Best Tubes for a 1972 SVT?

jessemutz · #1 12-30-2011, 10:06 PM

I need all 6 power tubes replaced in my old SVT. Six 6550's aren't cheap, but I also don't really want to break the bank on this. A buddy of mine told me to try and snag some Tung Sol Reissues and 12ax7. To be honest I'm new to the world of tubes (and warm, rich, full sound) so any help is appreciated.

I play alternative rock like Muse, Incubus, Mutemath. I'd like to do more country and hip-hop as well if that makes a difference in tube selection.

Thanks!

spellcaster · #2 12-30-2011, 10:18 PM

+1 on the Tung Sol 6550's. They are working and sounding excellent in my 72.

JimmyM · #3 12-30-2011, 10:23 PM

Really doesn't matter the genre. Good sound is good sound. Ampeg's using JJ's in the Heritage SVT-CL and Sovteks in the regular SVT-CL and SVT-VR. Honestly, I think the Sovteks are fine, and they're cheap in comparison to the others.

ampegfuzz · #4 12-31-2011, 02:28 AM

Another +1 for tung sol's people like the winged c's too. I put a set of EHX 6550's in a CL for a guy didn't hear or tell a difference don't really know if that's a good or bad thing just FYI.

JimmyM · #5 12-31-2011, 02:36 AM

Power tubes generally don't make as much difference as pre tubes. Not that I can hear a difference between any of them

BTW, by Sovtek, I meant EHX...same company.

ampegfuzz · #6 12-31-2011, 02:39 AM

I think at the time and even now the EHX are the cheapest best bet. Per tube thought get some NOS

coreyfyfe · #7 12-31-2011, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

BTW, by Sovtek, I meant EHX...same company.

And tung-sol, svetlana, and mullard. They own all the names. I have winged c in my svt now and previously used them in my v4 and svt-cl. When I got my CL the bias lights were showing that one bank of tubes was not matched (stock svetlanas), I ended up just changing all the tubes to a matched set and not worrying about it. Since then I've been using winged c 6550s only (recommended by several techs I've used over the past few years) and had no issues with them. However, they went up in price massively in the past few years, so cheap they are not.

As jimmy said they're using all JJ tubes in the heritage svts and I've had decent luck with the JJ tubes I've used so those seem a viable option. Haven't tried the tung-sol reissue power tubes but their reissue 6sn7s are pretty decent.

Mr. Foxen · #8 12-31-2011, 07:48 AM

I've found Shuguang power valves to be really good, I only got them cause they were cheap, but I ditched the JJs in favour of them (KT88 though, in a Sound City). Not used EHX power valves, but have found the pre ones unreliable, duds from the box, so stopped using them.

Randyt · #9 12-31-2011, 08:22 AM

I buy all my tubes through the www.tubestore.com they have very good technical reviews and resonably priced...I have bought many tubes and their descriptions are very good...I usually call due to most of the reviews are designed for guitars.

rickdog · #10 12-31-2011, 10:07 AM

I don't think you'd go wrong with the Tung-sol reissues. A few months back I put a set in my 2003 CL. I haven't had any opportunity to really crank it up (got it all the way up to 3 on the master outdoors once, woo-hoo), but I've put some hours on it in low-volume practice, the bias is stable and it sounds good.

They replaced a worn-out set of Sovteks (which might have been the original set). I couldn't see any obvious difference between the internals of the Sovteks and Tung-sols, it's possible they're actually the same structure in different glass.