# Retube recommendations for 5150 III 50w



## HerbalDude420 (Mar 1, 2017)

I'm looking for retube recommendations for a 5150 III 50w I just bought curious as to what others have had success with. I play mainly anything brootz related. I'm a rhythm guitarist. In my own experience JJ's that the amp came stock with usually make dull preamp tubes and ok poweramp tubes. I like the tone that comes from the amp as is so its only uphill from here.


----------



## shred-o-holic (Mar 1, 2017)

There's a thread around here I think that went over the tubes that just are a pop in and use. It was someone from EVH it might have been the JJ 6L6GC but I can't remember. Oh wait are you replacing the JJ power tubes as well? I didn't think they cam stock in the power section. Mine didn't when I had one. But I do get the dullness that people perceive from their preamp tubes.

Mine didn't come with JJ but I did use the JJ 7025 in V1 and that's it left the other tubes stock. I used the 7025 I think it was just to tame the gain and clear it up a tad to make it less fizzy. Worked for me


----------



## cGoEcYk (Mar 1, 2017)

Tung Sol is a popular V1 for br00tz.

I think JJ 6L6 are great tubes. I did some testing with a range of 6L6's and thought the JJs were in the same ball park as Winged =C= and some Mesa/Boogie 80's USA 6L6s (STR 415), while other current production tubes definitely fell short.


----------



## HerbalDude420 (Mar 1, 2017)

Have you tried Ruby 6L6GC-MSTR? I have heard good things about this tube in general don't know about in a 5153.


----------



## oracles (Mar 1, 2017)

Personally I'd avoid JJ's, they're my least favourite of all the production tubes.

I'd stick Tung Sol preamps in there, probably Svetlana power tubes.


----------



## TheWarAgainstTime (Mar 1, 2017)

I've experimented with lots of tubes in my 5153 and have ended up with the following combination:

-V1: EHX or Tung Sol depending on if I want more control/mids or br00tz, respectively. 
-V2: Sovtek or stock JJ. Really just depends on if I want to use that particular Sovtek in a different amp  
-V3: stock JJ
-V4: JJ 5751. This one brings down the overall gain of channel 3 a bit, cuts some extreme high/fizz and low end flub and pushes a bit more midrange. 
-V5 and V6: stock JJ. I'm not picky here since the upgraded tube in V1 is usually enough to keep channels 1 and 2 from being too murky from all JJ's
-Phase inverter: Sovtek LPS balanced. Whether or not you think a balanced PI tube is worth it or makes any difference is up to you, but these tubes are indestructible. 
-power section: Sovtek WXT+ 6l6 pair. These have the most headroom and best frequency response out of all the different 6l6's I've had. JJ's were dark and mushy, Rubies were a little thin, but overall good, and Mesas had just a hair less top end than the WXT+, which makes sense since they're just rebranded Sovtek non-plus WXT tubes.

If your primary concern for this amp is playing the br00t4lz, then you only don't need to worry about changing V5 and V6 since only 1-4 affect the red channel. Even then, I feel like V1 and V4 actually offer the most noticeable change in sound with different tubes while V2 and V3 were extremely subtle changes.


----------



## EdgeCrusher (Mar 1, 2017)

I swapped in a JJ ECC82 in V1 to help tame the gain on all 3 channels on mine. Let's me run the gain at 5-6 on both channels, where before that was too much for me. I would still like to tame more of the high end fizz though. What is the 5751 like, is it just an even lower gain ECC82?

I did like the Tung Sol in V1 with JJ in the rest on my last amp (Mark III) though, but I feel like the Tung Sol might be too bright in the EVH?


----------



## KailM (Mar 1, 2017)

EdgeCrusher said:


> I swapped in a JJ ECC82 in V1 to help tame the gain on all 3 channels on mine. Let's me run the gain at 5-6 on both channels, where before that was too much for me. I would still like to tame more of the high end fizz though. What is the 5751 like, is it just an even lower gain ECC82?
> 
> I did like the Tung Sol in V1 with JJ in the rest on my last amp (Mark III) though, but I feel like the Tung Sol might be too bright in the EVH?



My experience is only with the 6505 and 6505+, but since the EVH is in the same family of circuits, I think some of what I've found would apply.

I am a HUGE fan of 5751 tubes -- both in V1 and the phase inverter positions.

At least with my 6505s, a 5751 in those positions provides just the right amount of gain reduction to retain brutality but reduces fizz and increases clarity. IMO, those amps just have too much gain that's hard to control with straight 12AX7s. I've only used JJ 5751s, but I get amazing tone out of them. I've tried a Tung Sol 12AX7 in V1, and while I liked it -- the JJ 5751 still beats it. With the JJ 5751, there's an audible increase in "thump" on palm mutes, but it still has a nice grind and clarity. The Tung Sol sounded nice but still a little over-saturated in the highs, and I couldn't seem to dial that out. 

I highly recommend trying a JJ 5751 in V1 -- I haven't found anything that beats it. And it's not too expensive to try it out. Another good tube is the JJ ECC 803 -- which is still a 12AX7 in a long-plate design. Soundwise, it is slightly lower in gain, and is brighter than a normal JJ 12AX7. The mids have a really sweet grind as well. But not as much "thump" as the 5751.

If I had to rate all the tubes I've tried in V1, this would be my order from favorite to least favorite:

JJ 5751 > JJ ECC803 > Tung Sol 12AX7 > JJ ECC83 (Regular 12AX7).


JJ 6L6s SLAY, I don't care what anybody else says.


----------



## HerbalDude420 (Mar 2, 2017)

I was looking at the preamp tone kit on doug's and have made this modified version. What do you guys think? I also will have the JJ's that came with it and Mesa Brand JJ on hand to. Will have plenty of JJ

*V1 - Tung-Sol 12AX7*
*V2 - NOS 80's Chinese 12ax7 *
*V3 - Ruby 12AX7AC7 HG*
*V4 - JJ 5751 *
*V5 - Ruby 7025SS HG *
*V6 - Ruby 7025SS HG *
*V7 - Sovtek 12AX7 LPS*


----------



## chopeth (Mar 2, 2017)

This is what someone from Fender wrote about it somewhere:



> Michael Roberts (Fender)
> Jan 14, 13:38
> Hello Eric,
> You will want to use the Groove Tubes ECC83S preamp tubes - http://www.fender.com/parts/tubes/gt...550112391.html
> ...


----------



## HerbalDude420 (Mar 4, 2017)

Man groove tubes are a really overpriced relabel.


----------



## trebal (Mar 8, 2017)

I recomend you JJ


----------



## HerbalDude420 (Mar 24, 2017)

TheWarAgainstTime said:


> I've experimented with lots of tubes in my 5153 and have ended up with the following combination:
> 
> -V1: EHX or Tung Sol depending on if I want more control/mids or br00tz, respectively.
> -V2: Sovtek or stock JJ. Really just depends on if I want to use that particular Sovtek in a different amp
> ...



What sovtek preamp tube did you use in V2 LPS,WC,WA ect.


----------

