Groove Tubes in Diezel VHX

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ryan T
  • Start date Start date
Ryan T

Ryan T

New member
Hi all,

I just got a new VHX several months ago. It came with EL34s because “I think” there was a shortage of KT77s during production at the time. Anyways, I have some quad matched Groove Tube 77s. But I don’t want to “cheapen” the amp if Groove Tubes would be undeserving to sit in a Diezel- know what I mean?

Any thoughts on Groove Tubes in a VHX?
 
Hi Ryan,

why bother with replacing tubes on a new amp? EL34s sound very good, IMO even better than KT77s.

Best regards
Markus
 
Last edited:
Just for variety really. Not to say the 34s are out. I was also under the impression Diezel was originally designed with 77s….and that 34s in this particular amp were back up.

Anyway, Groove Tubes?
 
Ryan T said:
Hi all,

I just got a new VHX several months ago. It came with EL34s because “I think” there was a shortage of KT77s during production at the time. Anyways, I have some quad matched Groove Tube 77s. But I don’t want to “cheapen” the amp if Groove Tubes would be undeserving to sit in a Diezel- know what I mean?

Any thoughts on Groove Tubes in a VHX?
Click to expand...
Groove Tubes are OK. I mean they are definitely reliable. Tonewise, they are OK. I pretty much always prefer NOS in most cases nowadays. Swapping my output tubes (and input) to NOS RCA, etc made a difference I was not prepared for.

The Groove Tubes will be fine but if you want something special, go down the NOS rabbit hole. I know a couple reliable sellers if you end up looking that way :)
 
Hard to say - unless you trace the GTs you are considering back to the original manufacturer. Groove Tubes buys, re-labels and then re-sells tubes from other manufacturers.

For example, many of Groove Tubes EL34s are mid-grade Chinese variants or (more recently) JJs. But for a short while in the mid-late 80s, they re-labeled a good sized lot of true brown base dual halo getter Tesla (not JJ) EL34s. (I have horded a matched quad and 3 matched pairs of these over the years.)

Can you post a pic of your GT KT77s to see if we can figure out where they originated?
 
KT77's are my favorite Power Tubes tubes. Love them in my VHX!
Just bias the amp to the GTs, and you'll be rockin!
 
FLUXX said:
KT77's are my favorite Power Tubes tubes. Love them in my VHX!
Just bias the amp to the GTs, and you'll be rockin!
Click to expand...
I thought EL-34 and 77s were straight swaps without biasing?
 
PDC said:
Hard to say - unless you trace the GTs you are considering back to the original manufacturer. Groove Tubes buys, re-labels and then re-sells tubes from other manufacturers.

For example, many of Groove Tubes EL34s are mid-grade Chinese variants or (more recently) JJs. But for a short while in the mid-late 80s, they re-labeled a good sized lot of true brown base dual halo getter Tesla (not JJ) EL34s. (I have horded a matched quad and 3 matched pairs of these over the years.)

Can you post a pic of your GT KT77s to see if we can figure out where they originated?
Click to expand...
View attachment IMG_7725.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7726.jpeg
    IMG_7726.jpeg
    2 MB · Views: 51
GuitarGuy08 said:
Groove Tubes are OK. I mean they are definitely reliable. Tonewise, they are OK. I pretty much always prefer NOS in most cases nowadays. Swapping my output tubes (and input) to NOS RCA, etc made a difference I was not prepared for.

The Groove Tubes will be fine but if you want something special, go down the NOS rabbit hole. I know a couple reliable sellers if you end up looking that way :)
Click to expand...
What reliable sellers do you know/recommend for tubes, NOS etc? Thanks in advance!

Steve
 
slevy008 said:
What reliable sellers do you know/recommend for tubes, NOS etc? Thanks in advance!

Steve
Click to expand...
Hey! CoolFactorAudio on Reverb sells fantastic sounding tubes. On ebay, I have used Michelle's tubes n more with success as well. Arizona tube supply was also decent source.
 
Last edited:
Ryan T said:
Just for variety really. Not to say the 34s are out. I was also under the impression Diezel was originally designed with 77s….and that 34s in this particular amp were back up.

Anyway, Groove Tubes?
Click to expand...
I always replace the kt77s with 6l6s in my diezels .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top