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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:53 pm
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Arjay, One of the quietest 12AX7 tube I've ever used is the NOS Tesla gold pin E83CC. Frame-grid, tough as nail tubes. With good tone. I wish I had more in my stock. these make perfect input tubes.

http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s38 ... G_0221.jpg


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:37 pm
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I've used those as well, with excellent results.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 2:30 am
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I too use those Teslas, one in both Fender amp's normal channel. Very nice tubes!!! Art

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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 7:08 pm
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"Less Butter, More Honey"

The 5751s arrived on Thanksgiving Day and I installed them in V2 and V3 as Arjay suggested with the Tung Sol in V1. This is definitely the right set up! They are, to paraphrase Ray Charles, "fine sweet and mellow"!

Immediately I noticed three improvements: No buzzing/hum, No harshness in the tone, and no need to ride the volume/tone controls on my guitar! There's more clarity and air to the tone. There is one trade off, the lows & mids are less fat & buttery. But I still get a very strong bass response--I'm glad I bought a Bassman. The bass response was much poorer with the 5751 in V1 and I would not recommend it.

And in return, the highs are sweet like honey, definitely nicer than before with a little more shimmer. There's more unison to the tone as well; the 5751 blends in the areas where the 12ax7 shines.

The amp has made a great addition to the family. My wife has been plugging in to the Bass channel while I use the guitar channel and we've invited friends over to play music in our living room when the kids are asleep. These nights are the most fun I've had all year! The 5751s should ease some of our worries about the volume. And the amp will soon stand beside an upright piano.

And I've had the chance to take the amp out and crank it again (this was before I got the 5751s. Sounded unbelievable. With the volume at 3 it's perfectly loud and clean, at 4 the air starts to blur with sound, and by the time you reach 5 you know you're having a good time because, well, holy crap :lol:

Curious to see how the 5751s affect the natural distortion. Winged C's are on their way too-- and a recorded tube shoot out to follow. Thanks for reading and contributing!


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:39 pm
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I have my amp back from the repair shop after having months of trouble with it . I was able to record with it tonight, with my band, at a local studio, with the amp turned up to 5, with no problems. So, so far so good.

Why have I had so many problems so far? Inconclusive. But, we made it through recording, and we aren't doing anything in the whole month of July, so I've decided to stop worrying about it for a while.


Since buying this amp I've tried a handful of different tubes and I thought I'd write what I've learned as a resource to anyone just learning about tube amps. If you are new to tube amps, know that changing tubes is a VERY subjective game, so take everything with a grain of salt. And please excuse any extra flowery writing, it's hard to describe this stuff without sounding pretentious.


First, power tubes. I've tried Winged C's and TAD 6L6WGC-STR (the short bottle types.) Tubes were biased by a technician and I don't know how they were biased.

I found the Winged C's had a more compressed, balanced and euphonic 'ring' to them. Chords just 'sing,' with beautiful airy highs. The TAD, on the other hand, were more 'raw', more saturated, with LOTS of Bass, lots of mid, lots of treble, lots of 'spank' to them. Bass is incredible with these guys, extra firm and resonant.

Initially I preferred the Winged C; they just have this warm glow, they're just plain NICE. But, these tubes blew up on two separate occasions so it was back to the TAD (I actually suspect my recurring problems may have had to do with the tubes.)

The TAD, while not as sparkling and pretty as the Winged C, seem to have more 'kick' to them. This works great in the band I'm playing, loud & rhythmic rock that draws heavily from The Clash, The Rolling Stones, etc., as these tubes are very lively!

Both are great tubes and you can't go wrong with either. The TAD have a bit more 'edge' to them and would be really great for country twang or snarling blues. The Winged C are more pleasing to the ear and I'd choose these again if I was relying on my amp more for clean tones instead of crunch.


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:35 pm
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Preamp tubes:
I run an Electric Harmonix in V1 (Bass Channel), and a Tung Sol in V2 (Shared Gain Stage), Tung Sol in V3 (Guitar Channel). I jump both channels together.

Tung Sol: These are big and smooth and bright. Like hearing your guitar in stereo surround sound. They really shine while lacking harshness. Great for a channel with a bright switch. Bass is good, but...

Electro Harmonix: ... these have way better bass. There was no question, these fit better in my Bass Channel. They are not as brilliantly bright as the Tung Sol, more emphasis on high-mids than on extra-highs. I find their tone a little tighter and crisper than the Tung Sol too. So, if the Tung Sol is 'expansive,' these are more 'focused.'

JAN-GE 5751s: I use these at home. They really tone down the amp nicely and make it much more useable in my living room. The highs are mellower, more sweet like honey, less like bright sunshine. :lol: Oh god. Anyways, in a full band situation they dulled the tone a little more than I liked (though I was using a 5751 in both V2 and V3).

JAN-Phillips 12AX7WA: These have some real character to them. I carry them in my gig bag and any time I have to use a Hot Rod Deville, I pop these in and the amp sounds much better. Adds sustain, balances the EQ, and adds character to that amp. Too midrangey in my Bassman and seemed to only sound good in one setting, however I haven't tried them in months, to be fair.


Hopefully this is helpful to someone. It was definitely fun for me!!


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:22 pm
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Good info, Daniel!!! Hope the amp stabilizes!!! I also use a 5751 in the V2 slot of my Bassman. What are you running in the phase inverter position? Art

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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:47 pm
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Mullard CV4024, on the recommendation of this board. :mrgreen:
I haven't changed that one around. The amp originally came with an old GE 12AT7 in the phase inverter, which I still have, stashed away. But I haven't done an A/B comparison.

The amp did GREAT during recording. At the last two rehearsals it blew up within an hour! This time she hung in there for a solid two. The recording's done so I'll post some mp3s soon!


One thing I've noticed, the amp sounds great, but it has a very prominent midrange with a sort of 'cardboard' quality to it, more so than I'd like, and the natural distortion is a little bit 'mushy.' I want to try and tweak this one last point.

I'm thinking of renting a cab with Vintage 30s, and seeing how these affect the sound. I want a little more crunch, a little tighter midrange which blends better, even a little more 'roar' like I'd get with a Marshall if I can. Currently using Weber 10f150T and 10a125.

Now if I find that changing speakers does the trick I may end up buying Eminence Ramrods because they are 10" speakers (I own a 2x10 cabinet) and generally get better reviews than Celestion Vintage 10s. Anyone with experience with these speakers please share!


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:40 pm
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Daniel, my Bassman is a 2X10 combo. I run two Weber 10's, one ceramic and one alnico. Don't know the model numbers. The amp is at the studio. F 1050 or something? But when the amp is warmed up and crankin', Keith Richards is spoken here! Add another 10" spkr, back it down a bit, add reverb.... and it's Robert Cray- Magic Sam land ! Those Bassman amps have the goods!!! Art

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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:49 pm
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The more I listen to our recordings the more I LOVE my guitar tone. For two really LOUD examples go here:

https://soundcloud.com/gold-pony-band

Earlier I said we sound like The Stones or The Clash... These songs sound nothing like The Stoness or The Clash :lol:

I'm generally using straight tube distortion up to about 1:00, then I start throwing pedals for extra saturation.

The Weber 10f150 is mic'ed in these recordings.

I'll try to post examples of my clean tone tonight too.


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:41 pm
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Sounds great, dude!!! Rock Away!!!! Art

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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:16 pm
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Thanks so much Art :mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:12 pm
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And here's how she sounds clean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v8CO0A40Sg

Not the best demo (sound quality ain't so great) but not the worst either. Shows how resonant warm and pure the tone is. :D


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 5:49 pm
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Tasteful and sweet, with enough harmonic undertones to make the passage interesting......it doesn't get any better than that, folks!

8)

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: NAD - Pine Cabinet '68 Bassman
Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:01 pm
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Daniel, nice tone. Room has good reverb quality. Now to let the thing break.in. Can only get better.


:D


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