best 12AX7 tube?

[Scott_F]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

Well Chris, I'm glad you have an open mind to these tubes. I just bought three of them, so I'll try to provide an objective, honest report, one based on actual experience. And, I have some real old, great shape Mullards to compare them to. So, look for my report later.

Everyone loves to bash GT.

Good thing you guys have stayed away from the new Groove Tube "Mullard" RIs. As I've read from some tube fanatics over at the vintageamp forums, they are horrible. A few guys with the real Mullards compared them to GT for the heck of it and GT completely missed the mark. Can't say I'm surprised.

I use 8 JJ ECC83s and 4 Svetlana Winged C EL-34s. I want to get a RFT for the V1 slot (I realized I was a tube short when I ordered and there is still the stock Hughes & Kettner branded chinese 12ax7 there). I, too, am considering a JAN/GE tube for a bit brighter and better cleans. So many purchases to make for my amp to really sound great (right now it only sounds pretty good). Yeesh, now I need a Weber MASS and two NOS speakers... the buying never stops.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

I think we're in a period of time when available tubes is at a high point.
The Coldwar coming to an end cause all the best NOS stuff to hit America.
It may be dwindling to an end, even though tube companies are still going strong.
We'll probably see more "reissues" of old tubes by current companies.
I don't know about that failure rate amongst Tesla JJ's, but would assume it's due to the fact that there's so many tube distributors out there that the JJ tube co. is
just cranking out as many as possible and letting distributors test them.

I'm hoarding all the NOS tubes I can afford. I'm also looking for the best in new production.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

I think it's funny that Mke at KCA bashes JJ's like that. If you buy your JJ's from Bob at Eurotubes, you will not get a bad tube. End of story. He takes the time to check them out.

I buy from Mike when I need certain tubes. He's got a great inventory. Prices are what they are.

 

[BluesNRock87]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

scott, i like the fact u post 3 differnt posts, you cuold have just hit the spacebar? ?

thats my plan actaully, to start a small NOS tube collection, though im not about to drop 100 on a single tube untill i have a few more guitars and amps (3-5 gutiars, 2-4 amps) and am happy with many other things.....

 

[dystrust]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

My current favorite 12AX7 is the EH. I've tried lots of things including NOS (they sound slightly better), but $7-10 per tube beats $30+ per tube. I generally don't care for GTs, but I'll give the new ones a chance. In the past I thought they were not enough tone for too much $$$.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

I like to keep at least one of every pre tube I can get my hands on and leave them in a drawer. Anytime you get an amp, spend a weekend swapping all of your pres in at least the 1st position, then find what sounds great, and buy 2 or 3 of them to complete the amp. What's interesting is that you'll find
that some tubes sound great in certain amps, while other tubes sound better in others.

 

[dystrust]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

I'll definitely concur there. When I bought my 2555 it had groove tubes EL-34s and 12AX7s installed and it didn't sound that great. Those same GTs in a '73 Superlead 100 sounded unreal.

 

[Scott_F]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

Sorry, but when I quote someone, I like to respond. Then if I read another thread, I gotta quote and respond. It's what happens when you take a week or two off from the board and read a thread.

Okay, so I hit the spacebar this time.... happy?



I tried out the new GT mullard replica in both the Ampeg and the Tweed Deluxe. The Deluxe was probably not a fair comparison because there are only two tubes and the 12AX7 is the phase inverter and in this design it's only using 1/2 the tube!

But I swapped out four great NOS tubes I have, RCA, Mullard, Brimar and Kodak (not sure who made the Kodak, likely GE?, but not sure)

Anyway in a swap test, I think the new Groove Tube mullards sound the most like the Brimars to my ears.

Are they exact mullards? probably not exact. but, are they really really sweet sounding. yes. are they too expensive for new production tubes? probably at 25 bucks a pop. But you get what you pay for in this world.

So, after a short amount of testing, very short amount, I'm not about to pass them off as the best new production ax7 out there, but they're really good.

All hail new production tube suppliers, especially American ones. Long live Groove Tubes.

have any of you tried the new 6L6GE power tubes that GT is making themselves? They're dynamite! Much better than the JJ's IMO. And, I thought the JJ's were the bomb prior to trying the GE's.

I'll keep testing the Mullards. When the new Bad Cat gets here, those three GT M's will be going in the most critical spots with a killer NOS EF86 tube I got from Mike (GEC brand) for V1. It's going to toast.

That's another tube I'm going to start a collection on. EF86.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

OK, AT LAST! I just came back from www.revolutionguitar.com
after hanging out with the owner, Todd, for awhile talking about amps and tubes. Very cool to hang out with a guy who lives and breathes amps and tubes! I just got home with 3 of these GT12AX7M's (Mullard Replicas).

My main review will have to wait till I start using them in my Bogner, but I
did just finish testing them in my Marshall Jubilee 2550 50W halfstack.
This is a great amp to test pre tubes, since the preamp will give you everything from Vox'y cleans to super high gain.

I also had the benefit of A/B'ing these GT's against another stellar pre tube,
the EI Gold Elite 12AX7 with gold plated pins. These are on the same playing field as the GT, so it wasn't like I A/B'ed the GTM against a crap tube.

All I can say is that I pulled out the EI Gold Elites and installed 3 GTm's
and instantly found the tone to be a touch louder, richer, and less grainy.
And that's not to say that the EI's are grainy. They are excellent tubes!
BUT, I have to say, the GT Mullard's are a step up from any other brand, which would justify the $23 price. From what Todd told me, Aspen Pitman
of GT did a LOT of research and reverse engineering to come up with what he considered a faithfull, if not better, recreation of this legendary 12AX7.

Also, since I realize that $69 + may be more than most guitarists would want to spend on 3 pre tubes, before finishing my evalutation, I reinstalled the
other tubes into the 2 and 3 position, and left only one single GTM in the first position (furthest from power tubes). I wanted to see if a single GTM would make the difference. I think so. Since the first position is the driver tube for the whole preamp section, it makes sense that it's tone dictates the overall tone. So, I would say that a wise retube for an amp would be this...

Svetlana, Tesla JJ, or N.O.S. for power tubes. 1 GT12AX7M in the first position, and Tesla JJ 12AX7's for the remaining pre tubes.
In my opinion, this would yield the best tone possible from any amp.
Even better if you splurge for GTM's for all your pre tubes. Your amp will be running healthier than it ever has.

 

[shred-dog]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

i'll be putting some in my marshall 6100 in v2+v6 the main gain stage and gt12ax7-c in v3/v4/v5 and a jj12ax7 in the clean v1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

Scott, good to know about stuff like that. I am open minded, thank you very much (c'mon you should know me better than that). I had no idea vintageamps all loved to trash GT, I personally have nothing against their stuff. I went off of the reviews of some people that say they had the originals, I posted what I thought was valid. I'd like to hear someone on this board come forward and compare the RI with the original for a non biased comparison.

I'm relieved to hear that the JJ thing is a lie, it certainly makes sense. My JJs arrived perfectly (probably due to revolution guitar and their extensive testing).

I'd love to hear more about those Mullard RIs, I may definitely get two. Atleast one.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

Shred Dog, you just bought that Marshall 30th Ann, huh?
I think that tube setup would be perfect for that amp, especially if you know what all those pre tubes do in that thing! It's cool that you have the EL-34
version of that amp! I think it makes sense to make a real good Marshall like that one as perfect as possible with tubes. I'm debating whether to use these GTM's as the 1st position in most of my amps, or putting them all in my main amp. They'd definitely fatten up your Soldano. JJ's would probably warm that amp up a little too.

 

[Young Angus]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

So you would highly recommend the JJ 12ax7's, and while im at it the JJ KT88's, that ummm for example Bob at eurotubes would supply.

Reason being i got a quote from him today by email about replacement tubes for my ENGL and he quoted me for a set of JJ KT88's and JJ ECC83S's for the power and pre sections respectively. He seems pretty wrapped in JJ tubes, and thats cos he words for them of course but i take it his high opinions are valid?

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

JJs really do rock.

Of course Bob will say that they're the best because he makes them, but they are a quality product.

 

[Young Angus]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

OK, AT LAST! I just came back from www.revolutionguitar.com
after hanging out with the owner, Todd, for awhile talking about amps and tubes. Very cool to hang out with a guy who lives and breathes amps and tubes! I just got home with 3 of these GT12AX7M's (Mullard Replicas).

My main review will have to wait till I start using them in my Bogner, but I
did just finish testing them in my Marshall Jubilee 2550 50W halfstack.
This is a great amp to test pre tubes, since the preamp will give you everything from Vox'y cleans to super high gain.

I also had the benefit of A/B'ing these GT's against another stellar pre tube,
the EI Gold Elite 12AX7 with gold plated pins. These are on the same playing field as the GT, so it wasn't like I A/B'ed the GTM against a crap tube.

All I can say is that I pulled out the EI Gold Elites and installed 3 GTm's
and instantly found the tone to be a touch louder, richer, and less grainy.
And that's not to say that the EI's are grainy. They are excellent tubes!
BUT, I have to say, the GT Mullard's are a step up from any other brand, which would justify the $23 price. From what Todd told me, Aspen Pitman
of GT did a LOT of research and reverse engineering to come up with what he considered a faithfull, if not better, recreation of this legendary 12AX7.

Also, since I realize that $69 + may be more than most guitarists would want to spend on 3 pre tubes, before finishing my evalutation, I reinstalled the
other tubes into the 2 and 3 position, and left only one single GTM in the first position (furthest from power tubes). I wanted to see if a single GTM would make the difference. I think so. Since the first position is the driver tube for the whole preamp section, it makes sense that it's tone dictates the overall tone. So, I would say that a wise retube for an amp would be this...

Svetlana, Tesla JJ, or N.O.S. for power tubes. 1 GT12AX7M in the first position, and Tesla JJ 12AX7's for the remaining pre tubes.
In my opinion, this would yield the best tone possible from any amp.
Even better if you splurge for GTM's for all your pre tubes. Your amp will be running healthier than it ever has.

Awesome to hear that you thought the mullard reissues were good, i think ill be going for your idea about a mullard reissue in V1 and the rest JJ ECC83S's.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

And Chris, I do actually have 3 Mullard 12AX7's. Pretty soon, I'll do my own personal
shootout between all my best pre tubes. I want to see how the reissues do against the NOS Mullards I have. I'm curious too! The bottom line is that we're splitting hairs
and most of these tubes sound perfectly fine in any amp, but it is fun to swap them in and out of an amp you know well, just to find which set of tubes makes the amp sound it's best. After you do this, it becomes obvious which one's to buy and keep in the amp.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

The bottom line is that we're splitting hairs
and most of these tubes sound perfectly fine in any amp, but it is fun to swap them in and out of an amp you know well, just to find which set of tubes makes the amp sound it's best.

AAHHHH, THUS THE BEAUTY OF THE UNIVALVE !!!

I'm admittedly a tube novice...I'm still learning about all the differences between the MANY tubes out there. It's threads like these, though, that make it so much more fun. Thanks fellas!!! :13:

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

Puckboy Terry, you're lucky to have an amp that was practically designed for tube testing! You said your favorite tube setup was what?...1 EL-84 and what pre?

How did a Svetlana EL-34 and your best 12AX7 sound?

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

Right now I've been locked on the Tesla JJ EL84 (thru a YellowJacket) w/2 RFT 12AX7S...super cool Vox-like tones! Today I'm gonna try a Svet EL34 w/an RFT in the driver & a Tesla JJ in the input...see how that comes out!

I'm still so new to all the little nuances of these different tubes, that I've been throwig combos in, leaving them for about a week & then jotting down what I thought of the combo....then changing them out & trying it again....seemingly endless combos out there, but in general, they're all pretty good to me. I just need to fine tune my hearing. For a while I was into the Sovtek EL34/2 Mesa-Sovtek 12AX7As....not so smooth clean, but they frigging rocked dirty!!!

I'm really interested in the new GT12AX7Ms...as is EVERYONE!....I read somewhere that the RFTs are a lot like the Mullard, but not as smooth clean. I think a REAL Mullard is a lotta bit overpriced, so if the GT turns out to be pretty close, I'd buy some of them!

And I'll get back to you guys after testing out some more. I've also been swapping the backs on my 2x12 cab....it came with a closed back & I made an open-back for it. I was surprised that there really was quite a bit of difference between the 2 backs!

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: best 12AX7 tube?

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