brycebites Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 (edited) - Edited March 3, 2010 by brycebites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veils Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 Very useful stuff! Thanks for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodl2005 Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Good stuff. Thanx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 Nice work! Could you perhaps add a little formatting to it, so that it's easier to see where one category of valves ends and the other begins? Sorry for being a critic but this has sticky potential I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 [quote name='brycebites' post='230' date='May 17 2007, 10:24 AM']Groove Tubes 12AX7M - Based on the original Mullard ECC83. A very high gain valve - too high for some situations. It has a fat and gritty tone that, when pushed, sounds very pleasant in an aggressive way. Great for single valve preamps such as the Hartke 3500 for giving a large amount of drive. My Rating: 9/10[/quote] I'll second that. Changed the Sovtek stock valve I got in my HA3500 to one of these and the sound is much warmer and valve-like. Impressive for an amp with just a single pre-amp valve in it. Well worth the investment if your HA3500 hasn't quenched the dreaded GAS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeward2004 Posted May 19, 2007 Share Posted May 19, 2007 +1000 - My Hartke 3500 has the Groove Tubes 12ax7m in place, and it sounds immense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeward2004 Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Pinned/Stickied - Good work Brycey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRinser Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Hello there, informative stuff. cheers for putting it up! Any idea where to get hold of a 12ax7m? Sounds like just what I need... Cheers! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 This was in Bassworld was it not? I use a GT 12ax7-c in my TubePre. Cheaper than the Mullard reissue and has a great description. Anyone else ever tried them? --- HA3500 users - are you happy? I've always been drawn to them Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Hi, Excellent info, just what I was looking for, I'm thinking of changing the valve in my HA3500, is it an easy thing to do? Any advise would be appreciated. Cheers R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Cheers For the info, I took the top off and it seems easy enough so I'll be shopping for a replacement valve soon. Regards R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Cheers Chris - I was well chuffed with my set of 8 'Marshall' badged ECC83s. Glad you liked them too - for £20 odd for eight, you are laughing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Nice guide - thanks. For those not in the know it may be worth noting that the uber expensive Mesa Boogie tubes are just re-badged mass produced Chinese valves. Hamster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 Re tubing a 400+ is a bit of a pain because of the fixed bias - you have to buy tubes specifically biased for the amp, rather than wapping in any old tubes and adjusting the bias to suit. I am sure there are pros and cons of each design though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freuds_Cat Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 nice list Bryce. I mostly agree with you regarding the Euro amp/Euro valve, US amp/US tube comment. I guess the amp manufacturers used to buy local valves when developing their amps so I suppose this makes sense. I gotta say though that I've tried a lot of Euro valves that sound very nice in Ampeg gear. I've no experience with Mesas, Fenders etc so dont really know here. I have tried quite a few different Mullards in Ampeg stuff and while rich sounding I awlawys found them a bit muddy around the low mids. Same tubes in a Marshall Guit amp and they sounded awsome. As you say its all subjective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoJ Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 (edited) [quote name='Hamster' post='46679' date='Aug 17 2007, 12:08 AM']Nice guide - thanks. For those not in the know it may be worth noting that the uber expensive Mesa Boogie tubes are just re-badged mass produced Chinese valves. Hamster[/quote] Is that the Mesa 12AX7 or the SPAX7? I was aware that Mesa dont meake their own, but was under the impression that the SP was a higher sepc'd version. But yes, great guide Bryce. Has helped me choose valves form my DHA. Andy Edited August 17, 2007 by MoJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoJ Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 [quote name='brycebites' post='46762' date='Aug 17 2007, 10:01 AM']Out of interest, what valve did you go for in your pedal (which DHA is it?) and what's your amp setup?[/quote] Hi Brycebites, I got Dave to fit the EH 12AX7 cryo valves in a VT2 Dual Bass. Personally think they sound great, but after a lengthy trial of them, Ive settled, for the moment, on just the standard EH in position one, as the cryo is more shine and Im after grind. I may eventually stick one in position two but I feel at he moment the shine helps get the grind through at higher gain settings. Also tried the JJ Tesla, as you described at transparent I believe, which I thought I may like but it didnt really have much life to it. My current amp setup is a Peavey Pro 500 (though thats in for repair so Im back to my Trace Elliot AH500-7 at the moment). As far as I know the preamp valve in the Pro 500 is an EH 12AX7, and I found after the PSU for my DHA went down that the grind I got from that was perfect, and very little need for EQ so I resorted to one in my DHA. All works just nicely with my Ric! [quote name='brycebites' post='46773' date='Aug 17 2007, 10:51 AM']The STR-12 12AX7-A is the same as the newer EH valves, which have shorter plates that I've seen them with before. In fact I would say they look very much like Sovteks, and considering EH bought Sovtek I'm not surprised. You can see them both here: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELECTRO-HARMONIX-MESA-BOOGIE-12AX7-EH-12AX7-A-TUBE_W0QQitemZ130144477918QQihZ003QQcategoryZ39997QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELECTRO-HARMONIX-MES...1QQcmdZViewItem[/url][/quote] Ive seen on Hotrox though, that there is an [url="http://www.hotroxuk.com/store/erol.html#3153X3156"]SPAX7A[/url], which according to the Mesa site blurb is a high spec valve for "critical positions" of an amp signal chain.. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoJ Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 [quote name='brycebites' post='47684' date='Aug 20 2007, 12:55 PM']Woooooaaaahhhhhh. £24 for a new production valve????? *shakes head* They can't be worth it otherwise everyone would be wanting them. Personally I'd only pay that for a NOS Mullard.[/quote] So they're no different to a EH 12AX7 then? Where's the best/cheapest place to NOS Mullards? Would be interested to see what they're like. Do the Mullards break up in a tighter way than EH? Just that I would like that EH grindy kind of tone, but with a smoother overdrive... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoJ Posted August 22, 2007 Share Posted August 22, 2007 Ouch! Think Ill stick me £10 EH thanks! Still, Ill see if I can try them 12AX7WB's out. Guess there's still some more testing for me to be done. Thanks Brycebites Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 Chris, Following your advice, I have just put a Phillips Jan 5751 into my SWR750x this morning and the difference is huge. Strangely, there was a Sovtek 12AX7WC in there already so I guess somebody has already changed the valve at least once before. Loads of warmth from the 5751 and the overdrive channel now gives a lovely warm OD (think Jack Bruce) which means that I now have two really useful channels to play with (previously, the OD channel sounded like a wasp in a beer bottle!). Thanks again for your advice, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkfinger Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Anyone tried the Electro-Harmonix 5751? I've got a pair of these in my V-Type and I think they sound pretty good. I got them from Watford valves soon after buying the preamp and my criteria was that they needed to be "cleaner" than the original 12AX7's I had in there. Those were the original Trace ones, can't remember the model but I thnk a derivative of the Raytheon 12AX7A/ECC83. Having said that, I've just put the originals back in and I'll see how they sound, now I've got a bit more experience with it. I'm tempted to go for the Groove Tubes but I'm worried that pair will just produce too much gain for my liking. Will definately keep an eye out for some mullards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 Regarding these 'ere Mullards... i see there are 'different' versions available, such as 'the yellow label'. Is there a particular one I should be hunting down - holy grail styleeee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Cheers chap!! I would love to find out more! - So do they all have the same name? I have only ever heard people say.. "Mullard ECC83" Which isn't really that indicative, when other companies have alsorts of prefixes, such as WA or -Cz etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 I see that there is a Mullard re-issue 'available' made by New Sensor, a US company with a Russian factory [url="http://www.newsensor.com/default.aspx"]http://www.newsensor.com/default.aspx[/url] Has anyone heard anything about these? reviews appear to be a little thin on the ground. I'd expect purists to suggest that they wont be as good as NOS, but in most cases, thats usually correct. It'd be nice to try some Mullards without the inflated price tags! Here's some to make you wince [url="http://www.audiotubes.com/12ax7.htm"]http://www.audiotubes.com/12ax7.htm[/url] (The Harma valves I use are a close relative to the valve below) Telefunken ECC803S, diamond mark, Ultra-low noise premium 12AX7, gold pins. EXTREMELY RARE. New Old Stock in original box. Among the rarest tubes in the world, this beauty is mint in original box! This is a very low noise, special quality 12AX7, made with the old-style Telefunken German precision. These have the ultra wide bandwidth of the Telefunken ECC83, but also have nice matched internal triodes, gold pins, and have been carefully factory screened for low noise. These tubes are currently soaring in value as stocks of them vanish. [b] $600.00 [/b] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbev Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Hi, Thanks for the very interesting research, one question, my Eden navigator uses a Groove Tubes 12ax7a. Can I use any 12ax7 for it, I prefer a clean but 'warm' sound. Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks, Gary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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