Hot Rod Deluxe - tube questions

[gp79]

I'm going to change the valves in my HRD, can anybody recommend my best choices. I have seen these TAD 6L6GC- STR's, i believe they are excellent and look good value for money. http://www.thomann.de/gb/tad_rt212_r...l6gc_duett.htm

What should i be using for my 12AX7''s?

I play a Tele '72 custom, and my desired tone is that classic, warm bluesy naturally overdriven in the right places kinda thing! John Mayer sort of thing.

I'm using ONLY the clean channel (i've never liked the drive channels, always sounded to 'fizzy' to me), a Boss SD1, Tube screamer, Boss compressor for those cut through boosts!

All thoughts are welcomed.

Many thanks

[Kap'n]

I'd check out Justin Holton's page for some recommendations. Though I wouldn't recommend a lot of his mods, just because they're so fragile inside.

[²Thom]

Hi gp79,

The TAD 6L6GC- STR's sounds better than the Sovtek 5885. Nice Highs and low End. Give them a little more bias somewhat in the 80-90 mV it sounds chunkier.

I'm using JJ for 12AX7 they call them ECC83S for V2 and a Balanced one for V3.
In Position V1 I am using a JJ ECC81 that makes the Sound more transparend and 3D.

[wingnut1]

I believe www.eurotubes.com sells a retube kit that I've heard good things about. He carries new production JJ tubes.

[telecustom]

I have a HRD, that i put Jan Phillips 5751's in place of the V1 and V2 12AX7's, and Electroharmonix in V3 and Svetlana power tubes. It really made it sound better....I think mainly from the 5751 pre-amp tubes.

[Toneseeker]

Hi gp79,

I am using those 6l6 tubes in my amp. I think they are really very good although the only comparison I had was the stock Groove Tubes. Anything sounds good compared to them. The amp is no longer a Hotrod Deluxe as I have rebuilt it but I'm still using those tubes. I'm told however that the best sounding new production 6l6's are SED Winged 'C'. Best new production 12ax7 are JJ's apparently. I have a JJ in v2 position but NOS tubes in v1 and v3. You could do worse than those TAD's though.

Pete

[NTBluesGuitar]

What should i be using for my 12AX7''s?

I play a Tele '72 custom, and my desired tone is that classic, warm bluesy naturally overdriven in the right places kinda thing! John Mayer sort of thing.

For 12AX7s, I can recommend the Tung-Sol RI or JJ for new manufacture. A good source of mine also recommends the Mullard RIs, too.

A good trick to get closer to what you're after is to use some lower gain tubes in V1 and/or V2. 12AT7, 12AY7, etc. (I personally liked a 12AZ7 in there) They warm up this amp's sound and keep the gain in check allowing you to turn up a little more to get there without going too brittle.

Warm, bluesy, naturally overdriven sounds come from a good Tweed-era circuit. However, the Hot Rods are far from those; they're bright, tight, and clean in comparison, and it's the way the circuit is designed. So, you may get to a point where you'll get close, but not all the way to what you want.

I mention that to help you avoid taking the iron to the PCB. As Kap'n says, they're very fragile, and can't really handle much mod work.

With that said, as Pete mentioned, there are a few guys here (myself included), who have gone in and REALLY turned these amps around. It involves a little more than just working on the PCB.

[²Thom]

I have a HRD, that i put Jan Phillips 5751's in place of the V1 and V2 12AX7's, and Electroharmonix in V3 and Svetlana power tubes. It really made it sound better....I think mainly from the 5751 pre-amp tubes.

1+

Mainly is to put in a lower gain Tube in V1.
5751:µ=70,
ECC81(12AT7):µ=60,
12AX7 (ECC83S):µ >=100

If you use the Drive-section dont use a ECC81 in V2 - it sounds horrible when driven, almost like a transistor.

[NTBluesGuitar]

If you use the Drive-section dont use a ECC81 in V2 - it sounds horrible when driven, almost like a transistor.

That's because there is a P-Channel and N-Channel JFET handling the two halves of V2 in the Drive/More Drive mix.

That, and the fact that the reverb's solid state, is why the Hot Rods aren't really 'all-tube' tube amps.

[guitars247]

If you are looking for that chimey blues tone, I have had good success with these:

The 5751

Really nice tone from these. I put it in my my HRDlx and my LE Blues Junior. I am running my Fat 50s FCS pups through it and get really thick chunky stuff from the neck pup with these. Much more so than the stock GT pres.

As far as a 6L6, I (knock on wood) haven't had to replace these just yet. I only had to replace the pres cause I had to go microphonic on me.......

[²Thom]

That's because there is a P-Channel and N-Channel JFET handling the two halves of V2 in the Drive/More Drive mix.

The FET's are not that bad for the Sound I tried short them, same Sound but the ECC81 is a HF-Tube with a low Ri sounding like a cheap Fuzz when driven hard.

That, and the fact that the reverb's solid state, is why the Hot Rods aren't really 'all-tube' tube amps.

Yes a tube driven Reverb couldt be much better but the HRDlx is to spikey cause of the C52 an R103 in parallel to the Reverb-pot.

Did Fender make it extra bad? And uses horrible Tubes and Spakers ?

[stratcat55]

I believe www.eurotubes.com sells a retube kit that I've heard good things about. He carries new production JJ tubes.

I use Bob's JJ's Blues Option#1. Although that's all he sells is JJ's.
I like them. Nice warm fat sound with a little earlier breakup. Sounds great with my Strat and really sings with my Ibanez Artcore.

[Offshore Angler]

The way you approach a tube change in a HRD is different from other amps. You remove the tubes, discard the amp, and then put the tubes into a different amp.

[wingnut1]

The way you approach a tube change in a HRD is different from other amps. You remove the tubes, discard the amp, and then put the tubes into a different amp.

+1

[wingnut1]

How many techs does it take to change the tubes in a HRDlx? Two, one to pull the tubes, the other to work the chainsaw.

[ziess]

And another two to give spurious "bias" readings in mVs!

[stratcat55]

Nah, you guy's have it all wrong. You pull the tubes then ship it to NTBluesguitar for a conversion.

[NTBluesGuitar]

Sorry, GP79, we es tend to have a lot of fun at the Hot Rod's expense. Mainly because they give the owners so many problems; just do a forum search for "Hot Rod Deluxe Problem" and see what turns up to understand why.

Heh...StratCat, you know that a conversion was my go-to solution.

[Kap'n]

How many techs does it take to change the tubes in a HRDlx? Two, one to pull the tubes, the other to work the chainsaw.

You forgot the one to fix the lifted traces when you pull the tubes.