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Topic: 65 Twin Reissue - Tube and Tone Control ?'s |
Al Moss
From:
Kent,OH,USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2002 7:42 am |
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| -recently acquired a 65 Twin Reissue for use with the steel. I happened upon a pair of JBL K 120's and put those in the amp and am pretty darn pleased with the tone, smoother all across and a bit more acoustically transparent than the stock Fenders. The amp has a few years on it and has not seen new tubes in quite a while. The tubes in it are beginning to get microphonic. I'll be changing tubes real soon. There was a post about Twins here on the Forum in which a steeler replaced his 6L6's with 5881's and reported good results. Does anybody have any more suggestions of a good replacement tips for tubes that enhance the Twin for steel applications. And, on another note, can the tone control EQ areas be adjusted to accomodate some freq's that I'd like to dump from the overall tone. The treble control seems to boost at a pretty high frequency, the mid seems to boost a pretty middy area and the bass seems to boost a bit higher than I'd prefer too. I can get a really nice tone as is out of the Twin but, of course, am looking for a way to squeeze even a bit more flexibility out out of it. |
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Rob Hamilton
From:
Acton, MA, USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2002 3:06 pm
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Al - I wouldn't replace all the tubes without figuring out which one(s) is/are microphonic. Tubes just don't all go microphonic with age and use. Some do, but not all. Have you tapped lightly on them to see which might be the most susceptible?
On the tone control issue, there's no practical way to change the tonal charactistics of the amplifier itself. It would require changing capacitors in the tone control circuit, and once you do that, it won't have that "Fender sound" anymore and lowers resale value. Perhaps you could use an effects box with an equalizer to get the tone you're looking for.
--Rob Hamilton
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Sho-Bud Pro-I, '62 Fender Vibrolux |
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jim milewski
From:
stowe, vermont
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Posted 20 Oct 2002 5:20 pm
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| I just ordered tubes for my 65 reissue, if you have the blue label groove tubes which mine did, they break up early according to the documentation, the ones I got for best clarity are Svetlana 6L6's matched quartet for $50 [This message was edited by jim milewski on 21 October 2002 at 04:07 AM.] |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2002 12:08 am
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Jim where in the world did you get 4 Svetlana's for 50 bucks????
pass it on pal....cough it up....help out your brothers here my friend.
Ricky |
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jim milewski
From:
stowe, vermont
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Posted 21 Oct 2002 3:02 am
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| I got the Svetlana's at this place http://shop.store.yahoo.com/thetubestore/6l6gc.html, phone is 905 570 0979, the price is $24.95 a matched pair on sale now, they were helpful when I told them I wanted the cleanest sound and recomended these, they put the measured current on the box, so after adjusting bias just order same current next time you order and leave bias alone [This message was edited by jim milewski on 21 October 2002 at 04:06 AM.] |
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Michael Brebes
From:
Northridge CA
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Posted 21 Oct 2002 7:02 am
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| I'd like to agree with the other recommmendations for the Svetlana 6L6 tubes. I think that Svetlana is making the best sounding 6L6 and EL34 tubes available. The one recommmendation I might suggest for changing the EQ would be to replace the Mid 10K linear pot with a 25K linear pot. The way the tone circuit is designed, the Mid control also affects the Bass. When the Mid is increased above 10K you get increased Mid and Bass ranges, partially because it changes the shelving points throughout the pot range. All old (10k) positions relate to the new ones by being slightly below half the previous value (10 old=4.5 new, 5 old=2.4 new, etc.) Previous to the Blackface era, Fenders came with the 25K pot, which they use on the Blues & Hotrod Deluxe/Deville amps. |
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2002 9:28 am
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Thanks Jim; Great Resource pal.....
Ricky |
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Al Moss
From:
Kent,OH,USA
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Posted 23 Oct 2002 6:32 am
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| Thanks guys. The amp is off to a tech pal of mine for re-tubing the tired pre amp tubes and replacement of power tubes. Re-biasing of the new power tubes is beyond my expertise and so better left to those with the technical skills and equipment. Changing the tone control in the Fender circuit seems like it's opening a major can of worms and perhaps the most woprkable solution is, as stated above, to add an outboard eq. I'm hoping that the new 6L6's will be enough to add a touch of complexity and warmth to the overall tone. Thanks again. |
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