keeping up with stella

My guitar amp was sounding kind of weak. I thought it was being drowned out by the bass amp that I just started noticing the high notes were sounding really weak so I decided to swap out the tubes.

Not all the Tubes. Just the two power tubes which in this case woud be Groove Tube EL84s. It is a small amp and just has two power tubes and I think 3 pre-amp tubes. I left the pre-amp tubes alone but I had a set of Groove Tubes with a 5 rating. I had been using 4s but they were out last time I went to buy some so I went with the 5s.

They rate them between 1 & 10 with 10 being the cleanest. The lower numbered ones break up easier and provide a little better blues tone. The heavy meatal players would like the higher rated ones.

Groove Tube is a company buys a bunch of tubes and tests them and matches up the sets. I have been using the EL84-S version. They have some that are called R's also which are made in Russia and I like them in my Pre-Amp Section of this amp. The Russian made ones are a little cheaper but since I have been happy with the sound, I have been trying to stay with the same tubes.

I try to buy a set as soon as I replace them so I will have a back up set in case one goes out.

I know most people aren't going to be that interested in my tubes but so what. I got nothing else to talk about right now except maybe my bass amp cabinet that I just put togeather.

My Carvin 15" 600 Watt Speaker came in the Mail (UPS) and I put in in a Speaker Box. I had an old Radio Shack 15 inch PA Speaker but it was worn out so I decided to make a bass cabinet out of it & see how it s0unded.

I did put some strips of 1x2' wood in it to reinforce it and break up the midrage coloration & I also stapled some fiberglass filler on the walls to deaden it a little. I have a book about making speaker boxes that I bought at Radio Shack several years ago. It has all kinds of formulas for figuring out box and port size but I just decided to try this out and see how it sounds. If it doesn't work I can always build another box.

It sounds pretty good at home & I will find out how it works at the gig this weekend. I will keep my other bass cab sitting on top of it and experiment by switching back and forth to see how they compare & also try using both at the same time. The Gravity Bar is an open air type place so I can get away with it being a little louder at the source and still not blowing everybody way.

I am also experimenting with using my other Twin Reverb as a guitar amp & have been experimenting at home usine a dual amp set-up. I can use both amps or either one by itself and I like having the extra options but I may not do it at to many show since I already have alot of stuff to haul around. I will know more how I feel about it after I play a few gigs.

I wish my Blues Junior had the tilt back legs like the Twin Reverb. I am thinkin about making a stand for it so I can tilt it back. They sell em at the Guitar Store but I don't want to spend any more money than I have to right now since I have had to buy several things lately.

Is all this keeping you on the edge of your seat?

I didn't think so.

It is not good for your back anyway.

Well, I just made some pop corn so I think I will eat it now.


Keep the faith.