Orange Amps Forum

Hey guys,

Been searching through this forum for some info about preamp tubes for a rockerverb 50 mk-i, but kept seeing different opinions so I figured I'd just post so you guys can hopefully help me find what I'm looking for!

So basically I just changed all the preamp tubes (I decided to change them all at once purely because they were 6 year old tubes that came with the amp, that was probably my first mistake...), and I thought 'my amp is very dark and isn't really cutting through the band mix, so I'll get some brighter tubes'. I've changed them all to EHX 12ax7's & the 2 12at7's, but now I just can't seem to get along with my tone at all! Just sounds quite thin & and it's lost all its smoothness/balls. Went with EHX mostly because I use them for the power tubes and really liked them, and everyone was saying that they were brighter than other tubes. With the band mix - the other guitarist likes his tone to be like needles, so he basically cuts through everything - but I do more lead work at the moment. With the orange & les paul I should technically be sitting somewhere between the bass and his tele - before the change that bass was drowning me out, after the change my amp just sounds like noise because it's too close to the other guitarists tone.

I'm hoping you guys can help my amp find its balls again! I'm not sure if I just need to change the tube brand for the gain tubes to something else (I don't mind the clean tone). So if you guys could give me some suggestions, I'd love you forever. Also if you could shed some light unto what the phase tube does and how it affects the sound, that'd be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

An easy solution is tweak your eq. If your eq is not responsive enough get an eq pedal. Replacing tubes based on other people's opinions is an expensive crap shoot plus I bet there was nothing wrong with your original tubes. I'd start by putting them back and tweak the eq.

Yes, I'm afraid swapping out all the preamp valves at once was a mistake. I always advies against doing this for exactly the reason you have discovered - it can change the whole sound of your amp and you won't know which individual swaps (in the different valve slots) might have improved things, which ones taken things in a direction you don't like.
You probably won't remember where each of the original valves was, but your best bet is still going to be to replace them all and then start swapping out individual ones ONE AT A TIME. If a swap improves things than stick with it. If not then put the original one back in and move to another slot. Be patient, trust your ears.

FWIW, even swapping out one valve in certain positions can make a big difference to the sound of a channel, or of the whole amp depending on which part(s) of the circuitry it is in. Remember too that each preamp valve is effectively TWO complete valves in a single bottle, so it is handy to know exactly what each one does. There is a thread on that near the top of the tech forum here.


Andy

I'm surprised at the ehx tubes ...ive used them in many orange Amos and always found them very good.

Tungsol preamp also sound good in orange amps as are JJ's.

Andy's "spot-on" imho, and my experience. Change power tubes in pairs or quads, change pre-amp tubes one at a time. (And, yes, there are exceptions to the power tube thing... some amps let you mix up power tubes and auto-bias the power tubes; Bugera Infinium amps, for example...)