Removed the JJs...

[Gunny47]

...in the preamp of my Tweed Twin and replaced with some groove tubes I had lying around (12AX7s) and it sounds like a blanket was lifted off of my amp. It's crazy how one's tastes change.

I might go with some Tung Sol reissues for the preamp section now. Another gear decision to make before I go back to school....

[bigmack209]

Re: Removed the JJs...

really? so you prefer the groove tubes? i always kinda wondered why JJ's were so cheap in comparison to other tubes but everyone loves them and they were certainly an improvement from Sovtek for me

[Powdered Toast Man]

It really seems to depend on the amp. My experience with JJ's is that they darken an amp's tone. They sounded great when I put them in a Deville. Yet I hated them in my 73 Champ.

[Chickenwings]

Re: Removed the JJs...

i like jjs in some amps and tung sols in others. Just interested tho.....how long have the jjs been in the Twin? Despite popular myth, preamp tubes get old the same way power tubes do - especially Phase inverter tubes.

[jeremy]

Re: Removed the JJs...

there is a variety of groove tubes 12ax7, they dont make anything just test and relabel.

the jj is a good tube but isnt very bright.

tubes in the preamp i usually only change for tonal reasons. when i change power tubes i pull all the tubes in that amp and put them on the tube tester. even after hundreds of hours of full throttle use the preamp tubes havent really tested much different. the pi on the other hand gets beat up. i change my pi every other power tube change.

sovtek makes some good tubes, the 12ax7lps for example, but their 12ax7wa and 12ax7wb are usually not very good sounding. they are usually pretty rugged and take abuse well, they just dont sound all that great

[Gunny47]

Re: Removed the JJs...

really? so you prefer the groove tubes? i always kinda wondered why JJ's were so cheap in comparison to other tubes but everyone loves them and they were certainly an improvement from Sovtek for me

Yeah I bought the JJ's to get a darker tone out of the amp a few years ago. Put Grooves in and they happen to work better for that amp for me at this time - so many variables

It really seems to depend on the amp. My experience with JJ's is that they darken an amp's tone. They sounded great when I put them in a Deville. Yet I hated them in my 73 Champ.

I've read that people really dig them in Marshalls and such. Fenders not as much.

i like jjs in some amps and tung sols in others. Just interested tho.....how long have the jjs been in the Twin? Despite popular myth, preamp tubes get old the same way power tubes do - especially Phase inverter tubes.

It's interesting. The JJs were in there for a couple of years, but the Grooves I replaced them with were the stock tubes that came with the amp! So they were probably in there for a couple of years also. About the same time.

My rig is really warm to begin with (I play with my fingers, use pure nickel strings and usually roll off my guitar knobs a little bit) so the added brightness is welcomed

there is a variety of groove tubes 12ax7, they dont make anything just test and relabel.

the jj is a good tube but isnt very bright.

tubes in the preamp i usually only change for tonal reasons. when i change power tubes i pull all the tubes in that amp and put them on the tube tester. even after hundreds of hours of full throttle use the preamp tubes havent really tested much different. the pi on the other hand gets beat up. i change my pi every other power tube change.

sovtek makes some good tubes, the 12ax7lps for example, but their 12ax7wa and 12ax7wb are usually not very good sounding. they are usually pretty rugged and take abuse well, they just dont sound all that great

I had a few other tubes in the amp back in the day (besides the JJs and Grooves). Tung sols were one of them. I got Svetlana power tubes in there at the moment (my amp tech uses them for reliability and likes them best) and the stock EH rectifiers. I'll have to experiment more with the pres. I think I'll stay 12AX7 though and not go to the original 12AY7s that would have been in the amp in the 50s.

[jeremy]

Re: Removed the JJs...

ive run my tweeds both ways and the 12ay7 does have some cool things going on. it doesnt break up as much with the ay but seems to have a smoother tone

[Quencho092]

Re: Removed the JJs...

For preamp tubes, I like philips 5751's for cleans, RCA blackplate 12ax7's (I have a few, but no amps to put them in =( ), or those higher gain mullard copies by groove tubes. They really seem to bring the sound to life, albeit with a bit more breakup and loss of headroom, but the definition is great on those, I used to love them thru my DRRI.

My dad got JJ's before, I think the ECC803S, I tried them in my DRRI and remember liking the long plate. Also the Sovtek LPS are nice.

[Ascension]

Re: Removed the JJs...

I like JJ power Tubes but really do not like the pre amp tubes. They work very well in the PI and can tame a bright reverb but otherwise they suck the life out of every amp I have dropped them into. Instantly the tone is dull dark and lifeless. It's not just dark on the tone but the harmonics go also. It's like you drop a blanket over the rig.
I in new production run Tungsol, the Shunghangs or the Mullard reissues mostly. I also like the EH's a lot if the amp lacks chime but they have a high mid spike that can be annoying.
I have a lot of NOS stuff so normally my amps are running a NOS of some kind in V-1 with Tung Sols or Shunghangs in the rest.
My 2501 Marshall JCM 900 Dual Master for example has a Baldwin labeled NOS Sylvania in V-1 with a Shunghang in V-2 and a balanced EH in the V-3 PI slot.
My Zinky is all Tungsol.

[crguti]

Re: Removed the JJs...

I swapped some tubes in my mesa, but let me tell you that at gig levels with other instruments in the band, you cannot hear different tube brand nuances.

[Gunny47]

Re: Removed the JJs...

I swapped some tubes in my mesa, but let me tell you that at gig levels with other instruments in the band, you cannot hear different tube brand nuances.

That's why I don't buy NOS anymore. I don't trust the reliability and it's splitting hairs tonewise from my experience with em. I'd rather get some new production that I dig enough and not worry about em. I got Mesa Boogie-labelled 6V6s in my Princeton Reverb clone for crying out loud hehe

[Gunny47]

Re: Removed the JJs...

ive run my tweeds both ways and the 12ay7 does have some cool things going on. it doesnt break up as much with the ay but seems to have a smoother tone

The amp is clean enough for what I'm using it for ATM - it's hard enough to get the thing cranking in clubs with the right level of distortion. I really dig how this amp turns into a Marshall-with-more-lows-and-fatter-mids-sorta-sound with humbuckers when it's cranked up (well, Tweeds came before Marshalls....)

It's interesting: Headroom and amount of gain when the thing is dimed are two totally different things. Someone saying an amp is "cleaner" can mean a buncha different things!

For preamp tubes, I like philips 5751's for cleans, RCA blackplate 12ax7's (I have a few, but no amps to put them in =( ), or those higher gain mullard copies by groove tubes. They really seem to bring the sound to life, albeit with a bit more breakup and loss of headroom, but the definition is great on those, I used to love them thru my DRRI.

My dad got JJ's before, I think the ECC803S, I tried them in my DRRI and remember liking the long plate. Also the Sovtek LPS are nice.

I see tons of guys putting in 5751s in blackface amps to do the SRV thing but not really in Tweeds. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone put them in Tweeds. I'll probably get a bunch of current production 12AX7s (if I can sell some pedals or some other stuff) and experiment with them. I only swapped out V1 and V2 as they affect the tone the most.

I like JJ power Tubes but really do not like the pre amp tubes. They work very well in the PI and can tame a bright reverb but otherwise they suck the life out of every amp I have dropped them into. Instantly the tone is dull dark and lifeless. It's not just dark on the tone but the harmonics go also. It's like you drop a blanket over the rig.
I in new production run Tungsol, the Shunghangs or the Mullard reissues mostly. I also like the EH's a lot if the amp lacks chime but they have a high mid spike that can be annoying.
I have a lot of NOS stuff so normally my amps are running a NOS of some kind in V-1 with Tung Sols or Shunghangs in the rest.
My 2501 Marshall JCM 900 Dual Master for example has a Baldwin labeled NOS Sylvania in V-1 with a Shunghang in V-2 and a balanced EH in the V-3 PI slot.
My Zinky is all Tungsol.

Maybe an EH/Tung Sol combo. Tungs in V1 and V2 and EH in V3 and V4? idk if that'll make too much of a difference. I don't really tinker with this stuff all too much but I have time now that I'm on break so I'll figure it out and have some spares on the side.

I used to have some other Power Tubes in there - I think I had Winged Cs or Tung Sol reissues I really don't recall. Those were nice but since I got work done on the amp, the tech put in Svetlanas and fixed everything up a couple of years ago. Sounded really good after that. I'll just have to experiment with the pre amp stuff.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Removed the JJs...

I like JJ power Tubes but really do not like the pre amp tubes. They work very well in the PI and can tame a bright reverb but otherwise they suck the life out of every amp I have dropped them into. Instantly the tone is dull dark and lifeless. It's not just dark on the tone but the harmonics go also. It's like you drop a blanket over the rig.

Precisely. I've been arguing about this for a while, but I'm glad to see other people agree so I'm not just hearing things.

[o.p-i.v]

Re: Removed the JJs...

hmmm, i liked the jj's over the groove tubes after much comparison

[LReese]

Re: Removed the JJs...

I popped in a Full set of JJ's in a Vibrolux Reverb. Found a bad 12AX7, but once that was sorted it sounded fine. Needs to idle slightly hotter, but I'll get that sorted out.