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The only other thing it could need is better valves - given that it only takes one EL84 and three 12AX7s, it's worth spending a little on something like original Mullards in my opinion. They really do sound better. You don't even have to buy NOS (which tend to be expensive), simply tested used valves will be fine.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
If all you read there was "blah blah blah", let someone else do it for you And obviously, if you have no interest in using the effects loop, don't bother.
I got my Lionheart (mine's the 20W combo) from @pete24v, who had swapped the power valves to EH ones from whatever it came with, but I think that was a reliability choice rather than (or as well as) a tone thing.
I've heard people not prone to falling for bullshit say that NOS valves are worth the spend for studio and home use where you can appreciate smaller differences in sound, so that might be worth a look, although it's a fairly expensive endeavour- NOS US made ECC83/12AX7s are around £50 on Watford Valves versus about £12 for no-frills modern production valves, and EL84 prices are pretty similar. Preamp valves should last a long time though, so it's not like spending £50 on a pack of strings...
Re: Fender sounds- it's not really what the Lionheart is designed to do, but to get in the ballpark, turn the bass and treble up high, mids low and the master tone high. Then get a good spring reverb sim pedal, because the onboard reverb tank has nothing like the amount of splosh my old Twin had.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
I did some A/B testing of EL84s in it last year using a looper to try and ensure a level playing field and the Mullard was way nicer that the others I tried. I pulled a set of 4 from an old stereo of my dads and they sat on a shelf for a good number of years. Two of the remaining three are fine and the fourth works but the cathode voltage measures totally differently than the others so suspect it may be poorly.
http://www.laney-posse.co.uk/theposse/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3580
It's not very clear about the send and return sockets, but what works on mine is running two wires- one from the switched contact of the send jack to the same contact on the return, and a second wire between the switched earth contacts.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
search for "Mullard valves UK" or something.
Neither HotRox or Watford Valves had any stock of NOS Mullard ECC83s or EL84s when I looked this morning. I wonder if the supply is drying up- it's been a long time since they were made.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Even sticking one in the V1 position can make a fairly big difference.
I run an Amperex in V1 and a Mullard in V2.
The other mod worth doing if you use the effects loop is getting it modded from parallel to series.
As ICBM has said the Heritage G12H-30 is excellent so probably not worth changing (it's one of my favourite speakers)