Potentially ignorant split load question :)

[daz]

Which of the methods mentioned do you mean? A drawing would be best.

Another interesting option would be using a lower gain input tube like a 12AY7.

BTW, does your amp have a MV? If so, is it fully up?

Resistor across the gain pot, or in other words, from input lug to ground. A tried a 12AU7 and it actually worked good except for one problem, well, maybe 2...1-the low end got fuzzy and 2- the amp volume didn't seem as loud, tho it's hard to tell at home. But the low end has never been quite as tight as i'd like and with the U7 it was notibly worse. Has a master but only cranked up in band use. At home about noon or a bit more when i'm checking how it sounds loud. I never dime it tho because by the time it;s at 3:00 theres nothing to gain by going al the way but to make things more distorted and worse. I don''t think it will work well given that it will mimic some of the resistors i have tried, but i;'m going to try removing the grid leak and stopper resistors from V2A grid and replace them with a 1M pot. Maybe somewhere in what will be "gain 2's" travel i will find nirvana. Worth a sot.

[Helmholtz]

... tried a 12AU7.. .

A 12AU7 is not well suited for a 12AX7 circuit.
Try a 12AY7.

[daz]

I don't have one. All i have is the U and a ton of regular AX7's and a AT7's which i also tried at one point a while back. I'll try it again since the circuit has changed but as i recall it didn't lower gain much.

[soundmasterg]

I don't have one. All i have is the U and a ton of regular AX7's and a AT7's which i also tried at one point a while back. I'll try it again since the circuit has changed but as i recall it didn't lower gain much.

You should get some 12AY7's. The EH tube is fine and sounds great and has good life. The thing about the 12AY7 is that it SOUNDS great. It gets a little less gain than the 12AX7 but the tone is stellar. It works great as V1 or as a phase inverter for example. To my ears they have less upper fizz than a 12AX7 does and it really adds to a circuit. YMMV of course as we all hear differently and are looking for different tones, but I'd say get one and try it. You might like it.

Greg

[pdf64]

When considering valve type swaps into typical12AX7 circuits, this table may be useful

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...table.2279173/

[daz]

You should get some 12AY7's. The EH tube is fine and sounds great and has good life. The thing about the 12AY7 is that it SOUNDS great. It gets a little less gain than the 12AX7 but the tone is stellar. It works great as V1 or as a phase inverter for example. To my ears they have less upper fizz than a 12AX7 does and it really adds to a circuit. YMMV of course as we all hear differently and are looking for different tones, but I'd say get one and try it. You might like it.

Greg

I'll think about it, thanks.

[daz]

When considering valve type swaps into typical12AX7 circuits, this table may be useful

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...table.2279173/

Interesting thread. Gotta read it all later today, thanks. I think i may have found the answer i need tho. In the similar thread at hoffman i already described it, but in short i started messing with the cathode values which i didn't want to do since they were good where they were but i already tried losing gain every other way i could think of and nothing worked. But i had an idea that i tried and it seems to have worked well. Instead of changing the R/C relationship, i added another R in series with them. in other words, on V2A theres a 1.5k and 2.2uf. To lose gain i left those as is but lifted the cathode and and added a 820R as in the top drawing. I tried what u see in the bottom drawing fort but that didn't work well. The top one works great and doesn't see to mess with the tone. Today i will adjust the 820, probably by replacing it with a trimmer (if i have a low value one) and finding the perfect value then replacing it with a set R. Or i have a switch right near it i'm not using so i may make a couple values switchable or if i can find about a mini 2k pot, even better. Anyways it seems to be the best thing i've tried so far as lowering gain w/o changing the tone of feel noticably.

[pdf64]

Haha, I hadn’t linked the different handles, which was pretty obvious in retrospect

[daz]

Haha, I hadn’t linked the different handles, which was pretty obvious in retrospect

Of course..who else is as clueless as I? So i stuck a 5k pot in there and boy did that ever do the trick. Anything from pretty clean to how it was originally. From tons of gain to "wheres my dirt pedal". Little scratchiness on the pot but thats to be expected plus it's far quieter than i thought it would be. Anyways, job is definately done. I can now use the RAT for anywhere from full dirt to 1/2 amp dirt and 1/2 rat or whatever i please w/o having to have the gain knob super low where the treble bleed becomes overbearing. Very low settings aren't that great but thats the pot value. 5k is a bit much. I could strap a resistor across it and make the whole range usable but it's not touchy at all so no need. Anyways, deed is done. But now what am i gonna do, sit and stare at the walls?! Oh yeah....i guess i can play it. Reality check: I'll probably be back asking about more changes within 24 hours. LOL

[Helmholtz]

Haha, I hadn’t linked the different handles, which was pretty obvious in retrospect

Sorry, what does "handles" mean in this context?
My dictionary leaves me clueless.

[daz]

Username

[daz]

Told ya. One question RE: my post #37....Is there a theoretical difference if the added resistance shown as a 820R in the top pic was on the ground side instead of cathode?

[Helmholtz]

One question RE: my post #37....Is there a theoretical difference if the added resistance shown as a 820R in the top pic was on the ground side instead of cathode?

Yes, quite a few differences.

[daz]

I thought so because it sounded thinner on the ground end, but because it wasn't a quick A/B i couldn't be sure it wasn't placebo effect or not.