QuickRod Power Tubes

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kmanick said:
I've had the opportunity to play today for a couple of hours and I've got to say
I don't know if it's the EL-34II's , the hotter bias , the RFT's or all of the above, but this amp is so much more alive now.
the differences between Gear 1 and Gear 2 are much more pronounced now as is the difference between new/old
I haven't messed with the PI or V1 yet as I want to get the Mullard and Tungstrams tested
(The Axe Palace has a tube tester and one of my Charvels so as soon as it's all set I will test them there).
Much less "stiff" and fuller sounding.
so far, so excellent! :)
going from a bias setting of 29.5/30.5
to 35.5/39 seems to have really opened this thing up.
Click to expand...
Sounds great. Thank for the info. Only issue with the RFT preamp tubes are expensive. the local tube store sells them for $76 each ?
https://www.thetubestore.com/rft-ecc83-12ax7
For the PI, i've always liked the Sovtek 12ax7LPS. no matter what amp I've tried with it, it always seems help open the amp up even more.

Which Mullar did you want to try?
 
wow there's a guy on the gear page that sells a ton of NOS tubes, I go my pair from him for not much more than that single price you posted above. I actually have a couple of fresh Sovtek LPS tubes as well, so I will try one of those in the PI as well.
 
Need to get some more NOS tubes myself.
I'm not getting any younger.
Saw your FB post.
PDC turned me onto these JJ EL34 IIs.
They are everything that is great about the EL34 just more of it :D
I also recently got a pair Svetlana EL34L but have not tried yet.

Some people complain or tell stories about JJ quality but the only issue I'm aware of with JJs was the EL84 :dunno: and that was some time ago.
 
So the Mullard and the Tungstrams all tested "good"
So right now I have
V1: JJJ
V2:RFT
V3:RFT
V4(PI) stock Chinese tube Scott sent it with)

I'm thinking
V2:Mullard
V3: RFT
but I'm lost as to what to put in V1 and the PI, I hear opinions allover the place about the PI
but since the V1 in this head is primarily the clean channel I'm kind of lost as to what I should put in there . I have new Tung-sols and EH 12AX7's as well as new Mullards I could go to as well.

maybe:
V1: TungStram, RFT
V4: Tungstram, JJ, or Sovtek LPS?
anyone roll these NOS tubes in their Splawns? I have a gig tomorrow and next Friday so by Next Friday I'd love to have this ironed out
ASAP.
I know I'm Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overthinking this whole thing because right now with the 2 RFTs in there it already sounds killer,
I'd just love to maximize the tone out of this thing with what I have available to me.
 
I have a 2011 QR 100 using:

V1 - Chinese 12AX7B
V2 - RFT
V3 - RFT
V4 - Sovtek LPS or Jan GE 5751

The 12AX7B is for brightness on the clean channel & the RFTs add darkness on the gain channels.

I'm running JJ EL34s for PTs & the cab is a Splawn 2x12 with Scumback M75/H75 speakers.

I've never tried the other NOS tubes, but I mainly wanted to tame the brightness of the amp.
JJ preamps seemed dull in the QR, but sound good in my Rectifier preamp clone.
 
Hmmm I have a Sovctek LPS but didn't try it yet
I did some rolling tried the Tungrstram in V1 and V4 didn't love it in either one
so Now I have
V1:JJ
V2: Mullard (nos)
V3:RFT
V4: chinese
the amp has a little more bounce with the chinese in V4.
I also think that V1 does have some effect on the gain Channel , when I put the tungstram in V1 I didn't notice any change in gain but the tone certainly sounded a little thinner brighter (which I don't want)
I'll have to try the LPS in the PI, I have a gig tomorrow so I'm done rolling for today but on Sunday I will try some more
 
So I got to use my head with the NOS tubes in it yesterday with the band and noticed a couple of interesting tidbits.
Besides sounding great:
more sustain and fluidity, I usually run my gain on Gear 1 at about 10:00 and kick on a tube screamer for leads.
yesterday I ran it at 11:00 and didn't even need to kick on anything
Also the amp is responding much better to how I use my guitar volume control it, really cleaning up much more as I turn down now and really opening up when I go full on the volume pot, which helped a bit with my first point. :0
 
kmanick said:
Hmmm I have a Sovctek LPS but didn't try it yet
I did some rolling tried the Tungrstram in V1 and V4 didn't love it in either one
so Now I have
V1:JJ
V2: Mullard (nos)
V3:RFT
V4: chinese
the amp has a little more bounce with the chinese in V4.
I also think that V1 does have some effect on the gain Channel , when I put the tungstram in V1 I didn't notice any change in gain but the tone certainly sounded a little thinner brighter (which I don't want)
I'll have to try the LPS in the PI, I have a gig tomorrow so I'm done rolling for today but on Sunday I will try some more
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I'd be curious to see what you'd hear if you were just to change the Chinese 12ax7b in your PI socket with the Sovtek 12ax7LPS.

But just to confirm, all this being done with the JJ EL34 II's in the Powertubes?
 
Bash_Man said:
I'd be curious to see what you'd hear if you were just to change the Chinese 12ax7b in your PI socket with the Sovtek 12ax7LPS.

But just to confirm, all this being done with the JJ EL34 II's in the Powertubes?
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Yes EL-34II's
V1: JJ
V2: Mullard
V3: RFT
V4: Chinese
I have another Mullard coming in but it's a short plate so that will go into V1
I may go back to RFT's in V2,V3, the RFT's seem to be a little gainier than the Mullard I have in V2,
I'll try the Mullard that is coming in there first.
I will try the LPS in the PI as well, we are opening for "Draw the Line" an Aerosmith Tribute band on Friday , to a sold out show
so I don't know how much tinkering I will do between now and Friday.
What is the expectation of the LPS (if any)?
 
kmanick said:
Yes EL-34II's
V1: JJ
V2: Mullard
V3: RFT
V4: Chinese
I have another Mullard coming in but it's a short plate so that will go into V1
I may go back to RFT's in V2,V3, the RFT's seem to be a little gainier than the Mullard I have in V2,
I'll try the Mullard that is coming in there first.
I will try the LPS in the PI as well, we are opening for "Draw the Line" an Aerosmith Tribute band on Friday , to a sold out show
so I don't know how much tinkering I will do between now and Friday.
What is the expectation of the LPS (if any)?
Click to expand...
when I took out a JJ or Mullard out of the Phase Invertor and put the Sovtek, it sounded like the amp opened up more. Almost like it had a bit more clarity.

Which JJ and Mullard are you using?
 
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high Gain JJ 12Ax7and NOS Mullard 12Ax7 with the Mullard logo.
 
so I put the LPS in the PI and you're right , it's a little less compressed sounding more open , but it also sounds like it's lower gain, maybe it's the lower compression sound I'm hearing. This amp is a little stiff to begin with so maybe that bit of compression is actually a good thing
going to leave it in there tonight and jam out for a bit
Undecided on whether I like it better than the Chinese tube. the Tungstram brightened the amp to much (already bright)
 
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kmanick said:
so I put the LPS in the PI and you're right , it's a little less compressed sounding more open , but it also sounds like it's lower gain, maybe it's the lower compression sound I'm hearing. This amp is a little stiff to begin with so maybe that bit of compression is actually a good thing
going to leave it in there tonight and jam out for a bit
Undecided on whether I like it better than the Chinese tube. the Tungstram brightened the amp to much (already bright)
Click to expand...
sounds good. let us know how it goes.
 
ok I took receipt of another Mullard today
V!: Mullard
V2: RFT
V3: RFT
V4:Chinese
sounds great with this set up , thick and gainy and much warmer than how it was with the stock Chinese tubes that were in there.
Rolling with this for my gig Friday Night :)
 
Keeping an eye on this thread for future reference on tube rolling in the Nitro. LOL
 
kmanick said:
ok I took receipt of another Mullard today
V!: Mullard
V2: RFT
V3: RFT
V4:Chinese
sounds great with this set up , thick and gainy and much warmer than how it was with the stock Chinese tubes that were in there.
Rolling with this for my gig Friday Night :)
Click to expand...
how would you describe the difference between the Sovtek LPS and the Chinese 12ax7B in the PI socket?
 
Sounds like the Sovtek LPS does what the JAN 5751 does. Had one in V4 for a long time.
I've done so much rolling since then I honestly can't even remember where I left it :lol:
 
Bash_Man said:
how would you describe the difference between the Sovtek LPS and the Chinese 12ax7B in the PI socket?
Click to expand...
the LPS sounds very good in there but it killed some of the "juice"
Now that I have RFT's in V2 and V# after my gig on Friday I will try the LPS again in the PI and see if having the RFT's in V2 and V# helps that a bit as they are definitely hotter than the 2 Mullards I have, but the combination of the 2 sounds great.
 
kmanick said:
the LPS sounds very good in there but it killed some of the "juice"
Now that I have RFT's in V2 and V# after my gig on Friday I will try the LPS again in the PI and see if having the RFT's in V2 and V# helps that a bit as they are definitely hotter than the 2 Mullards I have, but the combination of the 2 sounds great.
Click to expand...
Sounds good. I am definitley interested in seeing what the Chinese 12ax7B does in the Nitro's PI socket.
 
I've got a JAN 5751 I think I'm going to try in that Nitro. I'm assuming the PI is V4 (closest to the power transformer)? Also, am I right in thinking that the main gain tube is V2 in these, and not V1?
 
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