EVH 5150 III 50W head pre-amp tube recommendation

[sonoragazzo]

Hi there folks,

 

I am looking for an alternative pre-amp tube option for my EVH 5150 III 50W head.

 

This amp has stock JJs pre-amp tubes in it and even though they sounded pretty good, still would like to try something else and the search for my own signature guitar tone.

 

Please share your experiences by changing tubes on this head and try to be as explicit as possible in order to have a better understanding about your achievements and perceived changes while defining your guitar tone.

 

Thanks

[Brewski]

Well - I haven't swapped out tubes in the 5150 III but I do have some experience in swapping tubes.

 

you have separate V1 tubes for each channel so get to know which tube is the primary gain stage for the amp.

 

depends on what you are looking for:

Electro-Harmonics, Tung-Sols all sound modern

Mullards, Telefunken and Amperex have more harmonics but can be microphonic.

 

In all you may have to experiment a bit and by the way - it's kind of fun anyways.

[WRGKMC]

Changing preamp tubes makes such a small difference in most cases it's really not worth the effort. A high quality guitar cord can have or adjusting your pickup height can have just as big a change as changing out many of these preamp tubes.

 

You want to find unique tone, you are better off trying something that truly will make a difference. Different speakers are going to have the biggest bang for the buck. Cabs are the other. You should go down to the music store and try out different cabs with different speakers and choose what appeals to you.

 

The other end you have the guitar, pickups and pedals you choose. There are so many choices there now it does become difficult to know what is unique or may sound best for your playing style.

 

People who already have decent gear and still aren't satisfied, usually have a bad case of GAS that needs to be cured and the cause is, you're board with your playing, not your sound. When you aren't being challenged to become a better musician, you turn to the easiest solution, the tone, but in most cases that's not going to do anything for you, and forget about an audience hearing that difference. You get board because you stop learning new music and try and get their mojo from gear.

 

An analogy. Does a carpenter get off on his hammer and searches the world for a unique hammer no other carpenter has? Unless he's mental, of course not. He knows where his skill lies, its the mind in back of that hammer where the true uniqueness resides. He can hand that hammer to any other person, and none of them can use it the way he does because he has his own unique skills. He probably doesn't sit around gloating how great his hammer is nor hold it up as an idol as the source of his powers (except for maybe Thor)

 

Unique tones mostly come from the player not the gear. It can be difficult as an electric player to stay focused on that and don't let your mind drift to thinking its the gear. From what I can see you got the good gear and now you have no excuse stopping you from just playing the music.

 

I know many who have great gear. They play with others who don't have half the gear have others run circles around them. The reason for this is the guy with the lesser gear has a stronger passion to play well and he's out there in the wood shed working his ass off to be a better player while the guy with the good gear gets soft thinking his gear will carry him.

 

I often need to kick in the butt to get my mind off the gear syndrome, except its much harder for me because I'm dealing with it as a technician every day. Getting motivated on the art is where the biggest bang in tone comes from. Sometimes we forget that and used our lesser gear as an excuse for not playing our best. I'm not saying this is your case. Everyone should try out different tubes just so they know the fact from fiction first hand, but its more likely true you can take that $20 and get something that will motivate your playing.

 

Go buy some new music to learn, Get a guitar book of songs and learn to play them all note for note, Post some adds to find some new musicians to work with. Use that $20 to go see some other bands to inspire you. Get yourself a recorder and write some music. Anything to get your mind off your gear and get your mind out there where it should be, entertaining an audience. Worry about ther gear too but push it way back on the list of things that matter. Gear can wind up an extension of vanity and it often winds up being a load of bricks holding you back from moving ahead again.

 

Heck I used to have more fun playing out with some piece of junk amp and guitar that barely cut through the smoke filled bars. I had to work 10 times harder to make it sound good and that passion is exactly what inspires your audience. I wouldn't spend a plug nickel to go see a guy sit back and slouch it with a big amp. Sure its loud but where's the beef, where's the emotion that inspires you to want to succeed and have a good time too.

 

Anyway, enough of my pep talk.

 

JJ's tubes are very good. I like the Electro Harmonix better for a Marshall sound. The Sovetec aren't anything special. Brown tone, Durable and sound OK. They sound OK in fender type amps and even bass amps. The rest have varying degrees of differences to them. I am an old tube tech who began doing repairs back in the 60's when there was still plenty of tube gear. I actually got a degree in electronics which includes tubes. Some US tubes were better then others. None of them were ultra unique. Some lasted longer then others as well.

 

A new Chinese tube is probably going to sound allot better then some old used tube. I was always partial to RCA tubes in guitar amps, but you wont catch me spending the money some idiots do on used tubes. You have no idea how may hours are on old tubes and there's no one sitting on huge stocks of vintage tubes.

 

Most surplus stock was sold off when Repair shops went out of business and unloaded all their old tube stuff. The military may have stock piles as well because tubes are the only electronics that will still work after a magnetic burst from a nuclear weapon. I worked with a guy who repaired radios in the military and he confirmed thay still keep all that surplus stuff in shape just for that reason.

 

Anything old stock you find today is cannibalized from old tube gear like Hi Fi sets or its counterfeit. . Occasionally get an old timer like myself who will sell off some old vintage tubes but even that is rare.

 

They have done a really good job designing many of the remakes so just about any of them will sound OK. You wont hear that much difference between them because tubes aren't tone shaping devices, they are gain devices which duplicate signals at a higher gain level. Caps and support circuitry has a much bigger influence on tone then tubes do. Most of what you do hear as change is simply gain changes which can affect presence depending on where that tubes sweet spot resides along its amplification curve. Other then that, pick up a few and try them out yourself. Some amps may react more to changes then others, Some you cant tell any difference making it a waste of time. If you have stock tubes in your head, you'll likely find those to be the best match.

[Brewski]

the 5150 iii stealth model has eddie going back to JJ's but uses Wing C in the power section. they also added resonance on that amp so that prob makes the most tonal difference.

 

 

 

recommend you monkey with the mid knob and an eq stomp box in the effects loop will get you other tones.

 

 

 

from all things I have read the amp is solid stock so tweak it with a pedal or 2