preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

jmv

jmv

New member
So, over the years i've done a few things to improve my already good blackface bassman... new power tubes (=C=), replace a few caps, new speakers (original jensens were blowing, got replacement webers)... but i've never bought pre-amp tubes for it. I believe i got a couple EH 12AX7s from Wattage several years ago that he wasn't using, but i haven't messed with anything besides that.

What would you guys reccomend??
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

ecc83b.jpeg
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

Well, everyone wants these:
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

Fender probably would have stuck some RCAs in there at the factory, or maybe GE.
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

guitfiddle said:
Fender probably would have stuck some RCAs in there at the factory, or maybe GE.
Click to expand...

Yup, my Silver Face Deluxe Reverb came with GE's. I just recently bought some GE 5751's from dougstubes.com and they sound great.
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

I have not looked yet, but the seller told me i have JJ 12AX7's in my AB165.


James
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

The ultimate preamp tube for any vintage Fender amp is a late 50's RCA blackplate 12AX7. Much bigger soundstage than the early 60's Mullard, much fuller bandwidth than a Telefunken or GE, and they were original equipment in the earliest Fender amps. White lettering, square or 'D' getter. Big, bold and full range...audio chocolate.


RCA12AX7.jpg





Cheers................................... wahwah
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

wahwah - your point about the RCA Black-plates is well made, but I personally found them to be just a little less punchy than the Mullards, maybe a little less mid and a little more low and high. I have heard the RCA described as more 'polite' than the Mullards, which sounded like totally pretentious cork-sniffing..... until I tried some, doing A/B comparison in my Bassman back in 2008.

The RCA do have a very lovely chocolatey sound and made my Sheraton sound like a real cool jazzer, where the Mullards were more rock and blues. But rock/blues is where my head is at.....

As blueman335 has been known to point out before:-
Depends on your tastes & amp settings.
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

Thermionik said:
wahwah - your point about the RCA Black-plates is well made, but I personally found them to be just a little less punchy than the Mullards, maybe a little less mid and a little more low and high. I have heard the RCA described as more 'polite' than the Mullards, which sounded like totally pretentious cork-sniffing..... until I tried some, doing A/B comparison in my Bassman back in 2008.

The RCA do have a very lovely chocolatey sound and made my Sheraton sound like a real cool jazzer, where the Mullards were more rock and blues. But rock/blues is where my head is at.....

As blueman335 has been known to point out before:-
Depends on your tastes & amp settings.
Click to expand...

Yep, I hear ya. I've got a stockpile of both the 50's RCA blackplates and early 60's short plate Mullards for that very reason. In a 'British' voiced amp, I much prefer the Mullards, because the extra mids and tamer extremities suit perfectly. But in a Fender, the Mullards just seem a lot less "Fendery" than the RCA's, which stands to reason. Still, it's fun to experiment and there's no rules, personal taste as you rightly suggest. Either way, two of the nicest guitar preamp tubes ever made! In fact, I have a custom made Ulbrick Venue 30 combo that has dual parallel preamps, and I have a Mullard in one and an RCA blackplate in the other and can mix between them. Fun.




Cheers.................................. wahwah
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

BTW wahwah - I clean fergot to say, nice tracks down in your sig, I was going to pick one standout - but they are all darned fine..... though I guess 'Lovers stole the show. The MySpaz stuff is real good too.....

And I like the idea behind that Ulbrick :cool2:
 
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Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

Thermionik said:
BTW wahwah - I clean fergot to say, nice tracks down in your sig, I was going to pick one standout - but they are all darned fine..... though I guess 'Lovers stole the show. The MySpaz stuff is real good too.....

And I like the idea behind that Ulbrick :cool2:
Click to expand...

Thank you sir, much appreciated, and yes, the Ulbrick is a very tidy piece of design and engineering.



Cheers................................. wahwah
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

if the prices on RCA's i found at one site were anything to go by, maybe i should ammend my request...

what preamp tubes should i look for, that a relatively poor college student could afford?? Theres NO way i could spend $100+ each on preamp tubes...

and FWIW, while i always appreciate the input, i'm not versed enough in tubes to know what something is just from a picture... a short description of the name of the tube would help.

Thanks guys!

-Jason
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

jmv - here's the secret - but keep it between you and me.....

Don't buy from the big boys.

I keep an eye on house clearance auctions, bankrupt stock sales, junk-shops and local classifieds. I look for old boxes of tubes and old busted amps and organs and record-players. You would be amazed at what you find.

I recently paid (sterling equivalents here.....) $100US for an old Sound City 120w PA with no case and considerable physical damage. I sold the 6x Mullard EL34 in three matched pairs for about that, another $50 for the transformers (old Drakes) and 10 bucks for the chassis. So I was now $60 in profit..... and I still had five real nice Mullard ECC83 (12AX7) 1960's triple-mica halo-getter long-plate (17mm).

My Bassman was spoilt for choice - and never sounded better.
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

jmv said:
if the prices on RCA's i found at one site were anything to go by, maybe i should ammend my request...

what preamp tubes should i look for, that a relatively poor college student could afford?? Theres NO way i could spend $100+ each on preamp tubes...

and FWIW, while i always appreciate the input, i'm not versed enough in tubes to know what something is just from a picture... a short description of the name of the tube would help.

Thanks guys!

-Jason
Click to expand...

In my pics you saw a Telefunken smooth plate.
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

jmv said:
if the prices on RCA's i found at one site were anything to go by, maybe i should ammend my request...

what preamp tubes should i look for, that a relatively poor college student could afford?? Theres NO way i could spend $100+ each on preamp tubes...

and FWIW, while i always appreciate the input, i'm not versed enough in tubes to know what something is just from a picture... a short description of the name of the tube would help.

Thanks guys!

-Jason
Click to expand...

Yes, Thermionik is right jmv, ignore the tube dealer's prices, they are ridiculously inflated and they rarely have the good stuff anyway. For example, in a 10 second search I found a pair of 1956 RCA blackplates on eBay with a starting price of $40 and a BIN of $60...for the pair. The dealers are fine for current production tubes, but for the really good stuff they are of little use. $100 per tube is nonsense. The other thing is that it is not necessary to buy NOS, again the prices are inflated and you can do very well with 'good used' tubes that still have plenty of life left in them. Keep in mind that the tubes from the "Golden Era" were made to last, unlike the crap tubes made today. I've had a 50's RCA blackplate 12AX7 sitting in an amp that gets flown around the country all year for the past 5 years showing no signs of giving up, and I would have paid $20 for it. When you consider the tone and longevity, there is no comparison in value between vintage tubes and current production.



Cheers................................... wahwah
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

okay, that sounds more reasonable...

now, how do you go about being 'discriminating' for old tube deals?? IE, would you guys trust an ebay deal to leave you with tubes that weren't microphonic, and were tested within spec and all that?? Are there certain things to look for or to ask about??
 
Re: preamp tubes for AB165 bassman??

jmv said:
okay, that sounds more reasonable...

now, how do you go about being 'discriminating' for old tube deals?? IE, would you guys trust an ebay deal to leave you with tubes that weren't microphonic, and were tested within spec and all that?? Are there certain things to look for or to ask about??
Click to expand...

Most people who are selling vintage tubes on eBay will list in their descriptions the state of their tubes, otherwise they will sell them 'as is' which is really the only time you will be taking a risk. I would avoid the 'as is' listings, and in standard eBay practice, check out the seller's feedback and sales, as you would with anything else. The better ones have their own tube testers, and will give you the ratings for the tubes against the 'new' specifications. You could start with item No. 320347995653. Ask the seller how much life they've got in them, see what he says.




Cheers.................................... wahwah
 
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