LukeFRC Posted November 30, 2015 Share Posted November 30, 2015 (edited) Yay NPAVD that's New Preamp Valve Day! So for a while I've had a Mesa walkabout - love it. And been kinda interested in what other tubes would sound like in it ... but put off by the sometimes silly prices old valves go for... anyway saw someone selling untested NOS valves on eBay and thought why not... ended up getting two - an ECC83 and a ECC82 - I know I don't have a use for the ECC82 and don't know what I'll do with it... but... Left to right... Telefunken ECC82 (probably actually made by siemens as no diamond on the bottom?) if the code is correct made June 1953 the Mesa 12ax7a pulled out the amp... Phillips Miniwatt Ecc83 from the 3rd Week of April 1969 I think. First off - I bought these not knowing what really they were... and not knowing if they work... they do, and I think I've worked out what they are... but I've no idea if they are any good as old valves go... Obv. the Telefunken isn't the right valve for the Walkabout, I put it in to see if it works (it does) but the Phillips is amazing - first off it both valves look like they've been built in the future compared to the crude looking modern valve. It's hard to describe how it sounds different - it's clearer sounding, the attack is punchier, and most of all the high mids are a lot lot softer. There seems to be more harmonic stuff going on, it sounds more musical whereas before it was angular and harsh. So all in all a good punt! Edited December 1, 2015 by LukeFRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted November 30, 2015 Author Share Posted November 30, 2015 The ECC82 was nice too, but obviously I had to crank the gain to get the same volume out which wasn't ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 hmm title too cryptic to get any responses... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 (edited) No mate. Valve geekhere too. Looking for glass to put in my Aguilar DB 680. Edited December 1, 2015 by steve-soar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 I must admit, I've been able to discern so little difference between different brands of ECC83 (including Mullard, Brimar and modern Electro Harmonix) when I tried swapping them over that I couldn't be sure I wasn't imagining any differences. This was in both my guitar amp and the Carlsbro PA head I used to use for bass. This could be because both have very clean running preamps that don't have enough gain to get gritty, so other amps might have shown up the differences more strongly. Alternatively, I may have cloth ears! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 [quote name='steve-soar' timestamp='1448999244' post='2919987'] No mate. Valve geekhere too. Looking for glass to put in my Aguilar DB 680. [/quote] any idea about what I've bought? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1449001550' post='2920019'] I must admit, I've been able to discern so little difference between different brands of ECC83 (including Mullard, Brimar and modern Electro Harmonix) when I tried swapping them over that I couldn't be sure I wasn't imagining any differences. This was in both my guitar amp and the Carlsbro PA head I used to use for bass. This could be because both have very clean running preamps that don't have enough gain to get gritty, so other amps might have shown up the differences more strongly. Alternatively, I may have cloth ears! [/quote] the difference for me wasnt stupidly big... but it was different - a bit like tap water... same drink but different taste around the country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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