Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
- Thread starter Scott_F
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S
seafoamer
Guest
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
i do not consider my Z-28 a high gain monster.
i do not consider my Z-28 a high gain monster.
S
seafoamer
Guest
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
or a noisy bahsted.
or a noisy bahsted.
S
seafoamer
Guest
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
It's most expressive amp I've ever heard. Which is good or bad, depending on the application.
It's dynamic range is huge. It seems like no matter where ever you set the 3 knobs, you have this huge saxophone like dynamic sweep from very soft to blaring loud depending on your right hand attack.
Like i said, this can be good or bad depending on the application. If u want/like a very compressed tone, then it ain't ur amp.
Scott_F said:
It's most expressive amp I've ever heard. Which is good or bad, depending on the application.
It's dynamic range is huge. It seems like no matter where ever you set the 3 knobs, you have this huge saxophone like dynamic sweep from very soft to blaring loud depending on your right hand attack.
Like i said, this can be good or bad depending on the application. If u want/like a very compressed tone, then it ain't ur amp.
Curly
Moe's Bluesman
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
my friend Norm has a beautiful sounding vintage AC 15. He says it's hard to get good EF 866s, and they're not cheap. Also, the higher the gain, the more prone a tube is to be microphonic.
even so, there are some great amps with this preamp tube. I like the idea that Hayseed has of offering an EF 86 as an option..
my friend Norm has a beautiful sounding vintage AC 15. He says it's hard to get good EF 866s, and they're not cheap. Also, the higher the gain, the more prone a tube is to be microphonic.
even so, there are some great amps with this preamp tube. I like the idea that Hayseed has of offering an EF 86 as an option..
Jeff Seal
New member
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
Scott, just a thought for you... while the EF86 has it's virtues, they're not exactly available at GC...... just looking at it from the "working" musician's point of view..... We don't stock them at the shop.....and lord knows tubes always fail at the most inopportune moment!
...fwiw......
Jeff Seal
Scott, just a thought for you... while the EF86 has it's virtues, they're not exactly available at GC...... just looking at it from the "working" musician's point of view..... We don't stock them at the shop.....and lord knows tubes always fail at the most inopportune moment!
...fwiw......
Jeff Seal
kevlar3000
Bullet Proof Toneologist
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
New ones suck, if you can find a non microphonic vintage one, you will have a tube that offers way more than just hi gain. There is a complexity in the mids like few others I have heard. Articulate, lush, warm, the right one can do it all. I tracked down an RFT pretty cheap, I was told they are perhaps the most stable in terms of microphonics. So far so good. My Multivox is amazing. I understand the headaches, glad I have plenty of other amps in case this one proves to be an issue, but I love it ... 125.00 amp for among the best distorted tones I have ever heard. Worth spending a few more bucks in some extra EF86 tubes.
New ones suck, if you can find a non microphonic vintage one, you will have a tube that offers way more than just hi gain. There is a complexity in the mids like few others I have heard. Articulate, lush, warm, the right one can do it all. I tracked down an RFT pretty cheap, I was told they are perhaps the most stable in terms of microphonics. So far so good. My Multivox is amazing. I understand the headaches, glad I have plenty of other amps in case this one proves to be an issue, but I love it ... 125.00 amp for among the best distorted tones I have ever heard. Worth spending a few more bucks in some extra EF86 tubes.
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PUCKBOY99
Irish Flagologist
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
I used a NOS Dario Miniwatt in the Clubman...noticeable change over the stock tube:bigthumb:
But again, they ain't cheap!
I didn't vote....I neither love 'em or hate 'em.....if the amp calls for one, it's not gonna be a deal breaker for me.
'Cause I still have a good NOS tube in waiting
I used a NOS Dario Miniwatt in the Clubman...noticeable change over the stock tube:bigthumb:
But again, they ain't cheap!
I didn't vote....I neither love 'em or hate 'em.....if the amp calls for one, it's not gonna be a deal breaker for me.
'Cause I still have a good NOS tube in waiting
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the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
Hoss: Are you sure the Pitbull 45 (or any VHT) uses an EF86?
As to the question at hand...most guys do either hate them or love them or they simply don't know about them...I happen to love them, nothing else in the world sounds like a good EF86 front end! That said, due to the cost of them and the fact that they are hard to come buy they might turn into a pain to get and build around.
Hoss: Are you sure the Pitbull 45 (or any VHT) uses an EF86?
As to the question at hand...most guys do either hate them or love them or they simply don't know about them...I happen to love them, nothing else in the world sounds like a good EF86 front end! That said, due to the cost of them and the fact that they are hard to come buy they might turn into a pain to get and build around.
Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
Nice vintagy sound...for sure a good tube if it is working like it should.
Nice vintagy sound...for sure a good tube if it is working like it should.
RGN
New member
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
HORRIBLE, AWFUL, IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND AND EXPENSIVE!!!! I hate'em.
My VHT 100CL is getting retrofitted to use a 12AX7 as a reverb buffer instead of the stock EF86 (recommended by VHT). I have tried 5 or 6 different EF86 tubes and every single one was microphonic and unusable. I have had my 100CL for years and have never had a good EF86. Steve Fryette at VHT says he isn't using the EF86 for reverb anymore in the CL line b/c of these issues. Myles at Groove Tubes isn't even selling EF86 tubes last I checked because (I believe this is what he said) "1 out of every 30 or 40 is good". The availability of good, non-microphonic, EF86 tubes in VERY poor. I wouldn't even consider buying an amp that had ANY EF-86 tube.
*NOTE: I called Groove Tubes sometime ago and that is from memory.
**** UPDATE: I just called Patrick at Groove Tubes who said that JJ has been telling them they may come out with a new EF86 tube. Groove Tube will know more after NAMM. As of right now, they say NOS is the ONLY option for an EF86 tube.
HORRIBLE, AWFUL, IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND AND EXPENSIVE!!!! I hate'em.
My VHT 100CL is getting retrofitted to use a 12AX7 as a reverb buffer instead of the stock EF86 (recommended by VHT). I have tried 5 or 6 different EF86 tubes and every single one was microphonic and unusable. I have had my 100CL for years and have never had a good EF86. Steve Fryette at VHT says he isn't using the EF86 for reverb anymore in the CL line b/c of these issues. Myles at Groove Tubes isn't even selling EF86 tubes last I checked because (I believe this is what he said) "1 out of every 30 or 40 is good". The availability of good, non-microphonic, EF86 tubes in VERY poor. I wouldn't even consider buying an amp that had ANY EF-86 tube.
*NOTE: I called Groove Tubes sometime ago and that is from memory.
**** UPDATE: I just called Patrick at Groove Tubes who said that JJ has been telling them they may come out with a new EF86 tube. Groove Tube will know more after NAMM. As of right now, they say NOS is the ONLY option for an EF86 tube.
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RiffRaff
New member
Re: Your Opinion on EF86 preamp tubes
I've been lucky, I picked up a couple of NOS EF86's and they've worked out great in the amp I purchased half put together. The tubes are very open and produce just about every nuance of what your doing - for some that's not what they want - but I really like how it sounds in the circuit I have. The unfortunate thing, the amp isn't a master volume so I don't get much gain from the EF86 - but when the amp is dimed it screams (guess I need to get an attenuator).
I've been lucky, I picked up a couple of NOS EF86's and they've worked out great in the amp I purchased half put together. The tubes are very open and produce just about every nuance of what your doing - for some that's not what they want - but I really like how it sounds in the circuit I have. The unfortunate thing, the amp isn't a master volume so I don't get much gain from the EF86 - but when the amp is dimed it screams (guess I need to get an attenuator).
