Ok, anybody else having this EI El84 problem?

doog · Post by **doog** » Sun 10/08/06 4:01 pm

Ok,

Is anybody else getting this weird thing happen to their EI EL84, the volume will cut in and out. Had this happen to 2 sets of EI El84's, not the golds, the regulars. I realllly dig the tone of them, but if they only last 3 months, jeez-louise.......

baron55 · Post by **baron55** » Sun 10/08/06 4:18 pm

That is the knock on the Ei Tubes, great sounding tubes, terrible reliability. Not too suprising. Where did you get them from. To get "good" Ei's, you have to get them tested and sorted out for all the problems they usually have.

what_wires · Post by **what_wires** » Sun 10/08/06 7:18 pm

I have all but given up on Ei's. For example, out of half a dozen 12AX7's, I threw away 5 of them. The EL84's aren't much better.

Post by **rjgtr** » Mon 10/09/06 9:51 am

I've actually had good luck with EL84s, but not with the 12ax7s. ALl the 12ax7s I have but one went microphonic.

novemberrain · Post by **novemberrain** » Mon 10/09/06 10:14 am

Just grab one of the less respected brands in NOS like Sylvania. Put paid to a couple myths, "NOS tubes cost too much"... yeah they do if you buy 'em from a ripoff vendor, shop around!

"Sylvania ain't Mullard or even RCA"... maybe true but back in the day they were probably the largest tube manufacturer in North America, anything with a 312 code on it is Sylvania. Got Magnavox? No you don't, they're probably Sylvania. Got Philco? No you don't, they're probably Sylvania. Got Emerson? No you don't, they're probably Sylvania.

Besides 6AQ5s the most common miniature audio output tube to find in an old caddy is the 6BQ5.

I see Sylvania EL84s that have burned all day every day every Sunday for forty years in church organ amps, betcha that adds up to more than a three month lifespan!

doog · Post by **doog** » Mon 10/09/06 11:14 am

Got em from my local tech. The 12ax7's we go thru to find a few that aren't microphonic. But I dig the tone of those more than your jj's, Nos Phillips, even some Mullards (at least the ones I have)! The EL84's have more bass response and seem louder than the JJ's and other similar construction tubes (Phillips, I think). But man, these go QUICK! I'd like to find something else in a NOS tube that sounds like them. Instead of JJ's (I used them before the EI's), I had good luck with NOS Jan Phillip's EL84's. They sound pretty similar, maybe a little more top end, but last a LOT longer.

Sylvania? I'll have to look into it.

Hey, thanx guys! This site is really great AND you get good advice, not like some other sites, like Harmony Central! Sheeez......

novemberrain · Post by **novemberrain** » Mon 10/09/06 12:43 pm

doog wrote:The EL84's have more bass response and seem louder than the JJ's and other similar construction tubes (Phillips, I think). But man, these go QUICK! I'd like to find something else in a NOS tube that sounds like them.

The sad but true fact about tubes is that often they'll sound the best for guitar amplifier applications when set up in a circuit that ignores accepted design maximums, apparently the EIs are at their limits under relatively conservative conditions. Sounds great but they melt!

The lesson to be learned here is that if you seek big fat "on the edge" tone just run your JJs or whatever at "on the edge" voltages and/or set up with "on the edge" bias and/or driving "on the edge" (usually low) loads. Betcha can get 'em to melt just as fast as yer EIs!

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Thu 10/12/06 1:13 pm

novemberrain wrote:
doog wrote:The EL84's have more bass response and seem louder than the JJ's and other similar construction tubes (Phillips, I think). But man, these go QUICK! I'd like to find something else in a NOS tube that sounds like them.
The sad but true fact about tubes is that often they'll sound the best for guitar amplifier applications when set up in a circuit that ignores accepted design maximums, apparently the EIs are at their limits under relatively conservative conditions. Sounds great but they melt!

The lesson to be learned here is that if you seek big fat "on the edge" tone just run your JJs or whatever at "on the edge" voltages and/or set up with "on the edge" bias and/or driving "on the edge" (usually low) loads. Betcha can get 'em to melt just as fast as yer EIs!

Send me a copy of the schmatic of your amp, and I can fix your "melt down" problem.

V/R
-g

ctams · Post by **ctams** » Thu 10/12/06 2:08 pm

Yes. I had one and it burned up in a week. It turns out (I'm told) that they had a run of el84s where they forgot to cure or do something to the filament and the entire batch burns up. They're not producing tubes any more. . . factory's shut down.

That tube was unmatched in tone. It was awesome.... for a week.

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Ok, anybody else having this EI El84 problem?

Ok, anybody else having this EI El84 problem?

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