7:45 p.m. - I just had my Vox AC4TV retubed, thanks to my good friend Tavo Vega. He knows his guitar amplification and was kind enough to diagnose the microphonic tube noise I was hearing when I plugged in and turned it up! He ordered and installed a new Tung Sol 12AX7 pre-amp tube and a new Electroharmonix EL84 power tube.
Soon I will plug it in and see how it sounds. In the meantime, here is a picture he sent me inside my VOX AC4. I will post more when I have the chance to see the effect of this change of tubes. Thanks Tavo!
10:30 p.m. - After getting my Vox AC4 back with new tubes already installed: I plugged it in, grabbed my Strat and started playing with the knobs. I found that with the new tubes it had a more open sound and a greater spectrum of sound choices I could dial in. There is definitely more clean at a higher volume when setting the attenuator on 4 watts and setting the tone on 3 o'clock (75%). It is a brighter sound overall and rocks quite a bit more. Maybe a slightly less warm tone generally, but still retains plenty of Vox Chime.
Overall, the tubes improved the sound, giving the knob adjustments control over more contrasting settings. I bought this amp to play blues guitar, so if I want to overdrive the gain by reducing the tone to 10 o'clock I can enjoy the breakup. Using the 1/4 watt setting still allows blues tone at a much lower volume for quiet home practice.
I recommend these tubes and am grateful to Tavo for his expertise. Great, inexpensive mods.
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