Volume, and Gain knobs, as well as Reverb,
Depth, and Speed knobs for the three-spring
reverb and footswitchable, bias-vary tremolo
circuit. There’s also a metal vent beneath the
handle to help keep the tubes cool so they
last longer and operate more reliably. Other
Valpreaux features include a 12" Goodsell RGH
speaker modeled after a Celestion G12H, three
12AX7 preamp tubes, and a 5AR4/GZ34 rectifier tube that runs approximately 390 volts.
Despite the fact that the 6973 power
tube’s historical applications mostly include
now-discontinued guitar amps and some hi-fi
and juke-box applications, the fear of scarcity
need not be a deterrent to guitarists: Electro-Harmonix is manufacturing new 6973s, so
Graph Tech GHOST
Acousti-Phonic system.
Valpreaux buyers will be able to power the amp
for years to come. (Tube gurus note that 6973s
look like they could fit into an EL84 socket,
but using the two interchangeably is asking for
mucho trouble.)
The 6973 puts out about the same amount
of power as a 6V6—and Goodsell says they can
put out another watt or two if they’re fixed-biased. But the Valpreaux is cathode-biased,
which means you’ll never have to find matched
6973s for optimal operation. Just plug ’em in
and play—woot!
Sweet Treble O’ Mine
As you probably figured already, “Valpreaux” is
a French-sounding (and looking) contraction
of “Valco” and “Supro” (“‘Valpro’ was already
being used by a European pharmaceutical company,” Goodsell explains). But while the amp’s
name and power train are reminiscent of those
old designs, its tones are more in the blackface
Fender Princeton and Deluxe Reverb camp. I
tested the Valpreaux with a variety of guitars,
including a ’50s-style Telecaster with alnico 3
pickups, a Reverend Pete Anderson hollowbody
with P-90s, a Schecter Ultra III with mini-humbuckers, and a Godin Session with two
single-coils and a bridge humbucker.
As I plugged in and twiddled controls, I
thought about how some players will see the
single Tone knob as a limitation—because it
certainly decreases your ability to home in on
