Here Today... Gone To Hell!

i got a jcm slash 2555, and i love it...but my tubes are crap.....do you people think that if i change my tubes....for good quality tubes like GT,,,,,,my distortion sound could be more cruchy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tell me if the tubes really make a change !!!!!!!!

No... stick with the ones' you have ... ie: buy the same.  Because fucking with an amp with sound like that is silly... It sounds like it's supposed to sound!

If you change the power tubes you'll have to re-bais the amp. If you don't re-bais it the tubes could die early or the tone will be ass. Pre amp tubes can be switched around without any adjustment. I do recommended getting a balanced tube for phase inverter. As far as tubes go, GT doesn't manufacture tubes, they just test and resell them. Same with Ruby. If you're in the USA I suggest getting tubes from http://dougstubes.com. Doug has great prices and great customer service. I'm not a huge 2555 fan, I found it to be a one trick pony and not very good as a channel switching amp.

The Slash amp IS a one trick pony ...

but what's wrong with that?

It's FUCKING good at it's jumps and shit ;)

Why have an amp that's that expensive and does everything?  Jack of all trades, Master of none... ever heard that?

I like that my JCM900 does pretty much one thing ... and one thing fucking well ....

I just want an amp that does two things well... clean and overdrive. I don't think that's asking for a lot out of an amp in 2006. Everyone has different tastes and needs. I just think 2555's are way too expensive for what they are. The JCM 900's are probably my least favorite Marshalls. I'd like to build a 50w Plexi clone next year for the single channel non-master volume tone.

You do realize that Slash uses two different amps for his clean and overdrive tones.  The overdriven tone in sort of stock and his clean has KT-88 tubes.

Buying two overpriced amps doesn't seem like a good solution to me.

 ;D

You don't sound experienced enough with that opinion.  I'm not saying he should buy two amps tho ... think about it ... he WANTS the sound he's got... he likes it... he's just wondering if it's possible that the tubes are shot ....

You came in slagging his prized amp off .... which I don't really see why?

Just my two cents anyway

I think boutique amps are overpriced... who the fuck wants to pay 4000 for a 1x12 15 watt combo?

Id call Marshall up and ask, they seem to be surprisingly knowledgable about marshalls, for whatever reason

I answered the question about the tubes.

I'm not slagging the 2555 either, I had one for a year. It's one of the last good amps Marshall designed. I thought it was a nice amp, but I felt limited by it's capabilities. I like to have two usable channels. With the 2555 you could either set it up to have a great OD sound or a nice clean. There's no way to balance the two. Now if all you need is a hot-rodded OD channel, the 2555 is great at that.

Some boutique amps are overpriced. However my Splawn Quick Rod cost $1700 and it's a 100w all tube head with two channels and three different voicings (plexi, JCM 800 and boosted JCM 800). Spending 4K on a low wattage combo is retarded.

OK thank you guys !!!
but i still have a little doubt.......

i know the jcm slash is a great piece....but the distortion sound of mine is a little weak ...
i want it to be a cruch distortion....an edge overdrive.....
i've got a marshall power tubes...i think they are not so good !!!!

i know i have to re bias the amp after i change the tubes/......but what i want is a cruchy dist...what can i do.....

i think , if i chabge the tubes all of them i can get a very diferent distortion.....waht do you think ???

What volume are you playing at???

If it is a tube amp; you gotta be loud to get good tone.

This isn't an amp to play in your mother's basement!! (None of my business if you do)

The tubes work and distort better the louder you play.

It's "old school" technology;but, it works.

Instead of changing the tubes, get yourself a blues driver pedal or something similar, and use that in conjunction with the overdrive on the amp. Don't get anything too heavy, 'cause you're gonna be combining the distortion from the pedal with the distortion from the amp. As a matter of fact, all you probably should be doing is boost the input gain a little. Are you using a Les Paul, or similarly equipped guitar? Slash uses rather high gain pickups to start with, so that might be part of the cause?

well i have a seymour duncan alnico II PRO....on my guitar !!
do i have to play extremely loud to get the valves's higher distortion ???

i'm new into all this thigs....i want a good distortion a hard one do you think i can get ???

and another question, does this kind of amp are recomended to play in small venues like bars or something ???

The pickups should be fine. Don't expect screaming metal distortion out of this amp, but boosting the input volume might help in getting a heavier distortion. Think of it this way: if you turn down your volume know to about 1 or 2, the actual volume coming out of your amp won't be that much lower, but your distortion will sound a lot less heavy. The opposite is also true: the more volume, the heavier your distortion. Don't push it though, you'll blow out your tubes if you go to far in this (I would imagine). That's why I suggested the stomp box: it'll give you a tad more volume, and make your sound a bit dirtier, which help you get a heavier distortion, without pushing your input gain above the limit (since these things are meant to be used that way).

It's not suitable for small venues though :). Get a valvestate, line6 or something similar for that. Tubes in the post amplifier basically mean that you have to crank the volume all the way up to get the desired sound, so you should go for tubes in the pre-amp and solid state in the final amplification stage (Marshall Valvestate, Peavey TransTube series, ...), or for a modelling amp (line6 spider series, ...).

The 2555 is one of those amps that needs to be played fairly loud to give up the goods. Until you get to band rehearsal volumes it's going to sound a little weak. That goes for most Marshall amps. If you can, see how it sounds with the master volume half-way up or more.

Agreed .... same with my 900 ... but when you crank it loud ... it's like heaven.

Why should he get a valvestate if he wants to have a good sound? Why not just get a 10-30W tube amp instead? Or buy a powerbreak so that he can still drive the tubes hot and it won't be as loud? This all, of course if buying a second amplifier is not an issue. The main reasons that valvestates don't sound as good is that transistors don't cut as 'musically' as tubes do. They don't produce any second order harmonics, and have much larger higher odd order harmonic amplitudes than tube amps do.

ok...i'll use my amp at half or maybe more voulume , do you people think that's enough ??

or if i use expensive tubes my distortion sound could change ???
or all tubes are great !!!!
i want to know if i change my tubes....would i get a higher or harder distortion ???

by the way ...thank you all ....all your comments are so useful for  me...

Even low powered tube amps are frickin' loud! I have a 5w tube combo that's loud enough to play with a drummer if they don't bash the drums. A Hotplate or Powerbreak  will really suck all the tone out of your amp if you're trying to bring it down to low volumes. They're best used with non-master volume amps like the 1959 or 1987. I agree that the Valvestate isn't even the best solution for a low volume practice amp. The Tech21 Trademark 10 is a good choice for tube-like sounds at low volumes Either that or getting a PODxt anf hooking it up to some monitors.

Big_Machine, even on half power mode you'll still need to get it loud to get that killer tone. 50w is only a few DB less that 100w. Changing the tubes can effect the tone. You don't need expensive tubes either. Most Marshalls sound great with SED "winged C" EL34 power tubes. With pre-amp tubes it comes down to taste. I like the 9th generation Chinese tubes or JJ's. Just make sure the phase inverter tube is balanced.

hey//!!! darkburst.....you'll say c'mon dude just shut up and play !!!!   :beer:

but i have another question !!!!!

well i own a jcm slash.....i've just made what you said to me....i play it on a higher volume like 8 or 7......and holy shit.....it sound just like coma......or wttj......thank you....
but that leads me to another problem dude !!!!!
 :-X

1/ can someone rehearsal with that kind of amp..... i think is imposible ????
2/ where can i use it.....if my band play in small venues like bars.....do i have to wait to become famous and play at a stadium.....or arenas..../that was not on the intructional booklet.

3/ and this is a very important...now that i got the perfect sound..hahaha...i told you before i've got alinoco IIpro seymour duncan....but my guitar is not a les paul...
and when i turn the volume up.....it makes a lot of feedbak if i'm nearby....

do the pot...are related with feedback or just the hambuckers???

No problem, I'm happy to answer questions.

1) You should be able to get decent tone at rehearsal volumes. For practicing by yourself... unless you have forgiving neighbors and ear plugs, you'll probably want something else with decent tone at low volumes.

2) Some smaller venues are gonna ask you to use volumes lower than you'd like. Experiment with the EQ and volume controls, you may be able to find some good lower volume tones... they just won't be the same as your 'crank it up' settings.

3) Feedback is normal at higher volumes. Make sure you have a long enough cable to get some distance between you and the amp. Use your hands to mute the strings when you're not playing. If you can use less gain, try that.

Have fun!

I thought that amp had a "Half Power" switch so you can still get your loud tone at lower volumes.

hey i got an idea
ive got a peavey valveking 212 and it sounds amazing, how about a trade  :P

Half power or 50 watts is only 3 or 4 decibles below a 100 watts. So by the time you get to that sweet spot again it's still really f*cking loud!

It is true that even 5 watts can be loud, but I think 15 is managable unless you're in an apartmentbuilding or something.

But like you said, even 50 watts is loud.

50 Watts on my JCM900 is insanely loud and even when I cranked it at Marshall, the walls and windows rumbled.  Do NOT crank a 50 Watt head in your bedroom ;)

I can't crank it to 10 even in gigs ... it's simply too loud!  LOL!