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Official: 5150/6505 Tube Depot !!


Iron Lotus

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Figured with the millions...... annnddd millions. Of 5150 Tube posts.

There should be one area for people to post their Favorite Tube

Combinations in their 5150's and 6505's:thu:

 

Because flipping through 10 pages of search results

for "5150 tubes" just isnt that user friendly and

its spread out all over the place. You can discuss issues/fixes

regarding tube issues as well, anything involving these amps

and the tubes/mods/etc etc that make up good and bad tones.

 

Both Good, AND Bad Experiences :cop:

 

** Alot of people are not informed about the Preamp

slots, and their actual numbering. This is if you were

looking at the BACK of a 5150.....

asdfdd.png

Here is what they do, In order

from LEFT to RIGHT looking at the back... (pre-amp)

v4: Phase Inverter

v3: Effects Loop (cathode follower)

v5: Gain - 3rd gain stage Shared

v2: Gain - 2nd gain stage Shared

v1: Gain - 1st gain stage Lead

 

As you can see, They dont go like most people think

from right to left in a 1-2-3-4-5 order. SO alot of times when

people list what they have in there its actually out of

order, Or they just dont know that its 4-3-5-2-1 if you were

looking at the back of the amp, Keep that in mind.:idea:

 

So you guys who post what you have, make sure

you match the diagram in the right order with

the tubes you use in those slots :thu::thu:

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Right now Mine is set up like this....

 

Power tubes are matched

Ruby 6l6-MSTR

 

v4- Sovtek 12ax7lps

v3- Shuguang 9th gen 12ax7

v5- Penta Labs 12ax7

v2- Penta Labs 12ax7

v1- Tung Sol 12ax7

 

Been wanting to try something new, I heard

somethign about NOS RFT or something in

there, Ive heard some things about 12dw7

tubes to make the gain more useable.

 

My tubes are about 6 months old got em from Doug

so i dont want to do a big over haul, Maybe just

pick up a couple pre amp tubes to try in diff

spots.... I feel like It could be a little thicker, Richer?

 

I also use a clean boost, and tune dropped using 70's and

EMG-81 in my mahogany eclipse, and an 85 in my basswood ibanez.

Sounds really tight now, But Im just looking to improve if at all possible.

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Well for a long time I heard the tung sol was the best for V1 on the right, And the Sovtek is great for the Phase Inverter on the left v4.

 

But I was wondering if something different in the V-1 would be better,

More harmonic complexity and clarity... The penta labs i have in V2and3 seem to be nice tubes, They have alot going on inside of them... I can also

change my bias up and down.

 

Any reccomendations? Switching something around?

maybe a 12at7 in there to make the gain more clear...

Or the NOS RFT Ive heard a few things about in there somewhere...

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I have my 5150 loaded with Mesa 6L6s and Tung Sol 12AX7s. Nothing elegant, but it sounds pretty good to me.

 

 

I had mesa 6l6s before. To my ears the Ruby's sound better.

But I hear the Tad 6l6str's or whatever they are sound even better.

But my power tubes are so new theres no way im changing them

yet.

 

Want some suggestions on pre amp configurations though.

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As you can see, They dont go like most people think

from left to right, 1-2-3-4-5. SO alot of times when

people list what they have in there its actually out of

order, Or they just dont know that its 4-3-5-2-1.


So you guys who post what you have, make sure

you match the diagram in the right order with

the tubes you use in those slots
:thu:
:thu:

 

 

While it's true that Peavey uses a different number sequence for the preamp tubes for some retarded reason, in fact they ARE in the same order as most tube amps:

The PI is the closest to the power tubes, then the fx loop tube and the 3 gain stages. That's the same arrangement found on most amps - Peavey just assigned different numbers to them.

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While it's true that Peavey uses a different number sequence for the preamp tubes for some retarded reason, in fact they ARE in the same order as most tube amps:

The PI is the closest to the power tubes, then the fx loop tube and the 3 gain stages. That's the same arrangement found on most amps - Peavey just assigned different numbers to them.

 

 

 

That really doesnt mean anything.

Point is when people refer to v1 or v2...

They need to know where it is in relation

to this amp. Plenty of people I know thought

it was v1-v5 left to right.

 

And I knew the PI was closest to the power tubes.

I mean it just helps to be accurate when theyre

saying which position they tried certain tubes in.

 

Dont want somebody saying yeah i tried this in V2 and it was great.

And the whole time You put it in the right v2 spot, their v2 could

be the 2nd from the right, In their minds. Which would be incorrect

if I were to put it in the actual v2.

 

See what im saying?

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I wonder if a 12at7 would sound better in v1 rather than the tung sol.

 

And just take out the shugang c9 in the effects loop, And move all the tubes over to the left, So it would be from left to right...

 

-Sovtek 12ax7lps

-Penta Labs 12ax7

-Penta Labs 12ax7

-Tung Sol 12ax7

-Sovtek 5751, Or some type of AT7 tube.

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I wonder if a 12at7 would sound better in v1 rather than the tung sol.


And just take out the shugang c9 in the effects loop, And move all the tubes over to the left, So it would be from left to right...


-Sovtek 12ax7lps

-Penta Labs 12ax7

-Penta Labs 12ax7

-Tung Sol 12ax7

-Sovtek 5751, Or some type of AT7 tube.

A 12AT7 has quite a bit LESS gain than a 12AX7. So V1 with an 12AT7 just drops the gain on all channels equally since thats the primary preamp tube.

 

If you want less gain in crunch or lead channels, experiment with a 12AT7 in your V2 or 5.. Its very effective.

 

 

 

.

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in the 5150II / 6505+ theres 1 more lead ch tube.. I forget the v#'s but,

 

The layout from RIGHT to LEFT is:

 

far right - Rhythm channel pre tube

2nd from right - 1/2 Lead 1/2 rhythm pre tube

3rd from right - Lead pre tube

4th from right - Lead pre tube

5th from right - effects loop tube

6th from right - Phase inverter

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The Phase Inverter or PI tube is part of the output section really, not a tone or gain generator. S

Some say (especially tube sales) that a BALANCED PI is best, but many amp builders etc say bull. However some PI tubes are chosen for their current drive and rise time characteristics.

 

 

 

Here's a great & IN DEPTH description on what the PI is all about:

 

..."there are a few things you need to know about valves and poweramps before the function of a phase inverter becomes clear.

 

The electrical signal delivered to your speakers by your poweramp has both a positive and a negative polarity. Applying power to the postive side of the speaker will push it forward, and applying power to the negative side will pull your speaker backwards. This allows you to vibrate the speaker to push and pull the air particles into waves of compression and rarefaction, creating sound. A waveform (generated by you playing your guitar) coming from your powersection will have both a positive side (to push the speaker) and a negative side (to pull the speaker).

 

Most marshall/fender type amps have class a/b (push/pull) power amps. This means that one tube (or one pair of tubes) will amplify the positive side (or push) of the waveform. The other tube (or pair of tubes) will amplify the negative side (or pull) of the waveform.

 

Ok, that explains how a class AB powersection works.

 

A 12ax7 is a dual triode. This means that it is essentially two completely seperate tubes in the same glass housing. These are very useful tubes as they can amplify two seperate signals, or be used as two seperate amplification stages.

In the case of the 12ax7 used as the phase splitter (or phase inverter), one of these two stages is used to deliver the positive phase of the waveform to one power tube (or one pair of powertubes), and in the other stage is used to deliver the negative phase of the waveform to the other power tubes (or the other pair of power tubes)."

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A 12AT7 has
quite a bit LESS gain
than a 12AX7. So V1 with an 12AT7 just drops the gain on all channels equally since thats the primary preamp tube.


If
you want less gain in crunch or lead channels, experiment with a 12AT7 in your V2 or 5.. Its very effective.




.

 

Well a 5751 has a little more gain than an at7, But still less than a 12ax7, Its like in between from what ive read. It may take away alot of the excess noise

that can come with louder volumes, Maybe smooth some things out, Everyone seems to like the tung sol's. I may put it in the 2nd spot from the right and try the 5751 in the first spot, Like i said eliminate the shugaung c9.

 

Just want to make sure I choose a couple good tubes to try, I dont want to nickel and dime myself to death buying pre amp tubes :lol:

 

I mainly use the lead channel as well.

Either way the main goal is maximum

thickness and really percussive tone.. sweet harmonics.

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Well a 5751 has a little more gain than an at7, But still less than a 12ax7, Its like in between from what ive read. It may take away alot of the excess noise

that can come with louder volumes, Maybe smooth some things out, Everyone seems to like the tung sol's. I may put it in the 2nd spot from the right and try the 5751 in the first spot, Like i said eliminate the shugaung c9.


Just want to make sure I choose a couple good tubes to try, I dont want to nickel and dime myself to death buying pre amp tubes
:lol:

I mainly use the lead channel as well.

Either way the main goal is maximum

thickness and really percussive tone.. sweet harmonics.

Yeah, Well its nice to have a lot of shit to experiment with, but tough like u say, not to nickel & dime yourself out, ESPECIALLY if your getting NOS stuff... :mad:

 

My logic pretty much is just get a really NICE sounding/tone, in the first.. Then working on the gain channels, go for low noise, tone shape, etc. But if youve got a prob with hiss, well then anything along the path 1st one included can add to it!

 

A friend of mine had a 5150 combo & it was noisy & shrill. That being the 1st one i heard, I was HATIN' 5150's... but after tryin the heads with different cabs, I developed a love for them! :thu:

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5152/sovtek 12ax7 lps in the pre and sovtek and ruby in the pwr amp.

i am not even sure what is in the 5150.

 

You have mixed power tubes in the amp?

 

I wonder what a couple winged C's, and a couple

Tad 6l6gcSTR that were closely matched would

sound like :idea::confused:

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I dunno. Maybe I'll just stick with my configuration.


Nobody seems to have anything better

from what im reading.

Yeah, arent you using pretty much what Dougs Tubes recommends? Probably a pretty damn good setup.. Ive got mostly JJ's & Sovteks in mine right now.

 

I might try that Dougs setup, or call Lord Valve & see what he recommends. Both are pretty good guys..

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