herbert tubes

[HerbieBoogie]

hey HumdinGer do you hae any recordings of urherbert on that mesa cab

Not yet, I'm afraid. I haven't owned my Herbert for very long, so for now it's just been experimenting with it's sound (witch by the way is awsome). I do have some new songs though, so maybe there'll be a demo with the Herbert with EL34's and Mesa cab soon.

that would be sweet! tell me when you do. my herbert doesn't sound very good on a mesa cab. it sounds thin, have you ever had that problem?

 

[HumdinGer]

that would be sweet! tell me when you do. my herbert doesn't sound very good on a mesa cab. it sounds thin, have you ever had that problem?

Not exactly thin sounding, but it's not as tight bass sounding as I expected from the descriptions of the Herbert here on the forum. For now I blame it on the EL34's, but I've never tested Diezel cabs, so the Mesa cab might as well be at least a part of the problem. First of all I'll change to KT88 tubes, and we'll see how it goes from there

 

[HerbieBoogie]

that would be sweet! tell me when you do. my herbert doesn't sound very good on a mesa cab. it sounds thin, have you ever had that problem?

Not exactly thin sounding, but it's not as tight bass sounding as I expected from the descriptions of the Herbert here on the forum. For now I blame it on the EL34's, but I've never tested Diezel cabs, so the Mesa cab might as well be at least a part of the problem. First of all I'll change to KT88 tubes, and we'll see how it goes from there

right on. im gonna go test out the diesel cabs this Wednesday at a guitar shop in riverside ca, ill tell you if they sound any different.

 

[PaulyPanacea]

you are gonna test it out....and then u will want it. Trust me...

 

[shadow070]

It's not easy to make up my mind about what tubes to use, and I haven't found an answer here yet, so I'll try to explain what kind of sound I want and hope that someone here can help me.

I bought my Herbert used with EL34 tubes in it. I love the sound, but I would appreciate a little more midrange "bite" and a little less compressed sound out of channel 3. I have the midrange turned to full on all three channels, and of course I don't use the mid-cut function. My cabinet is a Mesa 4x12" Rectifier-cab with Celestion V30 elements.

I have to turn the master volume up to at least 10-11 o'clock to get the sound I want from channel 3. Below that and it just sounds too compressed. I mean... People run out of the room screaming with their fingers in their ears, that's how loud it is
Does anyone here have a recommendation of what I need to do to get my "perfect sound" without blowing peoples eardrums? Is it possible at all with just changing the tubes?

I bought the Herbert for its metal qualities, but I'm more and more amazed about the clean channel and the channel 2 minus setting the more I play through it. It's the best amp I've owned so far, that's for sure. It really emphasizes the differences in my different guitars and the strings I use like no other amp I've owned, and I've owned several different Engl's, Mesa's, Marshall's, Peavey's and even a B-52. If I could only make it sound a little less compressed without loosing any midrange I would be truly happy

OK, use the mid-cut with lever above 12:00 and intesity at 25% or even less, The midrange is better and the tone is less compressed.

 

[Duolos]

that would be sweet! tell me when you do. my herbert doesn't sound very good on a mesa cab. it sounds thin, have you ever had that problem?

Not exactly thin sounding, but it's not as tight bass sounding as I expected from the descriptions of the Herbert here on the forum. For now I blame it on the EL34's, but I've never tested Diezel cabs, so the Mesa cab might as well be at least a part of the problem. First of all I'll change to KT88 tubes, and we'll see how it goes from there

right on. im gonna go test out the diesel cabs this Wednesday at a guitar shop in riverside ca, ill tell you if they sound any different.

You wont be testing the new cabinets. None have shipped there so those are the old cabinets. The question to ask is do they have salt and pepper grill cloth. I bet you their answer is yes.

 

[HerbieBoogie]

that would be sweet! tell me when you do. my herbert doesn't sound very good on a mesa cab. it sounds thin, have you ever had that problem?

Not exactly thin sounding, but it's not as tight bass sounding as I expected from the descriptions of the Herbert here on the forum. For now I blame it on the EL34's, but I've never tested Diezel cabs, so the Mesa cab might as well be at least a part of the problem. First of all I'll change to KT88 tubes, and we'll see how it goes from there

right on. im gonna go test out the diesel cabs this Wednesday at a guitar shop in riverside ca, ill tell you if they sound any different.

You wont be testing the new cabinets. None have shipped there so those are the old cabinets. The question to ask is do they have salt and pepper grill cloth. I bet you their answer is yes.

are the old cabs bad?

whats the deal with the salt and pepper grill cloth?

 

[HumdinGer]

Well, hope I haven't done anything stupid, but I ended up ordering a complete new set of JJ Electronics preamp and power tubes (KT88) from a company called Eurotubes. Anyone had any experience with them?

By the way... When I look inside my Herbert it seems like power tube number 6 is not glowing like the other tubes. I can't say that I can hear anything wrong with the sound, but is there a change I might damage the amp if I continue using it like this?

 

[steve_k]

Well, hope I haven't done anything stupid, but I ended up ordering a complete new set of JJ Electronics preamp and power tubes (KT88) from a company called Eurotubes. Anyone had any experience with them?

By the way... When I look inside my Herbert it seems like power tube number 6 is not glowing like the other tubes. I can't say that I can hear anything wrong with the sound, but is there a change I might damage the amp if I continue using it like this?

As long as it has some glow, it is OK. It won't damage the amp. Jay over at Eurotubes is a good dude and knows his business, as long as you like JJ's. I bought loads from them for my old Mesa's.


Steve

 

[gained-V]

Never mind the bollocks... get yer 12ax7a's from Mesa and EL34's from JJ through The Tube Depot. You'll be glad you did. Brian @ T.T.D is very helpful and knowledgable!

 

[HerbieBoogie]

Never mind the bollocks... get yer 12ax7a's from Mesa and EL34's from JJ through The Tube Depot. You'll be glad you did. Brian @ T.T.D is very helpful and knowledgable!

does mesa really make good tubes?

 

[nbarts]

I personally don't like JJ preamp tubes, especially for Herbert.

 

[HumdinGer]

I personally don't like JJ preamp tubes, especially for Herbert.

Why is that? What kind of sound character comes from the JJ's, and what do you prefer instead? What kind of preamp tubes do you reccomend?

I'm not familiar with the characteristics of the different brands of tubes, so I ordered the JJ preamp tubes since they were so cheap, and since I was ordering the KT88's anyway. Thought I might give them a try. I must empasize though that I'm very found of raw, brutal mids, so if anyone know a tube that will do exactly that better than all other tubes I'm really anxious to know

 

[HumdinGer]

As long as it has some glow, it is OK. It won't damage the amp. Jay over at Eurotubes is a good dude and knows his business, as long as you like JJ's. I bought loads from them for my old Mesa's.
Steve

Just thought I'd mention that I was talking about the old Electro Harmonics EL34's. I've not received the new JJ's yet.
By the way... Even though I've not testet the JJ's yet I have to say that Jay at Eurotubes for sure is a customer friendly guy to deal with. He's taking the time to answer all my emails. A very helpful guy. If the JJ's sounds as good as described (I'll come back to that when I've tried them out) I'll use Eurotubes again for sure

 

[nbarts]

I personally don't like JJ preamp tubes, especially for Herbert.

Why is that? What kind of sound character comes from the JJ's, and what do you prefer instead? What kind of preamp tubes do you reccomend?

I'm not familiar with the characteristics of the different brands of tubes, so I ordered the JJ preamp tubes since they were so cheap, and since I was ordering the KT88's anyway. Thought I might give them a try. I must empasize though that I'm very found of raw, brutal mids, so if anyone know a tube that will do exactly that better than all other tubes I'm really anxious to know

I like Chinese preamp tubes. JJs never crunch the way I want it & they take away some of the high frequencies, at least to my ear.

 

[HerbieBoogie]

I personally don't like JJ preamp tubes, especially for Herbert.

Why is that? What kind of sound character comes from the JJ's, and what do you prefer instead? What kind of preamp tubes do you reccomend?

I'm not familiar with the characteristics of the different brands of tubes, so I ordered the JJ preamp tubes since they were so cheap, and since I was ordering the KT88's anyway. Thought I might give them a try. I must empasize though that I'm very found of raw, brutal mids, so if anyone know a tube that will do exactly that better than all other tubes I'm really anxious to know

I like Chinese preamp tubes. JJs never crunch the way I want it & they take away some of the high frequencies, at least to my ear.

what is your opinion on groove tubes and ruby tubes for power tubes?

 

[nbarts]

groove tubes I haven't tried. Rudys are the same Chinese tubes, they are alright, but I'm not crazy about them either. I like JJ & SED power tubes.

 

[HerbieBoogie]

groove tubes I haven't tried. Rudys are the same Chinese tubes, they are alright, but I'm not crazy about them either. I like JJ & SED power tubes.

i see, do you have any recordings of your Herbert with Chinese tubes?

 

[PaulyPanacea]

Groove Tubes are utter crap IMO. they may be just Chinese tubes relabeled. But i have never heard an amp sound good with Grooves in it. Rubys are ok. work better in some amps than others. I had Rubys in my Herbert for years. Sounded damn good. But after some trials , i must say the SED & JJ powers sound much much better.

The Chinese pre's are usually. the best. had lots of luck with the TADs & the new Rubys. actually like the TADs more than the Rubys...the Ruby seem more compressed to me.

hope that helps a bit.

 

[nbarts]

groove tubes I haven't tried. Rudys are the same Chinese tubes, they are alright, but I'm not crazy about them either. I like JJ & SED power tubes.

i see, do you have any recordings of your Herbert with Chinese tubes?

if you mean Chinese power tubes, then I don't. It's been a long time since I had them there. As for the preamp tubes they have been always Chinese. Every time I've tried something else I rushed to get them out of the amp asap.