New tubes, and suggestions?

[FuseG4]

So for a while I've been slowly retubing my DRRI. Now I've got it to

V1 EH 12ax7 tested high gain
V2 Hitachi Short grey plates, O getter, branded Raytheon
V3 EH 12AT7
V4 japanese short grey plate 12ax7 (looks identical to v2, label rubbed off a year ago)
V5 EH12ax7
V6 GE 12AT7 (just looked at it, it is glowing very brightly, was it always doing this? it's also popping and clicking a bit, I think I'll replace it to be safe)

6V6 Tung-sol RI 6V6 GT
Rectifier: Ruby 5AR4

still waiting on:
V1 Japanese short grey plate 12ax7 marked RTT
V6 Hitachi "D" Getter 12AT7
another spare: another japanese short grey plate 12ax7


6V6: see below
Rectifier: GE 5V4GA

I went with a 5V4 to get a little smoother sound as the amp is very dynamic even when I get up to about 7 which is as loud as I like. It's also nice that the 5v4 can be found all over for under $30 as opposed to the prices on old 5ar4 being over $100. As I understand the 5V4 should lower my voltages by a bit, which i hear is helpful for a creamy sound? Also, does this have any effect on tube life?

So... power tubes?

I'm mainly looking at Sylvania and GE but the RCA ones are supposed to be the best for these amps or something? Obviously I like japanese 12ax7s as a sleeper deal, as the quality is high but demand isn't as great as for real mullards and such. Are there any similarly "good buys" for 6v6s? is the $90+ price tag on RCA blackplates worth it for any special reasons beyond tone or name/brand? I want something that crunches up a bit, the tung-sol RI seems to just compress in a liquid way but it doesn't get very dirty.

 

[AlexR]

Re: New tubes, and suggestions?

My princeton clone really came to life with good RCA's and a mullard rec tube in there. If you bias just slightly on the cold side then they should have good life for your $, or so my amp guru said.

I think from my reading there are crucial tubes which define the amps tone, and less crucial tubes, where you can get away with more generic or lower priced offerings. Not sure with the DRRI which these are (maybe the normal channel preamp tube is less important if you plug into the vib channel).
The new Tung Sol's also seem to be the thing for Fenders according to a few recent threads here.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: New tubes, and suggestions?

check this out. 10 bucks for a whole different amp sound - non invasive and reversible too.
http://tubedepot.com/ssr.html

 

[FuseG4]

Re: New tubes, and suggestions?

Got the tube I was waiting ons

most importantly, the 5V4GA made a BIG difference in sound. With the sovtek 5AR4 my plate voltage was 412 and the 5V4GA dropped it to 372. The clean tone is browner, creamier, and warmer, and the threshold of breakup is a little lower (around 3 or 3.5 with humbuckers) which is what I wanted! It's a little more like a 6v6 blues jr with less gain, better reverb, and a bigger cab.
I bet most people on this forum are not trying to make their deluxe break up earlier but when taking my amp out all my non guitar friends are surprised by how loud, clean, and punchy and bright the stock amp is and a lot of the time I am too.