Bogner Shiva preamp tube suggestions

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Seahawk2982

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Hey guys,

Dunno if its my first post or not here but have been a lurker for awhile. Ive been messing around with some preamp tubes to make my Shiva a little more aggresive/tighter/brighter. Its an older Cosma Shiva (#10) non-reverb and although it sounds great its fairly dark and I just feel it could be a little more in your face. Power tubes are about 8 months old and they are Winged C-s so dont want to mess with them. I have about 20 or so tubes laying around and just looking for some interesting combinations rather than the usual Chinese Tubes in all slots which are in there now. I have a few Tung-Sol RIs, JJs, Ruby HG+s, older Ruby chinese, Penta Labs, Sovtek LPs and a Mullard RI. Also have a few Philips 12ax7wa.
Any suggestions thatll give the amp a little kick in the ass? Thanks.
 
all chinese should brighten it up a bit...jjs will darken:)
 
Don't know about the older models but after trying a bunch of different tubes, new production and NOS, I always end up going back to the Chinese in my 20th Shiva.
 
If you use it with the Mode button IN, then the Chinese should work great. If you use the Mode button OUT, then Tung Sols or NOS Yugo EIs. Those (the pre-war EI) are AMAZING. Very "3d".
 
Rdodson":2spd5601 said:
If you use it with the Mode button IN, then the Chinese should work great. If you use the Mode button OUT, then Tung Sols or NOS Yugo EIs. Those (the pre-war EI) are AMAZING. Very "3d".
Click to expand...
I use mine with the mode out and still Chinese were the winner.
 
I have both kinds of tubes for sale and maybe i will try some eis in it :lol: :LOL:
penta 12ax7 5 tube sleeves 80.00
eis make me an offer :thumbsup:
 
When I had a good stash of NOS I used to test them against the stock Chinese and the stock tubes always came out on top with that amp with the exception of an old EI 12AX7 in V1. I suggest trying what you have and see what you like, you might come up with a combo that you find interesting. The biggest tone changer will be a different speaker, but that can get pretty expensive.
 
After trying a few combinations over the past few days I came to this set right now and am very happy with it.

V1- Tung Sol Gold Pin RI
V2- Ruby HG+
V3- Ruby HG+
V4- Penta Labs 12AX7B
V5- Sovtek LPS
PI- Mullard RI

So mainly Chinese where it counts except for the Tung Sol in V1 which brightened up the amp a little but gave the amp a nice kick and took away some of the honky mids and the Mullard in the PI which smoothed out the highs dramatically compared to the Sovtek LPS that was in there.
 
I have a bunch of old EIs but one white print/nickel plate and it has been my #1 V1 tube for years now no matter what amp I've been using. VHT, SLO, and now 20th Shiva.

Just a very special tube. Not over-the-top gain, either.
 
I have tried a bunch in my 20th Shiva. I chose JJs. They give me the best tone and feel. If you think they darken the tone, just turn up the treble and presence. I still have lots of room remaining on my treble and presence knobs. :)
 
HG Chinese in my Bogners. Always the same tone, always the same feel. Cheap, consistent and readily available. Nuff said.
 
Seahawk2982":h97sf2gz said:
After trying a few combinations over the past few days I came to this set right now and am very happy with it.

V1- Tung Sol Gold Pin RI
V2- Ruby HG+
V3- Ruby HG+
V4- Penta Labs 12AX7B
V5- Sovtek LPS
PI- Mullard RI

So mainly Chinese where it counts except for the Tung Sol in V1 which brightened up the amp a little but gave the amp a nice kick and took away some of the honky mids and the Mullard in the PI which smoothed out the highs dramatically compared to the Sovtek LPS that was in there.
Click to expand...

Seahawk, you found the LPS in the PI to be bright?

Hmm. Maybe I should try something else.
 
Nick,

I think with the tung-sol in V1 and the Sovtek in the PI it was a tad bright.. a little brittle sounding in the high end. I actually switched to the following setup right after and have stuck with it ever since.

V1- Mullard RI
V2- Ruby HG+
V3- Ruby HG+
V4- Penta Labs 12AX7B
V5- Sovtek LPS
PI- Sovtek LPS

It sounds just how I want it now. The Mullard in V1 really gave it some balls. Seemed to have a bigger rounder low-end than the Tung-Sol but still pretty tight. I am able to play some tighter hard rock/metal with it now and it handles just fine.. especially with a TS in front to tighten it even more.
 
I recently bought a 2002 Bogner Shiva, and it clearly needed to be re-tubed. The low-end was thin, and the gain channel sounded real grainy. I expected the amp to have huge low and low-mids, and thought the gain channel would be a bit smoother. So, I ordered a bunch of pre-amp tubes... Mullard, Tung Sol, Chinese, Sovtek, and some Svetlana matched EL34's. I pulled the old 12ax7's, and I've never heard of this combination before, but for V1,2,3, 4 and PI they had Mesa tubes, and for the reverb and effects return, they used Peavy 7's. Not sure what they were thinking, but this clearly wasn't working. I played with various pre-amp tubes and arrived at Tung Sol tubes for V1, V2, V3 and V4. I used a triode matched Tung Sol for the phase inverter, and put 2 Mullards in for the effects return and the reverb. The new pre-amp tubes made the amp sound so much better, it's amazing. The gain channel still has tons of gain, but it has smoothened it out so that it is usable and sounds great. Clean channel is awesome. The bottom end is back. Next week, I'll be putting in the EL34's when I get my bias test probes. I'm expecting more improvement.
 
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