Cynthia naked in public!!

[drhulsey]

So, I decided to take Cynthia (my Express) to a gig last night. I took her out naked since I hadn’t made her a cab yet. She ran the whole 3 hr. gig set at ¾ to full volume and didn’t miss a lick. I mic my cab, so I had plenty of clean volume (or as clean as I wanted it) by rolling back the guitar volume. I had plenty of power tube distortion when I wanted, as you might expect. I actually had more bass than I expected and had to roll that back a bit. I used a PRS single-cut and a Tom Anderson drop-top Tele with three mini-humbuckers. Noise was not a problem, and the tone was great. I had her populated with NOS tubes- JAN Sylvania 12AX7’s and Amperex Bugle boy EL34’s. I’m still looking for a Mullard 12AX7 for V1. The PT was warm after 3 hrs. (two 20 min. breaks on stdby). The OT was slightly warm on the side next to V5. The 34’s were hot, and the preamp tubes were pretty warm. All in all, she acted like a guitar amplifier should. My fellow band members liked the sound. She held her own in a nine-piece band with a loud R&R drummer and 3 loud horns over a wide range of music from Soul to a quasi-EVH version of the Kinks’ You Really Got Me. I haven’t found anything to dislike about this amp or this project, but then, that’s just my OPINION.

[philmanatee]

That's awesome! I played a lot of gigs with mine, I love when other players are trying to figure out what it is. 8)Phil

[Phil_S]

Since you are a do-it-yourself guy, you might be on the lookout for a Mullard 6EU7. It is identical in every tube parameter to the 12AX7, but not pin compatible. You'll need to rewire, but that is one way to control the cost of a Mullard. I've got one in my JTM45. Just my 2 cents. Oh, and it seems like the amp gets a nice report! How wonderful.

[Bob-I]

Awesome.

What cab did you use?

I bet it was f**kin loud on that stage

[drhulsey]

...you might be on the lookout for a Mullard 6EU7...

I'll have to keep an eye out for one and look up the tube data. Thanks

...What cab did you use?

I used a 1x12 with a Vintage 30. It was plenty loud when I needed it to be. I kept the guitar volume rolled back for the soft parts and cranked it for the nasty parts
I looked inside the chassis today and it looked pristine Just paranoid, I guess

[VacuumVoodoo]

...you might be on the lookout for a Mullard 6EU7...

...or GE or TungSol. Expect a bit less noise and less hum pickup from heater especially if you use the pin 7-8-9 triode for first stage.
DATASHEET

Now, just don't hype this tube up on evilbay