The Philster Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Hi Folks I have the Hartke 3500 head - love it, great sound and plenty of power for my needs. I've read you can replace the preamp valve with different kinds of valves, all of which have slightly different tonal qualities. So my question - if I switch the valve out for a higher gain version will I be able to get slight overdrive out of the valve channel of this amp? And has anyone tried this? Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinman Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 [quote name='The Philster' post='208383' date='May 28 2008, 09:10 PM']Hi Folks I have the Hartke 3500 head - love it, great sound and plenty of power for my needs. I've read you can replace the preamp valve with different kinds of valves, all of which have slightly different tonal qualities. So my question - if I switch the valve out for a higher gain version will I be able to get slight overdrive out of the valve channel of this amp? And has anyone tried this? Cheers Phil [/quote] I can't answer that directly as i don't have a HA3500 but I think those amps use an ECC83 /12AX7 valve. Of the common preamp valves I think they're the highest gain but, I bought an ECC83S which has a slightly higher gain factor than the standard version and in my amp (a H&K) I can always turn the gain down to get less overdrive as it was with the previous valve. I'm sure someone a bit more authoritative will be along in a bit though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOD2 Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 This might help [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 You can't control the voltage to the pre-amp valve in the Hartke HA3500, the dial is just a 'blend' between the solidstate and valve pre-amps. You'd need to put in an valve which overdrives at very low voltages. I swapped the stock valve in my HA3500 for a Groove Tubes Mullard and it doesn't sound in any way overdriven or gritty. I think you would be best served by putting something like a Sansamp or DHA pedal before the input to get an overdriven sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Philster Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 [quote name='peted' post='211161' date='Jun 2 2008, 03:37 PM']You can't control the voltage to the pre-amp valve in the Hartke HA3500, the dial is just a 'blend' between the solidstate and valve pre-amps. You'd need to put in an valve which overdrives at very low voltages. I swapped the stock valve in my HA3500 for a Groove Tubes Mullard and it doesn't sound in any way overdriven or gritty. I think you would be best served by putting something like a Sansamp or DHA pedal before the input to get an overdriven sound.[/quote] Fair enough - been trying to buy a Mullard or the Groove Tube equiv (which seems to be out of stock the world over......). I have a Line 6 bass floor pod which I love but it doesn't get so much use since I bought the Hartke as I like the sound of it. I tend to use the Pod in bypass mode a lot and it seems a waste to have it sat there for the occasional overdriven track. Thanks for all your input, Guys! Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I bought my Groove Tube Mullard direct from the UK Distributor [url="http://www.guitarxs.com/groovetubes/product_list.asp?catID=1"]here[/url], but they seem to be having website issues as I type this. Maybe worth giving them a call on 01227 832558 to see if they've got any stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pkomor Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Does this apply to a HA2500 too, could i change the valve? if so, what affect has the groove tube had in changing the sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 [quote name='Pkomor' post='211666' date='Jun 3 2008, 11:42 AM']Does this apply to a HA2500 too, could i change the valve? if so, what affect has the groove tube had in changing the sound?[/quote] Does the HA2500 have a valve in it? I thought that it used a 'valve simulation' circuit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pkomor Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 ahh, a quick check reveals that it is infact a valve emulation circuit, not a real valve... oh well! cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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