Lookie what I'm picking up today...

[DocNrock]

Even on a clean channel with absolutely no effects, I just love the "sparkle" of a basic open chord on a good tube amp.  Even the simplest "Guitar 101" stuff sounds awesome with tubes. 

+1000

And +10000 with the grind of a basic open chord with tube overdrive.

 

[DangerousR6]

Even on a clean channel with absolutely no effects, I just love the "sparkle" of a basic open chord on a good tube amp.  Even the simplest "Guitar 101" stuff sounds awesome with tubes. 

+1000

And +10000 with the grind of a basic open chord with tube overdrive.

What kind of pedals work good with tube amps to help add a little "crunch" to them.....

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

If the amp has a good overdrive, you might try the BBE Sonic Maximizer.  It adds a little lowend contouring.  Tubescreamers and Bluesdrivers sound great, but there is a re-emerging school of thought that the built in overdrive of the amp takes best advantage of the tube sound.

 

[DocNrock]

Even on a clean channel with absolutely no effects, I just love the "sparkle" of a basic open chord on a good tube amp.  Even the simplest "Guitar 101" stuff sounds awesome with tubes. 

+1000

And +10000 with the grind of a basic open chord with tube overdrive.

What kind of pedals work good with tube amps to help add a little "crunch" to them.....

I personally just use the amp's distortion.  If I feel I need to add anything, it's a compressor up front and an eq in the effects loop for leads.  I also add time based effects in the effects loop if I want them for solo stuff.  Then again, I have a 3 channel amp.  If you want to use your distortion channel for crunch, consider something like the Ibanez Tube Screamer for leads.  It is a classic.

I personally have a Boss GT-10.  It is a multi-FX device that has all of the above, and you can program it so that the compression, overdrive etc is before the amp and the time-based effects are in the effects loop.

 

[DangerousR6]

Even on a clean channel with absolutely no effects, I just love the "sparkle" of a basic open chord on a good tube amp.  Even the simplest "Guitar 101" stuff sounds awesome with tubes. 

+1000

And +10000 with the grind of a basic open chord with tube overdrive.

What kind of pedals work good with tube amps to help add a little "crunch" to them.....

I personally just use the amp's distortion.  If I feel I need to add anything, it's a compressor up front and an eq in the effects loop for leads.  I also add time based effects in the effects loop if I want them for solo stuff.  Then again, I have a 3 channel amp.  If you want to use your distortion channel for crunch, consider something like the Ibanez Tube Screamer for leads.  It is a classic.

I personally have a Boss GT-10.  It is a multi-FX device that has all of the above, and you can program it so that the compression, overdrive etc is before the amp and the time-based effects are in the effects loop.

I have several Boss pedals, and a Sony rack mount efx processor...

 

[blue313]

Grats Doug!

I have to throw a vote in for a good OD pedal for a little more crunch.  The Tube Screamer (and other TS-808 copies) are a staple and have been widely used and copied.

Even on a clean channel with absolutely no effects, I just love the "sparkle" of a basic open chord on a good tube amp.  Even the simplest "Guitar 101" stuff sounds awesome with tubes. 

+1000

And +10000 with the grind of a basic open chord with tube overdrive.

+10001.  Overdriven Tube tone ftw!  :headbang1:

 

[Superlizard]

:icon_thumright:

EL34s will give ya "crunch" (like the Marshall Crunch) on the top, and a pair of them is roughly 50W.

EL84s will give ya "chime" on the top (like a Vox AC30), and a pair of them is roughly 20W (18 to be precise).

Both have less headroom (that is, amount of volume which will give a clean tone - i.e. distort quicker) than some other kinds of output t00bs.

Once you get comfortable with the amp, you can try different t00b brands (NOS [N.ew O.ld S.tock] are by far the best, but also the most expensive) in the preamp to tweak your tone.

Same with power t00bs, but you gotta bias them (not for beginners).

You're on the right path - I remember back in 2000 I started really learning about t00blification (Marshall specifically) and it wasn't long before I bought a used JTM45 reissue and modded it to true mid-60's specs (with a PTP board, new output tranny, NOS t00bs, etc).  Learned how to bias, the schematics, what component does "what" to the tone, etc... When you get to that point, you're in full control of your tone and can pretty much do whatever the hell tone you please.  And no more hanging out at Guitar Center like a n00b LOL

 

[Volitions Advocate]

doug.. get something that will split your signal into 2 and try running both of those amps at the same time!
You'll love what you hear I promise.

I have a little crate just like that one, but an older model without the  effects built into it (the tolex is black instead of grey) and I still constantly used it with my Rivera Tube amp.
I just upgraded to a half stack SS crate so I can get more punch out of it but I've kept that combo.

Seriously. Tube + SS = mmmmmmmmm

My Crate Combo: Under the Rivera Head

My setup now:

 

[DangerousR6]

doug.. get something that will split your signal into 2 and try running both of those amps at the same time!
You'll love what you hear I promise.

I have a little crate just like that one, but an older model without the  effects built into it (the tolex is black instead of grey) and I still constantly used it with my Rivera Tube amp.
I just upgraded to a half stack SS crate so I can get more punch out of it but I've kept that combo.

Seriously. Tube + SS = mmmmmmmmm

My Crate Combo: Under the Rivera Head

My setup now:

I'll have to try that..... :icon_thumright:

 

[GoDrex]

Yeah using 2 amps at once can sound great. I enjoy it. :icon_thumright:

 

[DangerousR6]

Yeah using 2 amps at once can sound great. I enjoy it. :icon_thumright:

The blue room..... :icon_biggrin:

 

[DangerousR6]

:icon_thumright:

EL34s will give ya "crunch" (like the Marshall Crunch) on the top, and a pair of them is roughly 50W.

EL84s will give ya "chime" on the top (like a Vox AC30), and a pair of them is roughly 20W (18 to be precise).

Both have less headroom (that is, amount of volume which will give a clean tone - i.e. distort quicker) than some other kinds of output t00bs.

Once you get comfortable with the amp, you can try different t00b brands (NOS [N.ew O.ld S.tock] are by far the best, but also the most expensive) in the preamp to tweak your tone.

Same with power t00bs, but you gotta bias them (not for beginners).

You're on the right path - I remember back in 2000 I started really learning about t00blification (Marshall specifically) and it wasn't long before I bought a used JTM45 reissue and modded it to true mid-60's specs (with a PTP board, new output tranny, NOS t00bs, etc).  Learned how to bias, the schematics, what component does "what" to the tone, etc... When you get to that point, you're in full control of your tone and can pretty much do whatever the hell tone you please.  And no more hanging out at Guitar Center like a n00b LOL

An interesting bit of info I found out about this particular amp, this is copied right from the PDF of the owners manual on Crates website.

"If you're looking to change the sound of your amp, you can replace the stock 6L6 power tubes with EL34's. 6L6
tubes tend to give you more of the "American" sound, with lots of solid power, even up to their full output, with a lot of
dynamic headroom. EL34 tubes tend to give you that "English/British" sound: they distort sooner and provide a more
controllable and less penetrating distortion effect when overdriven. Either way, your BV-60/6212 has been engineered
to facilitate power tube replacement, with automatic biasing when changing tube types."

 

[Volitions Advocate]

Interesting...
I find it a little funny because Rivera uses EL-34's in most of their amps. and they're american.
If you've got the money, i'd experiment with different manufacturers too. which somebody already said I think. 

I use JJ's

 

[GoDrex]

I find it a little funny because Rivera uses EL-34's in most of their amps. and they're american.

Well of course any amp manufacturer can use any style of circuit and tubes that they want to. But when they talk about American and British, they mean the original Fenders and Marshalls, for the most part.

 

[jkellington]

Yeah using 2 amps at once can sound great. I enjoy it. :icon_thumright:

What kind of head is that on the fender?  :toothy10:

 

[Patrick from Davis]

What I have learned over the years about the power tubes is that the 6L6's are harder to distort than the EL34's.  This can be interpreted in a couple of ways, but here is my take...  The EL34's will be warmer and less rigid, better suited for longer drawn out notes.  The 6L6's will be rigid and precise and well suited for speed picking/crunch, or higher fidelity clean sounds.  The preamp is where most of your distortion is coming from, so the power amp will either warm that up, or tighten that up.  6L6's generally run a little more power through them as well.  After quite a bit of searching, I settled on KT77's which are EL34 analogs that are between the two sides of the spectrum, tighter than EL34's but not as rigid as 6L6's.  I think it gives more crunch with out losing some of that Drunk-rock charm.

As far as pedals to increase the crunch, your overdrives and distortion pedals are your best bet.  Also take a look at boost pedals, they tend to give you that "11" sound that a lot of people like.  Look's like a lot of fun.
Patrick

 

[GoDrex]

What kind of head is that on the fender?

That's the Ups Box 65 watter. It's got the brown sound. It's also made entirely from recycled materials. :laughing7:

 

[Volitions Advocate]

new question.. what's that red box on top of your hawkins?

 

[GoDrex]

That's a Weber Mini Mass 50 watt attenuator - because like Ozzy says, that amp "is louder than Satan!"  :evil4:  :laughing7:

 

[Volitions Advocate]

I was going to get a hot plate until I found out that Rivera designed the FX loop to act as an attenuator.