Members Me163 Posted July 23, 2006 Members Share Posted July 23, 2006 So I have had my Matchless for awhile but I have always had a funny problem with it... It sounds pretty good for playing chords but horrible for leads. It sounds very harsh when playing single notes... I don't know how else to describe it. the clean sounds seem fine, its only when I have the gain cranked that I have this problem. What are the symptoms of old tubes? could this be the problem? Or is this just the way a Matchless sounds... I have no idea what was done to it before it came into my hands, and I have never changed the tubes. I have had it for quite awhile (about 4 years) but rarely play through it as its pretty loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Me163 Posted July 23, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2006 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlNelson Posted July 23, 2006 Members Share Posted July 23, 2006 Which Matchless? EL34's, EL84's? In either case, a Matchless is hard on power tubes. Most people replace them every year or two at the most. Some are worse than others. If it is an EL34 amp, try 6CA7's or EL34L's. If it is an EL84 amp, try JJ's or tough NOS and change them often. Luckily, many Matchless are cathode biased and so, don't require biasing by a tech after a tube change. I doubt much was changed internally. Being true PTP, it is not easy to make a lot of changes to the circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted July 23, 2006 Members Share Posted July 23, 2006 el84s need to be changed every 6months to a year.especially in amps that run them hard like a matchless.jj el84s are pretty rugged and cheap and if iirc the skyliner is a 2xel84 amp so it would be less than 20 bucks to try em out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.