Guitar Gear Forum

I have a JCA100HDM, JCA100H, and a JCA22H. The Ebtech Line Level Shifter streets for $75.99. I got mine free from Jemsite.com for doing an official gear review, if memory serves.

How's does the TS-9 and TS-808 do with the JCA50H.

I only have a TS-9 and JCA100H, and I only run the TS-9 up front, but it tightens up the tone a good bit--I'd say with the settings I use (low drive, high level) that it actually works more like a compressor, but it sounds great. Pretty much any JRC5448-based stomp in front will get you good results, if dialed in properly. If you set the drive too high you get fizzy noise, so keep it reeled in.

Hope this helps!

I've read many postings of people using boosts / ODs to 'tighten' the bottom end on their amps. Honestly, I don't really understand what this means - I'm generally able to get a thick, heavy mid- to high-gain sound out of my JCA50 without it sounding muddy or tubby. Why would I need to slam my amp's input with a hotter signal to create additional gain when the thing already has too much gain on tap? Is it essentially pre-loading the EQ, such that the amp's gain stages are processing an altered tone, or is it all about slamming the input to 'compress' the signal, as indicated above. Sorry about the newbie-type questions, but it seems like everyone has these notions and descriptions about sound that really don't mean a lot to someone like me.

...and if someone does take the time to edjumacate me on this, a response on just wtf 'fizz' is would be double-bonus!

I had a TS9 and never liked what it did to the JCA100 - it essentially castrates the low end and low-mid thump and leaves it sounding kinda thin, imo. But I chalk that up to the Tubescreamer's very particular voicing.

I usually have my OCD set to provide a full range, transparent and light overdrive when playing through the clean channel. When I do use it to boost the OD channel, it gives me what I wanted the Tubescreamer to do but couldn't. That is to say that it doesn't really tighten up the amp, doesn't castrate the lows/low-mids, but it adds a bit of gain and some bite in mids/upper mids, which is great for adding a tiny bit more definition to the tone for leads/solos. The tubescreamer also gave that bite in the mids, but the price was losing the warm throaty lows/low-mids, and I didn't like that one bit.

I also use a Monte Allums modded BOSS GE7 to provide a tweakable clean boost, which I usually have set nearly flat, or accentuating only mids. On the clean channel it gives me a bit of a volume boost and sets an otherwise clean channel to just about breaking up. On the OD channel, it adds a bit more gain without much of an EQ change, so that it sounds like the JCA, but just more of it. The OCD does an actual tone change.

For clean/low/mid gain stuff, i use the GE7 and OCD like gain stages which I can stack on a clean channel as a base platform. so clean + GE7 = low gain/just breaking up. Clean + OCD = warm bluesy drive. Clean + GE7 + OCD = raunchy mid-gain (think AC/DC).
For high gain stuff, I prefer to keep the OD channel gain lower and make up the gain with the GE7, then use the OCD as a tone shift for solos/leads so it stands out a bit, but in this context, neither the GE7 nor the OCD adds any volume boost.

Wow! How do you deal with all that when rehearsing with your band playing live? Are you actually able to tap-dance through those setting changes?

Your explanation helps a lot about the effect on the amp. Perhaps the JCA is already 'tight' enough tone-wise that it doesn't really benefit from the typical tube screamer tricks I hear so much about for other amps?

As for lead boost, I've been considering a couple of things. A while back, I tried my TC BLD (in boost mode, running 18v for extra headroom) in the effects loop, and found that kicking it in really hopped up the volume without changing the tone of the amp. Unfortunately, my BLD died and so I'm seeking out some alternatives. I'm looking at two ways to go about this: 1) get an MXR Micro Amp (or something similar) and run it in the loop, or 2) mod the JCA with a lead / rhythm switch (see next).

I started researching boost switches a while back, and found that some Marshall guy had added a second pot in series with his master volume. If that were wired with a relay or opto-isolator that would effectively bypass the second pot, you could dial a certain amount of cut to the overall volume and switch that on & off with the relay. This wouldn't result in a boost, per se, but what you'd have is a footswitch controlled 2-stage volume setup - more like a lead / rhythm switch.

Any thoughts on either / both of these options?

Try a Jet City Afterburner. One OD stage and a +20DB boost, in a single pedal. For cheep...

racerevlon wrote:Try a Jet City Afterburner. One OD stage and a +20DB boost, in a single pedal. For cheep...

Yeah, but the thing is, I'm not looking to boost gain - just want to raise volume. Won't slamming the input with a 20db increase just cause mass clipping?

GRIMESPACE wrote:

racerevlon wrote:Try a Jet City Afterburner. One OD stage and a +20DB boost, in a single pedal. For cheep...

Yeah, but the thing is, I'm not looking to boost gain - just want to raise volume. Won't slamming the input with a 20db increase just cause mass clipping?

yeah for a volume boost you need to place your gain boost after the amp's distortion. A Boss GE-7 would work really well for that and it's a pedal that works in the JCA/Soldano loop without any issues. The cool thing about using the GE-7 is not only you can get the volume boost you want, you can also eq your lead tone slightly different (usually with less low-end and more mids than your rhythm tone) so your leads will stand out even more. You may not even need that much of a volume boost once you EQ it right.

Welp... did the deed this past weekend. Two new mods and cleaned up my old ones.

First up, relocated my scoop mod switch to make way for a new channel-changing switch. Basically, when the footswitch loop is open, the amp will be on the overdrive channel. Closing (shorting) that loop puts it on the normal channel. A simple SPST switch wired in parallel to the footswitch jack does the job. Only thing is, you have to have the switch in the open (OD) position to use the footswitch. I'm half-thinking about wiring in an LED to the spare hole I still have in the front panel (was there from a previous mod that I removed), using a SPDT or DPDT. Not sure I'll like it, though, because that light would be on all the time whenever I'd be using the footswitch - it wouldn't turn on/off with the footswitch position. I spent some time cleaning up the wiring for the older mods, too, so my OCD personality is feeling much better.

Here's the before - clean/crunch switch is on the right and scoop is on the left. The clean/crunch switch has three positions - middle is crunch (normal), and the two other positions use different resistor values (39k and 68k) for slightly different clean settings. The scoop switch engages a capacitor to ground from a 'T-filter' (according to Edge11). You can see I had two extra holes from the mods I removed prior.



And here's the T-filter - two 1meg resistors replacing 2.2meg R34 with the cap connected to the center junction point.



Here's the finished product - scoop relocated and rewired to the right, channel switch on the left



Next, I duplicated CTN's work for a voicing switch on the slope resistor, which adjusts the tone of the EQ section. Here's the finished product - normal resistor (47k) in the down position, alternate one (33k) in the up position.



I really took my time with this - didn't want to have any problems (obviously), and had been concerned about my wiring from the first time, as the hiss level was pretty high after doing the first mods. I love it when the amp fires up perfect on the first attempt after doing these things - zero problems this time and I think the hiss may be a bit better now.

As I stated before, the clean switch is pretty cool - you just have to watch for the volume drop, so you can't realistically expect to be switching between clean and crunch on channel one while playing - it's just too drastic. But, the sound is pretty clean, and the scoop mod does do quite a bit to change the tonality of that first channel - not sure which I like better, so I'm glad I set it up to run stock or scooped based on what I'm feeling. I'm also really happy I put in the channel switch. No more footswitch required.

The new slope resistor voicing switch is something I'm REALLY liking. First time I switched it on, I was shocked at how much the amp seems to sing on high notes. It definitely seems to emphasize the mids / upper mids and makes pinch harmonics come out like crazy. When I'm playing leads, it seems to have give the overall tone a more elastic quality to it that I really like, much like what I imagine the amp would sound like with EL34s . Best few bucks I could have spent, next to the depth knob.

Here's a finish shot of the front with all switches intact. Yes, I do have the extra hole to contend with - either a plug or an LED will find its way there eventually. I'm ecstatic with the way it sounds now, and love the fact that this is all DIY. Thanks CTN for lighting the fire under my butt to do this!

GRIMESPACE wrote:Wow! How do you deal with all that when rehearsing with your band playing live? Are you actually able to tap-dance through those setting changes?

Your explanation helps a lot about the effect on the amp. Perhaps the JCA is already 'tight' enough tone-wise that it doesn't really benefit from the typical tube screamer tricks I hear so much about for other amps?

As for lead boost, I've been considering a couple of things. A while back, I tried my TC BLD (in boost mode, running 18v for extra headroom) in the effects loop, and found that kicking it in really hopped up the volume without changing the tone of the amp. Unfortunately, my BLD died and so I'm seeking out some alternatives. I'm looking at two ways to go about this: 1) get an MXR Micro Amp (or something similar) and run it in the loop, or 2) mod the JCA with a lead / rhythm switch (see next).

I started researching boost switches a while back, and found that some Marshall guy had added a second pot in series with his master volume. If that were wired with a relay or opto-isolator that would effectively bypass the second pot, you could dial a certain amount of cut to the overall volume and switch that on & off with the relay. This wouldn't result in a boost, per se, but what you'd have is a footswitch controlled 2-stage volume setup - more like a lead / rhythm switch.

Any thoughts on either / both of these options?

When I was still in an active band, 95% of what we played was heavy stuff, so I'd keep the amp on the OD channel, and more often than not had the GE-7 always on. When I switched to the clean channel, the GE-7 was still on. I didn't have the OCD at the time, and I really didn't like what the TS9 did, even for my lead sound, so usually for leads I just kicked in my Nova Repeater. Not always though. Tap dancing wasn't really involved. *shrug*

Also, the JCA with the depth mod can be tight enough that it doesn't need a boost, but without it, no way. Not for the tight high gain tones we were going for though - somewhere in between death metal, black metal and thrash. We wanted tightness, clarity and balls-out gain, with low-mid growl. The other guitarist got that by using a Duncan Full Shred with his 6505. I got it by carefully setting the EQ on my GE-7 and boosting my amp with that. Nowadays it's different as I play mostly blues and rock, and tightness isn't as big a concern anymore.

Also that mod about the 2nd volume pot in series...I could see that being pretty useful. Kinda running out of space to put pots on the amp though lol

Also, glad you dig the slope resistor mod and glad I could help light that fire lol. I too noticed that pinch harmonics seemed to jump off more than usual, but I wasn't sure if it was the guitar/pickups I was using or what. Kinda makes me feel like Dough Aldrich when I hear those blistering raunchy harmonics and thick marshally sound

GRIMESPACE wrote:Welp... did the deed this past weekend. Two new mods and cleaned up my old ones.

Is it just me, or am I the only one who noticed the cup of liquid AMP in the background?

GRIMESPACE wrote:

racerevlon wrote:Try a Jet City Afterburner. One OD stage and a +20DB boost, in a single pedal. For cheep...

Yeah, but the thing is, I'm not looking to boost gain - just want to raise volume. Won't slamming the input with a 20db increase just cause mass clipping?

Do you want something like a solo boost? Do it like the way the Rectos and Splawns do it. Put the pot wired like a rheostat on the ground side of the volume pot with a relay or LDR to bypass it. When it's bypassed, it's like without the extra volume pot. When switched in, the solo pot prevents signal bleed by however much you dial in an d bumps up the volume.

Just checked the mail and those two NOS tubes came in. Haven't had a chance to put them in the amp yet.

BUT the 5751 is rattling. Probably will be microphonic. Gonna see if I can get a replacement...in two weeks, when the dude/business I bought em from is back from vacation. *facepalm*

Jay wrote:Do you want something like a solo boost? Do it like the way the Rectos and Splawns do it. Put the pot wired like a rheostat on the ground side of the volume pot with a relay or LDR to bypass it. When it's bypassed, it's like without the extra volume pot. When switched in, the solo pot prevents signal bleed by however much you dial in an d bumps up the volume.

Hi Jay - funny you should mention that, I've been researching that very thing tonight. I mentioned something similar above, but apparently the gurus are altering the how much of the signal bleeds to ground rather than going inline with the signal path, which makes more sense. I found another guy that stated he likes to run a second pot in parallel with the MV, which is intriguing - less chance for signal interruption / disruption that way. In any case, the second pot has to be switched somehow. I have an elementary understanding of relays, and have found several methods people are using to do this, using miniature relays, optoisolators, etc. The thing I found that most looks fitting to the job is this: https://taweber.powweb.com/store/chansword.htm, which is great, as it'll let me switch two pots (one for each MV), but I don't know if the JCA50 has taps for the 6.3v I need. Any help would be appreciated. Also, what's an 'LDR'?

CTN wrote:Just checked the mail and those two NOS tubes came in. Haven't had a chance to put them in the amp yet.

BUT the 5751 is rattling. Probably will be microphonic. Gonna see if I can get a replacement...in two weeks, when the dude/business I bought em from is back from vacation. *facepalm*

Ah hell, that sucks! Good luck with that... waiting, waiting, waiting...

CTN wrote:Also that mod about the 2nd volume pot in series...I could see that being pretty useful. Kinda running out of space to put pots on the amp though lol

Planning on mounting small pots with small knobs right next to the MVs. I think they'll fit ok.

CTN wrote:Also, glad you dig the slope resistor mod and glad I could help light that fire lol. I too noticed that pinch harmonics seemed to jump off more than usual, but I wasn't sure if it was the guitar/pickups I was using or what. Kinda makes me feel like Dough Aldrich when I hear those blistering raunchy harmonics and thick marshally sound

Played on it some more tonight. Might even get brave enough to do some clips later this week. My problem is that the family won't have me running the goddam thing at anything past midnight volume, so I'm not able to judge it entirely, but so far I really do think the voicing switch is really best for lead work and looser rhythms, and the normal position better for the heavier stuff. Definitely a bit more 'tubby' sounding when I try to hit the heavy palm mute with the 33k - probably what I'm hearing is loose vs tight. And, I totally agree with your comments about the depth knob - it definitely does tighten things up even further. I have Friday off, so am gonna send the wife out while the kids are at school, and then I can piss of any remaining neighbors and probably kill a small animal or two

Quick followup to my prior comments - the more I play with the mods I've done, the more I like the variety. I am liking the clean switch quite a bit now, but that's tempered by having to continually adjust the volume / gain if I'm going back and forth with the crunch setting. Aside from that, the clean is really that - void of any 'hair' or artifacts and very responsive to playing dynamics.

The scoop switch gives a huge tonal variety to both the clean and crunch settings - scooped, the sound thins considerably but doesn't get overly brittle; normal, the sound gets warmer and a bit less dynamic (although still pretty responsive). It also seems that the slope resistor voicing switch does have quite an impact on the clean setting, although not as dramatic on the tone as the scoop switch - it seems to change the amp responsiveness ('loosens' it up) more than anything else.

Overall, I am really enjoying all three mods (plus the channel switch) greatly - we'll see what happens on Friday when I have the house to myself and can crank things up a bit. I'll probably get my pedalboard hooked up, too - I'm really curious how the clean sound will work with my chorus (Small Clone) and delay (TC Flashback).

guitarbilly74 wrote:

GRIMESPACE wrote:

racerevlon wrote:Try a Jet City Afterburner. One OD stage and a +20DB boost, in a single pedal. For cheep...

Yeah, but the thing is, I'm not looking to boost gain - just want to raise volume. Won't slamming the input with a 20db increase just cause mass clipping?

yeah for a volume boost you need to place your gain boost after the amp's distortion. A Boss GE-7 would work really well for that and it's a pedal that works in the JCA/Soldano loop without any issues. The cool thing about using the GE-7 is not only you can get the volume boost you want, you can also eq your lead tone slightly different (usually with less low-end and more mids than your rhythm tone) so your leads will stand out even more. You may not even need that much of a volume boost once you EQ it right.

Billy - thanks for the input and seconding CTN's testimony on the GE-7. I've been thinking that I do want to try out an EQ in the loop. My Quadraverb does have a few EQs (graphic and various parametric) that I can use, so I might give it a shot this weekend and see if that's something I want to persue - and I think I am warming to bumping certain frequencies for lead. That said, how does the GE-7 compare to the MXR 108 units I've been looking at? I've read that the GE-7 is pretty noisy...

I think we've been appropriated by sahlomonic

Check out his new signature

GRIMESPACE wrote:I think we've been appropriated by sahlomonic

Check out his new signature

posted this over at HCOF awhile back, didn't know then that everybody moved, thank god! that
new layout over there was...lacking

wanted to thank grimespace, edge, soulcrusher and others for their help with posting mods and other info. Got my 50 sounding good now with new tubes, biased, and depth mod done. this thing sounds way WAY better now.
Saw you guys discussing this earlier. I have a JJ 5751 in v1, it brought down the gain some, but also dropped the volume a tad. I'd like to swap it back with a regular JJ ax7 to do an a/b, just to compare.
Also have WXT+'s. They sound pretty decent compared to the stock ones.
Found a board in my garage and cover it with new grill cloth and piping, to have it mach my homemade slant cab.
Very happy with the rig now.

GRIMESPACE wrote:

Jay wrote:Do you want something like a solo boost? Do it like the way the Rectos and Splawns do it. Put the pot wired like a rheostat on the ground side of the volume pot with a relay or LDR to bypass it. When it's bypassed, it's like without the extra volume pot. When switched in, the solo pot prevents signal bleed by however much you dial in an d bumps up the volume.

Hi Jay - funny you should mention that, I've been researching that very thing tonight. I mentioned something similar above, but apparently the gurus are altering the how much of the signal bleeds to ground rather than going inline with the signal path, which makes more sense. I found another guy that stated he likes to run a second pot in parallel with the MV, which is intriguing - less chance for signal interruption / disruption that way. In any case, the second pot has to be switched somehow. I have an elementary understanding of relays, and have found several methods people are using to do this, using miniature relays, optoisolators, etc. The thing I found that most looks fitting to the job is this: https://taweber.powweb.com/store/chansword.htm, which is great, as it'll let me switch two pots (one for each MV), but I don't know if the JCA50 has taps for the 6.3v I need. Any help would be appreciated. Also, what's an 'LDR'?

Check voltage across C7. That is a filter cap for the channel switching system for the amp. Should be either 6.3v or 12-ish. It's technically at the end of the heater taps, so you should be able to use that for a single relay or LDR (which to answer your other question, is an optoisolator) the LDR should work better since it will draw less juice. Both ways will work really well, the parallel pot will be easier to wire in, since you just need to wire the lugs in parallel to the stock volume knob and put the LDR to switch the pot in and out of the signal path. Hell, you could add another gain knob and MV with some more LDRs for the crunch channel to make your amp a true 3 channel JCA. I'm insane, right?

If you can, check for a label on your power transformer. Some of the 20s had it, and it detailed the voltage and current ratings for the amp. One LDR should be no problem, but I would like to know how strong the PT is for any additional upgrades.

Mojotone has some good stuff too, let me see if I can find the system they use. Or......I might be able to look up some stuff for even cheaper. I'll get back with that soon.

RoosterLP wrote:



posted this over at HCOF awhile back, didn't know then that everybody moved, thank god! that
new layout over there was...lacking

wanted to thank grimespace, edge, soulcrusher and others for their help with posting mods and other info. Got my 50 sounding good now with new tubes, biased, and depth mod done. this thing sounds way WAY better now.
Saw you guys discussing this earlier. I have a JJ 5751 in v1, it brought down the gain some, but also dropped the volume a tad. I'd like to swap it back with a regular JJ ax7 to do an a/b, just to compare.
Also have WXT+'s. They sound pretty decent compared to the stock ones.
Found a board in my garage and cover it with new grill cloth and piping, to have it mach my homemade slant cab.
Very happy with the rig now.

Nice. I like the salt n pepper cloth. Sexy.

Another tube to try in both V1 AND the PI (V5) is the JJ ECC803. It's a little bigger sounding than the regular JJ ECC83s, with a crunchier/slightly brighter top end, slightly fatter mids/lows. It has 10% less gain rather than 25-30% less like the 5751. If the 5751 has too little gain and the 83s has too much, then the 803 may be the perfect medium. It also works awesome in the phase inverter. I have used it in my old Mesa MKIII and Splawn Quickrod with good results. Seemed to make the amps more articulate without making the tone sterile.

Check this out, Grime. http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amp-k ... d-Assembly

It's quite a bit more than the weber kit, but it has more features, indicators, and it looks like it can do two different channel functions.

RoosterLP wrote:posted this over at HCOF awhile back, didn't know then that everybody moved, thank god! that
new layout over there was...lacking

wanted to thank grimespace, edge, soulcrusher and others for their help with posting mods and other info. Got my 50 sounding good now with new tubes, biased, and depth mod done. this thing sounds way WAY better now.
Saw you guys discussing this earlier. I have a JJ 5751 in v1, it brought down the gain some, but also dropped the volume a tad. I'd like to swap it back with a regular JJ ax7 to do an a/b, just to compare.
Also have WXT+'s. They sound pretty decent compared to the stock ones.
Found a board in my garage and cover it with new grill cloth and piping, to have it mach my homemade slant cab.
Very happy with the rig now.

Hiya - welcome to the happiest place on (virtual) earth!

I really want to know more about the 5751. Please, if you do change it with an ax7, let us know if there really is a big volume difference.

Another vote for WXT+'s - definitely will be hunting some down when my current ones go.

I like the salt & pepper cloth. I'm going to do one so I can change my panel when the mood suits, and try to be as cool as you guys

Let's see pics and hear more about your homemade cab. I built up a 2x12 that's half Thiele with the requisite EVM-12L speaker and half partial-open-back with a Boogie MC90. Turned out pretty good for a prototype. Gonna build a bigger one if/when I change out my 4x12 to a 'real' one (my current guy is pretty tiny, and I matched the 2x12 to it's width).

Jay wrote:

GRIMESPACE wrote:

Jay wrote:Do you want something like a solo boost? Do it like the way the Rectos and Splawns do it. Put the pot wired like a rheostat on the ground side of the volume pot with a relay or LDR to bypass it. When it's bypassed, it's like without the extra volume pot. When switched in, the solo pot prevents signal bleed by however much you dial in an d bumps up the volume.

Hi Jay - funny you should mention that, I've been researching that very thing tonight. I mentioned something similar above, but apparently the gurus are altering the how much of the signal bleeds to ground rather than going inline with the signal path, which makes more sense. I found another guy that stated he likes to run a second pot in parallel with the MV, which is intriguing - less chance for signal interruption / disruption that way. In any case, the second pot has to be switched somehow. I have an elementary understanding of relays, and have found several methods people are using to do this, using miniature relays, optoisolators, etc. The thing I found that most looks fitting to the job is this: https://taweber.powweb.com/store/chansword.htm, which is great, as it'll let me switch two pots (one for each MV), but I don't know if the JCA50 has taps for the 6.3v I need. Any help would be appreciated. Also, what's an 'LDR'?

Check voltage across C7. That is a filter cap for the channel switching system for the amp. Should be either 6.3v or 12-ish. It's technically at the end of the heater taps, so you should be able to use that for a single relay or LDR (which to answer your other question, is an optoisolator) the LDR should work better since it will draw less juice. Both ways will work really well, the parallel pot will be easier to wire in, since you just need to wire the lugs in parallel to the stock volume knob and put the LDR to switch the pot in and out of the signal path. Hell, you could add another gain knob and MV with some more LDRs for the crunch channel to make your amp a true 3 channel JCA. I'm insane, right?

If you can, check for a label on your power transformer. Some of the 20s had it, and it detailed the voltage and current ratings for the amp. One LDR should be no problem, but I would like to know how strong the PT is for any additional upgrades.

Mojotone has some good stuff too, let me see if I can find the system they use. Or......I might be able to look up some stuff for even cheaper. I'll get back with that soon.

Jay wrote:Check this out, Grime. http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/amp-k ... d-Assembly

It's quite a bit more than the weber kit, but it has more features, indicators, and it looks like it can do two different channel functions.

Jay - this is really good, helpful shit right there, dude. I did see a sticker on the top of the transformer, but I couldn't find reference to 6.3v - just two refs to 3.1 v - are they on opposite sides of a common so I can just wire across both? I'll try to get a photo of the label posted this week. I'm pretty seriously stoked about this mod - seems like it'll be pretty cool. And, thanks for the Mojotone link. I'll give it a look-see when I get a chance.

thanks guys! I'm digging the old school look of it, thinking about getting one of them horizontal
JCA logos that they're putting on the new VH(?) models

Another tube to try in both V1 AND the PI (V5) is the JJ ECC803. It's a little bigger sounding than the regular JJ ECC83s, with a crunchier/slightly brighter top end, slightly fatter mids/lows. It has 10% less gain rather than 25-30% less like the 5751. If the 5751 has too little gain and the 83s has too much, then the 803 may be the perfect medium. It also works awesome in the phase inverter. I have used it in my old Mesa MKIII and Splawn Quickrod with good results. Seemed to make the amps more articulate without making the tone sterile.

I really want to know more about the 5751. Please, if you do change it with an ax7, let us know if there really is a big volume difference.

So i've got the 5751 in V1, ECC803 in v2 or v3 and a ECC83 in the other, can't remember which. And a AT7 in V5 (PI). If the wife and kids let me get some time this weekend I'll do some swapping around and let you know what I find out. They're pretty tolerant of my amp fiddling, I even get to turn it up to 5 on OD if no little ones are napping. Wife told me with my old amp (VOX VT30) she could tell what room in the basement i was in, now she says she can tell/feel exactly where the amp is, it rumbles the floors quite nicely