Rebel 30 head giving some NOS 12AX7s

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I've swapped that tube once. It had a blank 12ax7 in it. I think it was a Chinese tube. I popped a left over Mesa Russian 12AX7A (the spare that comes in the Boogie Mark amps on the clip inside). I didn't really notice much of a change. Any suggestions? I certainly have plenty of choices now. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking a JJ ECC803S.

I love the Valvulator's regulated power distribution and it's signal splitting function. Most of my effects now are true bypass. I run the Chorus and Delay through the loop. However, when I was in my "find the perfect overdrive pedal" OCD phase, the valvulator came in very handy in keeping the signal strong and clear through a long chain of old effects.
 
I envy the NOS tubes but all my auction wins bought me noisy weak tubes that didnt have even New production gain or tone.
Ive read some of these NOS 12ax7 just bloom the notes and new production lack this ?
I see the Socketts are V1 and V3 tubes are the clean channel.
The V1 &V2 are the OD channel 2.
Finnaly the effects loop is V4 a/b .
So that helps.
If i didnt remember correctly Egnator has the info on there web site.
They didnt number the tubes L-R as is easy ,but according the signal circuit.
 
Its getting harder and harder to find a reliable source for good NOS tubes. I found a place out of state (not through auctions) that resells NOS tubes most of which are not even for audio purposes. None the less, they have an audio tube specialist on staff and he really knows his stuff. He builds tube amps as well.

The special deals come from knowing and buying off label stuff that is authentic. A perfect example.... I picked up a Mullard 6681 (mobile, industrial version of 12AX7). The label is Motorola. However, it has "made in Great Britain" written across the bottom along with the follow numbers etched in at the bottom...

1 6 3
B 6 F 4

It even has the seem on the top of the tube. This is an industrialized Mullard 6681 version 3 made in 1976 on the fourth week of June at the Blackburn factory in Great Britain.

If I didn't know this, I would have thought its some little old and cheap Motorola 12AX7 that I had never heard of before. However, I was able to pick it up (and three others) at a very good price. The sound is awesome in my amps and, so far, they are dead silent. They came new in the original boxes and have almost perfect etching. They just don't say Mullard anywhere on them. Consequently, the "collectors/investors" out there are not interested in them. They are a treasure for guitar purists. :)
 
You found a good honest fellow to buy from.
I also feel better about spending $140.00 on the retubing, my R30 came with ruby tubes.
I read reviews of many owners and tube sellers , and there testing new tubes.
The gold pin types do seem tested more even though plating does nothing but indicate it was tested a little better than mediocre!
Of those the Genalex and Tungsol sounded the best to my ears.IMHO
The EH are over due for improvement , new sensor has the equipment to make changes now.
The future holds promise as fused coatings like ceramic and thorium cathodes gets better and designs are tested.
If you have a dark sounding amp the new EH 12ax7 can brighten up the highs ,so they do well in some amps .
Still a far cry from NOS tubes.
 
It's Father's Day. Consequently, my family allowed me to lock myself up in my studio to play my guitar for most of the day. I have acquired several NOS preamp tubes over the past month and here is my summary from today playing through the Egnater Rebel 30 head and 112x Cab and also a Boogie Mark IV combo:

NOS Mullard made in Blackburn GB: smooth breakup, best harmonic overtones and sustain. Stong mids, tight bass, rolled off highs.  This tube sings but varies slightly from tube to tube. My favorite in the V1 of the Rebel 30.

RCA Black Plate:  Smooth break up; beautiful  harmonic overtones second only to the NOS Mullards.  They break up early and have a rolled off high end and no ice pick effect. Bass and mids are right on with no flubbyness.  They enhance the even order harmonics similar to the Mullard.  They are my favorite in V3 of the clean channel 1 of the Rebel 30.  However, they fall a little short of the Mullards in the sustain and harmonics category on channel 2. They can get microphonic in a high gain combo like my Mark IV work perfect in any position in a head/cab configuration.

Amprex/Philips Holland:  sweet smooth tone.  Warm.  Break up nicely  and retain good dynamic range. Lower on the gain side.  Really add warmth and smooth high end to clean and slightly overdriven tones.  Sounds great on channel 1 overdriven on the Rebel 30.  This my second choice for the V3 position in the Rebel 30.

RCA 12AX7A short grey plate:  excellent balance and breakup.  Overdriven, it sounds smooth and sweet.  Very low noise. Great choice in High Gain Combo amps. No ice pick and no flabbyness and adds plenty of harmonic overtones.  It's like a RCA black plate with a less low end and more focus on the fundamental note without  the possible microphonic issues in a high gain amp.  Good deal on a great tube that will last a long time. They work great in any position. 

Ei Yugoslavian Pre War Grey plate:  high gain and musical.  Extended dynamic range.  A good choice in brightening up a dark, high gain amp.  The highs are enhanced and lows do not get flabby.  They sound a bit scooped.  I have four of them and they are all quiet and have VERY high gain.  They can give you issues in a high gain combo if you like to crank it up. Work perfectly in a head/cab setup so far.  This tube is my second choice in V2 on the Egnater 30 following a Mullard.  It adds to the harmonics and opens up the sweetness from the NOS Mullard.  Works great in V5 as well.

GE 12AX7A short Grey Plate:  good sounding tube.  Reproduces what is put through it.  Better than most of the new production tubes out there now but, doesn't stand out from the list above.

NOS Philips 5751 - clean. Nice and warm.  Good for taking harshness out of an overdriven clean channel.  I like this tube overdriven in V3 of my Rebel 30 when I push the volume up to 2- 4 O'Clock.  It takes any possible buzz out of the overdrive.  However, I usually just try to EQ it out anyway.  Perfect low noise tube to provide plenty of clean headroom for high volume clean playing.  It doesn't sound sterile like the 12AT7s.  It is warm and sweet when pushed.
 
I didnt know the preamp tubes were numbered out of position from conventional V1-V5 order.
v1 and v3 are channel 2 , i would try the mullard in v3 for the breakup it has !
Here is a diagram of the preamp tube functions !
V4 effects both channels i see !
Was thinking v2 looks like the EQ recovery so if its too dark sounding a brighter tube is a good idea maybe ?
Wishing i had your tubes humm !!!


http://www.egnateramps.com/download/Reb ... eChart.pdf
 
Thanks again, Thickwood. I believe the chart that referenced is for the combo. I own the head and cab version. According the website, the tube are setup in a different order....

http://www.egnateramps.com/download/Reb ... eChart.pdf

For the most articulate, warm tone that sings with harmonics and sustains well, I landed here:

V1 : NOS Mullard ECC83
V2 : NOS RCA 12AX7 Black Plate square getter
V3 : NOS RCA 12AX7 Black Plate "D" getter
V4 : Tung Sol Reissue 12AX7
V5 : Ei Yugoslav ECC83 Gray smooth plate

6V6s - Tung Sol 6V6GS
EL84s- JJ/Tesla EL84

I may switch again. After a few hours of tube rolling, your ears begin to get numb to the tone changes. I'm going to play with this setup for a awhile. I have a few gigs between now and the 4th. I'll then revisit the Anprex/Philips tubes that were produced in the Heerlen Holland factory. Too many good reviews on them for me to simply pass them off as not having enough gain. I purchased at least two of everything in hopes of getting at least one good sample. The Holland tubes are a little different from each other in design. I only tested one that was labeled Philips Miniwatt with square getter and the small, flat foil in the middle. The other Holland tube is labeled Amprex in orange and has the large "O" getter. Both tubes have the little right triangle etched in at the bottom of the tubes.

Man, it was a ton of fun rolling tubes. Too much fun. I need to quit and practice my music more now. :)

Cotton
 
The chassis is oriented by being flipped over .
I concentrated on the OD channel v1 and v3 ,the clean channel was so pristine i couldnt tell much difference from stock ruby 12ax7 tube !

Cotton i thought you had RI Mullard el84 tubes like i do ?
 
During a tube roll, I ended up breaking one of the Mullard EL84s. Had to swap them out with the JJs.
 
I allmost did it to a 6v6gt !
Most of the el84s ive tried have very strident highs , the RI Mullard are a little more even on the EQ .
You will miss the Mullard i think !
My R30 came with Ruby tubes,those el84 sound good but Asian power tubes worry me !
My R20 came with JJ tubes so i have plenty of backups !
I retubed the R20 with the same mullard and TS 6v6gt tubes , it screams !
 
I finnaly tested the silent record out too a headphone amp !
The sound was excelent and the levels increase according too the volume on the Rebel 30.
Thru a Laney VC-30 combo the volume was a little lower than the eminence wizard speaker used for the Rebel .
I didnt push the power tubes hard enough to breakup , but the DI signal comes from the OPT, so that should come thru too !
 
It does come through. However, it definitely has a different type of breakup. I have an XLR to 1/4 20' cable that had packaged with a Roland recoding mic. It works great in a couple a different ways. I run it directly into my old Roland VS-890 (only has 1/4 jack inputs) to record. I also have an old Peavy MicroBass amp with a headphone jack. Consequently, I and plug it into that, re-eq it a bit an play through my headphones. I also have the iRIG for my iPhone 4S. I can run the Rebel 30 directly into the iPhone. I then bypass the amp models in the Amplitube software to hear just the tone of the rebel. I can even add effects to it in the software If I like. The quality of the Amplitube software is marginal at best. So really don't do that unless I'm just bored.

The cool thing about the iRig and Amplitube software is that you can import all of the songs from your iTunes library, mix them in with your guitar signal, speed it up or slow it down in the same key and jam in silence until the dawn breaks.

It's fun but, the amp still sounds best when cranked through a speaker cab in my opinion.

Have fun!!

Cotton
 
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