fdesalvo
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Amp: Newly built 40w single channel AB763 - no verb/trem @ ~460vp
Tubes: Ruby 6L6GC-MSTR
JAN Philips 6L6WGB, NOS/1980s
*Next week a set of "Winged C" 6L6GCs will arrive
Guitar: Warmoth Mahogany/Maple neck super strat with TOM JB/Jazz (Currently building a tele which will have a Kinman singlecoil up front and a Bare Knuckles Abraxis in the rear).
Cab: Avatar 212, semi-open back, 2 aged V30s.
OD: G2D Cream Tone
You have to love adjustable bias and having test points makes things so much easier. Over lunch, I had a blast trying both duets at various bias settings and was pretty amazed at the difference in tone and feel each set yielded with each adjustment.
6L6GC-MSTR
At 40ma, these tubes have a very broad tone - lots of deep lows, recessed mids, and bright highs stopping just short of overly sparkling. Taking the humbuckers into consideration, I'll reserve judgment until I can plug in something with singlecoils. Kicking on OD pedal yielded a punchy driven tone with a slightly scooped feel to the mids.
At 35ma, the tone is not much different than it was at 40ma.
At 25ma, however, the deep lows are only slightly augmented and the overall sound is more rounded with slightly softer highs and lows. The midrange is much more apparent here, still keeping the basic tone of the circuit at 35ma, but with much sweeter overtones and a looser feel.
With the OD pedal engaged, the tone was really sweet – nice chewy feel and lots of definition available, though a much rounder and less jagged tone than what was apparent at higher ma settings.
NOS JAN Philips 6L6WGB
There are lots of people that compare these tubes to a ruggedized 5881 because of its size and aility to reliably handle pv well in excess of 450v (470v max on the lot from the 80s). Others note it’s mechanically identical to the 7581a, albeit in a much shorter envelope. This thing looks like a juiced up 6V6 haha.
My bottom bias setting was ~31.5ma, which was at the short end of the bias pot. I took it up to 36ma just for grins with no apparent retribution from the plates.
These are sweet! The hollow midrange I experienced with the GCs is markedly less buried and is pushed to the left of center just a bit. All the bottom and jangle seems to be there – all the tightness and definition are still in place, but mids are really sweet on this one. In fact, with the OD engaged, the tone was open and raw on the lower strings with plenty of bark. The higher strings were crystal clear and had great attack. Such a sweet and woody tone with tons of sparkle and overtones!
I wish I was able to overdrive these tubes with a bit more volume, but running these through 2 12” woofers was getting to be a bit much. Rehearsal and stage volume would be amazing, I bet. They were already demonstrating great touch sensitivity.
I built this amp for the Tele that’s still under construction – looking for a blues machine that can do the blackface thing. However, with the JB/Jazz combo – I was pleasantly surprised. The Jazz is a bit sterile normally and the JB is thin and flat clean, but I was able to get some chewy clean jazz tones from the neck and even the bridge sounded nice clean! With the OD engaged, the tone was really nice – especially with the WGBs. Tomorrow I’ll crank it with a 12AX7 in the PI slot.
Tubes: Ruby 6L6GC-MSTR
JAN Philips 6L6WGB, NOS/1980s
*Next week a set of "Winged C" 6L6GCs will arrive
Guitar: Warmoth Mahogany/Maple neck super strat with TOM JB/Jazz (Currently building a tele which will have a Kinman singlecoil up front and a Bare Knuckles Abraxis in the rear).
Cab: Avatar 212, semi-open back, 2 aged V30s.
OD: G2D Cream Tone
You have to love adjustable bias and having test points makes things so much easier. Over lunch, I had a blast trying both duets at various bias settings and was pretty amazed at the difference in tone and feel each set yielded with each adjustment.
6L6GC-MSTR
At 40ma, these tubes have a very broad tone - lots of deep lows, recessed mids, and bright highs stopping just short of overly sparkling. Taking the humbuckers into consideration, I'll reserve judgment until I can plug in something with singlecoils. Kicking on OD pedal yielded a punchy driven tone with a slightly scooped feel to the mids.
At 35ma, the tone is not much different than it was at 40ma.
At 25ma, however, the deep lows are only slightly augmented and the overall sound is more rounded with slightly softer highs and lows. The midrange is much more apparent here, still keeping the basic tone of the circuit at 35ma, but with much sweeter overtones and a looser feel.
With the OD pedal engaged, the tone was really sweet – nice chewy feel and lots of definition available, though a much rounder and less jagged tone than what was apparent at higher ma settings.
NOS JAN Philips 6L6WGB
There are lots of people that compare these tubes to a ruggedized 5881 because of its size and aility to reliably handle pv well in excess of 450v (470v max on the lot from the 80s). Others note it’s mechanically identical to the 7581a, albeit in a much shorter envelope. This thing looks like a juiced up 6V6 haha.
My bottom bias setting was ~31.5ma, which was at the short end of the bias pot. I took it up to 36ma just for grins with no apparent retribution from the plates.
These are sweet! The hollow midrange I experienced with the GCs is markedly less buried and is pushed to the left of center just a bit. All the bottom and jangle seems to be there – all the tightness and definition are still in place, but mids are really sweet on this one. In fact, with the OD engaged, the tone was open and raw on the lower strings with plenty of bark. The higher strings were crystal clear and had great attack. Such a sweet and woody tone with tons of sparkle and overtones!
I wish I was able to overdrive these tubes with a bit more volume, but running these through 2 12” woofers was getting to be a bit much. Rehearsal and stage volume would be amazing, I bet. They were already demonstrating great touch sensitivity.
I built this amp for the Tele that’s still under construction – looking for a blues machine that can do the blackface thing. However, with the JB/Jazz combo – I was pleasantly surprised. The Jazz is a bit sterile normally and the JB is thin and flat clean, but I was able to get some chewy clean jazz tones from the neck and even the bridge sounded nice clean! With the OD engaged, the tone was really nice – especially with the WGBs. Tomorrow I’ll crank it with a 12AX7 in the PI slot.
