Tubemeister Deluxe 20 Tube replacement?

Hi guys, I am using a Gibson LP Tribute into the Deluxe 20 hooked up to a Jet City cab.
I'm finding it to brittle and trebly! I never use the lead channel as it's way too harsh.

1. Would it help to change the cab? I can't afford a new cab right now but I have an Eminence GB128 speaker knocking about that i could use to replace the stock speaker (Eminence custom) in the cab.

2. Or would it be better to replace the tubes?
I am looking for a warmer, softer tone.
If so, which tubes (pre and output) would you guys recommend. I need a cleaner tone that i can drive just a little.

Cheers!

Dooohhh! Here it comes again. No, not anything to do with you Redcorrade.

Speaker choice is the number one issue with this problem in the H&K GMs. You are not alone in what you are finding, brittle and trebly, and the only real thing you can do to make a big difference is to play with alternative speakers. I went from Celestion 2 x 1x12 Vintage 30s to Celestion G12M Greenbacks in a late 1960s Marshall 4x12 and got closer to being smooth but others have their favourites too, even some who love that V30 brashness.

Surprisingly the H&K cabs use V30s too but they are specially voiced for H&K so would seem to be very different. The H&K cabs I have heard in reviews do seem to give the amp a lot more at the bottom end but I'm still not 100% sure about the top end.

Valves will make a very little real difference though some of that is helping with the roughness, and there are some who feel that is "massively better, like a new amp". For me and most of the old timers around here that is largely overstatement but others will disagree I'm sure. Once you have put in something like a set of JJs, common or garden cheap and reliable, I feel there is nothing to be gained by counting the number of valve manufacturers that can dance on the head of a pin. By that I mean there are only tiny differences between other manufacturers. If you can't measure it you can't really hear it, if you can really hear it you must be able to measure it! Others love to spend their day (and cash) putting in other bottles and being bowled over by the improvement. Depends which camp you fall into as to whether you feel it will help you or not.

This issue is a common one for all of the GM and TM models so look in the GM36 forum at the valve swapping thread there and make sure to dig back to the middle pages where VoodoJeff reports a very interesting exercise involving Wathen Cryo Valves at £100+ each!

Thanks for response! I'll try swapping out the speaker, or plugging my head into some different cabs at our rehearsal rooms.
Thanks again!

I haven't even received my new amp and I'm already anticipating a tube change. I have carpel tunnel and I can no longer carry heavy shit, unfortunately, I had a Positive Grid Mini Guitar head for a few months and it took a major shit on me. i made this purchase based on functionality and the stats of the amp. I have owned an H and K amp before and it was trebly and fizzy to my ear. I'm a major tone chaser, however, I need to slow down since there aren't many options for what I need. Has anyone installed 6l6 or EL34's in one of these amps?

You can't do a swap for 6L6/EL34 into a Tubemeister or a Grandmeister GG. These are EL84s which are a totally different and incompatible beast. The bases are totally different so you can't swap these at all, at least without absolutely major open heart surgery and even then it would be highly debatable as to whether it would achieve anything. Other major components like the output transformer are optimised for those EL84s. If you're unsatisfied with the sound and can't get what you want by far the easiest and most sensible way to get it is to swap out the entire amp.

As an ex-designer of electronic gear I am very aware of the level of optimisation that is done during development of something as complex as an amp. I never understand how people continue to believe that things can be vastly improved just by undoing the months of work that has gone into the current design and making it into a totally different animal, and one where the parts no longer work together as they should. Once you are beyond the "slight tweaking" stages it really isn't that easy to keep aspects like reliability and maintainability along with your tonal preference despite the online "common knowledge" that gurus peddle.

The best you could do if you wanted is to get a second EL34/6L6 power amp and use the preamp out into that. You would get your TM preamp and the output stage you prefer that way. Is it worth the hassle?