"Another" Lazy J (20) question

monkey42

so I am well aware of the limited clean headroom of the amp however would like to maxi,use this as much as possible. So I understand you can swap out a preamp tube ..but which one and what for? I will stay with 6L6, but is there a preferred brand of tube

finally, tayden of celestion blue for clean headroom

thanks in advance

hotpickups

monkey42 said:

so I am well aware of the limited clean headroom of the amp however would like to maxi,use this as much as possible. So I understand you can swap out a preamp tube ..but which one and what for? I will stay with 6L6, but is there a preferred brand of tube

finally, tayden of celestion blue for clean headroom

thanks in advance

I would say Celestian blue?

fretfinder

The answer is somewhere in this thread. Iirc it means putting a 12AY7 in P1 (if there's a 12AX7 in there already), it's the valve furthest to the right as you look at the amp from the rear.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/672/anybody-tried-lazy-j-amps/p7

IvisonGuitars

Tube wise I believe Jesse likes the off the shelf EHX tubes. I prefer Tungsol but can you really hear the difference....you tell me...

P1 tube, I've tried a few. I was looking for the same thing you are and tried a 12AU7 which did give far less gain and more clean headroom but left the amp as flat as a turd IMO. I went back to the original 12AY7.

monkey42

miserneil said:

Tube wise I believe Jesse likes the off the shelf EHX tubes. I prefer Tungsol but can you really hear the difference....you tell me...

P1 tube, I've tried a few. I was looking for the same thing you are and tried a 12AU7 which did give far less gain and more clean headroom but left the amp as flat as a turd IMO. I went back to the original 12AX7.

Thanks Neil, yes my worry (with all amps) is that the builders voice it with certain tubes in mind and it can lose the mojo if altered to much

IvisonGuitars

monkey42 said:

miserneil said:

Tube wise I believe Jesse likes the off the shelf EHX tubes. I prefer Tungsol but can you really hear the difference....you tell me...

P1 tube, I've tried a few. I was looking for the same thing you are and tried a 12AU7 which did give far less gain and more clean headroom but left the amp as flat as a turd IMO. I went back to the original 12AX7.

Thanks Neil, yes my worry (with all amps) is that the builders voice it with certain tubes in mind and it can lose the mojo if altered to much

Quite true @monkey42. There seems much conjecture on swapping valves and swapping speakers with the J20. Baffles me a bit really as Jesse is renowned as a 'tone guru' and the J20 speaks for itself in that it is a FANTASTIC sounding amp, why folks what to try chopping and changing from the original, perfect (IMO) formula is beyond me to be honest.

RaymondLin

If you start messing with the recipe then it will lose the sound that is great with this amp.  The limited headroom is a part of that.

Wazmeister

RaymondLin said:

If you start messing with the recipe then it will lose the sound that is great with this amp.  The limited headroom is a part of that.

Spot on again mate.

Some ideas and notes I made...

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q493/Warren3333/Screen Shot 2016-04-14 at 08.31.40.png

JohnPerry

I have had a tube conversation with Jesse. He prefers stock EHX tubes because he believes them to be reliable.

He advised against swapping them for old ones because he doesn't trust them if you can only buy them on eBay. 

I changed mine immediately to some old Mullards bought on eBay and the tone difference was substantial, as it always is when you put great old tubes in.

For most clean headroom keep a 12ay7 in v1. It'll stay clean for longer with a Gold, I'd have thought 

crunchman

I've always used mine with a 12AY7 in P1.  I have heard them with a 12AX7 and there is basically no clean headroom like that.  I definitely prefer it with a 12AY7.

For clean headroom I think the Blue is likely to be better than the Tayden as I think it's a couple of dB louder.

Wazmeister

crunchman said:

I've always used mine with a 12AY7 in P1.  I have heard them with a 12AX7 and there is basically no clean headroom like that.  I definitely prefer it with a 12AY7

Spot on.

I must admit, I do wonder sometimes at what people are hearing/experiencing with their Lazy Js... Mine has AY7, as per the diagram above, and gets seriously loud and clean.

i actually love the 'almost' clean sounds of the Lazy J

RaymondLin

I had to double check what I ordered...lol

Hi Raymond,

the J20 comes with a 12AY7...that's what I think gives the best result.

Cheers,

Jesse

Gassage

Just learn how the 2 vols interact. That's how you clean it up