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Post subject: HR DLX3 retube success
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:00 pm
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2014 2:07 pm
Posts: 303
I've been playing both of my HR DLX3's for a couple of weeks now to decide which one to keep.
I have 2 HR DLX3's, one is a standard model with the stock Celestion speaker, and the other is an FSR in back and red with an Eminence "The Wizard" speaker.
Both amps sound great with tonal differences mainly from the speakers.
The Celestion is brighter with very nice sparkle on the top end, and a nice mid range snap/spank.
The Eminence is a bid darker with more low end extension, and has a tighter midrange with an overall slightly more compressed tone.
I've decided to keep the FSR as I really like how the Eminence responds to the distortion pedals I have. Pinch harmonics are louder and more pronounced with this speaker.

I wanted to tame some of the spikier/harsher brightness that comes at times especially when playing clean, and to smooth out the high gain channel's distortion that gets a bit raspy with certain settings.
First I tried a pair SED Winged C 6L6's that I love in just about every amp I've used them in. I set bias to the recommended 70mV.
Surprisingly, I didn't like the SED's in this amp. Just didn't like the overall tone.
I have a spare quad of Sovtek 5881's that are nothing special, but I figured why not.
Put them in and had to greatly adjust the bias down.
With the SED's bias at 70mV, the 5881's showed a 33mV.
I tried some various settings from 50mV to 85mV and settled on 65mV.
Pleasantly surprised at how full and round the amp sounded, with a smooth warm midrange that brought out more of that sweet Fender mid tone.
And when cranked on the clean channel, SWEET break up.

Next up was the pre tubes.
The FSR stock pre's were a pair of GT 12ax7's and a GT ECC83s for the PI.
The 12ax7's look just like Sovtek 7025's I have, and the ECC83s look just like the
JJ's ECC83s's I also have.
The standard all black HR DLX3 is loaded with 3 GT ECC83s.

The pre's I tried:
Tung Sol 12ax7
Jan Phillips 5751- These are a "hotter" version than typical 5751's.
Sovtek LPS 12ax7
Mullard 12ax7
JJ's 12at7
JJ's ECC81
and the stock pre's

The set I settled on is
V1 - Jan Phillips 5751
V2 - Mullard 12ax7
V3/PI - Sovtek LPS

That sweet mid with chimey high's of a Fender clean is there.
The improvements are just smoother tone all around with a more 3D dimensional quality. The high end is sparkly but no spikiness in the upper mids.
Low end is rounder and more controlled. Mids have a more complex harmonic quality.
The high gain channel's raspy distortion is now smoother with more harmonic tones.
Both light gain and higher gain settings are now much more usable.
I can now get a better crunch distortion, and very cool lightly saturated gritty blues tones that's got FENDER written all over it.

Still the same great Fender amp but now it's got a "+" added to it's tone. :)

I hope some of this info is helpful to another HR DLX player.


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Post subject: Re: HR DLX3 retube success
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:19 pm
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Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:20 pm
Posts: 9640
Location: Indiana
I kept the stock GT output tubes (Sovtek 5881) in mine for somewhere around 10+ years, and they are great tubes. A 5751 in V1 is a great choice for this amp too. Sounds like you have a nice lineup in yours. Did you try your 12AT7 in the PI position (V3)?

BTW, ECC81 is the same as a 12AT7.

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Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.


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Post subject: Re: HR DLX3 retube success
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:07 pm
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:44 pm
Posts: 366
Rverb wrote:
I've been playing both of my HR DLX3's for a couple of weeks now to decide which one to keep.
I have 2 HR DLX3's, one is a standard model with the stock Celestion speaker, and the other is an FSR in back and red with an Eminence "The Wizard" speaker.
Both amps sound great with tonal differences mainly from the speakers.
The Celestion is brighter with very nice sparkle on the top end, and a nice mid range snap/spank.
The Eminence is a bid darker with more low end extension, and has a tighter midrange with an overall slightly more compressed tone.
I've decided to keep the FSR as I really like how the Eminence responds to the distortion pedals I have. Pinch harmonics are louder and more pronounced with this speaker.

I wanted to tame some of the spikier/harsher brightness that comes at times especially when playing clean, and to smooth out the high gain channel's distortion that gets a bit raspy with certain settings.
First I tried a pair SED Winged C 6L6's that I love in just about every amp I've used them in. I set bias to the recommended 70mV.
Surprisingly, I didn't like the SED's in this amp. Just didn't like the overall tone.
I have a spare quad of Sovtek 5881's that are nothing special, but I figured why not.
Put them in and had to greatly adjust the bias down.
With the SED's bias at 70mV, the 5881's showed a 33mV.
I tried some various settings from 50mV to 85mV and settled on 65mV.
Pleasantly surprised at how full and round the amp sounded, with a smooth warm midrange that brought out more of that sweet Fender mid tone.
And when cranked on the clean channel, SWEET break up.

Next up was the pre tubes.
The FSR stock pre's were a pair of GT 12ax7's and a GT ECC83s for the PI.
The 12ax7's look just like Sovtek 7025's I have, and the ECC83s look just like the
JJ's ECC83s's I also have.
The standard all black HR DLX3 is loaded with 3 GT ECC83s.

The pre's I tried:
Tung Sol 12ax7
Jan Phillips 5751- These are a "hotter" version than typical 5751's.
Sovtek LPS 12ax7
Mullard 12ax7
JJ's 12at7
JJ's ECC81
and the stock pre's

The set I settled on is
V1 - Jan Phillips 5751
V2 - Mullard 12ax7
V3/PI - Sovtek LPS

That sweet mid with chimey high's of a Fender clean is there.
The improvements are just smoother tone all around with a more 3D dimensional quality. The high end is sparkly but no spikiness in the upper mids.
Low end is rounder and more controlled. Mids have a more complex harmonic quality.
The high gain channel's raspy distortion is now smoother with more harmonic tones.
Both light gain and higher gain settings are now much more usable.
I can now get a better crunch distortion, and very cool lightly saturated gritty blues tones that's got FENDER written all over it.

Still the same great Fender amp but now it's got a "+" added to it's tone. :)

I hope some of this info is helpful to another HR DLX player.



Sounds like a very good selection of tubes.

I may try Tung-Sol 12AX7 in V1,...Mullard 12AX7 in V2,...and that Sovtek LPS 12AX7 in V3/PI. I have the HRD III amp,...standard version! As for my output tubes,...I may try Tung-Sol 6L6GC STRs,...I hear those are good tubes based on some reviews I have read about them.

_________________
If it aint' broke,...don't fix it! I like to keep my amps and guitars factory original,...no mods necessary,...don't want them,...don't need them!

My gear as of now;
Standard Strat
Hot Rod Deluxe III amp
Champion 20 amp
'59 Bassman LTD Reissue


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Post subject: Re: HR DLX3 retube success
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:12 pm
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:44 pm
Posts: 366
shimmilou wrote:
I kept the stock GT output tubes (Sovtek 5881) in mine for somewhere around 10+ years, and they are great tubes. A 5751 in V1 is a great choice for this amp too. Sounds like you have a nice lineup in yours. Did you try your 12AT7 in the PI position (V3)?

BTW, ECC81 is the same as a 12AT7.


Question,...I noticed my '59 Bassman LTD Vintage Reissue amp does not have a PI tube,...or does it? All I see are three 12AX7 tubes in preamp section inside metal shields.
Unlike my HRDlx III which has a 12AX7 preamp tube in V3/PI position close to my output tubes,...I don't see this in my Bassman amp(which I absolutely LOVE the sound of,...when I practice,I play through that amp pretty much every time,...the HRDlx III is starting to get jealous since I don't play her as much. :lol: :lol: :lol: ).

_________________
If it aint' broke,...don't fix it! I like to keep my amps and guitars factory original,...no mods necessary,...don't want them,...don't need them!

My gear as of now;
Standard Strat
Hot Rod Deluxe III amp
Champion 20 amp
'59 Bassman LTD Reissue


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Post subject: Re: HR DLX3 retube success
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:19 pm
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Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:18 pm
Posts: 6544
KC9SYJ,

I believe V3 is the phase inverter. Classic long-tailed paired PI.

http://support.fender.com/schematics/gu ... ematic.pdf


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