Tubes: Mesa vs. JJ from eurotubes?

[syko]

I bought an F-30 on ebay recently, and the owner said it has recently been retubed with JJ's from eurotubes. I'm wondering how these tubes will compare with stock Mesa tubes. Has anyone had any experience with them?

I don't have the amp yet...and I'm definitely going to try it for a while before changing anything, but I'm just wondering for the future...

 

[turmoil]

i have all JJ tubes in my mesa rectifier and i love them. i never really compared them to the stock mesas but i really have no reason to try it out because i love the sound i'm getting from these tubes.

 

[JamesD]

It is all a matter of taste really. Differen't strokes for different people.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

My experiences with JJ has been bad. Very unrealiable tubes, and poor service after the sale.

The stock tubes are good. I'm considering going with Doug's tubes are my stock ones are burned out, but at the moment, am very happy with the stock tubes!

 

[Brewski]

Like mentioned above some folks like JJ's and some don't. I thought that the JJ's took a lot of mud out of the tone, but the tubes that I had replaced were really needing to be replaced. That being said, I can't give an even one for one comparison between the two.

I have a set in my F-50, Road King, and Blues Junior and they've been going strong for quite a while. I've had no problems with that set of tubes in my Mesa's, and I have always had a positive experience with Eurotubes. I had one bad pre-amp tube in my Blues Jr. and it was promptly replaced.

 

[mavmike]

My experience with Bob and Eurotubes has been very positive. I have retubed 3 amps with JJ's and have never had any issues. Every set was an improvement in tone.

 

[dennq45]

The JJ EL-84's in my Nomad 45 are some of the nices tubes I have used. I dont like the 6L6's though. They just dont swirl and shimmer. Dead sounding. The tubes to use are the SED =C=. They are the power tubes to look for. Either the 6L6's in your Recto or EL34's in the Stilletto's. Awsum tubes.

 

[Bikedude]

I also have re-tube 3 amps with complete sets of JJ's. Bob@eurotubes was very helpful, and answered my emails promptly. I even talked with him on the phone. My LSC came alive after putting in the JJ's. Ch2 became easier to get crunch tones out of, and Ch1 lost the loose fartiness on the bottom end. I also did re-tubes on my HRD 4X10, and my DRRI. All three amps sound very much better than with the stock tubes that they came with.

 

[Schmoog]

www.thetubestore.com

im sure eurotubes and dougstubes are great, but I am cheap, and I'd rather feel like I am dealing with a company rather that some schmo who bought a load of tubes and set up a website.....plus I really like the perfect pair system that thetubestore.com has

 

[simonich]

You said, "im sure eurotubes and dougstubes are great, but I am cheap, and I'd rather feel like I am dealing with a company rather that some schmo who bought a sh!t load of tubes and set up a website"

you're saying you're sure he's great, but you don't want to deal with a schmo? What? Have you ever talked to him? I have no opinion on whether you should work with eurotubes or not. if you're not sure, give him a call and decide based on some direct contact vs. a complete unknown. don't assume he's a schmo as a default.

 

[strumminsix]

Bob at Eurotubes is a freaking awesome dude!
I cannot say enough nice things about the man.
Friendly, professional, responsive, informative.

Doug is also a very nice guy but seemed less responsive.
He did me very well for one amp and lacked on another.

I'd work with him again but would likely go with Bob first.

 

[oyster]

Ive tried em all...everything that could possibly fit into my Roadster that is.
I like the mesa EL34s better than the Eurotubes EL34s or E34Ls but this is the exception. all others are top rate.

 

[Shep]

jj's over the board for my mk iv and Dr

 

[JAZZGEAR]

I bet I'm likely in the minority on this board....but I bought into the JJ hype and had been using them for the last 3 years.....

Yesterday, I sold one of my Mesa amps that had all JJs in and I put the originals back in.......and guess what I liked the sound of the Mesa's better.

I went back to my origininal Mesa tubes on all my amps, as a result..

.......In fact, I like the sound of the Mesa tubes in my 20/20 amp over the JJs.


My brand new RK II has all Mesa tubes -- love the pallette of sounds. I have no intentions of swapping out tubes for anything other than what's in there now, Mesa tubes.

So the morale of this story, I am sticking with the Mesa tubes and not go by the hype -- especially of my ear likes what it hears :wink:

 

[MesaENGR412]

I just did a full Triple Rectifier Retube with JJ High Gain preamp set, a sextet of matched 6L6's and the GZ34 recto tubes and have to say I like the tone. It has loads of gain, and not as much of that "sizzle" I hear mentioned around here. Very good, but I also love the stock Mesa Tubes that had been in there for almost 2 years now. I kept them as backups, They are both great tubes, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. I'm happy right now with what I've got, so it's all good. I think i'm going to try the EL-34 power tubes this next time around, and see what that does to the Recto sound.

-AJH

 

[Bikedude]

Mega Ditto's Strumminsix! Bob is the man, and Blue Strat@KOStubes is alos a great source for NOS tubes and info.

 

[t0aj15]

I don't care for jj's preamp tubes but I find their poweramp tubes to be far more dependable and better sounding then Mesa's, and it has absolutely nothing to do with hype. I really like my Mesa amps but IMO their poweramp tubes are junk.

 

[HappyStrat]

Last year, I did a full re-tube of my MKIV & RKI with Mesa tubes. Both sets were weak, mushy & muddy, I guess Mr. Robotube was having an off-day when he tested these tubes. Really pissed me off, I had used Mesa tubes since 1991 and never had a problem. In a last ditch effort, I ordered full retubes with JJ's from Bob for both amps. Both beasts are back in all their glory, the JJ's are incredible. The Mesa's are incredible too if you can get a good batch, unfortunately, I didn't. Sometimes, people get a crappy batch of JJ's just as well. It's the luck of the draw.

 

[dstefani]

A while back when my 67 super got back from being moded I has some NOS Sylvania 6L6GC's but I needed preamp tubes, my tech told me the ones I had were bad. I was too hot to try this thing out to wait for an order that I went to my local shop and bought the Mesa high-end 12AX7's and 12AT7's. I think they sound killer. So I'm breaking all the vintage audiophile rules and playing Mesa tubes in a vintage amp! :twisted:

It's all in the ears baby!!!

- dstefani