Author Topic: Tube ideas (Read 4042 times)

goddamn electric · « **on:** January 10, 2008, 09:20:42 PM »

im about to buy some new tubes for my marshall DSL50 head, just wondering what you guys recommend yourselves? im looking for quite a vintage tone, lots of crunch, similar to a plexi running flat out, with a bit more gain tho, so what tubes do you personally will compliment this sort of tone?

cheers

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #1 on:** January 10, 2008, 09:42:07 PM »

What brand EL34s are in there now and what do you want to change about the amp's tone?

Unfortunately, changing the output valves isn't gonna make the amp sound like a plexi no matter what you put in there.

:twisted:

goddamn electric · « **Reply #2 on:** January 10, 2008, 09:52:17 PM »

haha i know, if that was the case i wouldnt be looking for a jmp! i just mean thats the sort of tone i dial in, not super high gain but hot, quite a lot of mid crunch. im not looking for valves that will give me that sound, just a good quality set of tubes that will compliment the sort of tone i use if you see what i mean? . Im just replacing the stock marshall ones (2 EL34's and 4 ECC83's) because they're getting old so i may aswell get some ideas from everyone here as to what tubes they like to use.

Thanks for the reply.

HTH AMPS · « **Reply #3 on:** January 10, 2008, 10:23:46 PM »

EH ECC83s are really nice valves for very little money. If you can stretch your budget, trawl ebay and get a NOS ECC83 for the first gain stage in your amp - it will make a big improvement.

For EL34s, you really can't go wrong with Winged =C= EL34s, still the best current production EL34 I've tried. The Groove Tube EL34M is also supposed to be very nice, but I haven't tried it yet. The current Chinese EL34s are getting great review too and are dirt cheap.

:twisted:

goddamn electric · « **Reply #4 on:** January 10, 2008, 10:41:06 PM »

thanks for the input mate! i'll have a look into the electro harmonix tubes, i was pretty set on groove tube el34's but i'll check out the Winged, any ideas on price for those?

Emperor · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2008, 02:13:30 AM »

Quote from: HEAVIER THAN HELL

EH ECC83s are really nice valves for very little money. If you can stretch your budget, trawl ebay and get a NOS ECC83 for the first gain stage in your amp - it will make a big improvement.

For EL34s, you really can't go wrong with Winged =C= EL34s, still the best current production EL34 I've tried. The Groove Tube EL34M is also supposed to be very nice, but I haven't tried it yet. The current Chinese EL34s are getting great review too and are dirt cheap.

:twisted:

Chinesse tubes are sh*t IMO, Id stay away from that.

For power tubes, JJ el34. Then, JJ's ecc83 (the 12ax7) for preamp. If you want more gain, try a tungsol in V1 *or* V2 (for even more drive)

From my experience = > JJ's are cleanest and tightest
electro harmonix can give you more gain, but are loose and you get more noize
tungsol, more drive but still tight.

Oli · « **Reply #6 on:** January 11, 2008, 02:34:08 AM »

I haven't had a good experience with EH EL34s, but their 12AX7s are good i've found. I've got a couple of no-name EL34M valves in one of my JCM900s right now, and i really love the tone from them, i wish i could identify them further to tube up my other one with them!

jpfamps · « **Reply #7 on:** January 11, 2008, 11:58:02 AM »

I would agree with HTH on this. EH-12AX7s and Winged-C EL34s would be my choice of new production valves.

EH-12AX7s sound great and are relatively inexpensive. We have fitted 100s of these into a wide variety of amps, including most style of Marshall, with good results. Furthermore they seem to be quite robust as we don't have to replace many of them (unlike some other brands out there). You would need a good reason not to use EH-12AX7s.

The newer Chinese production 12AX7s are certainly better than the older production; however they are more expensive than the EH. I have yet to try the new Tungsol re-issue 12AX7s, however I was chatting to Andy Marshall from THD electronics, and he rates them very highly and THD are shipping their amps with this valve in. Of course this valve is a bit more expensive than the EH, but might be an option for V1.

Winged C EL34s are also a very good valves. They are slightly more expensive than other brands, but in my opinion worth the extra money. We routinely use JJ EL34s (we can't get Winged C EL34s in reasonable quantities at a sensible price) with good results. The new JJ-KT77 is good option as well — it sounds a bit like a cross between a 6L6 and an EL34 — and can be biased correctly in EL34 amps.

In my experience EH-EL34s, although cheap, are not worth the money as they don't sound that great and aren't very robust.

I also wouldn't pay extra for cryo treatment, gain selection, gold pins or triode matching (even in the PI this does NOT make any difference).

gwEm · « **Reply #8 on:** January 11, 2008, 12:51:35 PM »

lots of different opinions on this thread.

without hesitation i would say Reissue Mullard EL34 power valves, and JJ ECC83S preamp valves, but with somekind of NOS ECC83 in the V1 position (perhaps an old Mullard or Phillips).