A
Anonymous
Guest
I don't know how loud most of you are allowed to play your Einstein amps at live gigs or even at home, but in our band, being mic'd up (I use the compensated out) I cannot turn the amp up very loud as we are playing in rooms where the amp doesn't need to be cranked.
While I am able to get great tone using the stock tubes that came with the amp, and have used it absolutely stock for over one year, I have to watch how much I can turn the volumes up and sometimes that becomes a delicate procedure as it can get loud fairly quickly.
Please keep in mind that Diezel amps are very sensative to different makes of pre-amp tubes, which means that an EH pre-amp tube will not sound the same as any other maker's pre-amp tube of the exact same type, which is a good thing. This allows you to really be able to voice your amp to your exact tastes and style.
What I have done is to experiment with different rated pre-amp tubes that are lower then the 12AX7's in V-1 and V-2 by using 12AT7's and 12AU7's.
This soften's the amp's reaction to distortion the amp puts out so that I can still get the distortion I desire but only by turning up the gain and channel volumes more. What this accomplishes is a sweeter and clearer distortion that is not overly distorted in the mix which means the notes are not being lost in the band mix or sounding like a mushy mess. They will also sustain longer because the amp is being worked harder.
This will not satisfy your tone tastes if you play with a lot of distortion, but as most of you who own the Einstein will attest too, you usually don't need the gain much, if at all, past 12 o'clock. I have found that I am not using as much distortion as I used too and I find that I still have more then enough, but with a better guitar tone. Hey, everyone's tastes change once in awhile.
After about 2 hours of trying various tubes, I have settled on a NOS Mullard 12AU7 in V-1 and a NOS Mullard 12 AT7 in V-2 for my personal choice. The Telefunken ECC-81's were a tad too bright, but if you like more of a Fendery tone, try a Telefunken in V-1 for channel one distortion, or in V-2 for a brighter channel 2 distortion.
I also now use mode 3 on channel one with the gain up about 2:30 to get the distortion I used to get in mode 2 at 12 o'clock, but the dials are not as sensative to volume changes and the amp can be turned up louder which really opens up the power tubes if the channel volumes are used for added volume rather then the master volumes. This slightly overdrives the power tubes and I get a singing sustain reminisent of a SLP being run wide open. The combination of overdriving the power section and the pre-amp section gives more variation to the distorted tones I can get from the amp. The master volumes at this point are still very low, about 8 o'clock, so the overall volume of the amp is not being lost.
I can now run my gains much higher on the amp and even at maximum gain, I still find plenty of distortion available without worrying about using too much distortion.
While this may not be for everyone, it offers me far more flexibility on the amp without sacrificing any tones I desire. Adjusting your guitar volume, or, if you use a foot pedal for volume, you can easily clean up the tone and the amp's feels is every bit as sensative. If you use a lot of distortion, these tubes substitutions may not be for you, but if you only use your amp at home or are constrained at live work by volume restictions, you might find that you can get more from the amp.
While I am able to get great tone using the stock tubes that came with the amp, and have used it absolutely stock for over one year, I have to watch how much I can turn the volumes up and sometimes that becomes a delicate procedure as it can get loud fairly quickly.
Please keep in mind that Diezel amps are very sensative to different makes of pre-amp tubes, which means that an EH pre-amp tube will not sound the same as any other maker's pre-amp tube of the exact same type, which is a good thing. This allows you to really be able to voice your amp to your exact tastes and style.
What I have done is to experiment with different rated pre-amp tubes that are lower then the 12AX7's in V-1 and V-2 by using 12AT7's and 12AU7's.
This soften's the amp's reaction to distortion the amp puts out so that I can still get the distortion I desire but only by turning up the gain and channel volumes more. What this accomplishes is a sweeter and clearer distortion that is not overly distorted in the mix which means the notes are not being lost in the band mix or sounding like a mushy mess. They will also sustain longer because the amp is being worked harder.
This will not satisfy your tone tastes if you play with a lot of distortion, but as most of you who own the Einstein will attest too, you usually don't need the gain much, if at all, past 12 o'clock. I have found that I am not using as much distortion as I used too and I find that I still have more then enough, but with a better guitar tone. Hey, everyone's tastes change once in awhile.
After about 2 hours of trying various tubes, I have settled on a NOS Mullard 12AU7 in V-1 and a NOS Mullard 12 AT7 in V-2 for my personal choice. The Telefunken ECC-81's were a tad too bright, but if you like more of a Fendery tone, try a Telefunken in V-1 for channel one distortion, or in V-2 for a brighter channel 2 distortion.
I also now use mode 3 on channel one with the gain up about 2:30 to get the distortion I used to get in mode 2 at 12 o'clock, but the dials are not as sensative to volume changes and the amp can be turned up louder which really opens up the power tubes if the channel volumes are used for added volume rather then the master volumes. This slightly overdrives the power tubes and I get a singing sustain reminisent of a SLP being run wide open. The combination of overdriving the power section and the pre-amp section gives more variation to the distorted tones I can get from the amp. The master volumes at this point are still very low, about 8 o'clock, so the overall volume of the amp is not being lost.
I can now run my gains much higher on the amp and even at maximum gain, I still find plenty of distortion available without worrying about using too much distortion.
While this may not be for everyone, it offers me far more flexibility on the amp without sacrificing any tones I desire. Adjusting your guitar volume, or, if you use a foot pedal for volume, you can easily clean up the tone and the amp's feels is every bit as sensative. If you use a lot of distortion, these tubes substitutions may not be for you, but if you only use your amp at home or are constrained at live work by volume restictions, you might find that you can get more from the amp.
