421Tourmaster pre tubes

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Sixtycycle

Sixtycycle

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I know I am opening a to each there own opinion question but....
My TM 4212 has a complete setup of Tung sol Power and Pre's. I find my OD's are way to fuzz fizz for my liking.
Anyone suggest a warm creamier OD 1 and 2 pre tube. I seem to like the clean so far, been twisting and listening and I prefer a more classic rock organic tone for the ODs. I get close with some contour play and the switch set to modern.
I first heard the and played the TM with stock GT's in all the holes, I think. The OD's seemed to headed more in my direction. I've Heard good things on the JJ ECC83s to tame highs or Sov LPS. THOUGHTS???? And then the next question what slot should I go after?????
Thanks in advance!!!
 
i'll get back to you on this when i get some time later...i have a pretty good pre-tube concoction...

search some of my tourmaster posts too...i laid out some pretty involved tube info on it over the past year.

G
 
Good deal Yeti, I'm waitin with bated breath... :yes:
I've looked over your post and dig the long winds....I just would like to have a V1 through V8 layout. Like I said all Tugs 12ax7 and Tungs power set as well. I checked the bias today also, just to make sure I was on (it sets at 125 at the moment). I just wanna get out of the fizzy fuzz fountian and get into those cream jeans. I play more blusey and classic rock stuff no metal :D
Thanks
 
all right.

this is what i have in there right now, and hadn't changed it for about 6 weeks (heavy playing) right before it crapped the bed on me.

v1 v2 v4 chinese 12ax7b
v3 rft
v5 JJecc83
v6 Electro harmonix
v7 groove tubes stock tube (12ax7 b?)
v8 Sovtek LPS (matched)

i put tung sols in different tone slots (v1-v5) one at a time and also 2 in combo with the others listed above, and, they're just too muddy and gritty for me, which, may translate to your "fuzz/fizz".

OD1 with the above cocktail is UNGODLY good sounding for any style.

i also still had that 50$ matched quad of ruby power tubes in there....they sound great in all settings, but i will say, from what i remember, once the amp started heating up, they felt saggy and mushy at higher volumes, and i didnt love that....if i remember correctly, my next experiment was going to be putting 2 of the GT power tubes in the outer and leaving 2 ruby power tubes in the middle for a mix...and seeing how that felt and sounded at higher volumes, but my amp quit before i was able to extensively mess with that.

i was biasing my power tubes at 132...and, every kind that i put in there, they all tended to "float" low and high at times....i think a lot depended on how much current draw the rest of the shit in my house was pulling during my bias times.

i also remember Bruce or Ian sending me a message that i COULD try el34's in my amp, but ONLY in the 100 watt setting biased around 115 or so for starters.

good luck dude, let me know what you come up with.

the missing link pre amp tube was the RFT in v3. i messed with different combinations for HOURS upon HOURS..and finally found that RFT at the bottom of my stash and didn't even know what it was. and as soon as i put it in, my jaw dropped...combined with those silver dragons (12ax7b) and the JJ in the contour slot, the amp REALLY came alive (OD 1 again!!!) and exhibited this lower mid growl that was just breathtaking when i let barre chords ring out... similiar to the VERY beginning of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOCZGxAYl9o

/long winded!
 
When I had a Tourmaster I also remember thinking that I wasn't always happy with the distortions. Like Yeti said, you can use other power tubes in there but you lose the power grid functionality.

I would be very hesitant to do that as that is one of the best features of the amp.

Have you tried setting it down on ten watts? I used to do that a lot. It added a nice compression across all of the channels.
 
I think the other power tubes that you could use were KT 66's. Not sure on that though.
 
Cool thanks, a buyin I will go!! :D One thing only one Sovtek listed what do you mean by "matched when you only used one? :confused:
 
Preferred Series 7025 at the tubestore.com, use those in V-1, V-2, and...V3 or V4? One or the other, like the result. Sovtek LPS on V8 like Yeti, agreed. SED =C= 6L6, like those a lot too.

Get some tubes, at the very least to have some extras around in case of malfunction. Unless you live across the street from a quality tube distributor and access is no issue.

And then you can also join the BS-ing on forums about changing out tubes to achieve that extra pinch of tone - consider this a bonus to your spare tubes stash.

A few weeks a go, I had V7 go on me - wouldn't have expected that and I could not diagnose it quickly enough to prevent a punt to a backup amp - the drummers! Another lesson, or three. But I digress...
 
60Hz - to answer your last question about the matched sections of a 12ax7, some folks adhere to the idea that match sections (sections = the two separate triodes in each 12ax7, I think) are a good idea in the phase inverter or phase splitter stage. Other slots, not so much. Some disharmonic content is a good thing, maybe not in the phase splitter.
 
ok got it...I got your reply on the V1 2 3 4 8 BUT what tubes in V5 6 7?
Thanks
 
I still say fiddle with the amp before you go spending money. Try the low input, or the voicing switches. Work the contour controls. Buddy of mine is an amp repair/guitar builder guy. He did a little work on my TM and said "that thing will do fine with your basic Groove Tubes." I'd be hesitant about dismantling the power grid. Maybe best feature of the amp.

My two cents.
 
yeah. im with len on that, dont' disable the power grid. use 6L6 or 5881's in it..at least until you get used to the amp after about 2 months of playing it or so.

same with the preamp tubes. i felt it was a huge mistake buying tubes right away and messing with that whole deal for HOURS upon HOURS.

instead of just playing my amp, i was constantly messing with tubes. then, i got to a point after about a month of that where i just put the it back mostly to stock GT's...i did however leave the jjecc83 in the contour slot though as i liked what it did for the amp over the stock.

the EH tube in the reverb slot keeps the reverb nice and bright and loud, which, i liked. i've always left the effects loop tube stock as it sounded fine to me.

i'd revert all back to stock and get to know your amp. then start switching out one at a time. do yourself a favor and label the stock tubes as to their positions.

i didn't know any better when i ordered the "matched" sovtek lps tube....granted 4.00 for a matched tube isn't going to make or break me so i just ordered it and was done with it. there are two sides to the argument for and against matched tubes in the PI, i just went with what i read about and made the decision from there. next time, i'll just order a regular LPS and be done with it....i can tell you, swapping pre-tubes (AND power tubes) isn't going to fulfil any dreams of granduer i have about people interviewing me and asking about "my tone: what i use for preamp tubes". :)

but, you can tweak the v1-v5 slots and get some different sounds and tailor your sounds more to your liking...provided you know what you're looking for and how to do it. also, i also found the tung sol tubes to be fuzzy, and mushy and grainy in this amp (but love them in different amps), and i didn't run them long in mine. one also crapped out (the bunk tung sol!)
 
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