What tubes should I use for my SVTII (Non-Pro)

[dwwiese]

So it's high time I replaced the tubes in my SVTII, and I was wondering what tubes I should get. I use JJ's in an old Silvertone 1485 and they've been spectacular. Ampeg (or actually Loud Tech.) actually recommended SED tubes, but then Ampeg put these in that Heritage series SVT head, and they don't seem to be available to us common folk.

I'm trying to keep the cost down as well, and have found some JJ's that are cheaper than Sovtek, which I've had in this head for more years than I really want to admit. E-H seems fairly reasonable price-wise as well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[JimmyM]

they're no longer as available to ampeg, either...they switched to jj 6550's for that reason.

if you absolutely have to replace the tubes, that's probably what i'd try...never used them before, but if the heritage shop is using them, they must be pretty good. still, i believe in keeping tubes until they're gone...have you had them tested? could it be just that your head needs biased? i'd rather get the tubes tested than replace good ones that could just need tweaking.

[dwwiese]

The head is actually sounding quite dead. The tubes in there are over a decade old, and I find myself using the bright switch, which I never used before. I think it's just high time I replace the tubes, as I've been using this as my primary amp for the last 3 years now.

Thanks for the info, I was curious about the availability of Winged C's to Ampeg.

[NKBassman]

I wanted Winged Cs but couldn't find them, and ended up putting JJs in my 2-PRO. I have no basis for comparison, but now that I've finally got that head all tuned up it's sounding pretty damn good.