Members BAZGUITARMAN Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 My new tubes came in yesterday and I finally got a chance to put them in today. Here`s what I think about them..... *9th gen. Chinese pre-amp tubes *JJ 6L6GC`s Over-all- I`m very happy with how the JSX sounds now. This is how I thought the amp should sound in the first place. More modern, tighter and just plain outstanding. Lead lines are thick and heavy rhythm techniques are massive. Palm mutes sound bigger and thicker than my 5150 II ever did. Tight and open is how I would describe the amp now. The pre-amp tone seems wider with an extended frequency responce. The bass registers seem lower and the highs seem higher. Almost like I upped the resonance and presence. Which I did not do. The gain is smoother and sharper at the same time. It`s so clear that at first I thought I was getting a lot of noise from the new tubes. It turned out to be string noise from my sloppy technique. Every little thing stands out and note definition is much better than the stock EH`s. The amp also seems to have more pre-amp gain now. Although it seems like there is more gain, it`s not buzzy or fuzzy. It`s very crunchy and defined. I actually had to reduce the crunch channel gain as it was now too high. Go figure. The clean tones are also much improved. The cleans sound bouncy if you know what I mean. I`ve never had an amp with cleans that were this alive. I would love to try a piezo equipped guitar through this channel now. Or maybe a full hollow arch top. The warmth is very musical and pleasing. The power amp is just plain awesome. As you crank the master volume up the amp just comes alive. The bass responce is big, big, big and super tight. It never gets soft, wimpy or loose. Through my Boogie 4x12 palm mutes are super tight and kick like a bomb blast. The JSX is now tighter than my 5150 II ever was. It just sounds powerfull and mean. I just don`t know how my amp could sound any better than it does now. It`s full of super tight definition and all three channels were improved by the tube changes. This is the single best improvement I`ve ever made to a pre-existing piece of my equipment. I highly recommend this tube combination for anyone who has a JSX. It just suits the amp much better than the stock EH pre`s and EL34`s. IMHO Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BerkleeBill Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by BAZGUITARMAN I just don`t know how my amp could sound any better than it does now. Two words: Transformer upgrade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kung-Fool Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Rock on brother!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BAZGUITARMAN Posted December 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 bump^^^for those who own JSX`s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Megadeth7684 Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Just wondering Eric, do you ever play in C or B tuning by chance? If you do, how does the JSX compare with the 5150 in your opinion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Electric I Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Right on. Gotta try some 6L6s in my 212. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BAZGUITARMAN Posted December 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 All my guitars are tuned 1/2 step flat, although I occasionaly drop down one full step. I tried both today on 25.5" scale and 24.75" scale guitars. The JSX just smoked my old 5150 II. I can`t believe the amp is as tight and thick as it is. And the definition is incredible. It totally shows that I havn`t been playing much lately. The 5150 II was tight, but the JSX with 6L6`s is slightly tighter and more defined. It handles my dropped tuning just fine. It doesn`t get flubby or loose sounding at all. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino bucket Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 glad they're working out for you. i ended up not liking the 9th in my triple rec. they'll damn sure pump some bass, and are low noise though. i've got one JJ preamp tube and it seems to be pretty damn good. seems to have the good parts of the 9th's and the sovteks, without either's shortcomings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RyanC Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Eric-I've switched over to 6l6's already and really like my sound. Do you think that switching the preamp tubes will make even more of a noticeable improvement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stratotone Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 ah yes, another convert to the JSX Church of 6L6s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDirtyCat Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by RyanC Eric- I've switched over to 6l6's already and really like my sound. Do you think that switching the preamp tubes will make even more of a noticeable improvement? I think it will help alot. I know someone else said they just changed their preamp tubes and it made a big difference. I want to hear some clips now !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JerryP Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by BerkleeBill Two words: Transformer upgrade A transformer upgrade would improve the tone, but it wouldn't be a huge difference. More clarity, definition, and a tighter bottom end. Transformers get thrown at amps way more than they need to. For some guys it's worth the extra money. Many are expecting some magic result that just isn't going to be there.Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members strungup Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 So for the 6l6 tubes are you having the amp re biased or are you just flipping the switch to 6l6? Just curious I want to try some in my JSX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JerryP Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by strungup So for the 6l6 tubes are you having the amp re biased or are you just flipping the switch to 6l6? Just curious I want to try some in my JSX. The bias range of the JSX is cold so you can just flip the switch to what ever power tube type you're using and adjust the bias pot till it sounds best to you. Turning the bias pot counter clockwise makes the bias hotter. Watch the large metal plates inside the power tubes just to be sure they aren't glowing orange or red. I'm talking about the large metal plates you see in the tube, not the normal light orange glow of the heaters you'll see inside the tube normally.Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BAZGUITARMAN Posted December 31, 2005 Author Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by RyanC Eric-I've switched over to 6l6's already and really like my sound. Do you think that switching the preamp tubes will make even more of a noticeable improvement? To me it made a huge difference. I thought the amp sounded great to begine with, but the difference is night and day. The frequency responce is so much wider. More hi-fi and open. It seems like the presence control was affected more than anything else. It`s much more musical and sweet now. Also the resonance sounds like it has more balls to it. It doesn`t make the amp sound loose at all. Just thicker and ballsier. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members strungup Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 Originally posted by JerryP The bias range of the JSX is cold so you can just flip the switch to what ever power tube type you're using and adjust the bias pot till it sounds best to you. Turning the bias pot counter clockwise makes the bias hotter. Watch the large metal plates inside the power tubes just to be sure they aren't glowing orange or red. I'm talking about the large metal plates you see in the tube, not the normal light orange glow of the heaters you'll see inside the tube normally. Jerry Thanks Jerry, I thought I heard that before, but could not remember who said it. I didn't remember if it was someone who knew what they were talking about and didn't want to screw anything up. I am still waiting for your how to bias an amp DVD haha. If you do decide to make one I would by it for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members killswitch_19 Posted December 31, 2005 Members Share Posted December 31, 2005 The bias range of the JSX is cold so you can just flip the switch to what ever power tube type you're using and adjust the bias pot till it sounds best to you. The the bias range of the JSX colder than the XXX? I didn't think you could do that with the XXX. That's good to know, it'll make tube changes much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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