Groove tube E34Ls New ones are different?

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SQUAREHEAD

SQUAREHEAD

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This has been my favourite 34 as far as ‘new production’ tubes go… But the last quartet I bought did not sound quite the same, I looked into the top section and the heat wings are now just a square little box, I just wondered if anyone else had noticed the difference in these tubes or if anyone else knows what’s going on? They look like they are still made in Slovakia, but the upper heat wings are no longer there…? Any of you guys know about a production change to these specific tubes?
I called and got basically no information from a guy who works for Fender (Fender now owns groove tubes…)

Here’s the old description of this tube…
—————————
EXCLUSIVE GT design. The heat wings attached to the plate give our version of the original EL34 15-20 percent more power. Interchanges in any EL34 application
and stays tight and robust all the way up to full power. Highly dynamic, big low end and runs cooler for longer life. Amazing headroom, killer tone and all of the great features and characteristics of the EL34 design.
Single E34L tube in “medium” power range.
Matched pair of E34L tubes in “medium” power range.
Matched quartet of E34L tubes in “medium” power range.
 
Hopefully these photos will show…
You see up top on top of the plates, right below the halo getter are the heat wings, The new version just has a small 3/4 Square thing...
Kind of like my head… ;)
 

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Yeah, I know… And I feel the same way napalm… But I just want a tube that sounds exactly like that one…
 
So I was looking into these not long ago as I used and liked them quite a bit in various Wizards years ago. I was talking to Greg from HiTest guitars about it and he says as far as any tubes currently made in Eastern bloc European countries go, he doesn't trust production specs to be the same from week to week, let alone from year to year. I see the change in construction you're talking about and it seems like a downgrade.

Now to find some NOS late 90's GTE34Ls :doh:
 
thegame":158503uh said:
So I was looking into these not long ago as I used and liked them quite a bit in various Wizards years ago. I was talking to Greg from HiTest guitars about it and he says as far as any tubes currently made in Eastern bloc European countries go, he doesn't trust production specs to be the same from week to week, let alone from year to year. I see the change in construction you're talking about and it seems like a downgrade.

Now to find some NOS late 90's GTE34Ls :doh:
Click to expand...

Are the late 90’s JJ E34L supposed to be better?
 
psychodave":ksq6c896 said:
thegame":ksq6c896 said:
So I was looking into these not long ago as I used and liked them quite a bit in various Wizards years ago. I was talking to Greg from HiTest guitars about it and he says as far as any tubes currently made in Eastern bloc European countries go, he doesn't trust production specs to be the same from week to week, let alone from year to year. I see the change in construction you're talking about and it seems like a downgrade.

Now to find some NOS late 90's GTE34Ls :doh:
Click to expand...

Are the late 90’s JJ E34L supposed to be better?
Click to expand...

This is going back 20 years now & my memory is a bit sketchy on this but IIRC, for these late 90's-early 00's tubes, the ones sold as JJ E34L were supposedly ones that failed to make the cut for the GT E34L. Same tubes, same factory but the JJs were the GT "rejects". Didn't pass GT's more rigorous screening. That is what Asshole Pitman said at the time as well as some accounts on various forums back then. Similar to how Mesa says they buy large batches and the rejects get sold by other distributors.

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if those JJ "rejects" are superior to today's JJs.

On a related note, if I could find one more matched sextet of RFT EL34s, I'd be set for life.
 
thegame":2llb6biz said:
psychodave":2llb6biz said:
thegame":2llb6biz said:
So I was looking into these not long ago as I used and liked them quite a bit in various Wizards years ago. I was talking to Greg from HiTest guitars about it and he says as far as any tubes currently made in Eastern bloc European countries go, he doesn't trust production specs to be the same from week to week, let alone from year to year. I see the change in construction you're talking about and it seems like a downgrade.

Now to find some NOS late 90's GTE34Ls :doh:
Click to expand...

Are the late 90’s JJ E34L supposed to be better?
Click to expand...

This is going back 20 years now & my memory is a bit sketchy on this but IIRC, for these late 90's-early 00's tubes, the ones sold as JJ E34L were supposedly ones that failed to make the cut for the GT E34L. Same tubes, same factory but the JJs were the GT "rejects". Didn't pass GT's more rigorous screening. That is what Asshole Pitman said at the time as well as some accounts on various forums back then. Similar to how Mesa says they buy large batches and the rejects get sold by other distributors.

That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if those JJ "rejects" are superior to today's JJs.

On a related note, if I could find one more matched sextet of RFT EL34s, I'd be set for life.
Click to expand...


I was curious because I have a quad of E34L’s I got from Eurotubes back in 2000. I use them as a test quad for amps when tinkering...simply because they are reliable. They might have 5 hours on them, if that.
 
What do you guys like in the newer EL34's? Right now I have some RI Mullards which sound pretty good but I have to admit, I am sort of becoming a 6CA7 guy. Dig those too and they are cheap.
 
Kapo_Polenton":18p937u5 said:
What do you guys like in the newer EL34's? Right now I have some RI Mullards which sound pretty good but I have to admit, I am sort of becoming a 6CA7 guy. Dig those too and they are cheap.
Click to expand...

I put JJ 6CA7's in my Triple XXX, and they sound beastly. But, I still prefer their KT77's over their E34L's, any day.
 
Shit, with tubes these days as long as they are reliable and don't sound like complete ass I'm good to go. I wanted 34's for my TVerb and didn't think twice about it. Just got the regular Mesa 34's and they sound fine. I'm too old to care anymore about nitpicking my way down the rabbit hole on AB testing etc. If the overall EQ and tone is there I'll turn some knobs. I do understand that some changes are not fixed by a knob twist, mushier low end, brittle or dull top end not necessarily helped with treble and presence adjustments. But...I also don't play anything I consider vintage and I could see those older amps being up a notch with similar glass to what they were built around.
 
He's referring to the GT EL34LS not the EL34L. In case there's any confusion. The LS has larger heat wings. I noticed a difference in tone at volume, in the Wizard MTL I had. More definition, 3D than regular JJs,
 
Racerxrated":1t33b6xb said:
He's referring to the GT EL34LS not the EL34L. In case there's any confusion. The LS has larger heat wings. I noticed a difference in tone at volume, in the Wizard MTL I had. More definition, 3D than regular JJs,
Click to expand...

Yes. :thumbsup:
 
Just speculating, perhaps GT did not wan't to (or could not) commit to the minimum order requirements for the custom tubes, and now they are just plain old JJ e34l ?
 
Exactly my thought… I talked to a fellow that worked for groove tubes for many years and he said that, ever since fender took over, quality control has gone downhill
 
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