Anybody else hate EH EL34's?

[Greazygeo]

IMO, on a carr hammer head the EH sounded like shit

Had you biased the amplifier? And had you compared it with the same setup (guitars, cab, etc.) with other EL34 in the amp biased properly? Sorry to be pushing this so much but maybe if you did these things, that was just a bad pair of tubes. I wouldn't even question your dislike for them, but to say they were flubby and muddy, that's another story.

Yep, I find it hard to believe that with the same setup across the board that the EH tubes were flubby and muddy while the JJs were not unless the tubes were bad. FWIW, I think EHs are nice, also like the SEDs, haven't liked JJs in anything yet, fwiw. Which brings me to my next thought which is that the OP doesn't like the EHs in his Rivera because they probably make it sound harsher in the mids whereas the JJs smooth it out, right? I'm not a big Rivera fan, honestly though I'm sure they work great for others. If someone has tried good batches of tubes through multiple amps and then that makes sense to me for them to be adamant about certain tubes. To base tube opinions on their performance in one circuit (which is why my opinion doesn't really have THAT much weight here though I have tried a bunch of tubes in my last guitarists' 800 and SL too, I'm mainly going by my exp with my XTC as previous amps I had were 6L6/5881 based) is a little misleading, IMO.

Don't forget the OP didnt like EH EL34's but is happy with JJ 6L6's...maybe the amp in question sounds best with 6L6's and not EL34's at all.

I like the EH EL34's and even 6L6's, I find they are a bit looser in the bottom end than SED. They seem close to Siemens EL34's tone and feel wise. JJ or Tesla power tubes I really don't like in gtr amps. They have too hard an edge for me and are harsh in the upper mids. In hi-fi stuff they work ok for me.

 

[Marshall Law]

IMO, on a carr hammer head the EH sounded like shit

Had you biased the amplifier? And had you compared it with the same setup (guitars, cab, etc.) with other EL34 in the amp biased properly? Sorry to be pushing this so much but maybe if you did these things, that was just a bad pair of tubes. I wouldn't even question your dislike for them, but to say they were flubby and muddy, that's another story.

the carr hammerhead is a class A amp, at the time I had old stock Mullard FX2 Double halo getters in it, at a gig they started making some noise, I had a matched set of EH 34's I bought just for back up, as you know the nice thing about class A amps, you change tubes on the fly, what a difference I hated them, I used them for the rest of that gig, and luckily I had another set of XF2 double halo getters at home, they went in faster than you could shake a stick, I have also tried them in my marshalls, I do know how to bias an amp, and again with EH's not so great results, I'm not saying there a shitty tube just not to my liking, I prefer NOS mullards, bugleboy/amprex, old siemens dimple tops, but for new production the only one that come close for me are JJ's and the winged C's, Greg Germino ships his amps with winged C's, why doesn't he use EH, because he must hear something a little different, not trying to be a bitch, but I'm 42 years old and have been playing tube amps for well over 20 years, and know what I like to hear , and as far as 6550's totally a cold tube IMO,
first thing I do to a marshall that has them is switch them over to el 34's, well I have talked long enough,
not trying to piss you off, take care.

 

[goldwing68nv]

could be your particular set of tubes,guitarslinger...i've got EH el34's,in two of my amp heads,and i love 'em.very musical,clear,harmonic & tight! definately well-balanced! JJ's,imo,seem to balance out better in characteristically "brighter" amps...just my 3 cents!

 

[JamesPeters]

IMO, on a carr hammer head the EH sounded like shit

Had you biased the amplifier? And had you compared it with the same setup (guitars, cab, etc.) with other EL34 in the amp biased properly? Sorry to be pushing this so much but maybe if you did these things, that was just a bad pair of tubes. I wouldn't even question your dislike for them, but to say they were flubby and muddy, that's another story.

the carr hammerhead is a class A amp, at the time I had old stock Mullard FX2 Double halo getters in it, at a gig they started making some noise, I had a matched set of EH 34's I bought just for back up, as you know the nice thing about class A amps, you change tubes on the fly, what a difference I hated them, I used them for the rest of that gig, and luckily I had another set of XF2 double halo getters at home, they went in faster than you could shake a stick, I have also tried them in my marshalls, I do know how to bias an amp, and again with EH's not so great results, I'm not saying there a shitty tube just not to my liking, I prefer NOS mullards, bugleboy/amprex, old siemens dimple tops, but for new production the only one that come close for me are JJ's and the winged C's, Greg Germino ships his amps with winged C's, why doesn't he use EH, because he must hear something a little different, not trying to be a bitch, but I'm 42 years old and have been playing tube amps for well over 20 years, and know what I like to hear , and as far as 6550's totally a cold tube IMO,
first thing I do to a marshall that has them is switch them over to el 34's, well I have talked long enough,
not trying to piss you off, take care.

Good luck with your amps!

 

[6AM]

I tried the svetlana 12AX7's and they were very harsh and cold sounding, not sure if that is the =C= 12AX7 you are referring to, but they were awful tubes.

You are one of the few I have seen who doesn't like =C= EL34's and finds them harsh and cold.

I've tried them multiple times in multiple amps and I've always found them to sound the same. I dunno.

I bought a few Svetlana 12AX7s when they came out 5 years ago and I've had great success with them in V1 slots of amps. Most people said they were junk. I've not tried the New Sensor Svetlana anythings, so I can't comment.

 

[6AM]

6AM? Same as from HC eons ago?

Indeed.

 

[Bob Savage]

6AM? Same as from HC eons ago?

Indeed.

Long time no see dude... welcome aboard.

 

[6AM]

6AM? Same as from HC eons ago?

Indeed.

Long time no see dude... welcome aboard.

It's funny that like 7 years later there's still the same message board dudes around. You, Steve Snider, Keith Squarehead, Thump, etc...

I had given up on HC years ago and was exclusively trolling thegearpage.net which sort of wained as well. There just wasn't anything interesting going on gear related for a while. I actually went to HC a few times recently. It's more of a cesspool now than ever, which I almost find hard to believe.

 

[guitarman967]

I tend to like the EH EL-34's in just about every amp I've tried them in for heavy styles..
If there was one thing I don't like it would be that they seem to have a real spiky presence to them in alot of amps. I wouldn't call them super warm tube but they're certainly aggressive and tight and very consistent sounding..

 

[troublehead]

I don't have a problem with EH EL34's or 6L6's. I think they are both great tubes. However, I really hate the 12ax7's. I've tried them in many amps and I just can't get over the high end they add.

I also wouldn't describe SED's as "cold and harsh". They are my favorite current production EL34. I do think they are a bit different from the typical EL34, but I like that. They have a really smooth mid and top end response which keeps them from sounding "gritty" like most EL34's.

I recently tried some Ruby EL34B-STR's and I thought they were trebly and harsh. And everyone raves about them. Different strokes for different folks I guess