Retubing a Rivera: SED EL34 vs. JJ E34L vs.?

jet66

Member
So my searches/research have seemed to say the most positive things about the SED and JJ for tone and reliability, but a lot of that info was a year or so old. The amp is a Knucklehead Tre, the player is (for the most part) stuck in the 80's, from Dokken to Maiden to Metallica. It's my first adjustable bias, EL34-only amp, so I am on unfamiliar ground with this tube type. Preferences? Pros? Cons? Other suggestions?

It currently has JJ E34L's in it, and it sounds pretty good, but I can definitely tell they are a bit past their prime. I'm sure I could order a new set and be content, but I saw enough good things about the SED's that I thought I should get some more direct opinions.

Oh, and I saw that some of the JJ's (I think) come in red or blue glass. Do they light up enough to visibly glow, or is there some other reason a person would want colored glass? I've never seen such a thing before...
 
jet66":p1ozhjhs said:
So my searches/research have seemed to say the most positive things about the SED and JJ for tone and reliability, but a lot of that info was a year or so old. The amp is a Knucklehead Tre, the player is (for the most part) stuck in the 80's, from Dokken to Maiden to Metallica. It's my first adjustable bias, EL34-only amp, so I am on unfamiliar ground with this tube type. Preferences? Pros? Cons? Other suggestions?

It currently has JJ E34L's in it, and it sounds pretty good, but I can definitely tell they are a bit past their prime. I'm sure I could order a new set and be content, but I saw enough good things about the SED's that I thought I should get some more direct opinions.

Oh, and I saw that some of the JJ's (I think) come in red or blue glass. Do they light up enough to visibly glow, or is there some other reason a person would want colored glass? I've never seen such a thing before...
I have had some noise issues with the SED's. They have a better harmonic structure than the e34l. I prefer the Groove tubes E34ls. The E34l has better bass and more punch. I would go with the Groove Tubes E34ls. They actually have a 30 watt plate dissipation where the JJ's do not and stay cooler because of the added heat sink wings. The blue and red glass gives a colored hue.
 
I prefer the SED's over everything out there. Dosent mean they cant fail, but overall, I think its the better 34 made at the moment.
IMO, of course
 
My SED's are dead quiet, no issues, i do not like JJ's for anything, power or pre, they have issues.
 
Definitely the SEDs...the best sound I ever got out of my Riveras were with SED EL34s and Tung-Sol 12AX7s
 
6string40":3f630vzg said:
Definitely the SEDs...the best sound I ever got out of my Riveras were with SED EL34s and Tung-Sol 12AX7s

Yep, Winged C´s and Tung-Sol 12AX7´s are where it´s at for Riveras in my book. Makes for a fairly bright and detailed tone, it seems.
 
How are the Tung Sols holding up now? About a year ago I had 3, none lasted longer than two months, tops. They were in V1 of two different amp brands that didn't seem to kill any other newer New Sensor/Russian tubes, so I don't think it's a cathode-follower situation. I liked the sound, but the tube life kind of put me off. (From two different tube dealers, too.) I had good luck with Sovtek LPS in V1 of both amps, and I thought that was also a tube that cathode followers killed.

The current Rivera manual shows 12AX7A, WB, or WB in 3 of the slots, and EH or LP in the other two. (V1, 2, 4 and 3, 5 respectively.)
 
jet66":3uzr1s9w said:
Sounds like it will be SED EL34's.

tweed":3uzr1s9w said:
SED =C='s from Valvequeen :rock:

Is there an RT member discount? :D
Thanks Tweed.

I would offer forum discounts if I could but I SED tubes are expensive and I don't make much on them. However, I do test them all, I do burn them in and match them on a Maxi-Matcher and again on my Rocca units at 500V. :thumbsup:
 
jet66":3n7fwhnv said:
How are the Tung Sols holding up now? About a year ago I had 3, none lasted longer than two months, tops.

I won't sell them because I have not had good experiences with them (they either went microphonic quickly or they died a sudden death). :no:
 
I´ve had a few Tung-Sols go microphonic quick, but I wouldn´t say they are more prone to fail than any other kind of tube that I´ve used extensively.
 
ldm":2wk2tzqo said:
I won't sell them because I have not had good experiences with them (they either went microphonic quickly or they died a sudden death). :no:
All three of mine were sudden deaths: Worked fine, no noise, squeals, pops, etc. Shut down, come back later or the next day, and no sound was to be had. They sounded great, but there are other tubes I liked just as well that have held up for going on two years now.

I was mostly joking about the discount, it just never hurts to ask. :D I'll email you via your site's contact page with a couple of questions about a couple of the pre amp tubes you have that I haven't tried yet.
 
I've tried both and I think I actually prefer the Ruby EL34 BHT's. At least in my amp, the SED's are a bit darker and more muddy. Only amp I liked JJ's in was an Uberschall. In my VH4, Ruby sounds the best. But it will depend on the specific amp.
 
jet66":2i7yqsh1 said:
ldm":2i7yqsh1 said:
I won't sell them because I have not had good experiences with them (they either went microphonic quickly or they died a sudden death). :no:
All three of mine were sudden deaths: Worked fine, no noise, squeals, pops, etc. Shut down, come back later or the next day, and no sound was to be had. They sounded great, but there are other tubes I liked just as well that have held up for going on two years now.

I was mostly joking about the discount, it just never hurts to ask. :D I'll email you via your site's contact page with a couple of questions about a couple of the pre amp tubes you have that I haven't tried yet.

Why is it that every new production preamp tube I really like has quality issues. The EI 12AX7's were my favorite in the past, but those were known to have issues. The Tung Sol 12AX7's are my new favorites, but then I see experiences like this. :doh:
 
blackba":2hg260dy said:
jet66":2hg260dy said:
ldm":2hg260dy said:
I won't sell them because I have not had good experiences with them (they either went microphonic quickly or they died a sudden death). :no:
All three of mine were sudden deaths: Worked fine, no noise, squeals, pops, etc. Shut down, come back later or the next day, and no sound was to be had. They sounded great, but there are other tubes I liked just as well that have held up for going on two years now.

I was mostly joking about the discount, it just never hurts to ask. :D I'll email you via your site's contact page with a couple of questions about a couple of the pre amp tubes you have that I haven't tried yet.

Why is it that every new production preamp tube I really like has quality issues. The EI 12AX7's were my favorite in the past, but those were known to have issues. The Tung Sol 12AX7's are my new favorites, but then I see experiences like this. :doh:
I have had similar issues with the TG's. What I find odd is that my tester cannot get a transconductance reading on these and some other Russian made tubes. I think it has something to do with the cathode having a coating on it. My tester functions well, bu is it older.
 
Received my order from Valve Queen today. Ordered online at 9:30 Tuesday night, they were waiting for me when I got home today. I went with the SED's, and boy do they sound good. Also got some opinions from her on a few pre-amp tubes I hadn't tried before, so I picked up a few different flavors to try out. Excellent personalized service, she's very knowledgeable about her products and discriminating about what tubes she'll carry, and meticulous on the matching and testing. Highly recommended for anyone else looking for another source of tubes.
 
jet66":3raolj6i said:
Received my order from Valve Queen today. Ordered online at 9:30 Tuesday night, they were waiting for me when I got home today. I went with the SED's, and boy do they sound good. Also got some opinions from her on a few pre-amp tubes I hadn't tried before, so I picked up a few different flavors to try out. Excellent personalized service, she's very knowledgeable about her products and discriminating about what tubes she'll carry, and meticulous on the matching and testing. Highly recommended for anyone else looking for another source of tubes.


My K Tre is in need of some fresh globes as well. So did you look to brighten it up a bit? Interested in what preamp tubes you went with. In your experimenting which ones had the most cut?

Thx,

Softail
 
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