I was looking around my local Craigslist for some tubes and came across a neighbor with a listing for some old radios. Being the adventurous type I went to have a look. Well it turned out the radios he was getting rid of didn't use any 12AX7's or anything of use in my Boogies. What he did have that really freaked me out was the boxes, bags, bins, shelves, etc... of every vintage tube you can imagine. I'm not talking a few dozen of this or that, but a few thousand, with multiples of most every tube I've ever heard discussed here.
We talked for hours and he has a real passion and gift for finding mega loads of tubes. Rather than spending money buying one or two of this or that as I've been doing. I'm actually gonna get to roll tubes from a buffet that is seriously overwhelming. There were Mullards, RCA, GE, Sylvania, Tung-Sol, Amperex, etc., grey/black/tall/short plates, gold pin, military, and the list goes on and on and on. He would mention a tube like an RCA 'Command' and then pull out a drawer with boxes of them. It was quite much to take in.
Ok, all that to say, if you were to bring a MKIVa (4x12ax7, 1x12AT7) into this small piece of heaven and could assemble your dream cocktail, what would it be? I'm only thinking preamp tubes right now. The collection of power tubes was equally impressive, but I'm not ready to calculate what the proper range tube would be needed for rolling them. I'm only taste testing. I have no expectation that I will get to buy any of these, but what a privileged to have such an opportunity.
I generally lean towards a nice clear R1 that is warm, but not muddy with a crisp sparkle and a nice openness to it. R2 should have as much crunch as possible, but still be able to clean up. Preferably with enough dynamics to lean into it and get it to push back. Lead channel should sing with a nice sustain and have a controllable follow-up into harmonic feedback when desired. As far as the Rev and PI I have no clue what to look for regarding tube choices.
OK, the floor is open.
We talked for hours and he has a real passion and gift for finding mega loads of tubes. Rather than spending money buying one or two of this or that as I've been doing. I'm actually gonna get to roll tubes from a buffet that is seriously overwhelming. There were Mullards, RCA, GE, Sylvania, Tung-Sol, Amperex, etc., grey/black/tall/short plates, gold pin, military, and the list goes on and on and on. He would mention a tube like an RCA 'Command' and then pull out a drawer with boxes of them. It was quite much to take in.
Ok, all that to say, if you were to bring a MKIVa (4x12ax7, 1x12AT7) into this small piece of heaven and could assemble your dream cocktail, what would it be? I'm only thinking preamp tubes right now. The collection of power tubes was equally impressive, but I'm not ready to calculate what the proper range tube would be needed for rolling them. I'm only taste testing. I have no expectation that I will get to buy any of these, but what a privileged to have such an opportunity.
I generally lean towards a nice clear R1 that is warm, but not muddy with a crisp sparkle and a nice openness to it. R2 should have as much crunch as possible, but still be able to clean up. Preferably with enough dynamics to lean into it and get it to push back. Lead channel should sing with a nice sustain and have a controllable follow-up into harmonic feedback when desired. As far as the Rev and PI I have no clue what to look for regarding tube choices.
OK, the floor is open.
