Current production tubes

Tube or solid-state, this section goes to eleven!
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holyoli
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Post by holyoli »

Hi everybody,
I wouldn't like to start an other ideological and sterile very long tread :wink: , but if you have experience with those, i' d like to have your advice about 12ax7 current production tubes (jj tesla, mullard new sensor etc)
I know some (most ?) people only swear by NOS tubes, just wondering if it's justified or not for my project.
To be clear, I'm thinking about doing an alembic f2 b clone, so no power tubes, rectifier etc...
Thanks guys (and girls ?)
Olivier
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soulsonic
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Post by soulsonic »

I've had good luck with many different current-production 12AX7-type tubes, so I think it is more a matter of personal taste. The only tubes that I've had bad luck with have been generic Chinese 12AX7s from the Shuguang factory; I would have to go through nearly a dozen before I'd find one that wasn't noisy and microphonic. The JJ ECC83s are good, but they need a few days to burn in before they get their sound - when fresh, they sound very dark, but they brighten up alot after a few hours playing. The Electro-Harmonix 12AX7s are decent too, and have a good general-purpose sound. Overall, my favorite type of 12AX7 are those that have "long" plates - old ones with long black plates are very special. For clean sound, my favorites are the long black plates (any manufacturer) and GE 5751. For distortion circuits, the the JJ and E-H ones are generally good. For classic Rock sound, the RCA medium "gray" plate is my top choice because that's one of the most plentiful old 12AX7 that I've found, and I think it was the usual choice in most amps during the 60's because I always find them in old amps.
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holyoli
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Post by holyoli »

Thank you very much Martin .
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bacaruda
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Post by bacaruda »

For new production, check out the Tung Sol Reissue 12ax7 and the new JJ ECC803S long plate. Both are excellent. I've heard the Mullard Reissue 12ax7 sounds great too, but I haven't tried any out yet.

As far as new production vs. NOS goes, just use your ears. Sometimes an NOS tube will sound "best" in a given slot, but sometimes a new production tube will sound even better. I've even preferred the tone of Chinese preamp tubes over NOS in a few amplifiers - too bad those Chinese tubes generally last about 3 hours. It all depends on the amplifier and what sound you're after. Keep in mind that many of the people who "swear" by NOS tubes are the same people who "swear" that their boutique tubescreamer is worth the $400 they spent on it.
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holyoli
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Post by holyoli »

Thxs ...
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