Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

WoodGrain67

WoodGrain67

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Mine is a NOS RCA that look like it was made in Yugoslavia. One plate goes left, one plate goes right,and they both have three holes in the plates. They have the best spirited grind I've heard in both my
Tweaker and Kustom Coupe 72.
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

I've got a Toshiba 12ax7 in my v2 (the 1st stage of my main channel) and it's great. Clear and balanced, fairly low noise.
I've got a raytheon I like as well. In fact I don't remember but it might be that I have the raytheon in V2 now, and the Toshiba in v4.

I've owned a matsush1ta or two that were on the bright side but still had a nice smooth breakup with little mud.

yup. I like japanese 12ax7s because they were built well and the market hasn't taken off for them yet like they have for US and European tubes, so the prices are decent.
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

I really varies from amp to amp.
JJ good in one amp, bad in another.
Tungsol good in one amp, bad in another...etc.
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

I'm a big fan of going the 5751 route. I had some 1970s Sylvania 5751s that were the best sounding V1 tubes I have ever used in any amp. In the 12AX7 family, I have real, 1970's Mullards, GE 12AX7A, JAN Philips 12AX7WAs, RCA 12AX7A and others. In the 5751 family, I've got 1950s GE "black plate" vintage; 1980s GEs, 1980s JAN Philips, Sylvanias and otehrs. The Sylvania 5751s were the best.
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

RCA long plates, Tungrams, RFT, old Mesa branded chinese, depending on the amp and position.

I've got a couple black plate Raytheons that are only good for PI, too microphonic for anything else.
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

In a Fender style amp, the 50's RCA black plate is easily my favourite. In a British voiced amp, the early 60's short plate Mullard nails it. For more modern amp designs, they are often built around current production tubes and the vintage stuff either doesn't suit or doesn't make much of a difference.




Cheers...................................... wahwah
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

Without a doubt, the best V1 in all of my Mesa amps is the Groove Tubes 12AX7-M "Mullard clone". They could be somewhat erratic--a few I bought had noise issues--but when I found a good one they were great. The EH might be a little shrill or harsh, the JJs were usually too dark; but the GT-Ms have this wonderful spongey creaminess that make them a delight to dig into.

I don't think they are available anymore. :banghead:

Bill
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

Boogie Bill said:
Without a doubt, the best V1 in all of my Mesa amps is the Groove Tubes 12AX7-M "Mullard clone". They could be somewhat erratic--a few I bought had noise issues--but when I found a good one they were great. The EH might be a little shrill or harsh, the JJs were usually too dark; but the GT-Ms have this wonderful spongey creaminess that make them a delight to dig into.

I don't think they are available anymore. :banghead:

Bill
Click to expand...

Drop one of these in there, Bill...

6cba747d.jpg





Cheers...................................... wahwah
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

I like the RCA long grey in my markIII V1.

Check out the TAD 7025-S (I think that's the one), my understanding is the same tube as the GT-M, but with welded plates instead of crimped, so they're not so microphonic. I still haven't gotten any, but I've got a nice stash of old tubes.
 
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Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

I am done with NOS myself. Microphinics is a huge problem, and I don't even use a combo. I f you buy NOS, it seems worth it to me to pay extra for screening by a reputable dealer. Just too expensive and too hard to come buy. I like the Tung Sol RI right now, want to try the Mullard RI soon from New Sensor as well. I'm using a modded JTM45 RI.
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

Mullard RI is a very interesting tube, and I find it to be quite a bit different sounding than anything else out there new-production wise. It's got quite a bit of gain, but it sounds very compressed and smooth. It doesn't have the open, balanced character that I hear in the Tung-Sol and Sovtek LPS. And it's not limited in character like the JJs. It has rolled-off highs, plenty of bass presence, and smooth mids. I ended up not using it because of the smoothness. I like a bit more gritty, open, crunchy character.
 
I think ill give the Mullards (which really confused my phones autocorrect. Dullards? Mallards?) a try.

I've been using JJ's and EH for price and availability.. and they sound good in my Splawns.. I tried Tung Sols once in one of them and it was awful. Just a bad pairing of amp and tube.

I did have a NOS JAN-GE for a while that was great. Really warm and organic, kind of grindy, low gain.. but it went microphonic. :(
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

My Bandmaster has a couple of old preamp tubes in V1 and V2 that I preferred over my default Tung Sols, a GE 12AX7 and a 7025 of some brand I can't quite make out (Allied?)

photo1a.jpg
 
Re: Favorite V1 or V2 12AX7?

I think there are a lot of factors to consider that make it tough to just say one tube to rule them all.

Personal preference, guitar/amp used, desired tone, etc.

I usually buy current production tubes because NOS is becoming harder to do and much more expensive. I just don't feel my gear is worthy of such an expense, I play a Tweaker head if I had a much nicer amp I'd probably pamper it more.

Usually I shop at Eurotubes or thetubestore.com, haven't had any real issues with either place with any of the tubes I've bought.

brands aside there is a lot of tone shaping you can do simply by using different varieties of tubes. ie 12ax7, 12at7, 12au7, and so on.
 
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