Members docjeff Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 A few weeks ago I made a statement on a thread that not only pissed off a bunch of people, but also may not have been completely true. The topic was guitar tone and small tube amps, and I mentioned that with my Fender Pro Jr. that, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get a decent, usable tone from any of my guitars; not only that, but the amp was noisy at idle. I was about to post it on eBay, but I decided to give it one more chance because I really could use a nice sounding, compact amp. After much experimentation with different speakers, tubes, etc. I ended up installing an older Celestion Tube 10 speaker and I swapped the 12AX7 preamp tubes for a Tesla J/J 12AU7 (position 1) and an Electro Harmonix 12AY7H tube (position 2). I left the original EL 84's in place. It sounds pretty good now. It is much lower powered, but my Am Series Strat and my 52 Tele Reissue sound more authentic with much better upper mids. It is still missing the glossy high end that my cherished Vibro Champ has, but I may try a Weber VST Alnico speaker to see how it works. The amp is also much quieter at idle (obviously). It does not overdrive as easily, but a good ToneBone overdrive will solve that. Sorry for my hasty remarks a few weeks ago, but my Pro Jr., in its original configuration, was pretty horrible sounding to my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members '56Goldtop Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 A thousand lashes....... Mine sounds a lot better when ran through an external cab, and I really prefer a 2x10. The tubes tend to rattle when using the onboard speaker. Sounds great with either a Lester or Strat. Oh....and disconnect the negative feedback loop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoeBoy Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 12 laps around the hospital Doc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Europa760 Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 a lot of these cheap amps are like that. they give you a lousy ass speaker. but thats a good thing. so you dont fork over more money and be forced to use whatever decent speaker fender wants to put in it. just like lousy pick ups in a guitar, im all for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members VanR Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 You should change out those EL84's for JJ's and that amp will come alive. They are my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 What kind of Doc are you? Don't tell me PhD of History! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members uberpict Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 I've been experimenting with NOS USA made 12AX7's and there's a big difference in clarity, distortion, noise and frequency response between them and the Sovtek and Chinese tubes. They really sound sweeter, more harmonic and musical. Of course that's subjective but there is a definite difference between the tubes. I've read good things about the new JJ's and the Groove Tubes 12AX7-M if you want to "gain" back some of that drive you lost with the 12AU7. Let us know how that Weber speaker works out, I'm looking at the 15" Alnico myself. Pretty pricey but not too bad compared to vintage Jensen's on Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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