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Best 12ax7 tubes

#42
audiotubes had a nos sylvania 12ax7 for $21 last i looked.

i buy tubes from ebay sellers exclusively . i test everything when it ships to me . never got a bad deal .
check the seller... buy from one with a return policy
(most give 7 days money back) . check his feedback...

i've also sold many tubes on ebay (12au7,12ax7). my brother tested them first ,
with his Western electric mutual conductance tester ,
then in a HiWatt Custom 50 for microphonics...
i listed the results.....sold them at a fair price.
i think there's many others who are doing the same.

i'd rather
buy from a reputable ebay seller....than someone who just
has his own website.... where's the recourse there?

ebay has strict fraud policies,feedback, and buyer protection
policies. scammers don't stay around long.


i stay away from foreign sellers -- do you really think there's
a stockpile of vintage tubes in Hong Kong ? :D
 
#43
madmachinist said:
audiotubes had a nos sylvania 12ax7 for $21 last i looked.

i buy tubes from ebay sellers exclusively . i test everything when it ships to me . never got a bad deal .
check the seller... buy from one with a return policy
(most give 7 days money back) . check his feedback...

i've also sold many tubes on ebay (12au7,12ax7). my brother tested them first ,
with his Western electric mutual conductance tester ,
then in a HiWatt Custom 50 for microphonics...
i listed the results.....sold them at a fair price.
i think there's many others who are doing the same.

i'd rather
buy from a reputable ebay seller....than someone who just
has his own website.... where's the recourse there?

ebay has strict fraud policies,feedback, and buyer protection
policies. scammers don't stay around long.


i stay away from foreign sellers -- do you really think there's
a stockpile of vintage tubes in Hong Kong ? :D
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that there are dudes all over the world poorly screening Mullard sheilds, Tele boxes, etc. on cheap eastern European or Chinese tubes.
 
#44
BassmanPaul said:
JJ ECC83 is my choice.
Click to expand...

+ 1 to that, I've had nothing but completely reliable tubes from them. My friend has purchased and gone through Groove Tubes, Mesa, and EH in his Crate guitar amp, but the JJ's still stand. My Peavey with the original JJ's never gave me any issues, the fuse went out on the amp (as is common to the VB2) but the tubes were fine.
 
#46
BurningSkies said:
You've just told the OP that modern hybrids aren't high voltage and that the 12AX7 won't be driven to full advantage, but you want him to buy a Mullard over a 15$ modern replacement? :confused:
Click to expand...
Well I don't own any starved plate design tube pre amps.

I don't pay audio file prices, I buy military grade CV4004's
when they come up sometimes in EX Government sales.
:bassist:
PS You never know he might get an all tube head, then he has a spare for tube rolling ETC.
 
#48
Floyd Eye said:
Like I said on the other thread, if you have a SS amp with a single 12AX7 in the pre, it makes no difference what tube you use. I sure as **** wouldn't use a Ruby though.;)
Click to expand...

Really, why is that?
I had that name written down to replace my shuttle tube.
I read that it was a direct replacement?
Do you know if it is in the shuttle from factory?

:hmm:
 
#49
Bassdirty said:
Really, why is that?
I had that name written down to replace my shuttle tube.
I read that it was a direct replacement?
Do you know if it is in the shuttle from factory?
Click to expand...

Ruby just re-brands tubes made by other suppliers. If you're going to buy a Ruby, you might as well save your money and buy a JJ, SED, Sovtek/svetlana/EH, or chinese manufactured tube since that's all they are.

I think you or someone else mentioned a ruby 12AX7 going for $16 earlier, but this $13 ruby is just a re-branded version of this $9 JJ.
 
#50
My favorite 12AX7/ECC83 tubes are the vintage Mullard long plate D-getter ECC83, vintage Telefunken smooth gray plate ECC83, vintage Amperex Holland Bugle Boy ECC83, and RFT ECC83.

Among current production tubes, I like the J/J ECC803S.

I suggest buying 10 to 15 12AX7/ECC83 and trying all of them. Each tube has it's own voice and the results will be specific to the amp in which they're installed.
 
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#51
coreyfyfe said:
I think you or someone else mentioned a ruby 12AX7 going for $16 earlier, but this $13 ruby is just a re-branded version of this $9 JJ.
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Yeah, I mentioned it only cuz I read here somewhere that Ruby is what was in the shuttle from factory(Then again, internet knowledge can be..well you know.).I want to get a spare so Ive been lookin around.The 1st site I looked at it was like 16 I think.

Thanks for the tip.;)
 
#52
seansbrew said:
I've done this whole tube swapping thing with SWR amps and found that the differences between tubes, In SWR gear specifically, are minimal.

Keep in mind that tubes by themselves don't have an inherent quality of sound, but rather, are merely reactive to the equipment they are installed in.

Dont go spending tons of money on an old tubes just to find out that the differences are negligible.
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AwkwardLoudness said:
I suggest buying 10 to 15 12AX7/ECC83 and trying all of them. Each tube has it's own voice and the results will be specific to the amp in which they're installed.
Click to expand...

:hmm: so, do different tubes (pre amp) make a difference in Bass amps?
 
#54
Bassdirty said:
:hmm: so, do different tubes (pre amp) make a difference in Bass amps?
Click to expand...

IMO, the tube's purpose in the amp determines the recommended tube. 12AX7 tubes contain 2-triodes, or tube sections, in one bottle. One half of some single 12ax7 amps will be a combination (for example) of 1/2 gain, and 1/2 phase inverter.

I couldn't find a schematic for the OP's amp showing what the story is...

This is the leading question that helps some of us recommend one tube instead of another. :cool:
 
#55
Jim C said:
I rolled a number of different tubes in my SM400 (including some expensive German tubes) and there was very little if any difference in tone. You want durable and low microphonics. The original Groove Tube my amp came with still tests good as well!
Click to expand...

+1 at least....

Bassrobb said:
tung sol reissue, inexpensive,recently replaced the original ruby in my eden 800A and was pleasantly surprised that it did improve the sound quality
Click to expand...

I tried a bunch in my 800B, including new stuff, old stuff, vintage stuff.... 0% difference....absolutely NOTHING. I think you could put a strip of twisted up tinfoil in there and it would work just fine...

Floyd Eye said:
There is a huge difference in an actual tube amp. My '61 Fender Brown Deluxe has 3 12AX7s in the preamp and I roll around NOS Mullards, Bugle Boys, Telefunkens etc. all the time depending on what sound I'm after.

My point was that a solid state bass amp with a single 12ax7 in the pre is NOT a tube amp, will never sound like a tube amp and the tube you put in it will make very little difference ( if any) in tone. So you might as well just put a Sovtek or GT in it. I would never dream of putting either of those tubes in a vintage tube amp though.
Click to expand...

Floyd Eye said:
Like I said on the other thread, if you have a SS amp with a single 12AX7 in the pre, it makes no difference what tube you use. I sure as **** wouldn't use a Ruby though.;)
Click to expand...

True for MOST, but not all...my old Trace Elliot 1225V preamp was hugely sensitive to different tubes, you could really tell the character change in the preamp, and Mark Gooday even turned me on to trying different types of tubes (12AT7, 12AU7's, etc.) to get an entirely different gain structure on the amp. It was very impressive - it responded just like an old tube amp.

On my Evil Eden 800B, nothing, no change at all, and on my student's SWR Redhead, absolutely nothing, no change in sound or response with extensive tube swapping.

Cheers,
Cameron
 
#56
Which tube for KUSTOM DE300 HEAD and tell why you suggest it?
Here is shop page:
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I am playing Spector Rebop 5 string with EMG DC pups and 18V BTS electronic and I dont want to much distortion but more headroom.
Thank you for answers
 
#58
Hi,

On my Orange AD200 Mkiii, I settled for a combination of V1 Telefunken ribbed plate 12AX7, really transparent tube that helps the midrange to sound as it should be, plus very nice highs, and on V2 position, a Matsushita 45 deg getter 12AX7, that has this nice mid bass emphasis, usually called warm tube, as it is closely related to Mullard, due to using the same machinery. It does not sounds exactly the same as the Mullards, but it is a very nice tube and a real sleeper.

My amp also has a 12AT7 in the phase splitter position. Nice tube to play to also! Settled in here for a RCA black plate.

People also like to swap 5751s in place of the 12AX7s. They should give a cleaner, more refined sound but at cost of a lower gain.

Enjoy your tube rolling and post your impressions!

Best
Alex
 
#60
Floyd Eye said:
Ruby tubes are pure generic, Chinese crap.

Which means they would be fine for the OP's application. lol
Click to expand...
That may be, but I'll say this about them...I just rolled a bunch of different 12ax7's through V1 in my Heritage SVT-CL, and I thought the Ruby I had sounded identical to the JJ it came with. Ended up going with a NOS Raytheon because it was slightly brighter, but not at all by much. Easily could have been happy with the Ruby or the JJ. All the tubes I tried fell into a slightly brighter category or a slightly darker category. None were particularly unique, and you'd really have to listen closely to hear any differences.

However, I don't know if you saw the thread where JohnK tried different tubes in his SVT 7 Pro. He had some differences in the tubes he used, although I thought several sounded the same and the changes I could hear were quite subtle. That's a one tube preamp. Not all single tube pres use starved plate design.
 

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