Which EL34's are you all using?

  • Thread starter Thread starter skullfxr
  • Start date Start date
I gotta admit, I am genuinely impressed with JJs offering that they designate the EL34-II. I have always leaned toward the JJ E34-L for the tighter, punchier low end, but they can sound a little ‘dull’ on the top end. The JJ EL34-II adds low end punch without sacrificing any of the glassy, chimey high end. The mids are nice and full without being boxy. And they are not particularly expensive compared to other options. I recently got a pair from Eurotubes for my 50 watt QR and they are a noticeable improvement over the stock glass. Even after a long period of playing at decent volumes, they never drifted more than 2mA apart (I bias at 37/38).

If anyone on the board tries them and doesn’t dig them, PM me - I’d gladly snap up another matched pair or even a quad.
 
If JJ is so great why'd Friedman drop them like a bad habit cuz they were blowing up his amps ?
 
As a long time RFT el34 user, I would never again get another NOS power tube set...
I don't think its worth it...
EH el34 is fine...and JJ E34L if you need more headroom is fine too...

I would definitly get more NOS preamp tubes...
Even the high gain monster 6505 can benefit from them...
 
blacknoizemachine said:
I've got a quad of Winged Cs in my main amp, but I use CP everywhere else. I don't want to dial in my rig around tubes for which I can't easily source spares. Still fun to splurge sometimes though ;-)
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That's kinda how I feel about NOS power tubes. They are great when you have them, but finding matching ones is a bitch if you are low.
 
Mullard-EL34-Amperex-Label-Blackburn-Gt-Britain.jpg


I bought a quad of Amperex labeled Mullard XF-2's. They sounded fantastic but only lasted about 8 months.
Paid $300 so it wasn't too bad but the difference in tone between these and Russian EL-34's are minimal.
I won't buy NOS power glass anymore.
But i mostly run NOS preamp glass.
 
blackie13 said:
As a long time RFT el34 user, I would never again get another NOS power tube set...
I don't think its worth it...
EH el34 is fine...and JJ E34L if you need more headroom is fine too...

I would definitly get more NOS preamp tubes...
Even the high gain monster 6505 can benefit from them...
Click to expand...
It's all amp dependent, guys. I've tube rolled in every amp I've owned; the amps that it makes the biggest difference in have always been vintage Marshalls, JCM 800 and earlier. SLOs, Rectos, 5153s, Naylor, and Mesa Marks tend to have a favorite but they are usually not NOS vintage, other than the Mesa Mark and the Sylvania 6L6GC. The best power tube for those others seems to be the cheap Sovtek 5881s.

Pre tubes are a different story..they usually affect the tone in most amps. The Naylor however didn't care much when I rolled pre tubes, and also liked the Sovtek 5881s best.
 
Racerxrated said:
It's all amp dependent, guys. I've tube rolled in every amp I've owned; the amps that it makes the biggest difference in have always been vintage Marshalls, JCM 800 and earlier. SLOs, Rectos, 5153s, Naylor, and Mesa Marks tend to have a favorite but they are usually not NOS vintage, other than the Mesa Mark and the Sylvania 6L6GC. The best power tube for those others seems to be the cheap Sovtek 5881s.

Pre tubes are a different story..they usually affect the tone in most amps. The Naylor however didn't care much when I rolled pre tubes, and also liked the Sovtek 5881s best.
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Obligatory “6P3S-E and rebrand silver letter staple plate Sovtek 5881 over tig weld black letter 5881” post.
 
skullfxr said:
Solis point.
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?

Individual bias knobs means you can match a hotter and colder tube.

Most of the great sounds we all know and love were made before the tube matching dogma was marketed to the guitar community.
 
glpg80 said:
Mullard reissue for normal Marshall bark, Ruby is the only EL34 with high plate voltages I trust. In a pinch Id use Svetlana.

If money was no contest my ears prefer Siemens/RFT EL34 but they’re considered Mullard vintage and too expensive for my amps.

For 6550s there’s only one I will use - new production tung sols.
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I have a question can you email me?
 
Nigel said:
?

Individual bias knobs means you can match a hotter and colder tube.

Most of the great sounds we all know and love were made before the tube matching dogma was marketed to the guitar community.
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Yes this is very true...and in some (most actually with me) cases mismatched tubes can sound great. Not 20ma different but say 10 or so.

And I do have some silver labelled Sovteks on the way. Non welded plates. We shall see.
 
Racerxrated said:
Yes this is very true...and in some (most actually with me) cases mismatched tubes can sound great. Not 20ma different but say 10 or so.

And I do have some silver labelled Sovteks on the way. Non welded plates. We shall see.
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Bitchin bro! I love ~10 or so apart as well. 20 is a bit extreme, but would probably rule for blues guitar or a harmonica amp.
 
Racerxrated said:
It's all amp dependent, guys. I've tube rolled in every amp I've owned; the amps that it makes the biggest difference in have always been vintage Marshalls, JCM 800 and earlier. SLOs, Rectos, 5153s, Naylor, and Mesa Marks tend to have a favorite but they are usually not NOS vintage, other than the Mesa Mark and the Sylvania 6L6GC. The best power tube for those others seems to be the cheap Sovtek 5881s.

Pre tubes are a different story..they usually affect the tone in most amps. The Naylor however didn't care much when I rolled pre tubes, and also liked the Sovtek 5881s best.
Click to expand...
I found the Naylor to be impervious to pre tube rolling. No discernible difference whatsoever. I am curious to try some EL34’s in it though.
 
Beyond Black said:
I found the Naylor to be impervious to pre tube rolling. No discernible difference whatsoever. I am curious to try some EL34’s in it though.
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I’ve not tried any pre-tube rolling in it, but have tried various 6L6’s and found little to no difference (Winged C’s, Sovtek’s and Sylvania’s), so seems impervious to that too. I’ve also been curious to try EL34’s in it, but since mine is an older version it would need a mod to the sockets to be able to take EL34’s
 
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