Tube suggestions for Marshall 2266 Head

[rnagoda]

Okay, I run this into a closed-back Soldano 4x12. It sounds good, but it never, ever sounds remotely clean. I know that 's a bit of a Marshall characteristic, but I'd like to clean it up a bit if I can. I'm due to change the tubes out soon anyhow - anybody out there got some suggestions about what might help me here?

On another note, it is a quiet amp. By that I mean it is much, much lower in overall volume than my 50-watt Ampeg R-50H running into the same cabinet. Is that normal, or am I overlooking a potential problem?

[ohsojayadeva]

I think most people would advocate putting a lower gain tube (12AU7, for example) in the first preamp spot to lower the gain, but that may be too dramatic. How about just looking for some 12AX7s that are rated for lower gain and seeing how that feels?

[retinal orbita]

You'll want to change the pre amp tubes which is where the gain actually occurs (I think..... I'm not a doctor)..... I have a JCM900 100W SL-X which I run into a closed back 1960 4x12 and had a similar problem, great amp, but didn't clean up ever and wasn't great to run a Muff into even at any volume. My amp tech suggested Sovtek 5751's, specifically in the 1st and 4th preamp stage, I experimented with that and found all 4 sounded great as well which is what I went with. I recall you're only supposed to change out the preamp tubes every 10 years and with mine it did not need re-biasing. I was incredibly happy with the results. Nice gain if I need it, but easy to clean up by lowering the gain stages on the amp and cranking the master volume. It definitely gave the amp a much more classic feel in terms of the tone, sounding more like an older JMP than a metal riffer JCM 900 chug a lug......

http://thetubestore.com/sovtek5751.html

If your amp is running really quietly best to have to checked over anyway, mine into a 4x12 is really, really, really loud...... even at half power when I was running it at that level.

[rnagoda]

Thanks to both of you. I knew it was the preamp tubes I needed to change, but wasn't sure what would be good (I agree, the 12AU7 option would work, but is a bit of overkill on the issue since I'm looking for a slight change). Looks like I'll be checking into Sovtek 5751's - much appreciated!