Power Tubes Recommendations

  • Thread starter Thread starter Junk Yard Dog
  • Start date Start date
Anyone try any of the new production Svetlana El34 or Mullards EL34?
 
I have Svetlana EL34L's in mine right now and like them well enough. Sound similar to JJs to me, unless it is my mind playing tricks on me. The Mullards that were in my amp when I bought it used still work fine and I believe they were new production.

I can't give you detailed differences in these though - you will get a lot more responses if you post in main forum :dunno:
 
311splawndude said:
I have Svetlana EL34L's in mine right now and like them well enough. Sound similar to JJs to me, unless it is my mind playing tricks on me. The Mullards that were in my amp when I bought it used still work fine and I believe they were new production.

I can't give you detailed differences in these though - you will get a lot more responses if you post in main forum :dunno:
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thanks 311.. I reached out to Scott and he said he's now using PSVANE EL34C and JJ Pres in his amps. I am curious about those PSVANEs now. haha
 
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Bash_Man said:
thanks 311.. I reached out to Scott and he said he's now using PSVANE EL34C and JJ Pres in his amps. I am curious about those PSVANEs now. haha
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I went with the Psvanes in my QR 100. When re tubing about 1 year ago, I contacted Scott and he also recommended the Psvanes to me. I think they sound great. Last week I replaced all my OG preamp tubes with jj's and I think they add a bit sizzle and a bit of sustain over the OG tubes the head shipped with. Perhaps its just that they aren't tired old tubes(mine were 6 years old, and one went microphonic). But honestly, My amp has never sounded better.
 
ZeroFiveFour said:
I went with the Psvanes in my QR 100. When re tubing about 1 year ago, I contacted Scott and he also recommended the Psvanes to me. I think they sound great. Last week I replaced all my OG preamp tubes with jj's and I think they add a bit sizzle and a bit of sustain over the OG tubes the head shipped with. Perhaps its just that they aren't tired old tubes(mine were 6 years old, and one went microphonic). But honestly, My amp has never sounded better.
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Any chance you can compare the PSVANE EL34s to the JJs?
 
311splawndude said:
Wow, never heard of them :dunno:

I've been running JJ's for awhile now. I don't understand all the hate they get.
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Yeah same in my 2010 Super Stock, a set of JJs in the power amp after Rubies in the preamp a few years before really opened it up. It's maybe a touch more gainy than it was before, but it definitely affected the dynamic response and tightened the lower mids up.
It's a pretty transparent amp, so little changes are really noticeable.
 
Bash_Man said:
Any chance you can compare the PSVANE EL34s to the JJs?
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I have only ever had the OG power tubes that shipped in my New QR in 2017 and the Psvanes that I have now, as recommneded by Scott. It's been a while since I replaced them, so any memory would be less than accurate. I can tell you that, I do recall right after swapping the Power tubes in the amp I was able to dial in any sound I was previously able to achieve with the OG tubes. I do run jj Preamp tubes now, and tbh, I like them better than what was in the Head originally, at least for my purposes. I run my amp in gear 1 most of the time, and use the New/OLD switch set to New, and the mid switch set to off. Sometimes I run gear 2 or 3, for some serious hair, but mostly just gear 1 and roll back for cleans. Using Suhr Mini Mix 2 and a TC g Major 2 inside the effects loop, with the effects kill dry on. Sounds amazing.
 
Perko said:
Yeah same in my 2010 Super Stock, a set of JJs in the power amp after Rubies in the preamp a few years before really opened it up. It's maybe a touch more gainy than it was before, but it definitely affected the dynamic response and tightened the lower mids up.
It's a pretty transparent amp, so little changes are really noticeable.
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Yep - that was my experience and welcome to Rig-Talk. Come on in and grab a beer. :cheers:
 
311splawndude said:
I have Svetlana EL34L's in mine right now and like them well enough. Sound similar to JJs to me, unless it is my mind playing tricks on me. The Mullards that were in my amp when I bought it used still work fine and I believe they were new production.

I can't give you detailed differences in these though - you will get a lot more responses if you post in main forum :dunno:
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Svetlanas brighter or darker? (if you formed an opinion)

I'd be curious... Always heard/read the "JJ's are Dark" thing and in my experience the Svetlanas seemed pretty balanced if not on the brighter side last I heard a set.
 
reignman454 said:
Svetlanas brighter or darker? (if you formed an opinion)

I'd be curious... Always heard/read the "JJ's are Dark" thing and in my experience the Svetlanas seemed pretty balanced if not on the brighter side last I heard a set.
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Definitely not bright to my ears. I think that would jump out at me. Close to JJs to my ears. These anyway. Balanced is probably a goodterm.
 
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Hey guys,
Any idea what's required to be modded or changed on the EL34 Nitro if I wanted to try KT88s in there ? And do I have to undo those changes if I want to go back to EL34s or can I keep the changes ?

Thanks
 
Bash_Man said:
Hey guys,
Any idea what's required to be modded or changed on the EL34 Nitro if I wanted to try KT88s in there ? And do I have to undo those changes if I want to go back to EL34s or can I keep the changes ?

Thanks
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I had Scott do this to mine, along with adding the "fully loaded" mods to my Nitro. Worst mistake I ever made, the amp just wasn't the same and I ended up getting rid of it shortly after. But, if memory serves.. There had to be a resistor change to get it to bias up and I had to take it to my amp guy to put it back to EL34's. But, even then it wasn't the same amp. Probably had more to do with the "fully loaded" mods changing it, but I wish I had never done it. I also remember something about Scott asking me what transformers it had in it before I sent it to him, he needed to make sure that the tranny's that were in it would work for the swap. If you're serious about doing this, I would just call Scott and ask him. He would be able to tell you if it's a good candidate.
 
There is a thread on this resistor mod if I can find it.


reverse engineer from here....otherwise there is a thread on the splawn proboard forums


War_in_D said:
I had Scott do this to mine, along with adding the "fully loaded" mods to my Nitro. Worst mistake I ever made, the amp just wasn't the same and I ended up getting rid of it shortly after. But, if memory serves.. There had to be a resistor change to get it to bias up and I had to take it to my amp guy to put it back to EL34's. But, even then it wasn't the same amp. Probably had more to do with the "fully loaded" mods changing it, but I wish I had never done it. I also remember something about Scott asking me what transformers it had in it before I sent it to him, he needed to make sure that the tranny's that were in it would work for the swap. If you're serious about doing this, I would just call Scott and ask him. He would be able to tell you if it's a good candidate.
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That's solid.
 
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Any thoughts or opinions on the Tungsol EL34B power tubes in a Splawn?
 
Letting you guys know I ordered a matched pair of the PSvane EL34C that Scott Splawn recommended and said he's using in all the amps he makes now.

Very curious about them.
 
Bash_Man said:
Letting you guys know I ordered a matched pair of the PSvane EL34C that Scott Splawn recommended and said he's using in all the amps he makes now.

Very curious about them.
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I will be curious. I know nothing about them.
 
311splawndude said:
I will be curious. I know nothing about them.
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So I retubed the Nitro with the matched pair of PSvane EL34C. This is replacing the pair of JJ EL34II. First thing I noticed is the amp brightened up a bit, but not in a "put your treble up".. Just sounds clearer. Also noted more focused mids in the sound, giving it that "woody" type tone. Again, kinda hard to explain.

They sort of removed that boomy low end as well. Less scoopy sounding.

The PSvanes seem to bring out a bit more of that "dry" sound, the single notes stick out.

Overall very happy with them so far.

Cheers
 
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