Your favourite tubes
- Thread starter theaero
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Power Tubes: SED =C= 6L6GC
Preamp Tubes:
Input Tube goes to the Tung-Sol 12AX7 re-issue
Lead Gain Stage = JJ ECC83S High Gain
Tone Stack = Penta Chinese or Tung-Sol 12AX7
PI is Sovtek LPS or EH 12AX7
Dom
Preamp Tubes:
Input Tube goes to the Tung-Sol 12AX7 re-issue
Lead Gain Stage = JJ ECC83S High Gain
Tone Stack = Penta Chinese or Tung-Sol 12AX7
PI is Sovtek LPS or EH 12AX7
Dom
Murphy Slaw
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I'm with Rocky. I like NOS for 6L6's, 12Ax7's and rectifier tubes. My Blue Angel uses, besides, 2;6V6's, a quad of EL84's. If they ever go bad it'll get some JJ's I picked up for spares, or I'll eventually order from Mesa.
Tubes are not rocket science, they are very old technology, that's why we love them.
I'm old school and if they test good and sound good.
They're good.
Best of luck.
Tubes are not rocket science, they are very old technology, that's why we love them.
I'm old school and if they test good and sound good.
They're good.
Best of luck.
stadidas
Well-known member
Mullard EL34 and ECC83 all the way. Costly, but worth it.
6L6C
Well-known member
For my Mark IV
V1 Tung-Sol reissue 12AX7
V2 high gain JJ ECC83S
V3 Penta Labs/Shuguang 12AX7C
V4 Unlabled/Shuguang 12AX7C
V5 balanced Sovtek 12AX7LPS
Power section (4) winged=c= SED 6L6GC
V1 Tung-Sol reissue 12AX7
V2 high gain JJ ECC83S
V3 Penta Labs/Shuguang 12AX7C
V4 Unlabled/Shuguang 12AX7C
V5 balanced Sovtek 12AX7LPS
Power section (4) winged=c= SED 6L6GC
ToneAddictJon
Well-known member
JJ's have become my favorite, but tubes are like amps, guitars, pickups, strings and picks, what works for someone might be horrible for someone else.
edgarallanpoe
Well-known member
For power tubes in my Mesa I have yet to hear anything that can touch the Sylvania 7581A. It has miles of clean headroom and a massive lower end that can't be touched. I have compared it to just about everything, including the RCA blackplates and it is just the perfect fit for my Roadking.
For preamp tubes I have really come to like the Tesla (not JJ). It isn't as complex in the mids as a Mullard but it is a killer sounding tube that is soaring in value as the Mullard stock dries out.
For preamp tubes I have really come to like the Tesla (not JJ). It isn't as complex in the mids as a Mullard but it is a killer sounding tube that is soaring in value as the Mullard stock dries out.
SneakyPete
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For my ROV:
Power amp: 6L6GC SED Winged C's
Preamp:
V1: Telefunken 12AX7 (short grey plate)
V2: Mesa 12AX7a
V3: Raytheon 12AX7 (long black plate)
V4: RCA 12BZ7
V5: JJ ECC83 (balanced)
Power amp: 6L6GC SED Winged C's
Preamp:
V1: Telefunken 12AX7 (short grey plate)
V2: Mesa 12AX7a
V3: Raytheon 12AX7 (long black plate)
V4: RCA 12BZ7
V5: JJ ECC83 (balanced)
18&Life
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I prefer the glowing ones :lol:
212Mavguy
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Wow, what a fun topic. First off, tubes are less important than the output transformer or speaker(s)/cab for determining the overall tone of the amp. Voicing an amp is best done from the back end of the tone chain towards the front. Start with the speaker first. Why? because it's easier to change out than the output tranny...Because if and when you change it out for a different make or model the amp will sound different and the tubes you had in it might not sound like what you are going for with the new speaker.
As far as output trannys go, I have switched out output trannys more than once in my old silverface Fender Champ, and it was incredible how the change affected the tone. It's a pain in the butt to do that so that's why almost everybody ignores the output tranny. Too bad.
In my 2/12 Maverick the stock speaker is a Celestion vintage 30. They sounded dark at low volumes and too bright at high volumes, and with two separate preamps there are a lot of knobs to tweak for tone. Me no like tweaking, like to set and leave alone soft and loud. So I tried some different vintage speaker combinations, some were mismatched brand pairs at 8 ohms in series for 16 ohms, some were 16 ohm speakers parallelled for 8 ohms like the stock Vintage 30's. Each time I changed out the speakers I swapped out tubes til I got something that I liked. I noticed that vintage alnico speakers had a bit smoother edge to their dirty tone and sweet sparkle on the clean, and were more consistent in relative bright/dark balance low to high volume then the Celestions. I'm keeping my secret vintage weapon speakers a secret unless a following post specifically asks, besides, no one would believe me anyway.
I have matched el84 quads of RFT, JAN Sylvania blackplate, GE, Mullard, EH, and Panno (Russian Military) 6p14p-ev. These Russky military tubes are the "Harma" el84's Watford Valves in England sold for their super premium el84's. They are rated for 400 volts like the e84l and 7189, rated for 5000 hours and are happy in my 375 plate volt Mav, I had my choice from the tube vendor when I won their auction so I had him burn in and match at full voltage three very high current draw quads. To keep them from running a tad too hot in my class A power section I sub a vintage Sylvania 5v4, or GE 5v4 instead of the Sovtek/Mesa 5ar4, the tone is a tad darker and smoother and the tubes run a bit cooler. Have hundreds of hours with no problems whatsoever. Speaking of tone, compared to the Mesa's Sovtek these tubes are significantly fatter and richer sounding, particularly when pushed. I found the EH's to sound (very surprisingly) similar to the spendy Mullards, so their claim of being Mullard copies works for my ears. The RFT and JAN Syl blackplates have more sparkle, and the GE's were lacking bottom, brightest of all on top, and ran a bit too hot.
For preamp tubes I have a few of almost every 12ax7 ever made, period. It took a couple hundred auction wins on ebay for me to obtain my collection, and I used a vintage Fender Silverface Champ with a 10 inch speaker crammed in for my tube rolling, only one preamp tube in that amp. Also have some premium 5751's by Tungsol, Raytheon windmill getter, Sylvania, Allied/Tungsol and a bunch of vintage old stock American and Euro 12at7's as well.
I encourage those interested in obtaining their PERSONAL SIGNATURE TONES to wean their purchase choices away from current production tubes, and to DIVERSIFY and EXPERIMENT!
The Euro 12ax7/ecc83 tubes such as Mullard, Amperex, and RFT are the secret of the old school Marshall preamp sound, the Raytheon blackplate and Sylvania long blackplate 12ax7 are faves for the blues tones they produce, and probably my favorite 12ax7's are the old stock Tesla e83cc/ecc803s for following a first position tube, and old stock Siemens ecc83 and the e83cc. Either Siemens "out mullard" the Mullards and Bugle boy Amperexes, deliver a fat, rich harmonically incredibly complex clean and a smooth, complex, dirty tone that has to be experienced to be believed in V1 or first position. The longplate Siemens has less lower mids, which are huge in previous mentioned ones. I use a Canadian Marconi long blackplate in V1 in my Maverick currently. The v1 and v4 are for the clean channel and the v2 and v3 are the dirty in that amp. This is too long already, must stop. Peace.
As far as output trannys go, I have switched out output trannys more than once in my old silverface Fender Champ, and it was incredible how the change affected the tone. It's a pain in the butt to do that so that's why almost everybody ignores the output tranny. Too bad.
In my 2/12 Maverick the stock speaker is a Celestion vintage 30. They sounded dark at low volumes and too bright at high volumes, and with two separate preamps there are a lot of knobs to tweak for tone. Me no like tweaking, like to set and leave alone soft and loud. So I tried some different vintage speaker combinations, some were mismatched brand pairs at 8 ohms in series for 16 ohms, some were 16 ohm speakers parallelled for 8 ohms like the stock Vintage 30's. Each time I changed out the speakers I swapped out tubes til I got something that I liked. I noticed that vintage alnico speakers had a bit smoother edge to their dirty tone and sweet sparkle on the clean, and were more consistent in relative bright/dark balance low to high volume then the Celestions. I'm keeping my secret vintage weapon speakers a secret unless a following post specifically asks, besides, no one would believe me anyway.
I have matched el84 quads of RFT, JAN Sylvania blackplate, GE, Mullard, EH, and Panno (Russian Military) 6p14p-ev. These Russky military tubes are the "Harma" el84's Watford Valves in England sold for their super premium el84's. They are rated for 400 volts like the e84l and 7189, rated for 5000 hours and are happy in my 375 plate volt Mav, I had my choice from the tube vendor when I won their auction so I had him burn in and match at full voltage three very high current draw quads. To keep them from running a tad too hot in my class A power section I sub a vintage Sylvania 5v4, or GE 5v4 instead of the Sovtek/Mesa 5ar4, the tone is a tad darker and smoother and the tubes run a bit cooler. Have hundreds of hours with no problems whatsoever. Speaking of tone, compared to the Mesa's Sovtek these tubes are significantly fatter and richer sounding, particularly when pushed. I found the EH's to sound (very surprisingly) similar to the spendy Mullards, so their claim of being Mullard copies works for my ears. The RFT and JAN Syl blackplates have more sparkle, and the GE's were lacking bottom, brightest of all on top, and ran a bit too hot.
For preamp tubes I have a few of almost every 12ax7 ever made, period. It took a couple hundred auction wins on ebay for me to obtain my collection, and I used a vintage Fender Silverface Champ with a 10 inch speaker crammed in for my tube rolling, only one preamp tube in that amp. Also have some premium 5751's by Tungsol, Raytheon windmill getter, Sylvania, Allied/Tungsol and a bunch of vintage old stock American and Euro 12at7's as well.
I encourage those interested in obtaining their PERSONAL SIGNATURE TONES to wean their purchase choices away from current production tubes, and to DIVERSIFY and EXPERIMENT!
The Euro 12ax7/ecc83 tubes such as Mullard, Amperex, and RFT are the secret of the old school Marshall preamp sound, the Raytheon blackplate and Sylvania long blackplate 12ax7 are faves for the blues tones they produce, and probably my favorite 12ax7's are the old stock Tesla e83cc/ecc803s for following a first position tube, and old stock Siemens ecc83 and the e83cc. Either Siemens "out mullard" the Mullards and Bugle boy Amperexes, deliver a fat, rich harmonically incredibly complex clean and a smooth, complex, dirty tone that has to be experienced to be believed in V1 or first position. The longplate Siemens has less lower mids, which are huge in previous mentioned ones. I use a Canadian Marconi long blackplate in V1 in my Maverick currently. The v1 and v4 are for the clean channel and the v2 and v3 are the dirty in that amp. This is too long already, must stop. Peace.
lyman
Well-known member
212Mavguy said:
ok, i know this is a tube thread but I gotta ask about your secret speaker. i went through a speaker search with the maverick so i'm curious to hear your solution. I tried the g12t-75, eminence tonker, and now have an eminence greenback-style model. sorry to go off topic but 212Mavguy made me do it! :shock:
nor
Well-known member
+118&Life said:
212Mavguy
Well-known member
This is for lyman, he made me do it... :wink:
Secret weapon speakers in my 2/12 Maverick are a pair of 45 year old 16 ohm JBL/Ampex alnico 12's I got off ebay. Really!
Told ya that nobody would believe me!
Keeping is brief and simple, I won't go into the reasons why unless a following post asks...I will go into the details at that point.
Secret weapon speakers in my 2/12 Maverick are a pair of 45 year old 16 ohm JBL/Ampex alnico 12's I got off ebay.
Really!Told ya that nobody would believe me!
Keeping is brief and simple, I won't go into the reasons why unless a following post asks...I will go into the details at that point.
lyman
Well-known member
212Mavguy said:This is for lyman, he made me do it... :wink:
Secret weapon speakers in my 2/12 Maverick are a pair of 45 year old 16 ohm JBL/Ampex alnico 12's I got off ebay.
Told ya that nobody would believe me!
Keeping is brief and simple, I won't go into the reasons why unless a following post asks...I will go into the details at that point.
cool! i love it when "random" finds turn out to be keepers. you don't need to explain further WHY you like the JBL/Ampex speakers. I'll just assume it's because it sounds good! What more reason is there anyway....
back to toobs: i don't have THAT much experience with different manufacturers, but I do know I like the NOS GE 12ax7 in V1. They've got nice high end detail. Though I do like a JJ in the first slot for channel 2 (lead channel) since it smooths it out a little.
And other than that, I found that putting a 12at7 in the phase inverter slot (V6 on my amp) really tightened things up. I feel like there's more headroom. Prior to that I had a JJ 12ax7 in there, which maybe was hitting the power tubes too hard (the maverick runs the power tubes hot anyway) and cutting the amount of headroom available. The 12at7 wasn't checked for balance by the way, i'm not certain that makes a big difference in a guitar amp. I'm loving my guitar tone now!
v1: nos ge 12ax7
v2: jj 12ax7
v3: jj12ax7
v4: jj12ax7
v5: eh 12au7 (reverb)
v6: eh 12at7 (p.i.)
212Mavguy
Well-known member
Another for lyman here...
Interesting tube choices for phase inverter 12at7, and reverb, 12au7 in your Maverick. You might really enjoy a Mullard, Amprex, or Siemens shortplate 12ax7 in v3. To my ears and others the Siemens is the tone king daddy of the philips family of tubes. Look for the Siemens that have short ribbed plates, two getter ring supports and a not equal sign in the small acid etch near the bottom of the bottle side. Looks like the mathematical equal sign with a diagonal slash through it. They go for 30-45 bucks each on ebay, and double that for the Siemens e83cc, also found labeled Philips 6681/12ax7wa. e83cc is beefier in build and rated 10,000 hours...
The jj 12ax7 is the grandchild of the gold pin tesla ecc803s that comes in the yellow blue and white box. I use that Tesla in v4, the second dirty channel tube. The red black and white boxed tesla gold pin ecc803s is different in construction and inferier in sonics. I prefer the tesla or jj following a Siemens, Amperex, Philips, or Mullard shortplate 12ax7 in a preamp circuit.
Interesting tube choices for phase inverter 12at7, and reverb, 12au7 in your Maverick. You might really enjoy a Mullard, Amprex, or Siemens shortplate 12ax7 in v3. To my ears and others the Siemens is the tone king daddy of the philips family of tubes. Look for the Siemens that have short ribbed plates, two getter ring supports and a not equal sign in the small acid etch near the bottom of the bottle side. Looks like the mathematical equal sign with a diagonal slash through it. They go for 30-45 bucks each on ebay, and double that for the Siemens e83cc, also found labeled Philips 6681/12ax7wa. e83cc is beefier in build and rated 10,000 hours...
The jj 12ax7 is the grandchild of the gold pin tesla ecc803s that comes in the yellow blue and white box. I use that Tesla in v4, the second dirty channel tube. The red black and white boxed tesla gold pin ecc803s is different in construction and inferier in sonics. I prefer the tesla or jj following a Siemens, Amperex, Philips, or Mullard shortplate 12ax7 in a preamp circuit.
lyman
Well-known member
212Mavguy said:
Yes, I wasn't sure how things would turn out but I'm happier with the sound now than ever before. Admittedly, the 12au7 in the reverb spot didn't change much but the reverb is a little smoother and sits with the dry tone better. I'm going to stick with my tubes/speaker choices for a while (finally!) and just enjoy playing. When I get a chance to play away from my apartment and crank it up of course.
Thanks for your recommendations! Next time I change tubes I'll look more into Siemens and other options. But I'm not sure you're correct about the v4 spot. The v4 is actually the second tube in the clean channel. The lead channel consists of v2 and half of v3. Unless I'm reading this wrong: http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electronics/schemview.php?id=288
212Mavguy
Well-known member
AAARGH! me stoooooopid! you are right! I even said in another topic's post that v1 and v4 are clean and v2 and v3 are the dirty. :roll: So yes, still put the short plate Mullard or Siemens in the first of the two positions and the Tesla or JJ following. Teslas make great copies of the original sound, they have very good manners and don't do anything wrong, oldest stock blue/yellow/white box Tesla ecc803s/e83cc to my experience.
I have put Siemens following Siemens and it sounded like a catfight at high gain settings in my Siegmund amp. Another gorgeous sounding tube that will work in that v2 application is the early 60's Raytheon long blackplate organ tube 12ax7a, there is a partial 3rd mica on top that helps reduce microphonics. They are very smooth and sweet when overdriven. Also go for less, around 20-30 bucks each on ebay. Best of luck! Again sorry about the absent minded mistake.
you are right! I even said in another topic's post that v1 and v4 are clean and v2 and v3 are the dirty. :roll: So yes, still put the short plate Mullard or Siemens in the first of the two positions and the Tesla or JJ following. Teslas make great copies of the original sound, they have very good manners and don't do anything wrong, oldest stock blue/yellow/white box Tesla ecc803s/e83cc to my experience. I have put Siemens following Siemens and it sounded like a catfight at high gain settings in my Siegmund amp. Another gorgeous sounding tube that will work in that v2 application is the early 60's Raytheon long blackplate organ tube 12ax7a, there is a partial 3rd mica on top that helps reduce microphonics. They are very smooth and sweet when overdriven. Also go for less, around 20-30 bucks each on ebay. Best of luck! Again sorry about the absent minded mistake.
lyman
Well-known member
hey, no worries 212mavguy. and yes, you got it right in your earlier post! 8)
