Retubing pre amp tubes in a Powerball II

chopeth85

New member
Hi!! i have an Engl Powerball II and i want to change preamp tubes ( i play mostly at home so power tubes is not the most important thing to me, the stock tubes are still in perfect condidition. I have read all the post and i´d like to testing some preamp tubes. My main target is to get a "less" aggresive crunch channel, a more mild and soft clean channel ( though i think is really beautiful ) and increase the saturated tone ( i love the high and aggresive sound but maybe a bit less dry ) so i was thinking in buying this tubes to test different sounds:

- tung sol 12ax7 gold pins double triodes balanced x2
- tad 12ax7wa premium selected.
- jj ecc83s gold double triodes balanced.
- tad 12at7 premium selected balanced.
- GE Nos 5751 double triodes balanced.
- JanNos 12at7wc double diodes balanced.


I know there are many tubes here haha, but the ones i dont use i can use in other amps.

Would you give me some advise , talking about the position or the selection? thank you very much!
 
With preamp tubes it's simple. Just try and see if you like the results.
12at7's will have considerably less gain than 12ax7's. If you put them in V1 the gain sweep will be much more usable but it may lose the aggression maybe a bit too much. I didn't like them in my Savage SE but it's worth a try. It may be right what you need. Cool tubes for clean and low gain sounds. They didn't cut it for hi gain for me.
TungSol adds a bit bite that could turn into shrill at higher volumes. Not really my choice when you want less aggressive sound.
I'm not a fan of JJ's in ENGL's in general. They can bring some bottom but it is not defined enough for me. JJ ECC803S is a nice tube though. Great for cleans.
TAD could be nice. I have good experience with them.

For less aggressive crunch and softer, more mellow clean sound I'd suggest Jan Philips 12AX7WA, RFT ECC83, Mullard ECC83 or RCA 12AX7. Preferably 8/10 or 9/11 gain-wise. It wouldn't bring the gain too low for hi gain to suffer and in my experience, these tubes have a lot of mids and their top end is somewhat rounded. You have just V1 and V2 for preamp (or V5 and V6 according to manual) so there are not that many options anyway. Having this in mind I would not underestimate your PI tube either (it's V8 in manual). Sovtek 12AX7LPS is a classic tube of choice for that position. I liked it the most both in Invader and Savage SE.
 
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