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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Fender tube aficionados?
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04/09/2009 10:47:15 PM · #1
Do we have any Fender tube aficionados here?

I have a current model Fender Pro Tube Twin-Amp that I'm going to re-tube and I'm looking for suggestions on which brand/type of tubes to use to get the best sound from the amp.

The Twin-Amp user manual lists the following tubes:
Four 6L6GC power tubes
Five 12AX7WA preamp tubes
Two 12AX7A preamp tubes
One 12AT7 reverb (V7) tube

The tubes currently in the amp are all Fender Groove Tubes (relabeled Sovteks).

Somebody already suggested these JJ tubes:
Four matched 6L6GC
One ECC81 to replace the 12AT7
Seven ECC83S's to replace the 12AX7's (with one of them balanced for the phase inverter in V4)

Somebody else suggested:
Four matched Winged "C" 6L6GC
Seven Tung-Sol 12AX7 (for ALL 12AX7 positions)
One JAN-Philips 12AT7WC for reverb (V7)

There are lots of other manufacturers out there, such as Mullard, Svetlana, and Electro-Harmonix to name a few, and they each produce different sound qualities in a given amp. Does anyone know a good combination for the Fender Twin-Amp?


04/10/2009 12:00:24 AM · #2
Hmmm...music is something I've started to get back into after years in the wilderness. I have a cheap Randall amp with a Line 6 Floor Pod but I recently purchased a Line 6 TonePort and it's brilliant. I can dial in a multitude of amps and cabs.

I used to run a Marshall tube years ago but can't remember what brand or type of tubes I used to buy for it. Sorry but I can't help you on that one!
04/10/2009 12:35:47 AM · #3
I used to have a Fender 400-PS. The lights in the house would blink when you flipped that thing on. I think that I ended up giving it away to a guitar playing friend of mine. Those days are still a little hazy. It used a row of 6550's for the output stage. It was a great amp, but it weighed a ton.
My son has a blonde Champ, original type and dates. It's a cool little amp. Capacitors are very important to the performance and background S/N ratio and tube life with tube amps.
04/10/2009 01:14:33 AM · #4
Originally posted by Makka:

Hmmm...music is something I've started to get back into after years in the wilderness. I have a cheap Randall amp with a Line 6 Floor Pod but I recently purchased a Line 6 TonePort and it's brilliant. I can dial in a multitude of amps and cabs.

I've heard that Line 6 makes some nice digital modeling amps. I have a Fender G-Dec 30 that I use for a practice amp. Besides the different amp emulations and effects it also has a built-in MIDI processor for backing tracks. It's the next best thing to having a band to jam with.

Originally posted by Makka:

I used to run a Marshall tube years ago but can't remember what brand or type of tubes I used to buy for it. Sorry but I can't help you on that one!

I considered buying a Marshall stack but finally decided on the Fender Twin. I love surf guitar so naturally I had to have that awesome Fender spring reverb.


04/10/2009 01:21:53 AM · #5
Originally posted by MelonMusketeer:

I used to have a Fender 400-PS. The lights in the house would blink when you flipped that thing on. I think that I ended up giving it away to a guitar playing friend of mine. Those days are still a little hazy. It used a row of 6550's for the output stage. It was a great amp, but it weighed a ton.
My son has a blonde Champ, original type and dates. It's a cool little amp. Capacitors are very important to the performance and background S/N ratio and tube life with tube amps.

So, why are those days so hazy? Too much smoke blocking your view or something? ;D

I wouldn't know a capacitor from a cantaloupe, but I will check out the subject. Thanks for the tip!

04/12/2009 03:58:52 AM · #6
In case anyone here is interested...

I ordered a complete set of JJ tubes from EuroTubes.com. Wow, what a difference they made! They're awesome tubes! My twin rips now. The folks at EuroTubes are the greatest too! They're friendly, knowledgeable, ultra-helpful people providing great customer service and great products. You can't beat that. They answered all of my questions over the phone, even some I didn't know to ask, and shipped my order to me in one day!!! I placed my ordered on Friday and I received it on Saturday. That's serious customer service.

Twin-Amp + JJ Tubes + American Deluxe Fat Strat = Guitar Heaven for Mick


04/12/2009 08:04:00 AM · #7
Very cool.

I use a Blues Junior an awesome amp and thought about swapping out the tubes but since I live in an apartment, I can't really use the thing. I've been drooling over a few Deluxe Reverbs and a Boogie MK II but it makes no sense to spend the money.

I have a question. If you fire the amp on ten or as hot as you can get it and control the volume from the guitar does it sound better?

Message edited by author 2009-04-12 11:57:29.
04/12/2009 11:08:12 AM · #8
Originally posted by Mick:

In case anyone here is interested...

I ordered a complete set of JJ tubes from EuroTubes.com. Wow, what a difference they made! They're awesome tubes! My twin rips now. The folks at EuroTubes are the greatest too! They're friendly, knowledgeable, ultra-helpful people providing great customer service and great products. You can't beat that. They answered all of my questions over the phone, even some I didn't know to ask, and shipped my order to me in one day!!! I placed my ordered on Friday and I received it on Saturday. That's serious customer service.

Twin-Amp + JJ Tubes + American Deluxe Fat Strat = Guitar Heaven for Mick


Glad you found a source Mick! As previously posted, do look at the capacitors. Replacements need not be ultra-expensive; if you buy into the hype, you can spend way too much. But some of the caps used in old tube equipment do not age so gracefully. Unfortunately, I do not have direct knowledge of who supplies replacements that are of good quality and reasonable price.
It's too bad I didn't see your post earlier... I have pretty much all the tubes you list, although the Tung-Sol 12AX7s are great tubes and the 12AX7s I have are all old American examples, I don't know which offhand. I've got some 6L6s too.
04/12/2009 03:13:22 PM · #9
Originally posted by pawdrix:

Very cool.

I use a Blues Junior an awesome amp and thought about swapping out the tubes but since I live in an apartment, I can't really use the thing. I've been drooling over a few Deluxe Reverbs and a Boogie MK II but it makes no sense to spend the money.

I say buy the Deluxe and move to the country. :D

Originally posted by pawdrix:

I have a question. If you fire the amp on ten or as hot as you can get it and control the volume from the guitar does it sound better?

I never tried it. Turning this amp up to 10 would be seriously dangerous. If I were to accidentally bump the guitar's volume knob it would destroy every eardrum in the house and blow out all the windows. In fact, I decided that I'm going to use the amp to strip the paint off the walls when it's time to repaint the house. I'll just set the amp up outside, turn the volume up to 5 or 6, then play a couple solo riffs.

Actually, I normally max out the guitar's volume knob, and then control gain and volume with the amp. That way I can use the guitar's volume knob as a kill switch if necessary.

04/12/2009 03:53:10 PM · #10
Originally posted by kirbic:

Glad you found a source Mick! As previously posted, do look at the capacitors. Replacements need not be ultra-expensive; if you buy into the hype, you can spend way too much. But some of the caps used in old tube equipment do not age so gracefully. Unfortunately, I do not have direct knowledge of who supplies replacements that are of good quality and reasonable price.

I found several of the online tube suppliers also sell caps. EuroTubes sells JJ caps.

I don't know enough about electronics to trust myself to replace capacitors. I'd probably just electrocute myself. I really hate it when that happens!

Originally posted by kirbic:

It's too bad I didn't see your post earlier... I have pretty much all the tubes you list, although the Tung-Sol 12AX7s are great tubes and the 12AX7s I have are all old American examples, I don't know which offhand. I've got some 6L6s too.

It's amazing what they charge for those old US made tubes! Check out the prices on the GE and Raytheon tubes on this page. $500 for a pair of Raytheon 12AX7's!!?


04/12/2009 07:02:16 PM · #11
Yep, NOS examples of some of the old stuff go for incredible sums. It is amazing that some of that stock still exists. The used stuff (which is what all of the stuff I have is) is much more moderately priced, LOL.
The stuff I have is what my Dad acquired over about a half century of collecting. All of it tested good at the time he "stoccked" it, but I have not tested any of it recently. At some point, I will want to sell most of it off (I will keep some of the more exotic stuff) but time is on my side, prices can do nothing but go up.
04/13/2009 11:34:55 AM · #12
Originally posted by Mick:


I never tried it. Turning this amp up to 10 would be seriously dangerous. If I were to accidentally bump the guitar's volume knob it would destroy every eardrum in the house and blow out all the windows. In fact, I decided that I'm going to use the amp to strip the paint off the walls when it's time to repaint the house. I'll just set the amp up outside, turn the volume up to 5 or 6, then play a couple solo riffs.


I'm using a Roland Microcube which sits on my desk. Plenty loud with a bunch of amp models I like and it's easy to jam with the music in my computer, take youtube lessons and record. I also use the Pod but it's on the bunk.

As much as I love the sound of a great amp the modelers or interfaces that work with my computers system are much more practical and keep me active.

I read on a few sites where people advised keeping the tubes super hot and using the volume control on the guitar as the main level control to get a bad-ass sound. That's why I was asking because I never heard that before. I could never try that where I live because I can't crank at all.
04/13/2009 07:30:06 PM · #13
Originally posted by kirbic:

Yep, NOS examples of some of the old stuff go for incredible sums. It is amazing that some of that stock still exists. The used stuff (which is what all of the stuff I have is) is much more moderately priced, LOL.
The stuff I have is what my Dad acquired over about a half century of collecting. All of it tested good at the time he "stoccked" it, but I have not tested any of it recently. At some point, I will want to sell most of it off (I will keep some of the more exotic stuff) but time is on my side, prices can do nothing but go up.

Are you sure you don't have a bunch of NOS? You might be rich and don't know it yet. :D

04/13/2009 07:57:36 PM · #14
Originally posted by pawdrix:

I'm using a Roland Microcube which sits on my desk. Plenty loud with a bunch of amp models I like and it's easy to jam with the music in my computer, take youtube lessons and record. I also use the Pod but it's on the bunk.

As much as I love the sound of a great amp the modelers or interfaces that work with my computers system are much more practical and keep me active.

I read on a few sites where people advised keeping the tubes super hot and using the volume control on the guitar as the main level control to get a bad-ass sound. That's why I was asking because I never heard that before. I could never try that where I live because I can't crank at all.

Yeah, digital modeling amps are great for practice and just noodling around, and there's tons of backing tracks available for free on the net too.

But the sound quality from my G-DEC-30 just doesn't compare to the awesome tones that my Twin-Amp is putting out now. It sounded good with the original tubes, and these new JJ tubes made it way better.

My next step is to populate a pedalboard with some good effects. I think I'm going to start with a Dunlop 535Q Crybaby and an Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer.

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