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50w-100w Valve Owners Thread
- Thread starter faceinbass
- Start date
Mr. Foxen
Commercial User
Mr. Foxen
Commercial User
Yep, but one built for guitar, sort of, it has 'normal' and 'bright' inputs like an oldschool dual purpose.
Hmm. I don't think Jesus puts out.
LMAO! even better that "rust preacher" said it.
Valve Jr update; tube swap, part 2 - The JJ EL84 arrived this afternoon and was installed after dinner. And along with the new Tung-Sol 12AX7, the brittleness of the highs were gone, replaced with smooth warm goodness. I think I also noticed a little bit more mid harmonics, but I'm not positive on that part. Now, the more astute readers will notice that I'm using the past tense to describe all this. That's 'cause the goodness lasted about half an hour...I took a break to take the trash & recycling out to the bins (trash day is tomorrow) and when I went back to my practicing, I found that my new tube had fried. Dead as bin Laden. Charming. So now I get to see what Antique Electronic Supply's warranty policy is really like. Joy.
Interesting to hear about the JJ EL84's. I have a guitar combo (Mesa Nomad 45) that I never really liked that much because of the treble brittleness. The Mesa stock tubes (and replacements that I bought at the Mesa store in Hollywood) are Sovteks. I thought the speaker was the culprit, but maybe a tube swap would remedy this. On the other hand, I have a DIY AC-30 clone that has Sovteks and Celestions sound very yummy there. Tubes present an interesting world for us tinkerers.
All I can say is that I made my decisions on those specific tubes after listening to the clips I mentioned earlier (Invalid Link Removed) and reading tube reviews on The Tube Store's pages. I think the Tung-Sol had a bigger single impact on the tone in general, but the EL84 seemed to be the icing on the cake. What I'd planned to do, and will do when I get a replacement tube, is spend a Sunday afternoon swapping out each tube individually (including the original EHX 12AX7 and Sovtek EL84) to see/hear what change(s) happen with different combinations.
In the interest of total disclosure, note that I'm running a Rusty Box as a pre in front of the amp for tone shaping, which essentially makes the VJr a power amp. Note also that this is my first tube amp and it's all a learning experience for me.
UPDATE - I just now got off the phone with Invalid Link Removed, where I bought the blown-out EL84...after verifying my shipping address and asking what amp I stuck the tube in, Steve in sales said that a new tested tube will be on the way this afternoon, and to not bother sending the blown one back. Folks, THIS is service! AES now has a permanent customer here.
In the interest of total disclosure, note that I'm running a Rusty Box as a pre in front of the amp for tone shaping, which essentially makes the VJr a power amp. Note also that this is my first tube amp and it's all a learning experience for me.
UPDATE - I just now got off the phone with Invalid Link Removed, where I bought the blown-out EL84...after verifying my shipping address and asking what amp I stuck the tube in, Steve in sales said that a new tested tube will be on the way this afternoon, and to not bother sending the blown one back. Folks, THIS is service! AES now has a permanent customer here.
Wow, that's so cool. I hope this one is a working tube and you get what you paid for.
IMHO, that has more to do with the circuit than the tubes used
That is very much possible. The AC-30 clone I built is all point-to-point. Also, the 2x12 speakers are front-loaded to a sturdy piece of plywood, which I think makes up for much of the sound.
EDIT: What a revelation: I should get bass drivers on it so I could use it as a bass combo!!!
Well, you can't really compare the Treble Response on a AC30 clone Versus a Nomad 45 via Speakers and EL84's... when the circuits are totally different i'd imagine 
I have never had a Sovtek or EHX tube die on me, just wear out.
JJ? Yes, several have died a quick death. Boo.
JJ? Yes, several have died a quick death. Boo.
I wonder if that has anything to do with the JJ's allegedly being a higher quality (performance-/tone-wise) than either EHX or Sovtek.
I don't trust JJ valves.
And I have had more than one tech tell me they never see Sovteks die, they keep working until they wear out.
Now that it's too late (got the shipping confirm on my replacement tube last night), what would be a good sub for a JJ EL84?
OK, thanks. I may spend the next few months trying different tubes/combinations of tubes when extra pennies allow this, and I'll add that one to the list.
