Getting some more distortion from my TT combo, switch tubes?

[Madiac]

Would switching tubes in my fairly new TT combo be a solution to get some more gain out of it? Thanks! Any recommendations for tubes that can do this or atleast improve tone?

[Roobubba]

You're probably better off with a pedal of some description, IMO...

[hamfist]

As Roo says ... a pedal is what you need. Take your combo to a shop and audition a few dirt pedals in front of it.

Expensive vintage tubes might make a small improvement in tone, but probably not worth your time or hassle.

What don't you like about the tone ?

[Bob Johnson]

Hi, we can do you a nice overdrive pedal box with or without germanium/silicon diode clipping if you just want to drive your pre-amp a bit more or give it a bit of contemporary/vintage distortion . It's not as aggressive as the ZVEX SHO so it won't blow your amp up and has the added feature of diode clipping. Some of the guys on this forum are doing some test work on it right now and hopefully the pre-production unit should be available in the next few weeks (apologies to you guys who've been waiting for the next iteration). You can only really change the tonal characteristics and the point where you start to get breakup by changing the tubes. If you want to go down this road give Watford valves a call and get some really well informed info on tube changes.

Cheers.

[MrBump]

Hi, we can do you a nice overdrive pedal box with or without germanium/silicon diode clipping if you just want to drive your pre-amp a bit more or give it a bit of contemporary/vintage distortion . It's not as aggressive as the ZVEX SHO so it won't blow your amp up and has the added feature of diode clipping. Some of the guys on this forum are doing some test work on it right now and hopefully the pre-production unit should be available in the next few weeks (apologies to you guys who've been waiting for the next iteration). You can only really change the tonal characteristics and the point where you start to get breakup by changing the tubes. If you want to go down this road give Watford valves a call and get some really well informed info on tube changes.

Cheers.

That's interesting, Bob - are you going to be putting that on your website?

Mark.

[Madiac]

I have a MI audio crunchbox, but well, it changes the tone to something less tubey, it just takes away the raw feeling of Guitar > Amp somehow, dont know how to explain it. What will the cost be on this unit your talking about? I guess something to push the pream is what i need!

[d1dsj]

I've used an MXR micro amp to good effect in the way you want... without changing the tone much if at all.

[mikey5]

Yea I would say a Pedal is the way to go. Just curious what kind of music do you play. Because (although you will hear otherwise) The Orange TT is really terrific. I use a Radial Distortion on mine. But to tell the truth I dont use pedals 99% of the time. I find that the little guy has plenty for things like classic Rock.(Of course I am also on a Blues study diet)

[Bob Johnson]

[/quote]

That's interesting, Bob - are you going to be putting that on your website?

Mark.
[/quote]

Yeah we'll be selling them through the website once we get the production level PCB's and a few of other little issues sorted. It's all taking a lot longer than we thought it would.

[hamfist]

I'd still advise that you try out a few. Some pedals go nicely with some amps, and not others, and vica-versa.

One drive pedal that I have, which has meshed beautifully with every amp I've tried it with (and that's quite a few) is the MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe. Very tweakable and flexible. It is very reasonably priced too.