JJ ECC803 long plate

[Hollytron]

Hi all I’m just digging into tone hounding on my new Lite2b build and Im finding it very bright, loud and with tons of headroom. Now I usually dig a bright tone but I was aiming for a bit more breakup and Im wondering if using the JJ ECC803 long plate preamp tubes are part of it.

Im playing single coil pickups and running them into a 16ohm closed back cab with a 60watt V30.

Any advice is appreciated thanks much!

Im also considering changing R24 and R8 on the build for more gain.

[JMPGuitars]

JJ tubes are frowned upon.

The general rule with understanding why your amp does what it does is to check the voltages. Use the voltage chart from the downloads section, and show us whatcha got.

Thanks,
Josh

[Bieworm]

Not a fan of JJ , but in my experience JJs aren’t particularly bright. I find them more mellow than others

[Hollytron]

Thanks for the response, you two have been instrumental in me getting this done right. One note is my main axe (the one I play in the band) is not wired for a tone pot and has a weird treble bleed on the volume, in short its an ice-pick but that works for our sound.

I went ahead and did the "tweakers table" suggestion of swapping R24 and R8 for more gain and that really did the trick. My drive pedals (bluesbreaker clone into a Klon clone both in boost mode, no clipping) now sound good and it breaks up much earlier and just sounds better in general. I was going to test voltages and fill in the chart but it sounds good now and I just want to jam on it, plus my voltages are good when I checked during my first start up.

For reference (don't skewer me plz) I have been running an Orange Micro Terror which is really good considering I paid $100 for it. Thanks again and I'm sure I will have more questions in the future.

Just for kicks what pre/power amp tubes are good in this circuit?

[Bieworm]

Any sovtek or rebranded sovtek will do just fine. Some will suggest the Mullards, but they are just Sovtek rebrands. Imho rral tone comes from your fingers, and never underestimate the role of a good suitable speaker. V30 is ok, but spikey high. Best bet and bang for the buck is a stupid greenback. They sound big in those

[Hollytron]

I think my beef is with the speaker. Spiky highs are exactly what I have. I have a lower wattage nos 8ohm oxford thing I got off craigslist that im going to try. Thanks again!

One more thing: I have two old mullard ecc83 (made in GB) but one of them seems really low gain (tested subjectively in my micro terror). If i was to try the good one should it go into v1 or v2?

[JMPGuitars]

Any sovtek or rebranded sovtek will do just fine. Some will suggest the Mullards, but they are just Sovtek rebrands. Imho rral tone comes from your fingers, and never underestimate the role of a good suitable speaker. V30 is ok, but spikey high. Best bet and bang for the buck is a stupid greenback. They sound big in those

Rebranding isn't relevant because they're not rebranding the same tubes. Sovteks, Mullards, and Tungsols are all made in the same factory, and all sound good but different. I prefer the Mullards. Some of the Sovteks sound better to me than the Tungsols, but not all. You're right, tone is in your fingers, but everything else shapes that.

One more thing: I have two old mullard ecc83 (made in GB) but one of them seems really low gain (tested subjectively in my micro terror). If i was to try the good one should it go into v1 or v2?

It's hard to say whether a tube is good or bad without a proper tester. I would try both tubes in both positions and see what it sounds like.

Thanks,
Josh

[Hollytron]

It turned out that the speaker was the issue. The 16ohm V30 just sounded bad, I found a cab on craigslist with an 8ohm g12p 70 eighty for $50. At that price I had to give it a try. It turns out even though its a higher wattage rating I breaks up better and has less of the high end spike.

Perhaps the v30 would sound good with a darker guitar or with humbuckers.

[Bieworm]

It turned out that the speaker was the issue. The 16ohm V30 just sounded bad, I found a cab on craigslist with an 8ohm g12p 70 eighty for $50. At that price I had to give it a try. It turns out even though its a higher wattage rating I breaks up better and has less of the high end spike.

Perhaps the v30 would sound good with a darker guitar or with humbuckers.

Imho a V30 is at its best in a closed back cab and/or combined with a darker speaker in a 2x12 or 4x12
It also isn’t the best choice for amps with a high dose of midrange by nature. V30’s match better with mid scooped amps. It’s a ‘keep the balance’ thing if you ask me