HT-40 Preamp tubes

Hi all, first post here.

I've just ordered a pair of JJ's 12AX7 (ECC83) to replace the stock Sovtek WA.

JJ's are less harsh with more warm tones than the Sovtek WA. I've had JJ's in all my previous amps so, why not in the Blackstar too ??

Ciao!
Marco

Marco_Lwb wrote:Hi all, first post here.

I've just ordered a pair of JJ's 12AX7 (ECC83) to replace the stock Sovtek WA.

JJ's are less harsh with more warm tones than the Sovtek WA. I've had JJ's in all my previous amps so, why not in the Blackstar too ??

Ciao!
Marco

JJ are just perfect for a nice bluesy and warm tone. Sovtek are very neutral and EH are very large and clear i think. In a vintage type amp such as your amp, it will add a nice crunch, good choice !
You could try combinations between your valves, eg a JJ in V1 and the Sovtek in V2, you could keep a good headroom and the warmth of the jj...or buy some other 12Ax7 to try different sounds.

Preamp valves are easy to access ? For me with the artisan it's very difficult, have to do a lot of work before accessing the valves...

On the HT-40 is very easy to replace the tubes.
Unscrew the back panel and gently twist & pull out the old preamp tubes that needs to be replaced.

You're right about the combination of V1 and V2 but the HT-40 has a ton of gain so, for the music I play, (blues & rock-blues) I think the JJ's will be more than enough for me !

Ciao !
Marco

If you can make and post samples before/after...it would be very interesting !

Marco_Lwb wrote:Hi all, first post here.

I've just ordered a pair of JJ's 12AX7 (ECC83) to replace the stock Sovtek WA.

JJ's are less harsh with more warm tones than the Sovtek WA. I've had JJ's in all my previous amps so, why not in the Blackstar too ??

Ciao!
Marco

+1 .... JJ's 12AX7 (ECC83)are a real nice tube,i've had marshall,fender valve amp's and all the one's i owned, i thought the jj's were the nicest in V1, seemed to get a warm tone and were really reliable!

Watch not to put a JJ in a reverb drive socket in my opinion.
To drive the reverb, it's better i think to have a neutral and clear valve such as the EH.

There's no in the HT Venue i think but if you have other amps...

I'll receive the JJ's in a few days.. Anyway I've already completed the first step of the "smoothing process" swapping the stock Seventy80 Celestion with a Vintage30 !!

Mmm...not bad at all...it sounds more..."rounded" !

Ciao !
Marco

Marco_Lwb wrote:I'll receive the JJ's in a few days.. Anyway I've already completed the first step of the "smoothing process" swapping the stock Seventy80 Celestion with a Vintage30 !!

Mmm...not bad at all...it sounds more..."rounded" !

Ciao !
Marco

Vintage 30 really needs to be break-in ; i heard it's a quite long, about 50 hours to have its real sound...

Marco_Lwb wrote:I'll receive the JJ's in a few days.. Anyway I've already completed the first step of the "smoothing process" swapping the stock Seventy80 Celestion with a Vintage30 !! Mmm...not bad at all...it sounds more..."rounded" ! :)Ciao !
Marco

the vintage 30 is my pick on speaker's,i had one in my marshall dsl401 and a fender hotrod deluxe and loved it in them,but one of the guy's on another forum said he tried it in a ht20 and thought it was a bit muddy,i have yet to try so i can't say for sure,i really like the sound coming from the stock rocker50,so i'am not changing anything yet!...but yeah i would normally say v30 is a very good speaker,mine was pretty well broken in after about 8 hrs of playing when i put it into both my other amp's.

aussie2009 wrote:

Marco_Lwb wrote:I'll receive the JJ's in a few days.. Anyway I've already completed the first step of the "smoothing process" swapping the stock Seventy80 Celestion with a Vintage30 !! Mmm...not bad at all...it sounds more..."rounded" ! :)Ciao !
Marco

the vintage 30 is my pick on speaker's,i had one in my marshall dsl401 and a fender hotrod deluxe and loved it in them,but one of the guy's on another forum said he tried it in a ht20 and thought it was a bit muddy,i have yet to try so i can't say for sure,i really like the sound coming from the stock rocker50,so i'am not changing anything yet!...but yeah i would normally say v30 is a very good speaker,mine was pretty well broken in after about 8 hrs of playing when i put it into both my other amp's.

Try a good G12H...it's a very very good compromise between V30 and Greenback !

Hi !

Just swapped both the 12ax7 Sovteks for the JJ's !

The amp's character is still there (GOOD thing ) and the overall EQ is more neutral to my ears.
With the Sovtek the amp's EQ was more...like a V shape where bass and highs were boosted a bit.
With the JJ's there's a more flat response and less highs...using only single coils PU's, this is another GOOD thing for me !

The changes are more evident on the OD channel. Probably I'm going deaf...but on the clean channel I can't hear any difference...

Ciao !
Marco

I think it's the jj which are boosting thé mids. Those are really warm.
For now it's my prefered brand for valves.
Very bluesy !

Demo time !

How the HT40 sounds with the two mods !

Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh6k_-zYzSQ

Settings are almost the same I've use for my other blackstar videos..so if you want you can compare the orginal Vs the "modded" version..


Ciao !
Marco

Marco_Lwb wrote:Demo time !

How the HT40 sounds with the two mods !

Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh6k_-zYzSQ

Settings are almost the same I've use for my other blackstar videos..so if you want you can compare the orginal Vs the "modded" version..


Ciao !
Marco

https://blackstarforum.forumactif.com/blackstar-ht-venue-series-f6/blackstar-ht-club-40-combo-t24.htm#327

Marco_Lwb wrote:Demo time !
How the HT40 sounds with the two mods !
Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh6k_-zYzSQ
Ciao !
Marco

nice sound,i really like the jj's and the v30 sound's good,but for me i'm not changing anything on mt HT20 studio,
i love it the way it is,but your mod's are where i'll go later when i really need to swap tubes!

Thanks !!

I'm so happy with my "new! amp that I've uploaded another video !!

Here :



Thanks again !
Ciao!
Marco

cool vid,nice tones

G12h heritage, it's my speaker....i'll make a sample...
Thanks again for sharing !!!

Great videos Marco!

Some very nice tones you have going there with the speaker and tube upgrades.

just put Groove Tube ecc83s in the pre amp and e34ls power tubes. turns out The stock TAD's are really good so im going to hold on to them. My Club 40 sounds great the new pre amp tubes cleaned the low end up a bit on the clean channel which is great with the voice button in, tone knob is great as well. Also get the CREAM on the OD channel with the volume cranked and the gain around 3/4 this amp kicks ass!

Hey Marco
Nice Blues man! Good vibe! What are your HT-40 settings? I put a cream back celestion in mine, fantastic speaker!!