Members Hulston Prickle Posted June 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 27, 2006 Originally posted by deadringer I'm a YCV-40 guy. I love that amp. My mods:SED power tubes What SEDs do you use? I've heard so many good things about the SED 6L6GCs and want to try them, but I've been hesitant since the YCV 40 calls for 5881/6L6GBs. I know GCs have higher voltage specs, etc... How are your tubes rated bias wise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted June 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 27, 2006 Originally posted by Per Floyd What will improve tone the most?I've wanting to swap the stock speaker to a greenback lately, but it is rather expensive. Thinking I'd maybe try to retube it first.It's the first time I'm retubing, so I'm pretty new on this. What tubes do I need, and which do you recommend? It depends on the type of music you play. I play classic rock and love my Tung Sol reissue 12AX7s in V1 and V2, Mullard 12AT7 in V3, and Tung Sol 5881 reissue power tubes. The stock speaker (Celestion white label 70/80 on mine) isn't that bad, but it's pretty colorless and flat next to a Greenback. My 70/80 softened up a lot with my playing, plus I pumped some rap through it via a CD player for 15-20 minutes. It's not the perfect speaker, but it reminds me of a Mesa Black Shadow C90 now.I vote for retube first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted June 27, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 27, 2006 Originally posted by MCon So anyway, I just did the retube and I am floored. I don't know if it was because the Sovtek preamp/EH EL34 combination of tubes were that bad or the Tung Sol/Shuguang/JJ preamp//Ruby EL34 combination is that good, but this has changed it from a decent sounding amp to a really, really good sounding amp (this from a guy who had a Diezel Einstein recently). Not as good as the Einstein, of course, but a great, great sounding amp for the price. Putting the MXR EQ in the loop with the bass boost (after the bass cut in the preamp) and a bit of an overall signal boost into the power section really fills the amp out as well and makes it much tighter. I would LOVE to hear some clips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Per Floyd Posted June 27, 2006 Members Share Posted June 27, 2006 Originally posted by Hulston Prickle It depends on the type of music you play. I play classic rock and love my Tung Sol reissue 12AX7s in V1 and V2, Mullard 12AT7 in V3, and Tung Sol 5881 reissue power tubes. The stock speaker (Celestion white label 70/80 on mine) isn't that bad, but it's pretty colorless and flat next to a Greenback. My 70/80 softened up a lot with my playing, plus I pumped some rap through it via a CD player for 15-20 minutes. It's not the perfect speaker, but it reminds me of a Mesa Black Shadow C90 now.I vote for retube first. Yeah, I play mostly classic rock.I am actually on my way to order some new tubes now. It'll be quite interesting to hear the differences when I get them. I'm looking for something quite Plexi-ish, and probably a nice clean Hendrixy tone, like on Little Wing or Bold as Love. I cranked my YCV40 on some of my band rehearsals, and I've gotta say I got a bit disappointed with, since it tended to fart out A LOT when it was set on max, or even at around 7 or 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vinylphile Posted June 28, 2006 Members Share Posted June 28, 2006 I recently bought a YCV50Blue and I'm absolutely loving it - so much better than my previous Marshall valvestate. Play mostly classic and more modern alternative rock and it's wonderful for this type of music. Anyways, I'm toying around with the idea of adding the matching cab - particularly for band situations - but also wondering if it will give a bit more of a ballsy sound since it's a closed back - I figure it may match quite well with the amp and add some punch...what do you think? P.S. I quickly re-tubed it with JJ's all around - big improvement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadringer Posted June 28, 2006 Members Share Posted June 28, 2006 Originally posted by Hulston Prickle What SEDs do you use? I've heard so many good things about the SED 6L6GCs and want to try them, but I've been hesitant since the YCV 40 calls for 5881/6L6GBs. I know GCs have higher voltage specs, etc... How are your tubes rated bias wise? They OK'd the GC's through an e-mail to their technical dept. at Yorktown. Actually I think the later generations came with GC's stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MCon Posted June 28, 2006 Members Share Posted June 28, 2006 Originally posted by Hulston Prickle I would LOVE to hear some clips. I'll see what I can do. I've got a 4 day weekend coming up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambitious Posted July 4, 2006 Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 I almost settled for second, until i discovered traynor! I wanted a tube amp, but my research turned up that only a vox ad 100vt would fit my budget and meet my standards (well almost meet my standards). I was heart broken that the only thing close enough to a tube amp was a hybrid, not that vox is bad, but i wanted the real thing. Then i discovered the traynors custom tube line up! Wahooo!!!! And the warenty!!!! nothing compares!!! This thread has been the most helpfull part of all, ive got it all planed out now, and there is no doubt in my mind that im going to love it! Thanks guys! By the way, has any one seen a better price on the Ycv 40 watt 2x10? The cheepest i found was $620 with free shipping and no sales tax at zzsounds.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Speed_Racer71 Posted July 4, 2006 Members Share Posted July 4, 2006 Originally posted by Hulston Prickle Word on the street is that a Maxon OD808 makes a good boost for the Custom Valve 40. Any opinions? I like to try a Danelectro Daddy-O occasionally in front of my YCV 40. As many of you know, the Daddy-O is a Marshall Guv'nor clone. I set the amp to channel 1, with gain at 3 or so and the master at 3, then the Daddy-O with volume maxed, bass at 11 O'clock, middle at 2 or 3 O'clock, treble at 12, and distortion at around 9 o'clock. Tweaked right you can get a great hot-rod Marshall or Mesa Stiletto sound! the maxon od808 woulf prb sound good with any amp..it does with my ycv50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambitious Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 Hey ive got a couple of questions: -1- I was reading a lot of reviews, and have been hearing consitantly that the stock amp tubes and speakers are horible. Can some one confirm or deny that claim, and if any one thinks it sounds fairly good stock. -2-I play metal, and i know that the amps distortion isnt up to metal par, but i was wondering if there is a kind of "High Gain" or heavy distortion tube that i could replace the stock ones with in order to improve and beef up the curent sound. (If not then i will just use a good distortion pedal instead. Any sugestions to wich one is the heaviest, i dont like the boss mt.) -3- Does this amp sound better than a carvin? ive played a carvin, and didnt care to much for it. Unfortunately i havent had a chance to try the ycv40 2x10 yet in order to compare. -4- Do they sell green backs as 10 in, or do you have to just make them fit as 12 ins? I was looking and i only found 12 ins in green backs. (for ycv40 2x10) One last thing, -5- When you plug a cable into the speaker out-put, does it mute the internal speakers on the amp itself? Because I want to plug it into a pa-system and use the amp in front of me for a moniter type setup for larger gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wader2k Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 Originally posted by guitarslinger crank the yellow channel level, and use gain to adjust volume.try all kinds of speakers. so far the weber chicago 10 owns.I put no-name chinese unmatched tubes in. They sound better than the sovtek 5881's. Lose those now!!!my 40 came with a mono cable for the footswitch. go get a stereo one.route 66 OD with zero dist is a great clean boostfiltertrons kill with this beastduane eddy tone with reverb cranked, bright switch engaged, and bass cranked.that's about it. + ADA Rack delays are GREAT in the loop. Pardon my naivety.....why a stereo cord for the footswitch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wader2k Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 Gotta chime in here... I've had my ycv20wr for 3 months now and LOVE it! Got it for $380 shipped brand new in the box from an ebay music store called mesaman music....great place...highly recommended. It has a greenback in it..so I haven't even considered changing speakers. I do have my eye on a set of Eurotubes blues set of tubes. The only thing I dislike is the Gain channel ......too raspy.....I love the clean side. I am driving it with a j-station straight in. Have been looking at getting a Boss Gt6 so whoever it was that was going to try the 4 cable hookup on a gt8 let us know how it works out. I am highly interested. Glad to see this thread....keep it alive! Wade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 Originally posted by wader2k Pardon my naivety.....why a stereo cord for the footswitch... two buttons, channel + boost. tip/ring/sleeve mono cable can't activate the boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wader2k Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 Originally posted by guitarslinger two buttons, channel + boost.tip/ring/sleevemono cable can't activate the boost. Funny ... mine does.... aahhhhh .... i just looked ...mine came with the stereo cable. I do wish the footswitch also worked with the brightness when on the clean channel. It only operates the boost on the gain channel. And I don't use the gain channel. Hopefully that'll change when I get that eurotubes blues set. Wade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L6Sguy Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 Originally posted by ambitious Hey ive got a couple of questions:-1- I was reading a lot of reviews, and have been hearing consitantly that the stock amp tubes and speakers are horible. Can some one confirm or deny that claim, and if any one thinks it sounds fairly good stock... any combo out there would do well with a spkr upgrade and tube swap. but i've heard a few of these in stores sound quite nice. improvable? sure. completely usable? certainly. -2-I play metal, and i know that the amps distortion isnt up to metal par, but i was wondering if there is a kind of "High Gain" or heavy distortion tube that i could replace the stock ones with in order to improve and beef up the curent sound. it'd make a bit more sense maybe to get an amp that gets the sounds you want, but if you had the Traynor, theres dozens of boxes that could get 'metal.' start another thread. -3- Does this amp sound better than a carvin? ive played a carvin, and didnt care to much for it. .... Carvin makes a bunch of amps, and has quite a history of making amps. perhaps you could specify what amp? or if you were trying to get metal out of the Vintage 16, or somesuch? -5- When you plug a cable into the speaker out-put, does it mute the internal speakers on the amp itself? Because I want to plug it into a pa-system and use the amp in front of me for a moniter type setup for larger gigs. you dont send a spkr feed to the PA. either you'd be mic'ed to feed the PA a signal, or some sort of 'direct out' out of the amp. the spkrs stay active doing it that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ambitious Posted July 5, 2006 Members Share Posted July 5, 2006 Thanks, I played a carvin nomad probably the 112 and used only the amp, no effects and was only concerned with the amps natural sound on clean.Thanks for the pa advice, but does the amp have a direct out other than using the effects loop, cause i want to use it for effects instead of for the pa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oozeman Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 Hi guys, I'm quite new to this forum. I'm the proud owner of a Traynor Custom valve, the 80 watts version. Oh and it's load with two 12" celestions that came stock with it. As I'm no brainer concerning anything that deals with amp mods, could anybody give me any tips on what improvments I could do on that amp? I've already taught about adding the cab made by Traynor but is it worth it? And if I change the tubes, where do I put what? Sorry to ask so many questions Vincent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wader2k Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 The ycv20wr has a DI line out ..separate from the effects loop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 Originally posted by oozeman Hi guys, I'm quite new to this forum. I'm the proud owner of a Traynor Custom valve, the 80 watts version. Oh and it's load with two 12" celestions that came stock with it.As I'm no brainer concerning anything that deals with amp mods, could anybody give me any tips on what improvments I could do on that amp?I've already taught about adding the cab made by Traynor but is it worth it?And if I change the tubes, where do I put what?Sorry to ask so many questionsVincent JJ 6L6 tubes are nice and warm any weber speaker sounds awesome anybody else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oozeman Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 Thanks for the answer, I suppose I should not mess with it myself and take it to a shop that could do the swap for me. But will addind a cab to my combo made a significant difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L6Sguy Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 Originally posted by oozeman Thanks for the answer, I suppose I should not mess with it myself and take it to a shop that could do the swap for me.But will addind a cab to my combo made a significant difference? its likely the shop'll put something servicable at best in there. if you are looking to make bigger improvements, search out better tubes. as far as adding another cab, it'll make the difference you should expect = more speakers, bigger sound, little more low-end. not gonna give the amp a different personality, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Randy Van Sykes Posted July 6, 2006 Members Share Posted July 6, 2006 Great amps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oozeman Posted July 7, 2006 Members Share Posted July 7, 2006 Ok the nuts question: In the features of my amp ( custom 80 with 2x12) the tubes are 4x5881 and 3x12AX7A Sovtek tubes. I just want to be sure: 5881 tubes are power tubes and could be replace by say JJ 6L6's and the 12AX7A could be replaced by say JJ 12AX7 as they are preamp tubes, right? I just want to no if I get it right. I mostly play hard rock/metal and this amp does a great job, but there's place for improvement. So any other sugestions for different speakers and tubes ( I mean other alternatives to 6l6 and waber speaker)? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cougar Hunter Posted July 7, 2006 Members Share Posted July 7, 2006 Originally posted by oozeman Ok the nuts question: In the features of my amp ( custom 80 with 2x12) the tubes are 4x5881 and 3x12AX7A Sovtek tubes.I just want to be sure: 5881 tubes are power tubes and could be replace by say JJ 6L6's and the 12AX7A could be replaced by say JJ 12AX7 as they are preamp tubes, right? I just want to no if I get it right.I mostly play hard rock/metal and this amp does a great job, but there's place for improvement.So any other sugestions for different speakers and tubes ( I mean other alternatives to 6l6 and waber speaker)?Thanks yes, but the power tubes need to be a matched quartet, and the amp needs to be biased usually for any power tube swap. That said, I threw some random 6L6's in my ycv-40 and never had it biased. It sounds great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted July 7, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2006 Originally posted by guitarslinger yes, but the power tubes need to be a matched quartet, and the amp needs to be biased usually for any power tube swap. That said, I threw some random 6L6's in my ycv-40 and never had it biased. It sounds great. Yeah, supposedly the Custom Valve are "auto-biasing". I threw in a matched pair of 5881s with no worries. These new tubes burn hotter and brighter than the stock ones, so that equals more tube tone:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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