Confused

Drunken Bowling

Drunken Bowling

New member
My EVH LBX II is marketed as having JJ preamp and power amp tubes. However, one uncovered tube is visible through the chassis and it's clearly marked as a Groove Tube. :?:

Does JJ Tubes own Groove Tubes, or vice versa? Are the two not connected in any way?
 
Re: Confused

Fender owns Groove Tubes.

There isn't much connection between JJ and Groove Tubes except that some of the OEM tubes that Groove Tubes uses are JJ's. For example, according to the Tube Store, the Groove Tubes GT-EL84S is a JJ tube. Is that what's in your amp?

http://www.thetubestore.com/Tubes/Groove-Tubes
 
Last edited:
Re: Confused

Drunken Bowling said:
My EVH LBX II is marketed as having JJ preamp and power amp tubes. However, one uncovered tube is visible through the chassis and it's clearly marked as a Groove Tube. :?:

Does JJ Tubes own Groove Tubes, or vice versa? Are the two not connected in any way?
Click to expand...

Groove Tubes buys, tests and labels various tubes from different manufacturers. They do so with the JJ EL84 and at least one of the JJ ECC83/12AX7 versions. May say Groove Tubes on the label but JJ made the tubes. That's assuming that the EVH description is accurate anyway.
 
Re: Confused

Yup ^

Here's what probably happened. They started shipping with JJ's...they ran out during production so they walked into the next room where the other Fender amps are being made and took a box of Groove Tubes (which as stated could very well be JJ's anyway) and continued making amps. This is SUPER common. well...

ACTUALLY (this is too good) go look at the pictures of that amp and look at the back...there's clearly a GT in there (https://www.long-mcquade.com/80560/...er-Musical-Instruments/EVH-5150-III-LBX-2.htm)
 
Re: Confused

Empty Pockets said:
They're all made in the same factory then branded differently.
Click to expand...
JJ is the only brand coming out of the Slovak factory. All the New Sensor branded tubes (Sovtek, Electro Harmonix, Tung-Sol, Mullard, non-SED/Winged-C Svetlana, etc.) come out of the Reflektor factory in Russia. Then there's the Chinese tubes, which mostly come out of Shuguang, although there might be another Chinese tube factory or two.

Groove Tubes buys tubes from everywhere, tests them, raises the price significantly, and brands them with a GT.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Tapatalk
 
Re: Confused

The eyeglass industry is the same way. There are like 4 factories that make all of the world's glasses and the branding is basically meaningless. Generic and brand name groceries are like this too. Marketing is like a fantasy land.
 
Re: Confused

Do some tube rolling and you will hear the differences, it's not just marketing. There are noticable differences among the new sensor 12ax7 pre-amp tubes, even though they are all made in the same factory. Even among the three that are closest in construction- tung-sol, ehx, and svetlana- the sonic differences are very apparent.


And yeah, most GT models with an "s" designation are "slovak" , which is JJ. And "r" is russian, usually sovtek, but sometimes other new sensor tubes.
 
Last edited:
Re: Confused

I'm basically trying to figure out why the damn thing is so fizzy. It reminds me of a Marshall DSL15. I was considering putting some Mullards or something that might tame the gain or make it warmer in hopes of getting rid of the fizz.

If that didn't work, I was considering using a different speaker. The one I'm using is the stock speaker in the EVH 1x12" cabinet.

Probably reaching a bit here, but I was also thinking about using a different speaker cable.
 
Re: Confused

A re-tube will help..pre and power. Try a tung-sol in V1 and mullard ri el84s to start.

BUT

The g12h30 70th anniversary speakers they use in the 1x12 and 2x12 evh cabs are a fizzy grindy sounding speaker and require serious pounding at high volume over time to mellow out a bit. They are still fizzy compared to their vintage and other current celestion h30 type brethren however.
 
Re: Confused

Drunken Bowling said:
I'm basically trying to figure out why the damn thing is so fizzy. It reminds me of a Marshall DSL15. I was considering putting some Mullards or something that might tame the gain or make it warmer in hopes of getting rid of the fizz.

If that didn't work, I was considering using a different speaker. The one I'm using is the stock speaker in the EVH 1x12" cabinet.

Probably reaching a bit here, but I was also thinking about using a different speaker cable.
Click to expand...

I actually tried an LBX (not the II version) yesterday and I realized that it has A METRIC F-TON of gain. I ran the gain at about noon to 1 o'clock and it was still heavily saturated. Simple solution is to just turn down a bit and turn down the presence. That'll reduce a lot of the fizz.

Also, I highly recommend the JJ ECC803S. It's not the 83S. There's a zero between the eight and three. It's a long-plate tube which I really have come to believe is part of Edward's Magic Marshall tone since he ran long-plate Sylvanias.

The G12H is also a bit fizzy fresh out of the box but softens with playing time. There are ways to accelerate the breaking in of a speaker which will help a ton.
 
Re: Confused

I have a G12H (Anniversary) currently paired with an Eminence Red Fang. Plenty of grit but not what I'd describe as fizz, however, I've seen plenty of comments describing them as "fizzy". Mine has some hours on it too. I think the "grit" is a big part of the appeal. I'd rather have a Heritage (75hz) than the Anniversary, but I like the Anniversary and I'm not sure I would prefer the Heritage paired with the alnico. I'm also not likely to spend the money to find out. I've read some praise for the Weber 1230 as a "copy" of the old G12H but it seems like it's more of a take on the G12H rather than a clone. I've never heard them in person.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top