'65 Pro Reverb project - part 4 - Tubes

[modusmongo]

Hi all. Thanks so much for all the help with this amp. I'm getting really excited at the prospect of bringing it to rehearsal in a week or two. I am busy building a 2x12 cabinet following a design I found for the Twin cab. I will be using two Eminence Ledgend GB128 speakers as I liked what I read about their sound.

The Tube amp fairy paid me a visit yesterday when I found, in my garage, a set of 6 JJ preamp tubes which I had bought around 1999 to retube the preamps of a pair of Blues Jrs. Don't ask me why they aren't in the BJs, but there they are unused and ready for the Pro! What I have is:

• 2) ECC81’s
• 2) ECC83S’s unbalanced
• 2) ECC83S’s balanced

I assume that the two ECC81s need to go in N°s 3 & 6. Please correct me if I am wrong. What, if anything, can I do to benefit from the two balanced EEC83Ss, and what would you suggest as far as which tube goes in which slot?

Also, I'd like to replace the output tubes, and I'll need to order them. Can anyone chime in on the KT66s and what I could expect with the amp, tubes, and speakers I am using? I'm generally a strat player. I play clean and loud for natural breakup, but also use two tubescreamers and a big muff PI to overdrive the input signal.

Thanks again

[riz]

Looks like a decent choice on the speakers... Nothing wrong with that brand, I use their alnicos in my Super Reverb. KT66, I tried them in the Super, and wasn't "wowed", but in my Soldano it's "hell yeah!". Tung Sol STR reissue for me at the moment in the Super. Really, really like the sound of them, and not just my ears heard that. As to the preamp tubes, you can roll them as you want. Won't hurt anything. You may find an unbalanced PI to your liking (I like 12AX7/ECC83 here instead of the 12AT7, for more "gain"). Try it and see--if you play with natural overdrive you might really like this simplest of mods. Also, the tung sol 12AX7 I find to be really good, too. I have a bunch of RCAs, and the TS sound almost as good to me, and sound "strong". Keep an AT7 for the reverb driver. If the JJ doesn't hold up, try an EH, they've been good to me in this slot. Hey, isn't this a little more fun than a few days ago?! P.s.--two tubescreamers and a big muff, you're a man after my own heart, haha!!

[riz]

Oh and the trem tube just needs to be any old ax7 that lights up and oscillates, no reason to keep a good new tube here. It's the 'verb driver that has a tougher life.