The JJ "EL844" tubes...

Erlend_G

Erlend_G

New member
I'm reading all around the "internets" now about the JJ EL844 tube.

Marketed as a "El84 replacement, that will give you less wattage, earlier breakup, and is a direct fit".

...

Sounds like something I could have an use for. But different people on different forums etc. have different opinions.

What are your thoughts about this?

I always run my 20w Blackstar on the "2watt" setting, and even then, it's too loud to crank- as I live wall-to-wall with a neighbor in an apartment.

Thank you for any answers and replies.

-Erlend :)
 
I dunno if I would ever switch, I like the headroom of 2 el84 in full power sometimes. If you use your amp in 2W all the time I would strongly consider it. They're not expensive right?
 
Anybody who is home player is most likely to love these tubes if they do what they say....... unless you're in a house where you are alone, have no neighbours, or your live-ins don't mind tinnitus.
 
I'd never heard of those, but I just ordered a pair. Worth trying.

But if I were living in an apt, I think I would be focused pretty much entirely on modeling: whether that's one of the several very impressive practice amps out there or a more purely software options.

These things are supposed to offer, what, about 25% less headroom? Even on the most ambitious scale, that's not the difference between getting evicted for noise and not.
 
Last edited:
Yeah... well...

Some people wrote, that the amp would need to be biased differently, for these tubes to work properly.

I can only reach power-amp breakup (at the 2 watt setting) while both my next-door neighbors are away;
that's maybe once a week, an hour of two, if I stay at home while they're gone.*

That's one thing that sucks about apartment complex living...

I do really like my amp though (not to say, I don't love it), the clean channel is really "dull" compared to a Fender,
and the OD channel sounds rather "generic" until you get the power-amp breakup "bite" going.

But it's a great, budget "at home" amp, I'm happy I could afford it at all.

(My plan was to get a Fender Princeton, until half my savings were stolen by meth-heads).

:)

-Erl
 
They're not great. They're marginally quieter. Kinda. Sorta. But the first thing to notice with them is the tone difference. They're "smaller-sounding", meaning less highs and lows and more squishy mids.

You do need to bias them accordingly. Colder for sure compared to actual EL84's.

If you dig regular JJ EL84's, you might be fine. I don't, personally. They've got lots going on in the low mids with kinda laid-back upper mids, which makes them kinda dull, stuffy, and blunt compared to other EL84's IME. Not particularly bright or deep either. These follow the same footprint, but even moreso, IME.
 
Last edited:
You're better off with your ht20 than a Princeton for now until you can play louder more often! My neighbors live 150 meters away at least
I'm sure they can hear when I get my PR crunchy. Needs an Attenuator for apartments if you want any dirt
Thank goodness the amp sounds good for at least some kind of playing no matter what volume it is set at!
 
I still haven't bought replacement tubes for my HT-20mkII.

As I mentioned, it's an amp I've learnt to love.

I think! it has TAD stock tubes in it;

Some day I will buy a replacement set; hopefully something that will bring out the "life" and "chime" of it;
seeing that it often sounds a bit "dull" to my ears :).

I've lost interest in the "EL844's" after I read about the bias issues;
and further reviews.

Thank you

-Erlend
 
You'll have 'bias issues' with whatever you buy. As in you will have to rebias with new tubes anyhow.
 
Yes, regardless of what tubes you put in it, you need to rebias it accordingly if the amp has an adjustable fixed bias.

There are many TAD relabeled tubes, but IME, TAD EL84-STR's are the clearest, least stuffy, most open-sounding EL84's I've tried. My EVH can easily get too low-middy, especially with the stock JJ's, but even with the brighter Sovteks or EHX's. Only the TAD's have made it sound manageable without too much stuffiness. So if you still think your amp is dull with those, I really wouldn't know what else to recommend.
 
Last edited:
AlexR said:
You'll have 'bias issues' with whatever you buy. As in you will have to rebias with new tubes anyhow.
Click to expand...

Okay.

I don't know if my amp has adjustable bias;
or if I'll have to buy tubes, that "fit" the amp. :o

Tried to contact Blackstar, but I couldn't find an email adress. Just a huge bunch of "FAQ's". :/

Thanks for the replies.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
They're not great. They're marginally quieter. Kinda. Sorta. But the first thing to notice with them is the tone difference. They're "smaller-sounding", meaning less highs and lows and more squishy mids.

You do need to bias them accordingly. Colder for sure compared to actual EL84's.

If you dig regular JJ EL84's, you might be fine. I don't, personally. They've got lots going on in the low mids with kinda laid-back upper mids, which makes them kinda dull, stuffy, and blunt compared to other EL84's IME. Not particularly bright or deep either. These follow the same footprint, but even moreso, IME.
Click to expand...
Dull/stuffy/blunt adequately describes every JJ product ive ever tried along with arching/sparking & popping. Crap-o-la. Yet some people still rave about them, go figure. But some people rave about vaping and Heroin so ....
 
Last edited:
The amp is cathode bias so no need to worry about power tube bias. The ht40 mkii is adjustable fixed bias but the 20 mk II is cathode bias :)
 
JMP/HBE said:
Dull/stuffy/blunt adequately describes every JJ product ive ever tried along with arching/sparking & popping. Crap-o-la. Yet some people still rave about them, go figure. But some people rave about vaping and Heroin so ....
Click to expand...

You know I'm starting to feel the same way about JJ tubes

​​​​​​They can be dependable and some people love the sounds but I think the ecc83s is pretty stifled sounding, the 6v6 has a deeper darker voice with more headroom and that's almost never what I want from a 2 6v6 fender amp. But! I can see many people wanting that.
And I've used the el84 a few times and they are reliable it seems but little nasal. Bright and crunchy when really going which is some people's bag but... This last time I bought el84s I tried mullard new production and they have less mids but a really pleasant warmth. Hard to describe as always but they are very musical and seem well balanced.

Used to be able to get Japanese el84s for cheap but the internet found out and scooped them up. I might try those Russian 6p14p-ev sometime. They seem popular right now but is it all marketing?


I haven't tried the frame grid JJ e88cc/12ax7, am interested in seeing if it is better than the ecc83s. To be honest I've never tried the long plate one either the 803cc or whatever but that's because sovtek lps has been good to me the few times I've sought out long plates
 
Yeah, ideally I'd want some tubes with alot of ... sparkle, chime, liveliness to them. Some "edge". Brash or not; I think the amplifier can be on the "dull" side of things anyway...

happy for any tips coming in! :).
 
Rex_Rocker said:
Yes, regardless of what tubes you put in it, you need to rebias it accordingly if the amp has an adjustable fixed bias.

There are many TAD relabeled tubes, but IME, TAD EL84-STR's are the clearest, least stuffy, most open-sounding EL84's I've tried. My EVH can easily get too low-middy, especially with the stock JJ's, but even with the brighter Sovteks or EHX's. Only the TAD's have made it sound manageable without too much stuffiness. So if you still think your amp is dull with those, I really wouldn't know what else to recommend.
Click to expand...

Rex do you have a current source for the TAD STR tubes? To me they sound more like a 6V6 that most EL 84's and last a good while but I can't find them anymore are they out of production? Ran the Mullards last time in my Boogie they sound great but don't last long.
 
JMP/HBE said:
Dull/stuffy/blunt adequately describes every JJ product ive ever tried along with arching/sparking & popping. Crap-o-la. Yet some people still rave about them, go figure. But some people rave about vaping and Heroin so ....
Click to expand...

Feel the same way about JJ's for the most part but they do have thier place as they can really tame and warm up a overly bright amp . I still hate a full set of JJ's in most amps but in the right slot in the right amp they can work well in the Pre. The PRS amps were designed to run them and in those amps and they really sound good in V1. the JJ's I have are older tested and graded though.
 
I don't think JJ tubes are all bad. Haven't had any reliability issues with their preamp tubes. I have never had a preamp tube of theirs fail at all. Hell, ECC83S's have always had the least microphony compared to any other 12AX7 I've tried. That being said, they are definitely not my favorite when it comes to tone. Not as high-gain as everyone says they are either, IME. Their ECC803S's are pretty nice-sounding, though.

But their power tubes have had the most failure rate out of any others I've tried. In fact, I've never had any power tube fail that wasn't a JJ. Their E34L's blew a grid resistor in my old Peavey. I've had two EL84's of theirs from different sets fail in my EVH. Their EL844's were fine, but they didn't really sound all that great. Their 6L6's have been alright, but I don't like their tone either.

Their 6V6 sound nice. They are most open-sounding 6V6's out there. They're definitely not traditional-sounding 6V6's. I did have one blow up on me, though.

I am not a snob when it comes to tubes. I just don't usually recommend JJ power tubes. I don't have any 6V6 amps right now, but I do dig their 6V6's.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top