New tubes and rekindled love...

[BloodRose]

I just retubed my Carvin MTS 3212 preamp section. ( I have Groove tube EL34s in it) Put JJs in the preamp and wow! Never sounded so good!
Also, did a full retube for JJs in my Peavey classic 30 and this amp sounds so good I think I could live with this one alone. Amazing!!

[Jeff_H]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

It's amazing what a new set of little glass bottles will do. They degrade so slowly over time that you hardly even notice the changes. Then one day the tone just sucks.

Glad it's working out for you.

[Guitarist]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

Sweet story of success, what I like to hear. Good for you, Blood Rose - I hear JJ's rule.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

It was amazing how the one spot, the V1 spot, I hadn't changed and it dragged everything down. Just switching it with a later spot made it really shine. It's like rediscovering the amp in a whole new light.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

Tubes really aren't even that expensive nowadays. You can setup a 50W amp for
around $45, and a 100W for about $70. People put it off for fear of the bias issue,
but you usually only need to slap the new ones in. It is best to pay a tech around
$30 to bias it with an oscilloscope, but if you put the tubes in, while the chassis is out of the cab, it's pretty easy to carefully tweak the mini bias pot till the amp sounds it's best. That's usually where the optimum bias is anyway. Even better if you can monitor it with a $20 bias tool and a multimeter. If you keep 6L6's around 32mA
and EL-34's around 38mA, you're doing fine. Then, listen to notes being plucked on your guitar, with one hand on the miniscrewdriver, and make sure the amp sounds rich and healthy. It's not rocket science - you just have to be careful not to turn the tube's grey plate red.

[Scott_F]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

I just received a few of the new Groove Tube Mullard 12AX7 copies. I'm planning on running them in the new Bad Cat. I'll probably put one in my Tweed Deluxe tonight for kicks.

I'm really hoping these new GT's knock me out. I so want any american manufacturer of their own tubes to make it. So, they kick out the 6L6GE power tubes now with the old GE equipement here in the US. They're making these new 12AX7Mullards here in the US. Supposed to be making a new large bottle 6550 here in the US to come out soon!

I used to bash GT for just relabeling and putting tubes in a pretty package. Now, they're making some of their own, so they get huge points from me now.

[Jeff_H]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

Scott, I agree about the US made tubes. As tone snobs, we are always raving about USA made guitars and USA made amps, especially the high end PTP models. Old Fender BF amps and Bassmans are some of the best amps in the world. Yet we love tubes made in third world countries who's other products we wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Would anyone here pay $2500 for a guitar "hand crafted" in Russia, or China, or any other country where most of these tubes were made? We all want quality, made in the USA guitars...why not made in the USA tubes. I love finding more and more USA products that I can spend my hard earned USA dollars on. With our trade deficit we owe it to our economy and our children to invest in US manufacturing. I would expect no less from anyone else supporting their own country.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Svets and EH's and Tesla tubes, and think from a military production standpoing many of those eastern block countries had some great tooling. I want to give the GT Mullards a try also. With that said I'm going to be stockpiling NOS tubes as well.

[BloodRose]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

Yeah, Im in heaven! I went to Bob at Eurotubes and he actually picks tubes that help taylor the sound to what you want.. Inexpensive, and fast turnaround and again, cant say enough about the tone.

[proxy]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

I remember seeing this old electronic shop in this city near me. Like its peak was in the 70's and I know it still has tubes, I wonder if I could find some nice tubes for hella cheap.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

I got 3 GT Mullard copies on Saturday morning. While practicing all weekend, I swapped different pre's in my amps as I was playing, to really hear them.
These GTM's are well worth the money ($23). I'm not sure if I'd favor them over
JJ's on a clean amp, but for vintage Marshall's like plexis, JMP's and 800's, these
GTM's would kick serious butt. I found them too be a tad bit gainy for amps with a highgain channel like a Bogner, Soldano, or ENGL. The best 12AX7 I heard for those
was the $15 Groove Tubes 12AX7C, the Chinese one's. Believe it or not, on these amps, that tube beat the GTM, EI, JJ, and Sovtek.

[lastwinj]

Re: New tubes and rekindled love...

If you keep 6L6's around 32mA
and EL-34's around 38mA, you're doing fine. .

this would be per tube.

germ