are these the same tubes that are in the new blackface model?
http://www.tubedepot.com/so-12ax7lps.html

I happened to play one in a WA Scout at GC the other day and was surprised how much rounder and tighter it sounded compared to my silverface WA. I've had the Tung Sol reissues in there for a while now which definitely have more clarity and tighten things up some. But that blackface sounded amazing. I switched back to the stock Russian 2's, which brought back the darker mid-focused tone, but still grindy and looser in the bottom. Could be the GC effect with carpeted walls and other sound absorbing elements going on, but I figure for the price it's worth trying out if they're the same as what's in the blackface.

Thanks!

Just did my first ever round of tube-swapping, courtesy of my guitar-playing brother and his bag of 12AX7s. In there was one of these long-plate Sovteks. Tried it in V2 of the Walkabout with a JJ in V1. Pretty nice combo.

KevinMG said:

Are these the same tubes that are in the new blackface model?
http://www.tubedepot.com/so-12ax7lps.html

I happened to play one in a WA Scout at GC the other day and was surprised how much rounder and tighter it sounded compared to my silverface WA. I've had the Tung Sol reissues in there for a while now which definitely have more clarity and tighten things up some. But that blackface sounded amazing. I switched back to the stock Russian 2's, which brought back the darker mid-focused tone, but still grindy and looser in the bottom. Could be the GC effect with carpeted walls and other sound absorbing elements going on, but I figure for the price it's worth trying out if they're the same as what's in the blackface.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Zombie thread! Wah!

Chef said:

Zombie thread! Wah!

Click to expand...

That's how I roll. Search function... Zombie attack!