JJ 12AY7 is a medium gain double triode tube. We highly recommend trying out this tube in our ‘Tube Drive™‘ and SR-71 ‘Blackbird™‘ preamp pedals to rein in the gain and open up the sweet spot for a milder, more bluesy overdrive sounds. The 12AY7 can be used in the V1 or V2 position and when used in the V2 position on the Blackbird it will bring the relative gains of the ‘Classic’ and ‘Creamy’ channels into alignment so they’re more closely matched and the transition between switching from ‘Classic’ to ‘Creamy’ is smoother and less noticeable, especially useful in live situations. Both 12AX7 tubes in V1 and V2 of the Tube Drive and Blackbird pedals can be swapped out for the 12AY7 (or 5751) tube to yield a substantial reduction in gain and tube saturation transforming both pedals into top-notch dedicated blues overdrive machines—you’ll be hard-pushed to find a better blues tone anywhere else on the planet.
