Chinese EL34 dying on me

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steppenwolf3080

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Hi guys!
My Einstein made some weird noises and it turned out to be a defective power tube. I used them for around 6 months, but not on a daily basis...
I had trouble with my first quad of tubes in that amp, too and they also were from Chinese production.

Did you also notice quality issues on those tubes?
For me, the quality and reliability of a tube is even more important then the sound because I just can't afford a back-up amp for live gigs...
Maybe I'll try the E34L JJ now...
Best,
Stefana
 
JJ's are a good choice for reliable tubes. I prefer the SED or Ruby EL34 as compared to the JJ in the Diezels. All JJ's you will find to be pretty tight from top to bottom.

Steve
 
I know there are alot of threads on different tubes, but since you guys seems to have a little experience in comparison among the different tubes, how would you compare them to each other?

Thx dudes!
 
Duolos":1rh7lfoa said:
The JJ tube is a very dependable tube. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Yeh, JJ is dynomite!

goodtimes6.jpg
 
Cool, I also thought of those JJs. I have heard them all soundwise, but couldn't really tell, which ones are best in quality...
Have a great day,
Stefan
 
It all depends on your dealer/seller. Shuguang/Rubys do sound very good IMO, but a higher percentage is just crap, so either your seller selects in a good way (20% good, 80% trash bin) or he seels even the not so good ones. Thats why the reputation suffers a bit.

Peter on the other hand loved the sound but cannot afford to trash 90% of his tubes. Thats why he switched over to JJs, which seem to have a better good/bad ratio.
 
Interesting!

The set that came with the amp was also a chinese quad and were matched by TAD. Those those tubes were dangerously mismatched. The reading on my meter said 65mA for the pair but one passed some 15mA and the other around 50mA. No wonder that one turned red...
Of course, Peter send me a brand new quad that worked perfectly.
I have made some bad experiances with TAD especially when it comes to BIAS matching (and the price... ;) )...
My dealer of trust has always been Dirk at Tube-Town. I've never had any issues with his tubes...
Long story short, let's give the JJs a try!
Best,
Stefan
 
I have had good luck with JJs too, both my Bogners are equipped with JJs, no problems.
 
Another thing to really consider is that no two tubes are the same. Unfortunately, that fact makes comparisons a challenge in some ways. My personal mindset has always been if it sounds good, leave it alone. It is very posible that if you lose track of what tubes you are swapping in each spot that you could lose the good sound you had in search for an even better sound....lol. To me, it is not worth it. if I like it, I roll with it until next time. Otherwise you waste your life away switching tubes and never playing guitar :D
 
Duolos":3fheuddr said:
Another thing to really consider is that no two tubes are the same. Unfortunately, that fact makes comparisons a challenge in some ways. My personal mindset has always been if it sounds good, leave it alone. It is very posible that if you lose track of what tubes you are swapping in each spot that you could lose the good sound you had in search for an even better sound....lol. To me, it is not worth it. if I like it, I roll with it until next time. Otherwise you waste your life away switching tubes and never playing guitar :D
Click to expand...

Amen to that. ;)
 
Hmm, my TAD EL34s died pretty quickly in my new Einstein. Are these Chinese?
 
Im sorry to say but a lot of "Diezel issues" threads
beeing caused by EL34B-STR. So bad tubes gave
us a bad call.

We used the tube over a decade but at least more than
30% didn´t survive our test managment.

I would like to use them because it´s a good sounding tube
and I hope the manufactures and distributors will understand
my experience and honest opinion.

A very reliable tube is the EL34-SED.

Next is the E34L-JJ. Good sounding but also causing minor troubles.

I try to use E34LS Teslovak next year. It´s similar to the
E34L but more reliable and better construction.

6L6 types causing less troubles in average use but it´s
not my cup of tea.

Peace,

Peter
 
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