Orange Rockerverb 50 MkII with EL34, KT77, 6550 and KT88 tubes

**Before anything else, I must say I do not recommend anyone to change their own power tubes without having a qualified technician adjust the bias. Tube amps contain lethal voltages!**

Quick skipping guide: EL34 starts at 0:00. KT77 starts at 1:42. 6550 starts at 5:35 and KT88 starts at 9:43

I hadn't read or heard much online of the Rockerverb MkII with different power tubes. So after being very happy with mine for almost a year now, I decided to finally experiment with different power tubes and learn for myself what the tonal differences are. I recorded some clips with each power tube (clean and high gain), with essentially the same EQ settings for both the clean and dirty channel. The only real changes I made were sometimes adjusting the bass on the dirty channel for the more bass-heavy tubes. I also experimented with different bias settings for each tube, since that significantly affected the tone as well. The clip only has the bias settings that I thought sounded best for that tube.

By the way the tubes in the preamp section for the distortion channel are EH 12ax7 in the first slot, then a JJ in the second. The rest of the preamp tubes in the amp are stock.

Here's my personal ranking and notes with the best sounding bias in parenthesis:

1) JJ KT88 (average bias) - amp sounds huge, really fills up the room more and greatly enhanced clarity from EL34s.
2) JJ 6550 (colder bias) - similar clarity and big sound as KT88s but more focused on lows and highs with a scooped mid. Bigger lows than the KT88.
3) Ruby BHT EL34s (average bias) - warmest, most compressed sound but a lot less definition than the higher powered tubes. Noisy distortion on recording was harder to hear live in the room.
4) JJ KT77 (hotter bias) - tighter than the EL34s and big lows, but sounded more sterile and I had the least fun playing them

I know there are lots of different power tube models, but I just got JJs for their affordability and mostly good reviews. I really love the KT88s, and to me they were the clear winner in the room and on recording. I made a huge step in my search for my perfect tone!

Recording chain: Bernie Rico Jr. Jeckyll 7 string - Rockerverb 50 mkII - (Effects loop) MXR Noisegate - Carbon Copy Delay - Orange PPC412 (v30s and g12k100s) - Vintage 30 - sm57 - BAE 1073MP and second mic on the other Vintage 30 - Sennheiser MD421 - Apogee Duet 2 mic pre

No post processing. The 421 is a little lower in the mix than the 57.

Sorry for the epic description, I want to offer many details to anyone who wants them.

Make your own opinions- beware of many little noodling mistakes!

Be sure to check out my band Sorizon:
www.facebook.com/SorizonOfficial
www.sorizon.net

Category:

Music

Tags:

• orange amp
• rockerverb 50
• mkII
• KT88
• EL34
• bernie
• rico
• jr
• jekyll
• string
• guitar
• bae
• 1073mp
• apogee
• duet
• orange
• rockerverb
• 50
• mkii
• ppc412
• vintage
• 30
• sm57
• md421
• mxr
• carbon
• copy
• jj
• tubes
• kt77
• 6550
• sorizon

[cyphervox]

Hi, I'm ordering up a set of KT88's for mine after watching this! What did you bias yours to? How did the voltage and current read? I want to start it up colder and then adjust it to about 60%. Do you have any suggestions for this? I see you kept it on the EL34 side, great to know! I have a set of JJ KT88's also, but I'm ordering Gold Lions or better to try in this beast first. Thanks for any info, and for being awesome in general. Keep the videos coming!

[SorizonMann]

@cyphervox I'm really glad this video helped you. I love how KT88s sound in this amp! I biased mine to about 60%. That sounded best to me. I kept it on the EL34 side because I couldn't reach the right bias range on the KT88 side, I asked Orange tech support and they said that this is fine. Let me know how Gold Lions or other KT88s compare to the JJ's, I'm curious about that. Have fun!

[KevinCube]

KT88s for the win.

[StephenAnthonyMusic]

I like EL34 best

[cyphervox]

Great, thanks! Did you use a bias meter or another method? When I contacted Orange last week they said to look for 38-42 mA per valve. That should put the voltage somewhere over 500VDC. Does that sound about right from your experience? So if I run it on the KT88 side and crank the adjustment it will still be pretty cold for them? That's kinda weird that Orange would make that side too low for the tubes it's meant for. Thanks for your help!

[chorisia25]

@whiteyanderson Hey, I don't know anything about biasing so I can't be of much help.

[whiteyanderson]

@whiteyanderson A bit looser on the gain side I meant to say. I like a looser feel. Seems like the KT88 are a bit tighter.

[whiteyanderson]

@SorizonMann Thanks for that info. Kind of weird though huh? I guess I'll try out the 6L6's then. I have a feeling I'm just going to come back the to JJ EL34's or E34L's. I HATED the stock Ruby's. The JJ's realy smoothed the tone out in my MK II. Just wanted to see if the 6L6 might tame a bit of the extra graininess. I play a style sort of like chorisia only heavier. post-metal if you will. I will say that my clean channel is REALLY pretty clean though. But I need it a bit looser.

[SorizonMann]

@chorisia25 I didn't do a 6L6 test just because it seemed that these tube types would be more of what I was looking for. The KT88s haven't really made the amp hiss less than el34s, I don't think the power tubes affect that much.

[SorizonMann]

@whiteyanderson For me, the 6L6 side of the bias switch was also more limited in its range but I still got up to about 47 on that side. For the KT88s I needed to go higher so I just kept the bias switch on the EL34 side. I emailed Orange tech support about this and they said that whatever side of the switch gets you in the right bias range is fine.