Any tube-nerds and pedal-pro´s out there?

[whatamada]

Hey fellow guitarplayers!

I´ve got two questions for you today, one a little more open and another that´s a little more specific.

Here we go!

1) I´m contemplating trying another set of power tubes for my Archon (100W). It came with stock 6L6´s, and I´m thinking E34L´s or KT77's. Anyone care to chime in on this? Pros/cons? Or is it a bad call? Anyone tried other tubes than 6L6's?

2) The more specific one. I´m a former Diezel user, I´ve had them all and I really mean all ^^
I´ve been craving the Diezel tone back for quite a while now, but I´m not so keen that I wanna buy another amp since they are rocketships that have way more features (and weight) that I need.

So, I read about the VH4 pedal ( http://www.diezelamplification.com/vh4pedal/ ) and it states
"Two outputs are provided with the first intended to connect to the front of a guitar amplifier and the second allows for a connection to a line-level power amp or power section of your amp via the Effects Return."

Has anyone the second option this on their Archon? Is the loop on the Archon compatible with this kind of pedal and effect?

Cheers! =)

 

[TroyBaer]

WRT Archon power tubes, see these past threads:

http://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/tube-rolling-power-tubes-for-clean.17084/
http://forums.prsguitars.com/threads/power-tube-swap-on-archon.12290/

6L6s, KT66s, and EL34s are known to work (with a bias adjustment of course). Apparently KT77s do not, per PRS customer service. I'm not sure about E34Ls, 6550s, or KT88s, although the latter two seem unlikely if KT77s don't work.

WRT running a preamp directly into the Archon's FX return, I can't think of a reason why that wouldn't work as long as the FX loop is engaged, but you'd be bypassing the Archon's preamp and as a result the only controls on the amp that would do anything would be those in the power amp (i.e. Presence and Resonance). Switching between the Archon's preamp and an external preamp could be fiddly.

 

[elvis]

For the pedal, you'd have to try it. Every amp design has a preamp and power amp that are designed to work well together. I've plugged alternative preamps into my amps' power sections, and sometimes it's good, but usually not so much.

 

[Ck77]

Tried el34s in mine, kinda weak sounding, back to the 6l6s for me! Switched to tung sols...

 

[whatamada]

Thanks for your replies!
I´m still contemplating if I should just take a chance with this pedal and run it in front of my Archon, as a bonus channel.
I don´t want to bypass my preamp, maybe for studio-purposes, but not otherwise.

Regarding the tubes, I might go with "better" grade 6L6´s.
Every forum I visit tend to mention that the amp was made around 6L6´s, and why fiddle with a working concept? =)

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I have tried a couple different ones, and I do recommend it -- as I am really happy with my clean tone right now, which I got by rolling "late" breakup power tubes -- but there are some pitfalls to avoid. The important thing is to follow the advice of customer service. Specifically, it should say right on the back of the Archon which tubes you can roll, in some cases with bias adjustment. And because it's a single bias adjustment, only ever roll matched tubes. Also, for the rebranded tubes, make sure you do your research and find out what the underlying tube is. I forget which one (EDIT: this one), but one of the variants I got of the 6L6 (Groove Tubes 6L6-R) wasn't even really a 6L6. The amp looked like it was forever warming up, because it wasn't supplying the right bias voltage or something. So do that research before you even buy. Also take into account the sound you're going for. If you want good both clean and dirty toanz, stick with "middlin'" breakup tubes. If you want mostly high gain tones, by all means, get early breakup tubes.

 

[vchizzle]

I like the Ruby EL34BSTR in the Archon. They have some 6L6ish characteristics but with some of the 34 mids. They're fairly inexpensive. I have a quad of JJ E34L's but haven't tried them in the Archon yet.

There's a guy on Rig-talk that swears he gets really close to the VH4 channel 3 tone by throwing a graphic eq in the Archon loop. So you might try that first if you have one. He goes by Mailman over there I think. Him and a bunch of guys apparently a/b'd the Archon with eq to channel 3 and had a hard time telling the difference I guess. Do a search and reach out to him, nice guy.

 

[vchizzle]

Here's a clip with the Ruby's:

 

[whatamada]

I like the Ruby EL34BSTR in the Archon. They have some 6L6ish characteristics but with some of the 34 mids. They're fairly inexpensive. I have a quad of JJ E34L's but haven't tried them in the Archon yet.

There's a guy on Rig-talk that swears he gets really close to the VH4 channel 3 tone by throwing a graphic eq in the Archon loop. So you might try that first if you have one. He goes by Mailman over there I think. Him and a bunch of guys apparently a/b'd the Archon with eq to channel 3 and had a hard time telling the difference I guess. Do a search and reach out to him, nice guy.

Thanks a lot for that tip! I´ll do a search and see if I can reach out to him =)

I really liked the mids and "omph" you got from the EL34! Might have to try it for myself!

 

[László]

Here's a clip with the Ruby's:

Sounded really cool, Vaughn!