Jeff_H
Dean Hardtail Fanologist
I bought at GT 12AX7-M and a GT 12AX7-C to try in my Marshall. I got them out in Cali durning users group day..that's how long my amp has been in the shop.
The new GT 12AX7-C is really the schnizl. I wanted to hate it because it's Chinese, not NOS, and not a Mullard Reissue...but I can't. It really did bring my Marshall to life in a way that I wasn't expecting. It's brighter, but not in a bad way. It seems to let the higher frequencies breath a little more. It's tight in the lows and perfect in the mids.
I put the "C" in first in V1, with a NOS GE in V2 for the clean channel. It sounded amazing both clean and dirty. Then I switched the "C" for the "M" in V1...instantly darker with lower gain. Not a bad sound, but more of a muted, mellow sound...like rolling down the tone control on your neck pickup. I put the "C" back in and it came to life once again. Then I put the "M" in V2 for the clean channel, and bingo...perfect. It warmed up the clean channel just a touch, while leaving all of the character of the drive channel unchanged. Definately a thumbs up, and the best tube I have tried so far. I've had a NOS Bugle Boy for V1, a NOS RFT and a NOS Mazda. Also, several GE's and RCA's...but nothing has sounded quite as good as the GT-C.
The Mullard copy would be a great tube to warm up a naturally bright amp and smooth it out. I was looking for slightly tighter lows and more open sounding highs.
Again, I wanted to hate it because it's Chinese, relatively cheap, not NOS, and did I mention Chinese? You were right Gearjonser, it really is one of the best tubes available right now. I'm going to order a few more, just in case the voicing changes, or availablity becomes scarce.
The new GT 12AX7-C is really the schnizl. I wanted to hate it because it's Chinese, not NOS, and not a Mullard Reissue...but I can't. It really did bring my Marshall to life in a way that I wasn't expecting. It's brighter, but not in a bad way. It seems to let the higher frequencies breath a little more. It's tight in the lows and perfect in the mids.
I put the "C" in first in V1, with a NOS GE in V2 for the clean channel. It sounded amazing both clean and dirty. Then I switched the "C" for the "M" in V1...instantly darker with lower gain. Not a bad sound, but more of a muted, mellow sound...like rolling down the tone control on your neck pickup. I put the "C" back in and it came to life once again. Then I put the "M" in V2 for the clean channel, and bingo...perfect. It warmed up the clean channel just a touch, while leaving all of the character of the drive channel unchanged. Definately a thumbs up, and the best tube I have tried so far. I've had a NOS Bugle Boy for V1, a NOS RFT and a NOS Mazda. Also, several GE's and RCA's...but nothing has sounded quite as good as the GT-C.
The Mullard copy would be a great tube to warm up a naturally bright amp and smooth it out. I was looking for slightly tighter lows and more open sounding highs.
Again, I wanted to hate it because it's Chinese, relatively cheap, not NOS, and did I mention Chinese? You were right Gearjonser, it really is one of the best tubes available right now. I'm going to order a few more, just in case the voicing changes, or availablity becomes scarce.
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