18Watt.com

I have to agree with Heeby. A friend brought over a Marshall DSL 401. I dropped a few RCA's in it and it sounded good... different... smoother... not as marshall however. Put the JJ's back in and we smiled! He is not family so my mullards were not an option. Sorry, but I didn't want to put them in and then tell him that he can't have them. That would be cruel!

melodymaker; Understand ! Good luck

HeeBGB wrote:I have 3 or 4 RCA black plates that are VERY good. Not my fav in a Marshall but very good nonetheless.

Deadgame- did you email the Sarge about the tubes. Maybe he'll do something to help you ouy with those RCA's??

What do you mean? He may take them back and exchange them for something else? I dont think its that big of a set back so I'm not sweating it; it's my fault anyway I got what I ordered...

I was just trying to make the point that just because something is NOS doesnt mean it's automatically going to be better sounding than the new production units even if the model number is the same. Tastes vary and I can't afford most of the Mullard/Amperex type tubes; I thought about getting the teslas that everybody raves about since those dont seem too badly priced but I think next time I want to actually hear some of these amps in person that have the favorite NOS tubes installed before I plunk down money on these rare NOS tubes; I was not impressed.
thanks
Don

I don't know what the problem with NOS / good used is besides that some of you are buyin' em from dirtbags.

Here's what happens: Some Golden Ears hi-fi pervert spends $300 for a pair of Mullard, Telefunken or Amperex 12AX7s. Seems to me the Telefunkens are the flavor of the week mainly 'cuz that what's hot in Hong Kong, if it has that little diamond on the side it's worth the big bucks, right?!

So ol' Golden Ears has this big ol' cigar box full of 12AX7s. He digs through 'em, sticks 'em in 'is $70,000 super gold plated spent oh so much more than you can imagine to get that one percent extra hi-fi rig and sorts 'em into great, good enough and Hoover style suck categories. Obviously he's gonna hang on to the "great" ones but the ol' Hoover styles go right back on FleaBay, heck, with those gold pins and the original boxes they must be worth it, right?!

O.k., so you just spent Golden Ears hi-fi pervert money for tubes that sound like Hoover style suck. NOS sucks, right?

Well, I go out and beat the bushes for old caddies full of tubes, I buy a zillion old tape decks, I crack open all sorts or surplus crap and once the light scares the roaches away I see Mullards... and Telefunkens... and Bugle Boys... and RCA black plates... and more pedestrian stuff like '60s GE, Sylvania and Tung-Sol. Some is NOS, some is good used. It don't matter to me, by the time I sell off the extras 'cuz I got WAY more than I'll ever use it's all damn near FREE!

There are only a few types that I'm hoarding and here they are: I hang on to 5751s because they're not an everyday find in the gear I'm crackin' open. I hang on to Mullard EL34s 'cuz they kick ass and again, they're a rare find among my various sources, pretty much I have to buy a caddy and hope that pair in there actually matches! I'd like to get a good pair of Telefunken EL34s "just because". I hang on to Mullard 5AR4s 'cuz I dig 'em.

I actually paid money for 6CA4s the other day. I paid $3.00 each and they are NOS.

EL84s and 12AX7s? Heck, I get a ton of 'em an I got a ton of 'em! I'd just about give 'em away except once word got out I'd have a damn rut beat to my door that looks like the Grand Canyon!

novemberrain wrote:
There are only a few types that I'm hoarding and here they are: I hang on to 5751s because they're not an everyday find...I hang on to Mullard EL34s 'cuz they kick ass...I'd like to get a good pair of Telefunken EL34s "just because". I hang on to Mullard 5AR4s 'cuz I dig 'em.
I actually paid money for 6CA4s the other day. I paid $3.00 each and they are NOS.

I'm so with you!
I don't know why those Mullard GZ34's are so attractive, but I get silly whenever I can add another one to tha stash. My favorite lately, that I'm just getting rabid over are the GE6BQ5's...they sound so damn good in the stuff I'm making...especially single ended screamers.

Anyway to add to this post, as far as new production goes, for an 18 watt, I am liking the tung-sol 12ax7's and still haven't found anything to replace those JJ el84's

There just aren't that many choices.