trinityamps.com

Just on a whim I threw an electro-harmonix 12AT7 into the first preamp socket in my lightning, and it changes the sound a LOT..

it seems to actually get MORE overdrive than with the normal jj 12ax7's i have in there... it seems a little bit "off" though; it definitely sounds better with the 12AX7, to my ears, but if you want a "thicker" sound I think the AT7 might be fun.

I didn't bother trying the tube out in any of the other preamp positions; i'm too lazy

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- daniel garlans - http://ihku.org/~witeshade/ - ct hXc -

I don't really know how to do it other than random tweaking, but I get the notion that the 12a_7 family substitutions will generally do better with some optimization. Some of the tubes seem to have different operating points they are happier at. I'm convinced that there's more to it than just adjusting the gain factor, and that a lot of the time what we do with tube swaps is just find that in certain places, to our ears, the circuit is better matched to the operating point of a different tube type. However, considering how much effect a gain difference can have on the system's tonality, I could be completely wrong.

Bear

If you want thick, try a 5751 in there. It's slightly lower gain than a 12ax7, and usually fattens and sweetens the sound of an amp.

P.

That could be just the solution for country pickers looking more clean headroom.