Well crap, I didn't mean to buy a new amp

So the Tiny Terror came in while I was taking my son and his fiance out to dinner and by the time I got home, it was almost 11 on a weeknight. So I haven't been able to really try anything after 10am on the Volume dial and like maybe 60% Gain because I'm allergic to cops at my door.

But I can already tell the Tiny Terror's got it. Now it's all thumbscrews and tube swaps to tweak the tone, Tommy.
 
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sunvalleylaw said:
Dang it. Now, between you and @baimun , I want an Orange, and a 2x12 or 2x10 cab. For absolutely no good logical reason.
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I got a few nice combos with great speakers and one good 1x12 cab (whose speaker I'm switching out for a Greenback clone) .... don't make me want a 2x cab I don't need. I just really don't have the room for it. I guess a Tiny Terror thru a 2x10 with Ragin' Cajuns in it could be pretty badass, though. And I do have 2 spare Ragin' Cajuns ... not sure about the impedance, though.

I mean, I guess I could sell the Ibanez TSA15 Combo with the built in Tubescreamer and put a 2x10 cab in the "lean back" amp stand it's in. Crap.
 
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GDSmithTX said:
I got a few nice combos with great speakers and one good 1x12 cab (whose speaker I'm switching out for a Greenback clone) .... don't make me want a 2x cab I don't need. I just really don't have the room for it. I guess a Tiny Terror thru a 2x10 with Ragin' Cajuns in it could be pretty badass, though. And I do have 2 spare Ragin' Cajuns ... not sure about the impedance, though.

I mean, I guess I could sell the Ibanez TSA15 Combo with the built in Tubescreamer and put a 2x10 cab in the "lean back" amp stand it's in. Crap.
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I currently have a Peavey C-30 1x12 combo, and my old Fender Concert 4x10. I love the old Peavey, but it can sound a bit boxy and direct sometimes as compared to the old vintage Fender 4x10, which is not something I want to lug around much. Thus, the though of getting something like a 2x12 or even better maybe, a 2x10, to use as an extension cab for the Peavey, and to put under something like the Orange. Though I like the Fender, I could sell it and "downsize" financially, with that arrangement.
 
So at the tail end of my 2 week staycation of drunkenness, guitar playing, computer work, and helping my grandparents move into an assisted living facility, I finally got around to swapping some tubes in the Tiny Terror. Stock, it's 2x JJ 12AX7s and 2x JJ EL84s.

Config 1
  • v1 - old RCA 5751 that has sounded great in the Micro Terror and amazing in v1 the Panama Shaman Retro
  • v2/PI - New Sovtek 12AX7lps that has sounded great in the Micro Terror and very good the PI slot of the Panama Shaman Retro
Short evaluation
Sounds really good clean, a little more more depth and vintage hair than on the very nice stock JJ 12AX7s. A lot of sweet, rounded character to the sound.

Distorted, it sounds quite good with lower gain. In fact really, really good. The higher the gain, the "flabbier" it gets, though. You can convincingly go up through late-80s Priest just on amp gain and an OD, but it doesn't sound as good (to my ears) as with the stock JJ 12AX7s. I didn't try it with different pedal settings, just what I've been using for a month or so.

Final verdict
Better clean, good dirty, not as good with high gain (but still acceptably nice-sounding). I like it because I go high gain maybe once a week; everything else is relatively low gain.

I'll try swapping each new tube in turn with its predecessor and see how that changes the sound. I have old pull Hammond Organ 12AX7s, old pull 12AU7s, NOS 12AU7s, etc. to try out. And that's not even considering the 2 EL84s (which are JJs).
 
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Config 2
  • v1 - Different old pull 5751 (label worn; can't make out the manufacturer)
  • v2/PI - EHX 12AX7
Excellent Classic Rock tube combo. Cleans slightly thin, but pretty (at least in the limited time I tested it), but it takes OD/gain very well and doesn't flab out early. Really high gain gets pretty fizzy, but backing it off a little yields wonderful, aggressive hard rock tones on a Strat.

At 15 watts everything around noon, a little overdrive (Fulldrive 2 Mosfet) & manipulating the guitar volume gives a very versatile tone, very ably going from cleanish bluesy crunch to "Back in Black".

I have to remember this combination.
 
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