I spent the entire day today trying different preamp tubes in different slots on my 5150 and Dual Rec to see what effect it would have on the tone. I had TAD, Gold Lion, and Tung Sol 12AX7 tubes and was shocked by how much swapping a single tube changed the tone and feel of the amp.
The most noticeable changes were in the V1 and PI slots, but I read about guys changing the V2 or V3 tubes as well to alter distortion characteristics. In my 5150, using all Gold Lion preamp tubes made it extra gainy and fizzy. I tried all Tung Sol tubes and it was looser in the low end and grainy in the top end. So I went back to the Gold Lions and tried a single Tung Sol in each slot. Putting the Tung Sol in V3 made the amp come alive by taking away some fizz and adding a little body. It was amazing to hear and feel the difference that single tube made in the overall tone and feel of the amp. I went through the same process with the Dual Rec and had similar results.
So my wish is to have the ability to change individual virtual tubes in the Axe. I don’t know if the preamp tube algorithm would change things as much as it did in the real world, but I noticed a huge difference here and thought it would be a cool way to bring more versatility to the amp models.
The most noticeable changes were in the V1 and PI slots, but I read about guys changing the V2 or V3 tubes as well to alter distortion characteristics. In my 5150, using all Gold Lion preamp tubes made it extra gainy and fizzy. I tried all Tung Sol tubes and it was looser in the low end and grainy in the top end. So I went back to the Gold Lions and tried a single Tung Sol in each slot. Putting the Tung Sol in V3 made the amp come alive by taking away some fizz and adding a little body. It was amazing to hear and feel the difference that single tube made in the overall tone and feel of the amp. I went through the same process with the Dual Rec and had similar results.
So my wish is to have the ability to change individual virtual tubes in the Axe. I don’t know if the preamp tube algorithm would change things as much as it did in the real world, but I noticed a huge difference here and thought it would be a cool way to bring more versatility to the amp models.