mrw1960 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 When I bought my Epi BC30 several yrs ago I swapped out all the stock tubes to Tungsol reissues. They have broken in real nice. I kinda think they are still a bit hot for the Blues style that I play.I have read reviews about the Ruby tubes and their low gain output. I was wondering who uses Ruby tubes and can give me some input in regards to the tone and their opinions. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSDx Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Not an expert here, but ... would help to know what tubes you have in there, for starters - not brand, but numbers. Pre-amp tube swaps can clean it up a bit, depending on what you have, but my understanding is that there is volume loss, and to crank the amp with a "cleaner" pre-amp tube to the same volume, the +gain/distortion is the same... kind of a numbers game..... I could be wrong, and may very well be - wouldn't be the first time LOL. AFAIK, Ruby Tubes are just rebranded tubes from whatever manufacturer they contract with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lespaulj45 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I have a BC30 also and I use russian EH6V6GT and EH12AX7-seems to work for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrw1960 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 Not an expert here, but ... would help to know what tubes you have in there, for starters - not brand, but numbers. Pre-amp tube swaps can clean it up a bit, depending on what you have, but my understanding is that there is volume loss, and to crank the amp with a "cleaner" pre-amp tube to the same volume, the +gain/distortion is the same... kind of a numbers game..... I could be wrong, and may very well be - wouldn't be the first time LOL. AFAIK, Ruby Tubes are just rebranded tubes from whatever manufacturer they contract with. The tubes are 12AX7A's and 5881's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Lister Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I have read reviews about the Ruby tubes and their low gain output. I'll try to assist (but it's after a long show so I could have this bassakwards): -- higher gain pre-amp valves give more clean headroom and mellower tone -- lower gain power valves distort faster for dirtier tone. It sounds counter intuitive at least I think that's why I remember it that way but double check before buying. RSDx has the brand thing right -- Ruby (and Groove Tubes and xxxxx...) are just rebranded. They don't manufacture but they do charge more! Labels don't say what the valve will do --- that depends on how it was made materials etc. and in any case you need the numbers to know ballpark performance (the rest depends on each particular amp). BUT if you buy from a good dealer (I'll recommend Virginia Tube Audio b/c they do it for me) they'll test the valve and can/will give you the specs and sell you any brand by the specs if you ask them. Hope that helps. Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrw1960 Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 Isn't it the other way 12AX7 standard preamp tube (less clean headroom) 12AT7 more clean headroom 12AU7 much more clean headroom At least after changing from 12AX to AT I can get the gain knob more without distortion.... Stevenlister and Pete.R, Thanks for the input. I found this link to be of much help. http://thetubestore.com/gainfactor.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSDx Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Isn't it the other way 12AX7 standard preamp tube (less clean headroom) 12AT7 more clean headroom 12AU7 much more clean headroom At least after changing from 12AX to AT I can get the gain knob more without distortion.... That's how I understand it.... but have also read that the "clean headromm" level at the same volume "level" on the amp (knob at 6 o'clock, or whatever) will be cleaner, but less actual volume, and that if you crank the amp to a similar volume (as heard, not by knob number, given "cleaner headroom" tubes) the distortion is the same ..... I dunno, have not experimented with the different 12A_7 tubes.... yet. Heck, if I want lots o' clean, I'll use my ss amp.... I love the dirty tube sound :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggy Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 You need to remember that preamp and power tubes don't work in isolation and that the sweet sounding overdrive that most people aim for when playing blues/classic rock comes from the power valves rather than the preamp stage (as opposed to metal where there's a lot of preamp distortion - that slightly 'fizzy' sound). Higher gain preamp tubes will push the output stage harder than a lower gain preamp stage so at a given volume level there will be more of the preamp tube character in the sound but ultimately the amount of clean headroom you have depends on how hard you have to drive the output stage to achieve a given volume level (i.e how much power the amp kicks out.) e.g a 30W valve amp will have less clean headroom than a 100W one because the output stage has to be pushed harder to achieve a given volume level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nailgun Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Hi all, I just pulled my BC30 apart! The door was glued on at the factory,, fools I installed some JJ tesla KT-66's and left the 12ax7's in due to (I am testing) and lazy.. I did remove the bear traps to get the KT-66's in. First impression: More low end grunt, Nice powerful mid and I can still get the spike in the highs but the It is much more of an effort to get them. The power tubes that came in this amp are sovtek 6l6wxt+ I look forward to putting in the new 12ax7LPS's I have. The amp sounds much better, I will push it when the wife is away, bet it get's better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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