Streed Rod gain a bit mushy, different preamp tubes?

[cvogue]

Hey Guys,

I love the tone of my Street Rod but there are times when it sounds a bit mushy on the gain settings, especially on gear 2. 

Was wondering if different preamp tubes would help.

gtrjunior has mentioned Electro Harmonix... I've had good luck with them in other amps. JJ's can be a bit dark, hated them in my old Peavey classic but they sound *great* in my Blackstar.



Other tube suggestions to make the gain more focused?

[gtrjunior]

Did I say EH? Typically I find them too bright for me. I actually like the JJ’s I have in there now.
I think what you’re hearing is typical of the stock Chinese tubes. They are very gainy and mid-forward sounding to me.
I have rolled tons of tubes through the QR and I settled on JJ in V2/3 and a RI Mullard in V1(which is amazing there btw...thick lows but still very chimy top end.)
What is it tone-wise that you are trying to correct/change?

[splawndude]

Per the other thread - I recommend a NOS 5751 for the PI.

[gtrjunior]

I’ve spent a little time shopping eBay for one of those but I just can’t find one at a price I want to pay. Lol



...this form a guy that has about 50 NOS tubes.

[splawndude]

WOW

I didn't know you had 50 NOS tubes. So jealous.

I had made it a goal to stock up on NOS tubes but then decided that I needed to focus more on guitar playing and less on tone chasing lol

I want to say I paid around $30 for mine from Dougs Tubes but that was well over 5 years ago. Now when I go to his site I see he has none at all. Google says KCANOStubes.com is selling them for $60. eBay is showing $20 (but not in original box so who knows what you are getting). Reverb had a listing at like $35 but no longer there. Not sure I'm willing anymore to spend big money on tubes.

Some say the JJ 5751 (new production) is pretty good.

[cvogue]

Pulled the trigger on a couple of EHX 12Ax7s... will try them out, worth a shot for 25 bucks. I've really liked them in some other amps. I saw some NOS tubes at Tube Depot but they were upwards of 60 bucks a pop. :/

[cvogue]

Apr 5, 2018 9:59:03 GMT -5 gtrjunior said:

Did I say EH? Typically I find them too bright for me. I actually like the JJ’s I have in there now.
I think what you’re hearing is typical of the stock Chinese tubes. They are very gainy and mid-forward sounding to me.
I have rolled tons of tubes through the QR and I settled on JJ in V2/3 and a RI Mullard in V1(which is amazing there btw...thick lows but still very chimy top end.)
What is it tone-wise that you are trying to correct/change?

I swear I saw you mentioning  EHX in another thread, along with a bunch of other tubes...

[gtrjunior]

Apr 5, 2018 21:05:00 GMT -5 splawndude said:

WOW

I didn't know you had 50 NOS tubes. So jealous.

I had made it a goal to stock up on NOS tubes but then decided that I needed to focus more on guitar playing and less on tone chasing lol

I want to say I paid around $30 for mine from Dougs Tubes but that was well over 5 years ago. Now when I go to his site I see he has none at all. Google says KCANOStubes.com is selling them for $60. eBay is showing $20 (but not in original box so who knows what you are getting). Reverb had a listing at like $35 but no longer there. Not sure I'm willing anymore to spend big money on tubes.

Some say the JJ 5751 (new production) is pretty good.

A few years ago I was on aNOS shopping spree. I’m lot sure exactly how many I have but it’s got to be approaching 50 or so. Lots of RCA, about 6-10 British made Mullard, one Telefunken and a bunch of various other brands.
In my Marshall (2204) the NOS sound great but I have found that my QR likes the New Production Tubes better....at least my ears like them better.
cvogue..
If you still have a few JJ you might try swapping an EHX and a JJ between V2/3. The mix of bright and dark might yield interesting results.
And I’ll say again that the RI Mullard made my clean channel sound awesome.