Gold Lion KT66 - first impressions

[TonyC]

Ok, I leave the other embarrassing thread alone...

First I need to say that the Shuguangs were old... and quite worn I suspect. I don't know how they were biased either, I didn't measure them.

I put in the Gold Lions and the bias read about 36 mV so I raised it to 48 on one side, 45 on the other. I remember someone wrote they liked to be biased hot. And I must say, compared to how the amp sounds with the Gold Lions, it sounded crap before I put them in. As I said, the Shuguangs could have been biased cold or been way too worn, probably both, the difference was huge nonetheless. I have a hard time believing the difference would be that big with new and correct biased Shuguangs.

Anyway, the tone is fat, tight and the response to picking is just fantastic. VERY fat attack sound with great punch. There's also less power tube breakup. I must say the Gold Lions really suit my taste of tone. Others may think otherwise but regardless, they are great KT66s.

I have a set of brand new Shuguangs that I will put in next time and bias properly so I guess the jury is still out. If the Gold Lions don't wear out fast (as the JJs do) I know I will be happy with them.

[LivewireBlanco]

Interesting. It would be nice to compare with a brand new set of Shugs too. Do you find them darker sounding than the other tubes?

[slowpokerhino]

I'm very happy with the Gold Lions too. I changed the speakers in my cab and 2 preamp tubes at the same time so it's very hard for me to tell what impact they alone had on my current tone but It was a very noticeable improvement over what I had before (stock KT66s and Jensen speakers).

[TonyC]

Interesting. It would be nice to compare with a brand new set of Shugs too. Do you find them darker sounding than the other tubes?

Maybe just a little darker, but not much. There's still lot's of brightness, the good kind. The biggest difference is the fatness, and that could maybe be perceived as them being darker. I'm curious about the new Shuguangs too so let's see how long I can wait. :)

[musicman]

Thanks TonyC - couple more questions please...
- how hard are you pushing the valves (master on ?)
- what tone are you looking for ??
- do you have the combo and if so has the rattle factor improved please ???

[TonyC]

Thanks TonyC - couple more questions please...
- how hard are you pushing the valves (master on ?)
- what tone are you looking for ??
- do you have the combo and if so has the rattle factor improved please ???

I dime the master volume, it's on 10. Detail/Body is on 9/7 and I run in High Dynamic Range. Sounds much but with a low output single coils it isn't.

Blackmore's tone has always been my favorite so that's a benchmark, but I like a bit more gain. I hate ice pick and bad sustain.

I have a 2266, not a combo so I have no idea if the rattle factor will improve.

[MATHIEU]

Same situation as TonyC really , replaced old tired stock tubes with the Gold Lions.
So yeah there is a big difference, but is it the fact the stock tubes were shot, or the are the Gold Lions that much better? Unless you did an A/B comparison with new and correctly biased tubes, who can say for sure. I can say improved brightness and clean tones. When I dial down the guitar volume, I get a nice Tom Petty approved sparkely clean sound, with humbuckers. And less power tube breakup it seems. I don't see them as darker at all. The old ones were dark and dim enough. Are they worth the extra money? I'll let you know how they last.

[TonyC]

I will put in Shuguangs and make sure they are biased correctly before I can say if I like the Gold Lions more or not. But I'm still really really pleased with the GL. I have a GREAT sounding VM and I totally enjoy playing it. It does everything I want and it responds beautifully, I just love it!

I'm actually thinking of getting a 2246... I want MORE of those big bad KT66s working the tone

[surfnorthwest]

I want MORE of those big bad KT66s working the tone

Get a matching JTM45/100 that amp pretty much shaves the hair on your balls.

[LivewireBlanco]

I want MORE of those big bad KT66s working the tone

Get a matching JTM45/100 that amp pretty much shaves the hair on your balls.

[TonyC]

I want MORE of those big bad KT66s working the tone

Get a matching JTM45/100 that amp pretty much shaves the hair on your balls.

I just might! :blues

[Tom99SS]

I have just replaced the stock Shuguangs KT66s with the Genalex Gold Lion KT66s (I have JJ ECC83s pre-amp tubes for reference). I biased the Gold Lions to 48/45.5 (2266) so only 2.5mv difference. Was finally able to test them out last night at band volume. Now my Shuguangs where only one year old so they sounded pretty good but the Gold Lion KT66's tone was thicker/fatter with a little more mid-lows and a little taming of the highs (not as harsh/fizzy). This is exactly what I wanted. Plus the added punch, like others have mentioned, is great.

One thing I noticed when setting the bias and reading the multimeter. The Gold Lions, once the bias had been set, fluctuated by .1mv but did this very slowly if at all. The Shuguangs would fluctuate by at least .5mv and was pretty much always moving. Do not know if this matters but just curious as to why?

[LivewireBlanco]

Somebody was probably using a hair dryer next door...

[DeanM]

Somebody was probably using a hair dryer next door...

[Tom99SS]

Nope, no hair dryers where used. Maybe somebody hitting the circuit breakers on/off.