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Post subject: Replacing tubes in Hot Rod Deluxe
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 3:28 pm
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Hello everyone. I recently bought a Hot Rod Deluxe off a friend of mine who I used to play in a band with. I've played on tube amplifiers before and know a little about them, but I've never owned one myself until now. I really like the amplifier, but I'd like to try to get some warmer tone out of it and a less shrill breakup. I'm considering replacing the 6L6 power tubes with a pair of JJ EL84's using Yellow Jacket adapters. From what I know, this should help me achieve the tone I'm looking for. Any thoughts, input, advice, helpful information? Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Replacing tubes in Hot Rod Deluxe
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:24 am
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First of all, the amp must be in good order . BIAS ; if actual bias is too cold , sound will be thin , not warm.

If actual 6L6 are worn , sound will be weak too.

Only EL84 replacement won't do miracle.


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Post subject: Re: Replacing tubes in Hot Rod Deluxe
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:01 am
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Hi Jamin' and welcome to the forum. There are some very knowledgeable folks here - no, I'm not one of them :) - so I'm sure you'll be getting plenty more good advice and suggestions on the topic of HRD tube swapping. In the meanwhile may I suggest you check out Justin Holton's website where you'll find lots of information on the HRD: http://www.justinholton.com/hotrod/

Cheers!
BM

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Post subject: Re: Replacing tubes in Hot Rod Deluxe
Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:35 am
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Hi JaminTravis,

The site mentioned by Bluer Monkey has a lot of great info. The advice given by stratele52 is the first thing to do with any new tube amp, check/adjust the bias, this alone will usually improve the sound if it still has the cold bias from the factory. Using EL84s will probably not get what you want, and they will probably give you earlier breakup, and certainly less power out. After bias is set, if you still want to improve the sound, try a 5751 in V1 and a 12AT7 in V3 (PI), and this will warm up the tone. Be sure to use the best quality tubes that you can get.

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Post subject: Re: Replacing tubes in Hot Rod Deluxe
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:39 am
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Thanks for the input. The amp is not brand new. My friend owned it for about 4 years before I just recently bought it from him. He's changed the tubes twice (still using 6L6's) and it's biased very good. It's still a great sounding amp, but the overdrive channel gets too shrill at higher volumes. I guess that's what I'm trying to fix tone wise. Also, this info might help: I'm playing a 2003 Highway One Strat with 3 single coils.


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Post subject: Re: Replacing tubes in Hot Rod Deluxe
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:18 am
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The tube in position V2 will have the greatest affect on the drive channel. Try a 5751 in V2 at least. The lower gain preamp/PI tubes can do wonders for the sound, and using them in V1 and V3 (PI) can help also, and these two positions will affect the clean channel, many times in a good way. Easy and cheap to experiment with different preamp tubes, no adjustment to the amp necessary, just plug and play, swap as you see (hear) fit.

Oh, have you tried input 2? It is attenuated, and might sound better. :idea:

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