It is time to re-valve my Laney L20t and before going ahead and doing so I wondered if anyone had any advice on what valves to use. I have in the past either stuck with the TAD valves or tried JJ ECC83s, using a mix of a Mullard copy and JJs or TADs. in the pre-amp. I have always stuck with TAD EL84s.
I have read
this article posted here in 2016 on re-valving advice for a Laney VC30 and thought the recommendations made by ICBM and others would also apply to my L20t. So, based on this I was thinking of trying the following from Karltone:
JJ EL84s
v1 - EH ECC83
v2/v3 - Shuguang 12AX7B/ECC83
The speaker in the amp is a 30watt Celestion G12H and the type of music I play is blues and blues/rock.
So, if anyone has any advice, feel free to chip in.
Comments
Treat yourself to a NOS 12AX7 in V1
Stick whatever is quiet in V2/3
The only really important thing is not to use a Russian or JJ valve in V2, because it's a cathode-follower. Everything else is down to taste and how much you want to spend.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Thanks for the advise regarding the Russian or JJ valves. I have used JJs in v2 in the past.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Is it as big a change as a speaker change?
In the Cornell, you could hear the difference between using Cryo Harmas and TADs or JJ's as preamp valves. The JJs especially were really quite dark. The Harmas were a bit bright for that amp. Mullards were lovely but I actually settled on EHX valves as they weren't bright or dark, weren't as clear as the Harmas, and offered up a really nice balance between warm cleans when playing clean and distortion when the pedals went on.
With the Vox, Harmas all the way. I actually found Mullards were too warm with that amp for my tastes going through the Celestion Blue speaker.
So valve changes: not as big as a speaker change (then again, I tend to go for high wattage speakers. Never liekd Celestion Blues as much as a larger wattage Weber Silver Bell). But they can add something.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Is it just something else for us to buy?
I have used JJs in the preamp and did not like them. I found them harsh. So I went back to TADs, I also used a Mullard copy and found it more rounded, mellow, softer - however you would describe it? So, the difference is there but maybe not huge. I have always used TAD EL84s so can't comment on this. I could not be certain on this, but if you wanted to change the 'tone' of the amp noticeably, a valve switch may be limited. But others will be better placed to comment on that.
The question I'd ask is this: with your amp as it is, how does it sound and what are you wanting?
Perhaps valves are something to try for me