Tung-Sol in V1

[elvis]

I've read that a lot of people are putting a Tung-Sol 12AX7 in V1 of various amps and loving it. I just put one in both my MR and my Dyne, and they seem to have a lot less gain and high frequencies. I've had to compensate by turning up the gain and adjusting the tone controls.

I'm not thrilled.

 

[hunter]

People put Tung Sols in V1 of high gainers to get more usable range out of the gain. The ED doesn't have so much gain, I would rather be looking to put a hotter tube in there.

 

[J.J]

The Tungsol has been my favorite 12ax7 for a few years now, I have at least 10 of them. They were hyped as being high gain by some sellers. I have always found them to be a bit lower in gain than the JJs and to be bright sounding with a noticable increase in the high end.

The only amps I don't use them in are my RA-100 and JCM800. Neither of those amps needs any more brightness :lol:

 

[boogiemon]

some are defective imho. i like the tone but i also get my tubes w/some extra testing (high gain, low noise).

I've read that a lot of people are putting a Tung-Sol 12AX7 in V1 of various amps and loving it. I just put one in both my MR and my Dyne, and they seem to have a lot less gain and high frequencies. I've had to compensate by turning up the gain and adjusting the tone controls.

I'm not thrilled.

 

[elvis]

I actually do like the Tung-Sol in my MR, but it was a disaster in my Dyne. I went back to the Mesa 12AX7 and it's fine. Interestingly, I have tried a few different tubes in the Dyne, but so far preferred the Mesa tubes. I even paid the $$ for Winged C 6L6s and hated them. Felt really anemic to me.

For me, anything that steals gain from the Dyne has been a problem, as that amp has JUST enough gain. I have to crank the gain when I use my tele.

 

[Heritage Softail]

Tubes have some variability and then tone is subjective.

If you can afford it, buying a few 12ax7 tubes and then just rolling them they the amp may work best. I don't think anyone can predict what you will like best. I just bought a half dozen NOS tubes to do the same thing with.

I did have a MKV and Rectifier, now have a MKIIC, and the V dug the rung sols, but the Rec was hotter with Chinese glass.

I'm gonna roll the bunch of recent tubes thru my amps and see what happens. Probably will be a few surprises.