King Crimson,
No, I was asking as the article mentioned that it allows the power tubes to saturate more easily. I base my tone on both preamp and power tube saturation blended together, which gives me a sort of Clapton playing the original Cream recording of Crossroads from the 1960's tone...violinesque, but with the ability to get crunch as well as smooth from the amp without adjusting any dials upon demand.
Subzero,
There is a point on the gain control on my Einstein, above which the amp loses it's clarity and transparency. On my amp it is at about 2 o'clock. Above this point, the amp has so much saturation from the preamp tubes that the character of the guitar I am using, an XOX Handle, that it wouldn't matter what I was playing on, even a board with strings.
By lowering my preamp tube output, I am able to move the gain controls up and down further, getting the full use of that dial, and still have saturation without the transparency of the saturation being lost.
This is personal taste and may not be loved by another individual player trying it. I am not trying to get my the Einstein to sound like a Marshall, but for the sake of comparison, it gives me the saturation and still retains the "thrust" of the note similar to a cross between a Marshall SLP dimed and a JCM 800. The notes all retain clarity in the distortion, but in a Diezel way and yet I have total control over getting feedback and all the saturation I can get before the distortion covers up that transparency.
I usually set up the amp to give me feedback just enough to allow me to play without losing control of the amp and yet when I want controlled feedback it is right there. My band tells me that the amp has all the great tone and still has the crunch and drive in a 3-D way combined that make it sound so good to them.
I would suggest trying a 12AT7 in V-1 first with 12AU7's in V-2, V-3 slots. By trying a 12AT7 in V-1 first, you get the most power and volume. By using a 12AT7 in V-2, channel two will get plenty of saturation, but the amp responds differently. It also changes the output volume of the amp by using lower powered preamp tubes in any of these V slots.
It took me several trials to see where I liked the sound the best, but ultimately for my needs, I use 12AU7's in all three V slots, and a 12AT7 in the phase inverter slot. The character of the amp still differs, depending on which brand of tube I use. My personal preference is for a NOS Telefunken in V-1 and NOS Mullards in V-2 and V-3. The Mullards are sweeter sounding then the Telefunken, but the Telefunken gives the amp a more Fendery tone when used in V-1 and this helps to allow me to get more then just a sweet tone in both channels. I wind up turning up the treble and presence a bit more, but the amp opens up, sounds a bit less compressed and I have better control of how sweet, or how much edge I wish to use for any given room. The treble is also less fatiguing I am told by my band, as the Mullards have a really beautiful tone without the harshness sometimes associated with chinese tubes.
If you are pulling two of the four power tubes in your Einstein, if you like what you hear after trying out weaker preamp tubes, you may wish to reinstall the other two power tubes and allow the amp to get a bit more volume, depending on your needs.
Happy New Year to both of you guys, as well as the entire forum.
Stephen
