Pre-amp tube replacement for Orange Micro Terror: JJ 5751 review

I recently purchased JJ’s iteration of the 5751 pre-amp tube. I have been using the stock JJ EC883 tube on my Micro Terror for the past year and thought a replacement, or at least a backup that I can experiment with, wouldn’t hurt.

I specifically chose the 5751 tube based on the description I found on Eurotubes.com.

The JJ 5751 has all of the qualities we have come to expect from JJ Electronic, a nice tight low end, a natural open mid, a great harmonic structure and a sweet high end that is not brittle. This is a great tube for V1 if you’re trying to drop the gain a little and improve headroom. You can also use a balanced version of this tube as a phase inverter to further increase headroom in amps that incorporate a long tail phase inverter circuit and usually use a 12AX7 or ECC83.

I liked how it was described and I would say that they are right on 100% with the description. Now, the main reason I selected this tube was to somewhat improve the amps’ gain tone. If you’ve played through a Micro Terror before, you’d know that coaxing any high gain setting with the volume cranked would sound really muddy and un-refined. JJ’s 5751 was the perfect cure. It instantly took away the unbearable mud you’d usually hear with gain knob past 3 o’clock and volume cranked. This tube is definitely a keeper. I have now shelved the stock EC833s.

Clean. My Lace Hemi humbuckers are described as having sparkly, bell-like tones. For a while, I’ve never really paid much attention to this as I am down tuned to C# standard 100% of the time. I really don’t expect to hear Fender-esque tones, nor have the desire to. The very first tune I played after plugging into the Terror with the replacement 5751 tube was APC’s The Stranger, one my favorites off their 2nd album. With the tone knob on my guitar rolled off to about 3-4, I was really amazed to hear an acoustic like tone with a really sweet high end yet still retaining that woody mid sound which I really like. Far from a Fender type clean, but a clean sound that I really like. Detuned, acoustic-like, with bell like top end that is strong and refined.

Distortion. I made a few adjustments on the rest of my rig to compensate for the change in the Micro Terror’s tone after changing into the 5751. The verdict is still in progress, but I do love my distortion sound on the stock EC833s. If plugged in direct, the 5751s gain is no question better than the ec833s as it retained clarity even with the amps gain knob past 3 o’clock and volume cranked. The predicament is with balancing and eq’ing the rest of my pedalboard in, which is something I still have to experiment with.

Settings: Amp volume cranked, tone at 1 o’clock, gain at 11 o’clock if using pedalboard distortion/OD. Gain at almost 3 o’clock when plugged in direct.

Verdict. Definitely a keeper. I would reckon that the JJ’s 5751 would sound good with any amp from Orange’s Terror series. I also think it would sound good in any V1 position of an all-tube amp. If you’re looking to tame the gain stage of your amp without losing volume, then this is for you. I play mostly classic riffigin’ and modern sludge, doom, stoner tunes and the tone I get from the 5751 suits me fine. Now, I need to secure funds to try out some JAN 5751s. 