Major breakthough fellers!

[snappinnecks]

One of my JJ preamp tubes went south while recording just a little while ago major whistling and poof there she goes. All I had to replace it with was my favorite all around preamp tube Shuguang 12AX7A. I went ahead and put all 4 Shuguangs in it to see what it would sound like. Dude.........Dude..............Dude..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!
Huge difference.
It is hard to describe the tone. It is soooooooooooo much more defined and solid now. I would say a tad less gain than the JJ83's but stronger tone. Very smooth and the clean channel is more chimey and crystal clear. For some reason it tightened up the bass better than using my SD-1 also. I used these tubes with a Bogner I had and fell in love with them. Also they are very inexpensive and I got them directly from China. These tubes are currently being rebranded by Ruby, Mesa, amd GT.
I haven't been this excited about an amp in a looong while. I'm going to have to go back and rerecord now . I don't think the tubes I have are a matched set if that makes a difference, but they sound sweet. Another thing I can't figure out is I can now turn up the volume to noon and still not have any issues other than small animals dying within a one mile radius of the studio. I wish I had something ready to share with you guys so you could hear it. I am stunned to say the least.

[Silverwulf]

Glad you found some tubes you liked. It's always great to try different tubes and see which ones suit you more than others. Quite often, I find myself liking the tubes that everyone tells me I'm going to hate... ;D For example, in my Dual Rectifier I kept getting told "JJ's in the preamp are too dark, they sound like you have a blanket over the amp." Tried a high gain set and loved them. I was told "Sovtek's are the worst power tubes you can use. They sound like cardboard, they're flubby, have no character, etc." Put in a $45 matched quad of Sovtek 5881WGC's and couldn't be happier. I find it tames the high end, keeps things tight, the bass in check, etc. So my perfect combo in the amp was an all around set that everyone kept preaching "Stay away from them!"

Think JJ's, Mullards, SED's, and some Tung-Sol's are about all I've tried in the Splawns.

[windsen]

wow, very cool man. i've heard of other liking those pre-amp tubes. may have to try them myself.

"Another thing I can't figure out is I can now turn up the volume to noon and still not have any issues other than small animals dying within a one mile radius of the studio. "

^what do you mean by that? that it's not as loud anymore or that it's not noisy?

[LooseCannon]

Is it possible that the JJ's were just old and lost some of their tone so the shuguangs sounded much better? Which generation did you use?

[snappinnecks]

The tubes are I guess first since they are 12AX7A s. The 12AX7B s are second I think. The Nitro broke up quite a bit and distorted loosing its clarity from about 10 O clock on. Now I can turn the bad boy up to noon before it starts to get a little hairy and loose clarity. Now 10 Oclock is super clear, but is still super loud. It is usable with earplugs of course. My Nitro has sounded the same since I got it in February. It never changed until today when the second tube went out. After I have got to spend some more time with it I do think it has lost a little gain with the Shuguangs, but is a ton clearer and tighter. It is suuuuper smooth now and thumps mega hard. It did not however lose that distinct Nitro growl. I think it has made an already scary amp even scarier.

[snappinnecks]

Oh yeah its not nearly as noisy now Windsen. Not that much feedback either. Pinch harmonics are the same. Notes are much clearer. Chords are more distinct. Slop is heard much more too which isn't a good thing for me hehe.

[LooseCannon]

Don't they come in 8th or 9th generation now? Do you have a QR too snappin? I wonder how would they sound in my competition.

[snappinnecks]

I'm not really sure about the generations on the tubes bro. As far as I know there is 12AX7A and 12AX7B in the Shuguang tubes. I thought the 1st were the A's and second the B's.
I don't have a Quickrod anymore. I never tried them in my Quickrod, so I couldn't tell ya how it sounds. I imagine that the results would probably be similar.