Hey Jim, great video really helped me out, I have a tone king gremlin combo and was considering selling it until I saw this video because it would break up way to early. Then I tried replacing the AX7 with a AU7 as you demonstrated, initially I was a bit sceptical because it is difficult to hear the real difference over RUclips, I was absolutely blown away how much better it sounded, yes you do loose some volume but I find the gremlin has exceptional volume for an amp only rated at 5 watts, so not an issue for me. I then tried plugging in the amp through a 4x12 cab with V30s and WOW what a great sound so much better again. Could easily gig with this set up in small to medium clubs. I would be interested to hear if you have tried replacing any of the other Tube in the Gremlin ? And if there are any benefits. Keep up the great work !
I'm running twin Tone King Gremlins in stereo from my pedalboard. I switched my 12ax7's for a matched pair of 12au7's like you suggested. This really works! My Gibson custom Shop R8 sounds great through this rig. Thanks for the tip.
I hope you're going to keep the new tube installed, the sound was vastly improved in my opinion - it especially made the guitar sound so much better. Now to hear it with single coils too! 🙂🙂🎸🎸
Really cool video and quite informative. I'd like to ask though if there was headroom gained was it at the expense of overall volume? As you mentioned you checked the attenuator to make sure it wasn't engaged. You'd know better with sound in the room.
The problem is only apparent when I plug in a single coil guitar after, for all the good it did for the 335 it did that much in the other direction for single coils... will have to play around with it a bit.
The lower gain 12A(T-U-Y)7 V1 trick works on amps with a second, high gain channel. It doesn't noticeably affect the clean channel, but reduces the fizz that happens on a gain channel sometimes. X is 100% gain T is 60% Y is 45% U is 20%
@@AudiomoMusic definitly helpful, YES!!! My next amp will be a Gremlin since I know now I can get way more headroom, thanks to your video. Thanks again. Have a great day!
Cool, I’ve been thinking about using the lower gain tubes to help tame an ac10 for home use. This makes me more confident it will have the desired effect 😊
Fantastic video and shows what can be done with a little research and work on great equipment we already have too- an underrated avenue of exploration rather than just buying new gear all the time ! One question though- how has it affected working with it with single coils (I.e. is the number you have to get it to push into breakup substantially higher/ is it affecting the tone you loved with that too much?) guessing it’s all manageable but wondered how it was affected. Have a good day!
Very useful comparison vid! Did you notice any change in the overall tone of the rhythm channel? I find my Gremlin a little dark with humbuckers and was considering swapping tubes to increase high end. Thanks again 👍
You can use a Fryette power station to add an effects loop stereo, output, also give you more headroom with an additional 50 to 100 watts. A 5 watt amp and a Fryette power station is what you’re looking for to make this amp gig-able or able to play with any loud drummer.
Yup, the 12au7 has the lowest gain factor of just about all commonly used preamp tubes. I knew that, but didn't realise (or forgot) what a massive difference it can make. The next thing you may want to do is try a different brand such as Genelux or JJ's here. Not sure off the top of my head where JJ's are made, but your EH & Genelux are Russian & are definitely good quality, but can/do sound different. Who would have thought looking at the top of an amp could be so much fun for 12 minutes or so. Thanks Jim. 🎸🎸🎸
I'm a big fan of NOS tubes, I just wanted to see with a generic EHX to see if it was something I'd be a fan of - I don't have any other amps I can see myself using a 12AU7 in so it'd have been a waste to spend on a really nice one haha.
Jim, do you still like the single coil sound as much with the 12au7? That is such a stark difference I am wondering why they don't ship it with the 12au7.
I think the reason they don't ship with the 12AU7 is because the majority of people in the market want it to break up quick honestly. I personally don't like it as much now with the single coils as I do with the humbuckers so it's always a give and take indeed.
Useful test. I have Tone King head and it’s really perfect amp that can support all your needs. But I expected the next logical step. Why didn't you compare it with the singles in the same video?? Or do you think we should change tubes every time we change Les Paul to Telecaster? Even funny😂
Well there are two reasons for that - the first being I knew that reducing the gain on an amp that I already didn't have problems with early breakup on wasn't going to do anything drastic to the singles outside of raise the necessary position of the volume to get the same kinda sounds as the stock tube, and secondly because I didn't want this to be a 30+ min video which would have been inevitable.
@@AudiomoMusic Ok, I got it. In my case I should use volume control. Always. So my solution to make balance between channels and pickups is Boss GE-7 and EHX Switchblade plus.
Do you when a db meter to see what the actual break up point is in terms of loudness with each tube? I have a gremlin on the way so curious. The other option is of course to use more efficient speakers. I ordered the gremlin and have a bunch of speakers including an alnico blue, which should be loud enough even with the 12ax7.
It gave it slightly more headroom but it still breaks up fairly quick. I only didn't include it so as to not have this end up being a half hour video but honestly I rarely use the lead channel very much and just use a pedal if i want dirt
A bit yeah, it's taking a bit to get used to. If i was just going to play humbuckers with the amp I'd leave it as is but I think i'm going to experiment further with this one.
This was awesome ! I know how to trust for all my gremlin needs lol. Are you planning to make a video with single coils ? I’ve read some of your comments where now it it’s not desirable effect when playing a tele or Strat .
Sorry I'm just seeing this, I ended up disliking it so much with single coils I put the original 12ax7 back in. Maybe a 12aT7 would be a better compromise but the 12AU7 really took the life out of the amp with single coils.
Which pickups are these? These seem like pretty hot humbuckers. big part of the equation. Hard to say a 5W amp is breaking up too early if the humbuckers are “modern” high output humbuckers. Sort of funny looking back historically because many guitarists ( Van Halen, i.e) were always looking for more output from the pickups to slam the front end pretty hard. And now we’re asking low watt amps to stay clean when the front end is being annihilated. Lol. I have a gremlin on the way so can chime in with a comparison of telecaster to vintage output PAFs. Johan segeborn was getting great clean tones out of the gremlin with a Flying V. I don’t know much about the gremlin combo speaker. That’s another factor. Efficient speakers for clean headroom but an expense of “bedroom” volume-shouldn’t be issue though with Ironman. The combo speaker is somewhat lacking IMO compared to my personal favorite speakers from reviews I’ve listened to.
The t-tops are anything but high output, avg DC resistance is under 7.5k on each. I personally dislike high output pickups in general as I play clean or edge of breakup 99% of the time. Speaker will make a HUGE difference with this or any amp, but I also found swapping the preamp tube in V1 to be by far the best way to get a humbucker equipped guitar to dial back with the stock speaker.
@@AudiomoMusic My gremlin head is on the way. Curiously tone king website says the head has a 5881 power tube for more headroom ( also heard it’s because the kt66 doesn’t fit in the head) Was interested in this video because Johan segeborn’s demos with humbcukers show an impressive amount of clean/ semi clean headroom at least on the rhythm channel. But he used some big cabs and maybe the 5881 in the head does indeed have higher headroom.
@@AudiomoMusic Just got the gremlin head. I think the headroom is pretty reasonable and think I’m getting a little more than your demo with the 5881 tube and my speakers. It’s sufficiently loud and punchy at the point of breakup. I think the problem is mainly the gremlin is putting out way too much low end for humbuckers. I had to set the tone control from 7 to flat to tighten the low end sufficiently. But besides that limitation, it is an amazing amp. JTM 45/ black face tones ( Hendrix) on the rhythm channel and tweed/ early Marshall drive on lead channel. Attenuator is great. Tested through all my speakers and all sound great- 12” Mojotone anthem, 12” eminence Canis Major, alnico blue, Jupiter 10” alnico ( p10r clone), and greenback clone ( Mojotone Bv-25m). All great classic sounds. I think the stock speaker in the combo could be better. I would change it to something else if I ordered the combo.
My guy, you are contributing greatly to the sphere of tonal knowledge and amp decison making here. Thank u.
Thanks, I appreciate that happy to know this stuff can actually be of use to some people
That's a huge difference
It really is
Hey Jim, great video really helped me out, I have a tone king gremlin combo and was considering selling it until I saw this video because it would break up way to early. Then I tried replacing the AX7 with a AU7 as you demonstrated, initially I was a bit sceptical because it is difficult to hear the real difference over RUclips, I was absolutely blown away how much better it sounded, yes you do loose some volume but I find the gremlin has exceptional volume for an amp only rated at 5 watts, so not an issue for me. I then tried plugging in the amp through a 4x12 cab with V30s and WOW what a great sound so much better again. Could easily gig with this set up in small to medium clubs. I would be interested to hear if you have tried replacing any of the other Tube in the Gremlin ? And if there are any benefits. Keep up the great work !
I'm running twin Tone King Gremlins in stereo from my pedalboard. I switched my 12ax7's for a matched pair of 12au7's like you suggested. This really works! My Gibson custom Shop R8 sounds great through this rig. Thanks for the tip.
Hell yeah love to hear that, it's a total game changer with the Gibsons.
I hope you're going to keep the new tube installed, the sound was vastly improved in my opinion - it especially made the guitar sound so much better. Now to hear it with single coils too! 🙂🙂🎸🎸
I'm still on the fence with it... I played single coils and the difference is equally as dramatic in the other direction haha
@@AudiomoMusic what about a speaker swap for more headroom?? 🙂🙂🎸🎸
Really cool video and quite informative. I'd like to ask though if there was headroom gained was it at the expense of overall volume? As you mentioned you checked the attenuator to make sure it wasn't engaged. You'd know better with sound in the room.
The problem is only apparent when I plug in a single coil guitar after, for all the good it did for the 335 it did that much in the other direction for single coils... will have to play around with it a bit.
@@AudiomoMusic Still cool to know though and see that much of an affect.
I did this in my orange or15 and it made me enjoy my humbucker guitars a lot more though that amp
Ahhhh I miss my OR15 :(
@@AudiomoMusic it’s such a wonderful go to amp! Something about it
The lower gain 12A(T-U-Y)7 V1 trick works on amps with a second, high gain channel. It doesn't noticeably affect the clean channel, but reduces the fizz that happens on a gain channel sometimes.
X is 100% gain
T is 60%
Y is 45%
U is 20%
Awesome Doug thanks for that!
Thanks so much for doing this video. You said you would do it and you did it great. Impressive results. Greetings from Paris.
I hope it was helpful for you! I try my best to do what I say I’m going to sometimes it just takes a bit longer to do so life is busy
@@AudiomoMusic definitly helpful, YES!!!
My next amp will be a Gremlin since I know now I can get way more headroom, thanks to your video.
Thanks again.
Have a great day!
Cool, I’ve been thinking about using the lower gain tubes to help tame an ac10 for home use.
This makes me more confident it will have the desired effect 😊
You should, I'm sure it'll help ou!
Fantastic video and shows what can be done with a little research and work on great equipment we already have too- an underrated avenue of exploration rather than just buying new gear all the time ! One question though- how has it affected working with it with single coils (I.e. is the number you have to get it to push into breakup substantially higher/ is it affecting the tone you loved with that too much?) guessing it’s all manageable but wondered how it was affected. Have a good day!
What a fantastic video have a wonderful day Jim also how is the family ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊
Very good Amin how are you guys doing?
WOW I love videos like this!!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!
That 12AU7 makes that amp much more appealing to me.
Agreed.
@@quantumbuddhistpeople have been swapping preamp tubes in Fenders for all of my almost 65 years. It doesn't hurt to experiment.
Very useful comparison vid! Did you notice any change in the overall tone of the rhythm channel? I find my Gremlin a little dark with humbuckers and was considering swapping tubes to increase high end. Thanks again 👍
You can use a Fryette power station to add an effects loop stereo, output, also give you more headroom with an additional 50 to 100 watts. A 5 watt amp and a Fryette power station is what you’re looking for to make this amp gig-able or able to play with any loud drummer.
For that money included it’s smarter to just buy a different amp- which is what I ended up doing.
Yup, the 12au7 has the lowest gain factor of just about all commonly used preamp tubes. I knew that, but didn't realise (or forgot) what a massive difference it can make.
The next thing you may want to do is try a different brand such as Genelux or JJ's here. Not sure off the top of my head where JJ's are made, but your EH & Genelux are Russian & are definitely good quality, but can/do sound different.
Who would have thought looking at the top of an amp could be so much fun for 12 minutes or so.
Thanks Jim. 🎸🎸🎸
I'm a big fan of NOS tubes, I just wanted to see with a generic EHX to see if it was something I'd be a fan of - I don't have any other amps I can see myself using a 12AU7 in so it'd have been a waste to spend on a really nice one haha.
@@AudiomoMusic Haha.... NOS tubes are an entirely different rabbit hole, they are more akin to a warren. 🤣
Totally makes sense. Cheers!!
Sounds really nice! Changing this preamp tube doesn't require any bias adjustment, right?
Jim, do you still like the single coil sound as much with the 12au7? That is such a stark difference I am wondering why they don't ship it with the 12au7.
I think the reason they don't ship with the 12AU7 is because the majority of people in the market want it to break up quick honestly. I personally don't like it as much now with the single coils as I do with the humbuckers so it's always a give and take indeed.
Brilliant.
Useful test. I have Tone King head and it’s really perfect amp that can support all your needs. But I expected the next logical step. Why didn't you compare it with the singles in the same video?? Or do you think we should change tubes every time we change Les Paul to Telecaster? Even funny😂
Well there are two reasons for that - the first being I knew that reducing the gain on an amp that I already didn't have problems with early breakup on wasn't going to do anything drastic to the singles outside of raise the necessary position of the volume to get the same kinda sounds as the stock tube, and secondly because I didn't want this to be a 30+ min video which would have been inevitable.
@@AudiomoMusic Ok, I got it. In my case I should use volume control. Always. So my solution to make balance between channels and pickups is Boss GE-7 and EHX Switchblade plus.
Do you when a db meter to see what the actual break up point is in terms of loudness with each tube? I have a gremlin on the way so curious.
The other option is of course to use more efficient speakers.
I ordered the gremlin and have a bunch of speakers including an alnico blue, which should be loud enough even with the 12ax7.
It doesn't matter what tube you use.when the 12 au7 is on 5 it's the same as the 12 ax7 on 1 and 1/2. It's all relative.
Gain factors: AU 19, AT 45, AY 60, AX 100.
Would it work with other amps i have a peavey classic 30?
yep, just make sure you're doing it in the V1 preamp tube
Is changing the tube as simple as popping the old one out and the new one in? No biasing or anything like that has to be done?
Yep, it's cathode so you can pop in the tube and you're good
Where can I buy one of those tables you are using as an amp stand?
ikea
@@AudiomoMusic Thank you, I am gonna have to pick one up :)
The best application for this amp is put it on 8 adjust the Powerstroke and use your guitar volume.
What happened to the lead channel?
It gave it slightly more headroom but it still breaks up fairly quick. I only didn't include it so as to not have this end up being a half hour video but honestly I rarely use the lead channel very much and just use a pedal if i want dirt
@@AudiomoMusic understood. How about the overall volume? I imagine that it has drop down quite a bit.
A bit yeah, it's taking a bit to get used to. If i was just going to play humbuckers with the amp I'd leave it as is but I think i'm going to experiment further with this one.
This was awesome ! I know how to trust for all my gremlin needs lol.
Are you planning to make a video with single coils ? I’ve read some of your comments where now it it’s not desirable effect when playing a tele or Strat .
Sorry I'm just seeing this, I ended up disliking it so much with single coils I put the original 12ax7 back in. Maybe a 12aT7 would be a better compromise but the 12AU7 really took the life out of the amp with single coils.
Which pickups are these? These seem like pretty hot humbuckers. big part of the equation. Hard to say a 5W amp is breaking up too early if the humbuckers are “modern” high output humbuckers.
Sort of funny looking back historically because many guitarists ( Van Halen, i.e) were always looking for more output from the pickups to slam the front end pretty hard.
And now we’re asking low watt amps to stay clean when the front end is being annihilated. Lol.
I have a gremlin on the way so can chime in with a comparison of telecaster to vintage output PAFs. Johan segeborn was getting great clean tones out of the gremlin with a Flying V.
I don’t know much about the gremlin combo speaker. That’s another factor. Efficient speakers for clean headroom but an expense of “bedroom” volume-shouldn’t be issue though with Ironman.
The combo speaker is somewhat lacking IMO compared to my personal favorite speakers from reviews I’ve listened to.
The t-tops are anything but high output, avg DC resistance is under 7.5k on each. I personally dislike high output pickups in general as I play clean or edge of breakup 99% of the time.
Speaker will make a HUGE difference with this or any amp, but I also found swapping the preamp tube in V1 to be by far the best way to get a humbucker equipped guitar to dial back with the stock speaker.
@@AudiomoMusic
My gremlin head is on the way. Curiously tone king website says the head has a 5881 power tube for more headroom ( also heard it’s because the kt66 doesn’t fit in the head)
Was interested in this video because Johan segeborn’s demos with humbcukers show an impressive amount of clean/ semi clean headroom at least on the rhythm channel.
But he used some big cabs and maybe the 5881 in the head does indeed have higher headroom.
@jaysonlavie603 it’s likely a combination of both the different tube and speaker selection. Hope you love it!
@@AudiomoMusic
Just got the gremlin head. I think the headroom is pretty reasonable and think I’m getting a little more than your demo with the 5881 tube and my speakers. It’s sufficiently loud and punchy at the point of breakup.
I think the problem is mainly the gremlin is putting out way too much low end for humbuckers. I had to set the tone control from 7 to flat to tighten the low end sufficiently.
But besides that limitation, it is an amazing amp. JTM 45/ black face tones ( Hendrix) on the rhythm channel and tweed/ early Marshall drive on lead channel. Attenuator is great.
Tested through all my speakers and all sound great- 12” Mojotone anthem, 12” eminence Canis Major, alnico blue, Jupiter 10” alnico ( p10r clone), and greenback clone ( Mojotone Bv-25m). All great classic sounds.
I think the stock speaker in the combo could be better. I would change it to something else if I ordered the combo.