Riffster Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 The EL84's in my Mesa are going out, at least one of the two is. I went to the Mesa dealer in town and got Mesa tubes, matched, Russian made. Basically I wanted to keep the same sound since I am very happy with it. I thought I was on the right track. Got the tubes and they sounded glassy and bright on the clean and harsh and un-mellowable on the overdrive, yikes! I inspect the labels and see there a color code, the originals in my Mesa are stamped "Wht" for white and the new ones I got are matched "Blu" for blue, physically they look exactly the same (definitely Sovteks) Come to find out they test tubes and I guess grade them based on the tubes characteristics and there are like 5 or 6 grades (colors in this case), holy cow!! we are talking one single brand of tubes that can come in 5 or 6 voicings (if you wanna call it that) and these are the tubes that make it on the testing I wonder how many don't. The guy at the store tells me Mesa is starting to use JJ's now. Dang, long story short I got JJ's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 JJs are the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 mmmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 My Orange came with JJ's...Its all I use now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 JJs are the way to go. For the most part, never let one go out on you, they don't go quietly. My point is that every tube is different, even if it is the same brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vourot Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Check these guys out . They do a fantastic job. They ship fast too. Its the best tube site I have run across. http://thetubestore.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 I don't like JJ's. There ya go..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 JJ's are good all around but they are not the best. The amp matters a lot too. I just installed them and they get me about 90% there. The tubes that my Mesa came with sounded awesome, still do but they start crackling after 30 minutes. I replaced JJs with Tung Sol on the preamp and the Tung Sol wins hands down, at least on that amp. The issue I see with EL84's is that options are limited, for instance neither Svetlana or Tung Sol seem to offer them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 Check these guys out . They do a fantastic job. They ship fast too. Its the best tube site I have run across. http://thetubestore.com/ Oh there you go, thanks, it looks like Electro-Harmonix is making El84s. I may order a pair just to try them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Check these guys out . They do a fantastic job. They ship fast too. Its the best tube site I have run across. http://thetubestore.com/ Man ever since a guy at the vintage amp forum recomended them I buy only from them, and I only buy JJs. They even give matched quads or pairs for no extra charge (or at least they did last time I bought from them) and if they can get a box full of tubes down to this hellhole then they can get tubes anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameslucascalvert Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 I always order from eurotubes.com. I've always gotten great JJ's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 Well, the JJs did get better after playing for an hour, good enough replacement. I do want to try the Electro-Harmonix verison of EL84s, see what's up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 Well, the JJs did get better after playing for an hour, good enough replacement. I do want to try the Electro-Harmonix verison of EL84s, see what's up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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