marshall 2203 tubes

[aec]

hi there , i just got a marshall 800(2203) 100 w head, im using it through 2 marshall 1960av cabs . my problem is that there seems to be way to much hi end coming out of this baby, even with the treble at zero.
it is loaded with the factory el34s and ecc83. i really want to use the 800,so does any one know how i can achieve a nice warm tone , lots of lows, not too many highs,
basically is there a better quality el34 or pre amp tube out there that i should be using.
thanks for your help

andy

[tubeswell]

If you aren't going to experiment with altering cap and resistor values in the pre-amp gain stages, then you could try subbing in lower gain tubes, esp in the 1st gain stage. E.g.; a 5751 in place of a 12AX7 in V1 will generally mellow out the tone. There are limits to how low you can safey substitiute pre-amp tube gain types. For a commercial take on this, see:

http://thetubestore.com/gainfactor.html

[Liam]

I like a 5751 in the first slot of my 2203. Tesla or JAN Phillips in general. The stock EL34s, depending on year, can sound a bit tinny. I like the "Winged C" Svetlanas much better.

What are your control settings at? The tone controls on these are very interactive and altogether a bit odd, but they are my favourite amp of all time...

[tubeswell]

I love using a 5751 in V1 in quite a few amps too - makes it quite creamy. Any decent NOS 5751 will do the trick usually. The JAN ones are pretty resilient to microphonics etc. GEJAN5751 is probably the starting grade.

Decent NOS military spec 12AT7WAs can be good, if a litte less colourful than 5751s, but usually with 12AT7s, they sing better if you up the plate voltage a bit (e.g. to around 300V). I found some good GE12AT7WAs a while back made in 1957 with triple mica spacers and '6201' etched into the bottle. I use one in V1 of my classic 30 (with increased plate voltage). It sounds very tweedy like that.