New tube, Well kind of.
This afternoon I received and installed a “new” tube into my Presonus Studio Channel Tube Preamplifier.
As you may know a lot of tube gear comes from the factory with a shiny new Chinese tube and for those looking to upgrade their gear and their sound replacing the tube with a vintage tube is a great way to go. For this I took to eBay and purchased myself a 1960’s Tung-Sol 12AX7 tube. So while it is new to me and it tests as New Old Stock, it is not actually new.
Presonus Studio Channel with Tung-Sol 12ax7
- Close-up
Now that I have a serious upgrade at the tube the real question is, How does it sound? Well honestly I don’t know yet. I just installed it and snapped a couple of pictures. I need talented artists to get into the studio and try it out. And then you will now.
Distorted Music Productions, LLC. 
How hard was it to install a new tube? I’ve been considering replacing tubes in my gear with something else to get a different sound, but I’m worried about messing it up…
April 29, 2013 at 8:56 am
For the Presonus Studio Channel it was incredibly easy. Take out about 6 screws to open the top of the case. Then hold the mount with one hand and gently pull the tube out. May have to wiggle it back and forth a little bit. But it’s a 5 minute job. I’ve looked at changing out the tubes in some of my other gear too, some have tube shields that may require a couple more screws out. Just make sure to get the correct sized tube for replacement.
April 29, 2013 at 12:07 pm