I am by no means an expert, but here are my experiences with tubes, used with a Mesa Boogie Buster, Fender Bassman 50, Ampeg B15, and a number of Genz Benz heads that use tubes...
For new tubes, I like thetubestore.com. They usually have good advice if you have an idea of what you want to accomplish, and have a good selection of tubes at reasonable prices. There are more places to get tubes than you might think, both new, NOS, and used. thetubedepot.com, and Euro Tubes both have good selections and reasonable prices as well. I've never dealt with either, but have heard lots of good things about both, and Bob at Euro Tubes is generally regarded as being very knowledgeable.
As a standard, cost efficient, and durable tube, I like the Tung Sol 12ax7 reissue. It works well in a number of different amps, and is relatively inexpensive at $15. A trio of these and a pair of TAD power tubes were the shizzle in my bassman amp, and Tung Sols were also my first call replacement for my GBE750 and 1200. They tended to be a little on the clean side of neutral and punchy, which seems to work best for my tone preferences.
As for the Streamliner, I have tried the following:
Phillips JAN 12ax7 NOS (early 80's)
- warm, clean, with a little aggression
Sylvania 3 Mica 5751 (1962)
- warm, low gain
Sylvania 3 Mica 12ax7 (early 60's, matched)
- warm and buttery
RCA 3 Mica 5814A (1958, matched)
- a little warm, very clean, very low gain
TungSol 12ax7
- somewhat neutral, clean
My preferred set up for the moment is the RCA 5814A tubes in V1 and V2and a Phillips JAN 12ax7 in V3. This group of tubes seems to give the best variety of available tone, and provides rock solid, tight, punchy, and deep bass. Frankly, I am surprised how good the Phillips tube sounds in the midrange socket - I figured one of the older Sylvania tubes would provide the warmth a signature vintage sound I was looking for, but the Phillips tube seems better at bringing out the specific mid voice of any given bass.
The 5814A tubes provide cleanliness and punch in V1 and V2. The low gain configuration allows the pre control to be turned up to maximize the signal from the instrument, and gives tight bass (as mentioned) and sweet top end.
I had a conversation via PM earlier on with either Hasbeen or Agedhorse (yet another reason to love GB), and the concern was that mixing and matching tubes with differing bandwiths and gain structures may have undesirable sonic effects (Andy, Roger, please jump in here if I'm getting this wrong). This seemed to be an issue with certain tube combinations, but it is likely just as dependent on bass and cab choice, as well as sonic preferences.
I would suggest trying to remember a couple of things...
1. I did not pay - and nor will you - mega bucks for any of these old tubes. $40 is about top end of what I laid out, and ebay is a pretty good source.
2. Changing tubes is fun if you're into it, and dead easy with a little care. Try to use an old t-shirt or something so as not to get finger grease on the tube.
3. Changing tubes is not necessary. The supplied Ruby tube is a proven, reliable, inexpensive, sonically viable, and easily obtainable tube. If it sounds good to you, why worry?
4. As has been stated before, this is a tube amp. There are 3 tubes in this thing, and you must get used to the fact that tubes will fail periodically, and will need replacement. Best to have some extras on hand, and know how to do the job so as not to get stuck unnecessarily with a non-functional amp. Just sayin'...
At the risk of repeating myself, I was excited about the prospect of being able to "tune" this amp for my own preferences. So far, I've enjoyed the experience, and am very happy with the sound I've been able to get. I think tube rolling is very much part of the fun with this amp, especially since preamp tubes are relatively inexpensive. Of course, YMMV.
yeah right.
