Tung-Sol 12ax7

[sub]

I've tried about every new production 12AX7 tube out there in my tone quest

All the Sovtek flavors, JJ's, EH, Sino, Ei . . . Tung Sol has been the best performing and best sounding of all IMHO

I agree

[pylet2000]

I'll try and order a coupleof these TS RI this week and let you folks know what I find, it's always worth a shot. At least it isn't as much as the GT12AX7M.

[kyoungsteadt]

This price seems fair and there is some good tube info in the reviews.

http://thetubestore.com/tungsol.html?gc ... SQod0zexgw

Costs less here:

http://www.boiaudioworks.com/index.php?cPath=21

[koffee_iv]

I heard a marked difference first time I plugged one in, and have been hooked since.

Thats what I thought. I can't wait to try them in my Ampeg B-25 to see how it sounds.

I thought to put an 12AY7 in channel one for more clean volume and the TS in the hot channel two so it overdrives faster without the volume mismatching channel one and then using an A/B pedal to switch channels. That way we can switch from clean to grind without volume differential. Thats my thought anyway.

[liquidsuspension]

i really liked the first GT12AX7M i tried out, but it was one with balanced triodes. it was very articulate and clear. not a bit harsh. i later bought one that wasn't balanced, and it doesn't sound nearly as good.

[bentaro_rifferashi]

kofee_iv let me know what the TS 6550 tubes sound like in that ampeg. i've got an svt II from about 1978 and it had new svetlanas put in it about 4 years ago when it blew up. i'd like to re tube the power section but can't afford NOS as there are 6 of them! also, can you swap 12ax7 with 12au7 and 12at7 and 12ay7 without changing anything else? sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm very new to this.
Cheers
Ben

[tarzanalog]

kofee_iv let me know what the TS 6550 tubes sound like in that ampeg. i've got an svt II from about 1978 and it had new svetlanas put in it about 4 years ago when it blew up. i'd like to re tube the power section but can't afford NOS as there are 6 of them!

That was my dilemna. I used a matched sextet to retube my '73 SVT (only $200 for RI vs. $500 for NOS Tung Sols) and the tone was still there. I've been very happy with the purchase.

[koffee_iv]

kofee_iv let me know what the TS 6550 tubes sound like in that ampeg. i've got an svt II from about 1978 and it had new svetlanas put in it about 4 years ago when it blew up. i'd like to re tube the power section but can't afford NOS as there are 6 of them! also, can you swap 12ax7 with 12au7 and 12at7 and 12ay7 without changing anything else? sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm very new to this.
Cheers
Ben

I'll post the results of the TS 6550 tone taste when I get the cap job finished.

As far as I know in most applications that you can use a 12ax7 you can substitute a 12at7 or 12ay7. they have a good deal less gain than the 12ax7. I use an NOS RCA 12ay7 when recording where I want clean headroom but still a lot of presence. I don't know the technical reasons why those tubes are interchangable but I have it on good authority that they generally are.

[tarzanalog]

Not exactly true. I swapped the 12AX7 PI in my 36W for a 12AT7 thinking the same thing. It gave me more clean headroom at the expense of overall volume. I then read a post by Zaphod_Phil regarding another issue that a 5751 would bias closer to the 12AX7 than a 12AT7 while still being lower gain and it sounded like a better way to go. I found a NOS RCA 5751 I had that had balanced triodes and now I'm using that as the PI because it brought back the overall volume AND I still have more clean headroom than with a stock 12AX7.

YMMV.

[koffee_iv]

Not exactly true. I swapped the 12AX7 PI in my 36W for a 12AT7 thinking the same thing. It gave me more clean headroom at the expense of overall volume. I then read a post by Zaphod_Phil regarding another issue that a 5751 would bias closer to the 12AX7 than a 12AT7 while still being lower gain and it sounded like a better way to go. I found a NOS RCA 5751 I had that had balanced triodes and now I'm using that as the PI because it brought back the overall volume AND I still have more clean headroom than with a stock 12AX7.

YMMV.

To each his own. I just read your post so I had to go A/B it immediately since I'd not done a real side by side comparison before. I definitely could get more clean volume with the NOS RCA 12ay7 than with the TS 12ax7. I have a NOS GE 12at7 around here somewhere, but I don't use it since it was too bright/harsh sounding to me. I just figured it was the manufacture that I didn't like. I was going to keep an open mind on the tube until I tried different manufacturers.

Heh, as I was writing this I thought, by golly, I’m going to go try those 12at7’s out and see how they compare. I couldn’t find them! I must have thrown them out! I found the two Sovtek 12ax7WA I’d thought I threw away as unusable. Oh well. I didn’t care for those GE 12at7’s anyway. They were too bright for me.

[soulsamurai]

I put a TS 12ax7 in my VJ in place of the stock Chinese tube and it was much better sounding. Warmer & fuller to my ears with more harmonic detail and not as shrill. I'm very pleased with it.

[GUITARmole]

Opinions refelected below are just that, opinions, your results may vary Sometimes folks aren't too tickled with my opinions, I apologize in advance if I offend your obviously inferior ears... it's a joke, really.

My overall winner: JJ ECC803S, the new very long plate 12ax7. These are really good in V1, and I can almost use them interchangeably with old gray plate RCA's. Good tube.


JJ ECC83 and/or JJ ECC83S: This is also another case of an overstated tube. The guy from eurotubes does that a lot, and these are the crown jewels of that practice. This tube in both versions (tonally quite similar) are as exciting as the mid 90's Russian preamp tubes.
Rant over, sorry to those offended.

No offense here...my general opinons mirror yours. I tried the ECC83 and thought they sounded "OK" in my Marshall but terrible in my AC15. Do you agree with the Eurotubes opinion that the long plate JJ's can't be used in a combo amp? The Eurotubes guy is certainly friendly enough and personable but I find his opinions tend to sway towards the Metalhead side of the scale and don't always agree with mine. I'd like to try the longplate JJ ECC803S but was scared off due to the "not to be used in combos" comments.

[bentaro_rifferashi]

Why would you not use a particular valve in a combo? I don't get it. are they that sensitive to vibration? If its in a head its prolly sitting on top of more speakers in a cab getting tickled even more

[tarzanalog]

Why would you not use a particular valve in a combo? I don't get it. are they that sensitive to vibration? If its in a head its prolly sitting on top of more speakers in a cab getting tickled even more

longer plates = more prone to microphonics from vibration, yes.

You can combat that with silicone dampeners, though.

[Franky]

Not exactly true. I swapped the 12AX7 PI in my 36W for a 12AT7 thinking the same thing. It gave me more clean headroom at the expense of overall volume. I then read a post by Zaphod_Phil regarding another issue that a 5751 would bias closer to the 12AX7 than a 12AT7 while still being lower gain and it sounded like a better way to go. I found a NOS RCA 5751 I had that had balanced triodes and now I'm using that as the PI because it brought back the overall volume AND I still have more clean headroom than with a stock 12AX7.

YMMV.

I'm using GE5751 in V1 and it adds a new dimension to bass detail (I really like them!)! Moreover they cost about the same as the standard 12ax7 (in my local store).
They have lower gain then 12ax7 but still more than 12at7 (EI that I tested). Consequently you get a bit more clean headroom but not as much as a 12at7 provides (not tested in PI-position).
Concerning the sound I find that the 12at7(EI) sounds to thin for my taste and the GE5751 really full and fat .