Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

Gtrjunior said:
Funny....I have always heard JJ’s as dark.
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Same here, at least if we're talking about the ECC83 / 12AX7. They make my Jubilees sound pretty bland, but they're just what the doctor ordered in the Jet City 22H. OTOH I really like the JJ power tubes I've tried; EL-34s in the Jubes and 6V6s in the Egnater Tweaker.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

Gtrjunior said:
Funny....I have always heard JJ’s as dark.
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You guy are all proving my point :lmao:

See post #17.

There is large standard deviation in guitar tube manufacturing because guitar tube are made with the lowest tier technique of traditional tube manufacturing.. because honestly -that's the way it's always been and all that is really required.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

FWIW - I grabbed a set of EH ‘gold’ series 12AX7 and a set of Genalex ‘gold’ series to a/b. Both sets were were remarkably quiet. The EH were definitely brighter and ‘livelier’ sounding and the Genalex were definitely darker and warmer sounding. Not ‘dull’ but noticeably less high end than the EH. If you’ve got a particularly bright, edgy amp you’d like to tame, try the Genalex. If you want to wake up a darker amp, the EH are a good bet.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

The brightest tube with the lowest noise I've heard yet is the old Telefunkens. They're pricey, but sound amazing.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

Mincer said:
Interesting. I thought their 6v6s were really bright, too, compared to EHs.
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Are we talking about the same tube(s)? I'm referring to the JJ 12AX7, and I'm pretty sure Gtrjunior is as well. I don't notice much difference between my JJ 6V6s and the Egnater OEM Sovteks, though I don't know if that's because of the amp or because I generally don't play it very loud.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

JJ's ECC83s (the cheap ones) are good work mules. But sound bland and darkish... Their ECC803s sounds good tho, a bit less gain. Sorta Telefunken copy if I remember right. Love it in my metal panel clone. That said, I think JJ's best preamp tubes for the money are their ECC83MG tubes (medium gain)... I liked them quite a bit. More detail, and balanced. Great for tone stages.

B
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

The only way this thread actually has any factual empirical value -is people measuring plate resistance, valve temperatures, physical geometric differences, material differences, saturation/distortion point current values and other metrics of individual tubes across a set of like branded tubes and ascribing qualitatively the experience related to those values on a spectrum analyzer and then comparing to another brand while describing the same attributes on a scope and reporting back.. You have to test a large swath of tubes from a production run.

Otherwise this is a lot of emotional and individual tube experience that doesn't translate across an entire run or model of a tube type enough to predict the experience of someone else purchasing a tube and expecting a certain tonal quality. -So really not giving reliable information to the next guy.

let's see some science, or the answer is -buy a bunch of each brand and a bunch of different brands of 12AX7s and try them all to find what you like in combination with so many local permutations like pickups, guitar, amp circuit, fx, speaker, and tube brand.
 
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Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

dystrust said:
Are we talking about the same tube(s)? I'm referring to the JJ 12AX7, and I'm pretty sure Gtrjunior is as well. I don't notice much difference between my JJ 6V6s and the Egnater OEM Sovteks, though I don't know if that's because of the amp or because I generally don't play it very loud.
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Yeah, JJs 12AX7s were bright for me, too. Didn't like em.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

NegativeEase said:
The only way this thread actually has any factual empirical value -is people measuring plate resistance, valve temperatures, physical geometric differences, material differences, saturation/distortion point current values and other metrics of individual tubes across a set of like a brand tubes and ascribing qualitatively the experience related to those values on a spectrum analyzer and then comparing to another brand while describing the same attributes on a scope and reporting back.. You have to test a large swath of tubes from a production run.

Otherwise this is a lot of emotional and individual tube experience that doesn't translate across an entire run or model of a tube type enough to predict the experience of someone else purchasing a tube and expecting a certain tonal quality. -So really not giving reliable information to the next guy.

let's see some science, or the answer is -buy a bunch of each brand and a bunch of different brands of 12AX7s and try them all to find what you like in combination with so many local permutations like pickups, guitar, amp circuit, fx, speaker, and tube brand.
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If only someone would finance such a project. For the greater good, of course.

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Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

Oh, and the nicest thing that I've ever said is "Not today."

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Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

Sticking with current production tubes, here's another vote for the Sovtek 12AX7LPS. The other Sovtek 12AX7 variants are way too midrange heavy. After the Sovtek 12AX7LPS, the JJ 803S is also a good option.

I've used lots of JJ ECC83S tubes. I've tried them in at least 20 different amps. They consistently are on the dark side. They do fine in the right role. I use them in V3 and V4 of my Sunn T50, which gets a JAN Philips 5751 in V1 and a Sylvania 12AX7 in V2. They really shine as V1 tubes in the old, U.S. made Crate tube amps like the Vintage Club series or the Blue Voodoo line.

If your willing to go N.O.S., those GE 12AX7s were excellent.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

For what it's worth, after some tube rolling, I ended up with the same Mullard CV4004 in V1 and an Electroharmonix 12AU7 in V2. The lead channel has such a ridiculous amount of gain that cutting it a bit in exchange for more fullness and a smoother character seems like the right way to go. I may try a JJ ECC802S in there at some point because I like the ECC803S, and I can never leave well enough alone, but I've been playing it this weekend and am very happy with the tone.
 
Re: Recommend a bright, low-noise 12AX7

guitfiddle said:
The brightest tube with the lowest noise I've heard yet is the old Telefunkens. They're pricey, but sound amazing.
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Mine all do a weird flash when you power them up. Like a light bulb blowing, but just for a second. Scared the crap out of me the first time I started up my amp in a dark room (thought something caught fire or burned out) but they seemed to work fine afterwards.
 
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