JLH Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 New guy here, I just bought a Valve Jr., Installed a BitMo Trio mod, looking to do a tube swap, whats the best ????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cGil Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 New guy here' date=' I just bought a Valve Jr., Installed a BitMo Trio mod, looking to do a tube swap, whats the best ?????[/quote'] JJ's are generally considered the best of the modern production el84's. The JJ 12ax7 are good, but I've been hearing a lot of positive reviews on the modern production Tung-Sol 12ax7. While you're shopping for tubes, try to find a 5751. They're a lot smoother when overdriven and a little brighter sounding than most 12ax7's. Gil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLH Posted July 5, 2008 Author Share Posted July 5, 2008 is a 5751 a preamp tube ??????, does JJ make one, Do you have a Jr. and if so what are you running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLH Posted July 5, 2008 Author Share Posted July 5, 2008 Any one trying out NOS tubes for the Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cGil Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Any one trying out NOS tubes for the Jr. Well, for what it's worth, I've a couple old Sylvania 5751s in two of my five VJrs, if that means anything to ya. The 5751 is directly swappable with a 12ax7. Just plug it in and enjoy. As far as NOS power tubes go, I wouldn't recommend wasting them on a VJr until the power supply and bias is adjusted so it won't burn through them like expensive candy. Gil... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-theory Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 If you're going to go the NOS route, take care to buy from a reputable dealer that thoroughly tests and grades each tube. Just because a tube is old and has a favorable brand name doesn't mean it's necessarily "awesome." Even tubes that have never been used can become gassy sitting on the shelf, and you have no clue about the conductance or gain characteristics of a given tube by looking at it. You're far better off spending the extra cash to KNOW that you've got decent tubes than to just throw money around at every Ebay ad that looks inticing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Lister Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 If you're going to go the NOS route' date=' take care to buy from a reputable dealer that thoroughly tests and grades each tube. Just because a tube is old and has a favorable brand name doesn't mean it's necessarily "awesome."[/quote'] Absolutely +1 to that! I waited years to buy a tube amp, in large part due to bad experiences a couple of friends had putting expensive, but untested/unreliable, NOS tubes in their vintage gear chasing a tone grail (or tail?). I'm very skeptical about the whole NOS mystique thing (and there are many more 'expert' than I who share that view). Back when NOS was NEW, significantly high manufacturing tolerances (i.e. variations tube-for-tube) caused by non-computerized (less sophisticated) machinery, meant that even within a given brand there was propensity for significant tonal difference between any 2 tubes of the same part number -- hence the need arose for testing/matching for certain applications. But since VJr. has given poor players a high-end tube tone platform w/o a high-end price -- an amp that loves to rock with cheapo 12AX7s & EL84s -- why even bother with $$$NO$? Simply put, VJr. is great, it is capable of many tonal variations, but it'll never be a Dumble Overdrive Special or a '68 Marshall JTM45 or a '64 blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, etcetera regardless of what tube you plug in it. JLH -- Welcome to the forum! CGIL's recommendations for tubes are working great for many of us. I use the Tung Sol reisssue 12AX7/ECC803S gold pin and JJ EL84. Good clean headroom up to around 11 - crunch saturation to 2 - nice usable distortion to all out. Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on:-" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rybass Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 I'm a big fan of TAD's el84. They seem to give a nice round bottom to the sound. May not work as well if your VJ and speaker combo is a alittle dark but mine was bright after I installed the bitmo mods and the TAD fattened it up and tamed the highend. Tung Sol is my choice for 12ax7 nice distortion and doesn't fuzz up with booster pedals. I honestly don't like JJ's for power tubes. They have a honky tone to me and I've blown one in my VJ and a couple in my gibbie GA-30 so I can't say I thin they are reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.