Carr Rambler in Pentode mode, which tubes in V1 and V4 to mellow the highs and fatten the sound?

mondaypeanut

My Carr Rambler needs some new tubes and the 12AX7EH in the V1 and V4 (V4 is the PI/Tremolo) aren't cutting it - way too bright and brittle/thin with a strat bridge pickup - it sounds very harsh strumming in Pentode mode.

I'm looking for recommendations (ideally from Ramblers or peoples with similar clean amps) on tubes to use in V1 and V4 to mellow that brightness and add a little compression or fattening to the overall sound. I'm using a EHX Gold 12AT7 in V2 and a EHX Gold 5751 in V3 and they seem fine for reverb send/return, I tend to use the reverb sparingly. I'm also under the impression that V2 and V3 in the Rambler won't affect the tone (other than the reverb) much.

I'd prefer non-NOS suggestions as they seem to be a total minefield, unless you can tell me the exact model of the NOS tubes, for example 'stick a GE 12AX7 in there' could mean lots of different tubes.

Wazmeister

Mate,

Trust me on this.

Contact Steve Carr on info@carramps.com

He will sort you out.

I'll have a look at my Rambler this week and let you know

hywelg

Mine has a JJ in v1 and a Groove Tubes in v4. Anything but brittle or thin.

Question has to be which pups? My strats have Lindy Fralin Blues Specials in one and Vintage Hots in the other.

mondaypeanut

Amalfitano SP pickups.

I've just bought a Gold Lion Ecc83/B759, a Sovtek LPS and a Tungsol Gold 12AX7 so when they arrive I'll test them and feedback on what it now sounds like.

Dominic

I had exactly the same issue
nothing to do with valves
Change the SUPPOSEDLY perfect Elsinore speaker for a Cannabis Rex ..........miles sweeter

Modulus_Amps

JJ ecc83s valves are darker than the EH you have already, I never use EH 12ax7's because they are too bright for me. they are cheap and easy to try and probably the most used 12ax7 variant around

hywelg

Dominic said:

I had exactly the same issue
nothing to do with valves
Change the SUPPOSEDLY perfect Elsinore speaker for a Cannabis Rex ..........miles sweeter

Well I changed the OEM Weber for an Elsinore from Coda and its way nicer now. The weber just broke up far too much. But still the Elsinore, even thought its not broken in yet, is sweet.

mondaypeanut

I spoke to Steve and he was very helpful. He's recommended TAD 6L6WGC-STR tubes (5881) so I've bought a couple to test against the TAD 6L6GC-STR tubes currently in the amp.

I've already made a break through though rolling tubes through the preamp and I've tried out a number of different tubes.

After much demoing I've switched out the EHX 12AX7s for:

V1 - TAD 7025S (same as Preferred Series 7025, Genalex 12AX7 Standard Pin)

V4 - Genalex ECC83/B759

The Rambler now sounds almost perfect and I am shocked the difference a couple of tube changes can make, I'd advise everyone with a Rambler to put a long plate tube like the Genalex in V4, it's awesome. I'm looking forward to putting in the power amp tubes to see what those give the amp, should have more compression, rounder mids and nicer breakup.

mondaypeanut

Well after more testing, I decided that I preferred the TAD 6L6GC-STR to the TAD 6L6WGC-STR as the GCs have deeper bass and highs, with the Elsinore speaker I thought it had a nicer blackface style breakup at high volume in Pentode. I still wasn't sure about the preamp tubes, but I realised during tube rolling that the original V4 EHX tube previously in the amp had suffered a partial failure so I also bought a couple of EHX 12AX7 Golds and very quickly preferred them in V1 and V4 for the best balance of clarity, sustain, warmness and pleasing highs (though a Genalex ECC83 is nice in V4 if you want more hifi and a Genalex Standard 12AX7 is nice in V1 if you'd like thicker and quicker breakup), so the tube setup is now:

V1: 12AX7EH Gold
V2: 12AT7EH Gold
V3: 5751EH Gold
V4: 12AX7EH Gold
P1: TAD 6L6GC-STR
P2: TAD 6L6GC-STR

And the amp now sounds absolutely beautiful, can't stop playing it!

Majorscale

Interesting, I owned a Rambler with Elsinore for a while and while it sounded beautiful in isolation when clean, and raucous with a Tube Screamer, I couldn't find a single other pedal that sounded good with it. It seemed always too tinny, harsh and brittle to my J20 / tweed-biased ears so it's interesting to hear how the valves can play such a part. 

mondaypeanut

Majorscale said:

Interesting, I owned a Rambler with Elsinore for a while and while it sounded beautiful in isolation when clean, and raucous with a Tube Screamer, I couldn't find a single other pedal that sounded good with it. It seemed always too tinny, harsh and brittle to my J20 / tweed-biased ears so it's interesting to hear how the valves can play such a part. 

They make a really big difference, some people seem to play them without pedals and put in NOS tubes that are too bright that sound great for clean but icepick with pedals, others put in tubes that are mid focused and then turn up the mid control too high and then stack a tubescreamer on top and its muddy. I use a Greer Lightspeed and a Way Huge Camel Toe with the Rambler and they both sound awesome with the current tube setup, balanced all the way up the volume dial.