AustinArto Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Today on a whim I drove down to Gear4Music and bought a little 5W valve guitar head. I thought it would make a handy practise amp at home. Anyway, long story short it sounds way too bright and it's too bloody loud to crank the clean channel and see how it warms up, so I was wondering if swapping out the tubes might be a worthwhile exercise? I'm not really bothered about dirt, but I would like to get a big, fat sound at lower volume. It's one of these: http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/SubZero-Tube-H5-Guitar-Amp-Head/NE1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinArto Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Ah right. It can put out a lot of bass if I roll the tone off on my bass but it's naturally very bright-sounding. I plugged my Strat into it too and that was also mega-bright even on the neck pup. I don't really know anything about amps if I'm honest certainly not guitar amps and not valve amps either, never had one before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) AX84.com, and Merlin [url="http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/"]http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/[/url] are good starting points. You can change the 12AX7 for a 5751 or 12AT7 valve (in UK money ECC83, ECC82, ECC81 - not sure without detailed looking if ECC82 is the equivalent of 5751). There is a whole world of gain out there [url="http://www.valveshouse.fr/gain-des-12ax7-12at7-12au7-12ay7-5751/"]http://www.valveshou...au7-12ay7-5751/[/url] Apologies it is in French but quite understandable (and google is your friend). Do not fork out on 'vintage' valves for 'tone'. I am not convinced how electrons passing through a vacuum shape 'tone'. Vintage Mullards, Pinnacle etc may well be better built, however pre amp valves are by their nature tough / robust. Edited March 7, 2016 by 3below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 The amp is probably just too loud for your needs - 5 watts is still bloody loud when cranked up at home, and changing out the valves isn't going to make that much difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinArto Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Yeah I'm really not a tonehead, don't get the guys who will try dozens of different .22f caps in their guitars etc. I'm just after a bit more of what I'd like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinArto Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 RhysP - I did imagine that might be the case. I've never had an amp this small, I thought it would be too quiet if anything but no... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 (edited) The old trick 'back then', when an amp was too loud when 'cranked', was to tip the cab onto its front on carpet. That cut the harshness and muffled the tone very well. Try that, maybe..? Edited March 8, 2016 by Dad3353 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6v6 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 What speaker are you using with it? Personally I would probably modify the amp, but if you're not comfortable with amps and high-voltage electronics that could be dangerous, whereas switching to a different speaker with less treble response and a lower efficiency would be a safe way to reduce the treble and volume. Unless they're faulty or worn out, changing tubes is a subtle business, and even if you substitute e.g a lower gain preamp tube there's a good chance the frequency response will be similar (because it's mostly a product of the internal circuit design). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinArto Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Currently using either my Schroeder 212 or a little Marshall 12" guitar cab. It actually sounds better with a bass through it, my strat sounds very, very bright. I plugged in a reverb from my Eventide H9 earlier and it sounded decent though! And the dirty channel actually sounds pretty good. Still wish it was quieter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve colman Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 I've got one of these sub zero 5 watt valve heads . first thing i noticed was its way too bright even with the treble turned to zero! The gain channel was too fierce and with humbuckers could hardly get the gain above 2. Changed the pre amp valve to a ecc82 that tamed it a bit better. Opening up the amp and looking at the volume pot on the circuit board there is a capacitor acting like a treble bleed bypass on a guitar vol. pot it is to the left marked C17 i removed this and its now a lot better still bright but nothing like the ice pick it was hope this is of help to anybody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Given the price of the amp, changing valves (or at least, more than one of them) would not be a cost effective option. Assuming it has separate pre and power sections (it may not at 5w) you could look into substituting the preamp valve for a lower gain version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Don't mess around with cap values - it's too easy to get lost that way. If the 'lil' amp uses a 12AX7/ECC83 try swapping it out for a 12AT7/ECC81. You could also try a 12AU7/ECC82. These are all pin compatible but each has less gain that the one before. See if one will suit your purposes better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Throw a duvet over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassmanPaul Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 Two weeks later, what news? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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