Pete Thorns 12ax7 shootout

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I have a huge stock of NOS/ANOS Blackburn Mullard & Amperex pre's.
I have used them in Marshalls & Boogies for years.
Power tubes i use Russian EL-34's & old Phillips 6l6's.
In da 80's i don't know what i used cuz i was intoxcated alot but it sounded good.
 
Unless the tubes have all been tested to determine gain and transconductance it’s just a time waster. I can pull two Ei tubes... one with low gain and transconductance and another with high gain and transconductance and they will certainly affect the amp differently.
 
It was cool to hear them all, I liked the Brimar and the EH7025, I was surprised the RFT didn't sound as harsh in V1 as the ones I have.
 
I have a bunch of NOS tubes and the new Gold Lions smoked the majority of them.
Another problem are the NOS tubes seller on the internet to trust.
So now, I do not waste time and money anymore and buy just the GL.
 
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Better have a real good audio setup like Pete says...iPhone..Android, iPad, tablet...you're kidding yourself. I use an old Altec system with a nice subwoofer and 4" satellites. Plenty of definition...or go for good headphones, otherwise, you're wasting your time. Pretty sure two of the tubes in the video are some I brought to Pete in April...hope everyone gets something out of it!
 
psychodave said:
Unless the tubes have all been tested to determine gain and transconductance it’s just a time waster. I can pull two Ei tubes... one with low gain and transconductance and another with high gain and transconductance and they will certainly affect the amp differently.
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At best testing gives you a heads up which ones are stronger & which ones will likely crap out or bad altogether.
Its not like you can't just mix & match swapping in the amp but its nice not to have a tube problem in the middle of a show.
 
turtlefingers said:
I have a bunch of NOS tubes and the new Gold Lions smoked the majority of them.
Another problem are the NOS tubes seller on the internet to trust.
So now, I do not waste time and money anymore and buy just the GL.
Click to expand...
Are you talking preamp or power tubes ?
 
Cool vid. Tubes can fine tune an already great sounding amp. It the amp is inherently crappy sounding, no tube is going to make it better...
 
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Scumback Speakers said:
Testing a tube tells you if it's healthy, doesn't tell you about the tone until it's in the amp. Sure, I've got a tube tester, but the real test is in the amp with your ears.
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Of course, but it can make a big difference. For example, Larry from Larry amps was here discussing using long plate tubes with high transconductance in the phase inverter of amps. The high TC really drives the power tubes. I sent though a bunch of long plate Ei’s I had (I have like 50+) and found some that were exceptionally high. I put them in each of my high gain amps and was pretty shocked at what I heard. In one case the TC from the current tube to the new one was 20%. I heard a nice difference. It would have taken a long time to try out each tube to determine how it sounded... even then my ears get fatigued.
 
I love all these vids. After years of tube rolling, my favorite 12AX7s are the Genalex Gold Lion and the EH Gold. I find both variants to be equally quiet. To my ear, with my gear, the Genalex is warmer and darker and the EH is a bit brighter with a touch more ‘sizzle.’ I love them both in different amps and different applications.
 
psychodave said:
Of course, but it can make a big difference. For example, Larry from Larry amps was here discussing using long plate tubes with high transconductance in the phase inverter of amps. The high TC really drives the power tubes. I sent though a bunch of long plate Ei’s I had (I have like 50+) and found some that were exceptionally high. I put them in each of my high gain amps and was pretty shocked at what I heard. In one case the TC from the current tube to the new one was 20%. I heard a nice difference. It would have taken a long time to try out each tube to determine how it sounded... even then my ears get fatigued.
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Don't know man. Ive tried 5757/12AT7 and others in Boogies & Marshalls but i find the best PI results are from a plain old Mullard Blackburn ECC-83 testing good but certainly not new.
Just slams the power section with that Kerrang.
And the bling about "balanced PI" i put in the same category as "matched tubes".
Its not crucial but all subjective.
My ears are the guides.
 
turtlefingers said:
I have a bunch of NOS tubes and the new Gold Lions smoked the majority of them.
Another problem are the NOS tubes seller on the internet to trust.
So now, I do not waste time and money anymore and buy just the GL.
Click to expand...
Good to know. Never tried the new Gold Lions.
 
Are the Gold Lions an actual different design than the New Sensor Mullards? I was under the impression the Gold Lions are to NS Mullars like EH Gold are to plain EH or Tung Sold gold to plain TS.

I have a Gold Lion CV4004 in my EVH and it actually sounds REALLY close to some Mullard CV4004's I have.

Man, I dig those Mullards, BTW. The CV4004's. The ECC83's are just a microphonic mess.
 
Rex Rocker said:
Are the Gold Lions an actual different design than the New Sensor Mullards? I was under the impression the Gold Lions are to NS Mullars like EH Gold are to plain EH or Tung Sold gold to plain TS.

I have a Gold Lion CV4004 in my EVH and it actually sounds REALLY close to some Mullard CV4004's I have.

Man, I dig those Mullards, BTW. The CV4004's. The ECC83's are just a microphonic mess.
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All the new Russian stuff is pretty much just New Sensor.
Marketing like "high gain" & "gold pins" are just that, marketing.
 
Cool video. The point is tubes will alter tone, feel, and noise levels of your amps. Do gain, mu, and balancing matter?; Absolutely. I know Allan at Carol amps used to mismatch his tubes with a big tilt on one triode in certain slots and said that optimized his tone.
When I got a Triptik, I remember V1 had 1050 micromhos on one triode and 1550 on the other. Phase inverter tube type and balancing makes a difference also. Most of us don't get into it that deep. Others enjoy the tweaking. For guitar I mostly enjoy the gray short plate Mullards in V1 and Rosnov Tesla E83cc (silver pins if you can find them), in a couple other slots.The Teslas always test 1600 plus, but Mullards are tough to find with good test results. EI is my favorite PI. (JJ long plates when I run out of EI's) .
 
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