Amp gurus help! (RM50 problems)

[BigK]

I finally got my Randall rm50 back home so I could have a good play on it and it sounds very 'farty' compared to when I tried it out when I picked it up could I have damaged something on the way home.

By farty I mean its sounds like a fuzz pedal with the bass all the way up so even with the brightest of my guitars its boomy and uncontrollable.

could I have damaged the power valves (6l6's)?

if so I could change them with one of the pairs out of my powerball.

and amp guru's out there have any ideas?

[Transcend]

You should just be able to change them but you will need to make sure that the bias is correct.

Im not sure what could be causing the problems mind you

[BigK]

well if it is the power valves the pins of the two 6l6's are numbered differently?

The Randall has ruby 6l6's in at the minute and the powerball has JJ's but the number 3 pin is a different pin as you look at it. they have the same pin layout but the are numbered differently. as long as the actual gaps are over the same holes it should be fine yes?

[JacksonRR]

They should have a non metal guide pin so they can only go in one way. It's right in the middle at the base. I would start by figuring out if it is in the power section or the preamp section. Plug straight into the effects return, it should be a clean sound, but does it sound "right?"

[Transcend]

well if it is the power valves the pins of the two 6l6's are numbered differently?

The Randall has ruby 6l6's in at the minute and the powerball has JJ's but the number 3 pin is a different pin as you look at it. they have the same pin layout but the are numbered differently. as long as the actual gaps are over the same holes it should be fine yes?

they should be fine in my experience.

Are you sure both amps are 6l6?

One could be 5881 which is a lower wattage valve at 25watt (if it is an actual 5881 and not a 6l6gc)

Jacson RR's advise is a good thing to check also

[BigK]

Hi guys just to let you know its was a dodgy Phase inverter valve (that and when the recto module's gain goes over 12 o'clock it turns into a muddy pile of poo).

So I replaced the dying EH 12ax7 with a Jan Phillips 5751 and its alot clearer. I also checked the bias of the power tubes and they were biased rather cold at 20mA so I bumped it up to 32mA and its sounds soo much better now.

This brings me to my next question what 12AX7's have the tightest least bassy low end? Just to try and see how the recto sounds before I send it off to salvation next month to get modded. I might also try the bass cap mod on it but we shall see.

[Transcend]

in my experience the JJ's are by far the tightest and raunchiest sounding.

I have tried tung sol which were also tight but had a really horrible fizzy & shrill high end to them

[FELINEGUITARS]

We have a slowly growing number of Egnater/Randall users on here it seems

I just got my first modified Randall module in a trade - a modified Brown module and it seriously nails EVH tone
I'm very impressed!