Getting that Superb Fender Tone
Blackface and Silverface Fender amps were renowned for their clean sounds which moved to nice gentle bluesy break up when pushed hard.
How did they achieve this?
Fender chose their valves/tubes carefully to produce this wonderful palette of sounds that players just love. If you are country or blues player you are in heaven with these old amps. They command high prices for good ones especially from 1963- 73. The re-issue versions are pretty close in sound too but you can get them even closer to that of the original amps.
The secret to getting this sound lies partially in the valve/tube choice. Fender used the 7025 tube in the first stages. In the AB763 type circuit, two 7025’s are used on the two inputs. They are in the first two gain stages,. One half of a 7025 is used to mix the two inputs and the reverb signal.
The reverb receive passes through the second half of a 7025. So there are three 7025’s in a typical original Blackface or Silver amp.
What is the typical classic Fender Valve Tube Line-up?
The picture below shows the valve chart that is attached in Blackface and Silverface amps from the 60’s and 70’s. Note the three 7025 valves
You are probably thinking why did they choose this 7025 not just use a standard ECC83/12AX7?
You are probably asking why is the 7025 not been used in recent amps?
The short answer is that a true 7025 tube went out of production around the time when the original Silverface production stopped.
Form that point, some tubes were branded as 7025/12AX7 and this would lead you to think that the 7025 is just another 12AX7.
The good news is that the 7025EH is available
The 7025EH is a totally ground up new design and NOT a re-branded one form the Russian factory. It has also been designed for low noise AND low microphonics. It has a spiral wound heater to minimise hum which is caused by the AC powered hearer coupling into the cathode. The key feature is that it has half the Gm of a standard 12AX7/ECC83
They are not just a 12AX7/ECC83! It is a faithful replacement for the originals.
They will bring back that Fender characteristic of lovely warm “cleans” with the gently bluesy tone when the amp is crancked up
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and DeVille
I have still to try this but the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and Deville normal use medium gain Sovtek 12AX7WA ( rebranded by Fender as the Groove Tubes 12AX7). Folks often dont realise that the original 12AX7 were medium gain and then when they need replaced, plug in general full gain 12AX7’s. then the compliant comes that the volume control is too sensitive going from almost silent to a roar with a gentle brush on the volume control. The 7025EH will make the amp much more controllable and therefore much more useable.
Availability
This Russian quality valve/tube is in stock now . We test every one of them and give a 180 day warranty
We offer them in singles , pairs, and threes as these are the most common configurations. Check out the links and save by buying the multi=packs
