Fender Super Reverb

[ledzeppelinwasprettygood]

hi. i was thinking about changing out all the tubes in my 65 super reverb. its the reissue not a vintage one. a guy a tube depot recommended Electro harmonix. but all the reviews i read on harmony central said they weren't so great, except for a guy that liked to play death metal. i play this jazzy blues kind of thing and i dont really use any pedals except for a compressor and a looping station, so my tone stays pretty clean all the time. im using a strat and a les paul. i was just looking for suggestions/opinions as to what tubes i should get and why i should do so. i would also be interested in hearing any other ideas in terms of other "mods and tweeks" that could make this amp sound better than it already does. thanks

[ledzeppelinwasprettygood]

i shouldn't ask what i can do to make it sound better. what i really meant to do was find out what kind of things i can do to make it sound DIFFERENT. it sounds great now, im only curious.

[mad dog]

Led:

I'm pretty much a newbie at tube swapping, but am in the middle of messing around with a friend's blackfaced SR. His had a kind of hard, harsh sound. He attributed it to 4 new speakers, not yet broken in. Felt more like tubes to me, so that's where I started.

It had GT 12ax7 tubes in v1 and v2, a NOS RCA 12ax7 in the PI slot. I put a JJ 883 in V2, pulled V1, put a JJ 12at7 (balanced) in the PI slot. A rather noticeable difference. The 12ax7 in the PI was too much. Sounds smoother with the 12at7. Replacing V2 added some depth to the sound. Pulling V1 subtly boosted the improved sound. It's a start.

I will be trying other 12ax7 tubes in V1 ... another type of JJ, the GT mullard RI, tung sol RI if I can find one. Will also be trying a JJ GZ34 rectifier. Has a Ruby 5u4GB (think that's the right number) in there now. Next step after that, output tubes. The Ruby 6L6s in there now are alright. I'll try JJ 6L6GCs (as I'm liking these in another amp) and a set of STR387 NOS.

Speakers for me will be the last step, if needed.

[Tom Phillips]

It's not clear if you think that your tubes were worn out. It appears that you just want to try other things. The Fender Re-issue amps all seem to be biased really cold as shipped from the factory. So...I'd recommend you have the bias cheked and adjusted as required first. Then give a listen.
Next, I'd try new power tubes as recommended above with the bias adjusted for those new tubes. Then you may want to try different pre-amp tubes. I'm not a big fan of just telling people to change all the tubes at once. Especially since you like the sound now. It can be nice to work with only one variable at a time. That will allow you to hear the effect of each change.
have fun,
Tom

[Enzo]

And I would add that it doesn't sound like you are pushing the amp. The real differences in preamp tubes, and power tubes for that matter, start to show up under serious overdrive conditions. Like death metal. If you are looking for a new kind of clean, you might do better with laundry soap.

Power tubes wear out over time, like strings. ANd the sound of a worn out tube is not unlike that from a tired string. It loses its sparkle. Preamp tubes tend to last a very long time.

[ledzeppelinwasprettygood]

enzo i saw that you're from michigan and i was wondering if you might know of any good places to look for amps. places that take good care of them. i actually had to return the super reverb i was talking about. it had this ridiculous rattle in it and the guy that sold it to me repeatedly told me he had fixed it, and gave me a reason for the rattle each time, but it was always there every time i went back to pick it up which was like three times and blah blah blah its a long story. im looking to get a different amp now. i tried guitar center, but i couldn't plug into the twin reverb, because it didn't turn on. i tried several working sockets but it didn't turn on. the deluxe reverb was the same way, wouldn't come on. and the super they had, which actually worked, had this big crack in the back piece of the cabinet. so both places ive been to have been pretty dissapointing.