The Tube Thread

[DrakkarTyrannis]

I want to know what everyone's using in their amps. Heads, preamps, poweramps, hybrids, all amps with tubes..list what ya got and how it's working for you. It'll help others compare amp/tube types and give those of us who change tubes frequently, a journal of what we had. Whenever you change tubes, add another entry.

Amp: Peavey DTX (Modified JSX)

Power: Quad of Sovtex 6550WE. Huge but tight low end, strong but not harsh highs, and a bump in the midrange. Reminds me of a beefy slightly mid restrained KT77.

Preamp: V1-JJ EC83s. It darkens the amp up, which it needs
V2-Tung Sol Gold Pin 12AX7. Bright and cutting. Not too keen on it to be honest. I wanted definition and thickness, and I'm not really getting anything "stand out" from this tube..not really worth the money IMO.
V3-JJ EC803s. Nice high action kinda tube. Gives the signal a kick.
V4(Phase Inverter)-Sovtek 12AX7LPS. The stock tube for the amp, it just works better than the other tubes I've tried. Sort of neutral, yet has a good mix of density and clarity I like.

[budda]

Amp: Peavey JSX
Power: Pair of JJ 6L6's
Preamp: JJ 12AX7's, standard JSX kit.

[neoclassical]

Engl Fireball 3 Tungsol 12ax7's, 1 Ruby (Sino) 12ax7, TAD 6l6gc-str

Voodoo Laney AOR Pro Tube Lead Tungsol 12ax7, 3 Ruby (Sino) 12ax7's, Sino E34L bstr's.

All preamp tubes are matched and balanced.

[cow 7 sig]

randall T2
12at7 ruby in valve dynamic power section
3 12ax7 tung sol in preamp

[CrushingAnvil]

Randall RM100M w/ JJ E34L Power tubes and JJ 12AX7's in the preamp section.

reeeaaally wanna try Ruby 6L6's!

[petereanima]

Diezel Herbert

Power: 1 pair JJE34L, 2 pairs Ruby/TAD EL34B-STR. still have 1 pair of JJs as spare tubes left. after that is gone also, i will completely retube with SED 6550 winged C.

Preamp: Tube Amp Doctor TAD 12AX7A-C all the way. still the stock ones. tried JJs (ECC83 and ECC803S), didnt really like what they did - the sound was WAY Much more opened up, which was cool for clean and also for lead, but not tight enough for "rythm" and deep palm mutest stuff. ordered Ruby 12AX7AC5 HG+ for testing, lets see what they deliver...

[JJ Rodriguez]

In Norbert I used Tung Sol EL34B's, and had JJ's in the pre-amp. I will NEVER buy another JJ tube again, as I have at least 30% of them go bad. Went through 3 sets of JJ power tubes, making me believe something was ....ed with Norbert. Slapped Tung Sol's in there, and no problem what so ever. Centaur just had 2 JJ KT88's die in his UL, which were supposedly (hard to say though) fresh when he bought his UL, and he put in Sovtek's and no problem at all. I've never heard of anyone else having these problems with JJ's, and everyone ....ing loves them, so I don't know what's up. I'm picking up a VHT 2/90/2 and might have found a GP3, so I'm not sure what I'll go with for pre-amp tubes, but I'll probably go Sovtek for the 2/90/2.

[petereanima]

JJ, dont worry - you are not the first one having JJs dying and not the last one. FWIW: The Diezel guys told me at the fair, that they bought masses of JJs, and over 30% died already during testing, and even more within the first month at the customers, so it seems like that this is common...

[DrakkarTyrannis]

Redone


Amp: Peavey DTX (Modified JSX)

Power: Quad of Sovtex 6550WE. Huge but tight low end, strong but not harsh highs, and a bump in the midrange. Reminds me of a beefy slightly mid restrained KT77.

Preamp: V1-JJ EC83s. It darkens the amp up, which it needs
V2-JJ EC83s. MUCH better. Thick, dark, and heavy
V3-JJ EC803s. Nice high action kinda tube. Gives the signal a kick.
V4(Phase Inverter)-Sovtek 12AX7LPS. The stock tube for the amp, it just works better than the other tubes I've tried. Sort of neutral, yet has a good mix of density and clarity I like.

[Bound]

I've found the JJ ECC803's to actually have a lower output than most other 12AX7's/ECC83's (which expanded the headroom and calmed the amp down a bit) but was also quite noisy. I found the best in the middle, only alone. Never at the start or the phase inverter.

Amp: Ashdown FA60H

Power SED "Winged C" SVEL34

Pre

V1: Gold pin Tung Sol 12AX7 - to brighten my amp as its dark. This suckas have beautiful gain harmonics
V2 + V3 JJ ECC83's - what can I say but bread n butter
V4: Balanced EHX 12AX7 - something a little different to make sure the pre is quiet but still is lets loose enough fury.

[CentaurPorn]

VHT UL

So far I have tried JJ's a and Sovteks and I am sticking with Sovteks in the the power section. Not only have I seen too many JJ's fail...The sovteks really seem to make my amp come alive. It may have something to do with the fact that steve Fryette built them amp around Sovteks and Chinese tubes in the preamp.

I tried swapping my preamp tubes for JJ's and was very disappointed. Went back to the cheap Chinese tubes and could not be happier. I am about to try swapping V1 for a mullard or Tungsol. I will leave Chinese in the rest. Right now I am running the amp the way it would come from the factory except for a chinese in V1 instead of a Sovtek 12ax7wb (soon to be tung sol) and it sounds fn amazing.

[Randy]

LOOKING FOR ADVICE

Amp: Rivera M-60 (60 watts)

Poweramp: Electro Harmonix EL-34L x 2

Preamp: Electro Harmonix 12ax7 x 4

:yawn:, right?

I really dig the sound of the amp, but there's something lacking... It feels like I get a bump in my mids right in the middle, and above. Also, the tubes are very crunchy, which is mostly a good thing.

So, what I'm looking for is a setup with more low->low-mid range, a descent bit of crunch, but some added warmth. The amp has an adjustable bias so any and all options are on the table. So far Groff had some really great suggests but I'd like to hear what else is out there.

[yellowv]

Peavey 5150 JJ retube set. Normal gain pre's. I did have the blanced pre for the phase invertor blow about 10 minutes after putting it in. Uerotubes sent me a new one right away and it's been fine since. Sounds much better than the Sovteks that were in it.

[thebhef]

A Carvin Quad X with a SS power amp. The X is ok, but it doesn't quite have the drive I'm looking for.

[agoz20]

peavey 5150
( with jj kt88/6l6 set in the power amp, and ECC83S in the preamp ) = kt88 = teh br00talz = thunder

peavey xxx
( with jj kt77 in the power amp, and ECC83S in the preamp )
the kt77s are beautifully rich sounding tubes... amazing amazing.

[Bound]

Originally Posted by Randy

LOOKING FOR ADVICE

Amp: Rivera M-60 (60 watts)

Poweramp: SED Winged "C" EL34

Preamp: V1 Tung Sol 12AX7 or a Mullard 12AX7, V2+3 Either JJECC83's or Sovtek 12AX7LPWS V4 either a balance EHX 12AX7 or a Mullard 12AX7

that outta do ya good

You could also check out some 6CA7's. I dun care for them but they are a little bit of a different flavor.

[op1e]

Another advice post. Got a Peavey Ultra 120. Re-tubed many years ago with all Sovtek. Worried about tube failure, got a lot of shows this summer. Want it to sound a little clearer, smoother. Its Brutal, good low end, low mid. Just want it to sound a little less "Peavey".

[Ketzer]

Madison Divinity II

V1-V2: JJ ECC83S (High Gain)
V3 : JJ ECC83S
V4 (Inverter): Balanced JJ ECC83S

power section is a quad of matched JJ EL34Ls.

[petereanima]

meanwhile, i'm finally done with JJs. in the last 6 month i had 3 pairs of E34L dying, all in less than 6 weeks. the last pair died after 5 hours of playing - during the line check of our gig, and for the first time it also blew the main-fuse, and the tube-fuse exploded. damn, they sound cool, but reliability is really an issue with these bastards.

so, finally - i switched to SED 6550 winged Cs.

GOOOODDAAAAYYYYUMMM! i tried some different power-amp tubes, and while the change in the sound was noticable, i never thought that these tubes would change the sound THAT dramatically!

they almost give a new character to my amp, it has WAY more top end than ever before, which fits my amp as it is on the darker side of tone. the bass-response of the 6550s is nothing but amazing, i turned the bass-knob in the preamp ~20% back, and added more form the poweramp with the deep-knob. the poweramp settings (presence & deep) are muchmuch more usable than with the JJs. also it is tighter than ever before (which also results in a bit of a loss of the ÜBER-BASS the JJs delivered - but therefor i got the deep knob, you know? ).

if these really are as reliable as everyone is telling - damn, i found finally MY tubes.

[signalgrey]

Genz
E34L JJ's via Eurotubes
Nice n hot, good fullness, helps me take peoples heads off. increased head room is nice too for my bari.

retubing the Vox this weekend. first time. cant wait. love this amp soooo much.

[DrakkarTyrannis]

Originally Posted by petereanima

meanwhile, i'm finally done with JJs. in the last 6 month i had 3 pairs of E34L dying, all in less than 6 weeks. the last pair died after 5 hours of playing - during the line check of our gig, and for the first time it also blew the main-fuse, and the tube-fuse exploded. damn, they sound cool, but reliability is really an issue with these bastards.

so, finally - i switched to SED 6550 winged Cs.

GOOOODDAAAAYYYYUMMM! i tried some different power-amp tubes, and while the change in the sound was noticable, i never thought that these tubes would change the sound THAT dramatically!

they almost give a new character to my amp, it has WAY more top end than ever before, which fits my amp as it is on the darker side of tone. the bass-response of the 6550s is nothing but amazing, i turned the bass-knob in the preamp ~20% back, and added more form the poweramp with the deep-knob. the poweramp settings (presence & deep) are muchmuch more usable than with the JJs. also it is tighter than ever before (which also results in a bit of a loss of the ÜBER-BASS the JJs delivered - but therefor i got the deep knob, you know? ).

if these really are as reliable as everyone is telling - damn, i found finally MY tubes.

I'm using Sovtek 6550s and I keep hearing the SED 6550s are where it's at. I'm seriously considering copping a quad of these to see if there's a difference. Right now the amp is a little too round in the lows and the top end could be a little better, not to mention since the mod the mids are really active, so I don't really need the mid spike the Sovteks supply. It seems the issues I have could all be fixed with the SEDs..so I'll see.

I just ordered some JJ 12DW7s for the V2 and V3 slots of my amp to tame it's now crazy high gain..so I'll be able to report how that goes in a couple of days

[zimbloth]

The SEDs are what have been in all the 2009 Diezel amps I've sold. They sound awesome! However anything is an improvement over the usual rubbish most amps come with stock.

I still prefer true KT88s though but 6550s are cool too. I use the JJ KT88s in my Fryettes/VHTs.

[DrakkarTyrannis]

UPDATE

So I got the JJ 12DW7s and I'm still feeling them out. They definately tame the amp but in a weird way. The gain is tamed, the volume seems to be tamed as well, and the amp is much darker and has a lot more bass now. And now there's a weird buzz, only there when I use the bridge pickup and when the NS-2 is off. The good thing is I can use a boost pedal in front without all the noise of before now and the gain is more flexible..although it feels weird having to turn the gain up high for metal now. I'm not really sure how I feel about the tubes. They have their good and bad points and it may just take a while for me to get used to them...I'll see.

[danenachtrieb]

amp: Crate Blue Voodoo 120

preamp tubes: JJ ECC83S

tubes: JJ E34L

just bought a retube kit from eurotubes and my amp sounds pretty damn good now

[DrakkarTyrannis]

REDO

So I switched the 12DW7 from the V3 slot and popped in the JJ that was there before, leaving only one 12DW7 which is in the V2 slot..magic...and end scene